2. Academic Validation
  3. Murine T cell activation is regulated by surfen (bis-2-methyl-4-amino-quinolyl-6-carbamide)

Murine T cell activation is regulated by surfen (bis-2-methyl-4-amino-quinolyl-6-carbamide)

  • Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2014 Jan 10;443(2):524-30. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2013.11.119.
Jordan Warford 1,  Carolyn D Doucette 2,  David W Hoskin 3,  Alexander S Easton 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Pathology, Dalhousie University, Tupper Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada. Electronic address: jordan.warford@dal.ca.
  • 2 Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, Tupper Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada. Electronic address: carolyn.doucette@dal.ca.
  • 3 Department of Pathology, Dalhousie University, Tupper Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, Tupper Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada. Electronic address: d.w.hoskin@dal.ca.
  • 4 Department of Pathology, Dalhousie University, Tupper Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, Tupper Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Surgery (Neurosurgery), Dalhousie University, Tupper Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada. Electronic address: alexander.easton@dal.ca.
PMID: 24315874 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2013.11.119
Abstract

Surfen (bis-2-methyl-4-amino-quinolyl-6-carbamide) binds to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and has been shown to influence their function, and the function of proteoglycans (complexes of GAGs linked to a core protein). T cells synthesize, secrete and express GAGs and proteoglycans which are involved in several aspects of T cell function. However, there are as yet no studies on the effect of GAG-binding agents such as surfen on T cell function. In this study, surfen was found to influence murine T cell activation. Doses between 2.5 and 20 μM produced a graduated reduction in the proliferation of T cells activated with anti-CD3/CD28 antibody-coated T cell expander beads. Surfen (20 mg/kg) was also administered to mice treated with anti-CD3 antibody to activate T cells in vivo. Lymphocytes from surfen-treated mice also showed reduced proliferation and lymph node cell counts were reduced. Surfen reduced labeling with a cell viability marker (7-ADD) but to a much lower extent than its effect on proliferation. Surfen also reduced CD25 (the α-subunit of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor) expression with no effect on CD69 expression in T cells treated in vivo but not in vitro. When receptor activation was bypassed by treating T cells in vitro with phorbyl myristate acetate (10 ng/ml) and ionomycin (100 ng/ml), surfen treatment either increased proliferation (10 μM) or had no effect (2.5, 5 and 20 μM). In vitro treatment of T cells with surfen had no effect on IL-2 or interferon-γ synthesis and did not alter proliferation of the IL-2 dependent cell line CTLL-2. The effect of surfen was antagonized dose-dependently by co-treatment with heparin sulfate. We conclude that surfen inhibits T cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. When T cell receptor-driven activation is bypassed surfen had a neutral or stimulatory effect on T cell proliferation. The results imply that endogenous GAGs and proteoglycans play a complex role in promoting or inhibiting different aspects of T cell activation.

Keywords

Activation; Glycosaminoglycans; Interleukin-2; Proliferation; Surfen; T cell.

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