Abstract
Regulator of G-protein signaling 10 (RGS10) is a member of the superfamily of RGS proteins that canonically act as GTPase activating proteins (GAPs). RGS proteins accelerate GTP hydrolysis on the G-protein α subunits and result in termination of signaling pathways downstream of G protein-coupled receptors. Beyond its GAP function, RGS10 has emerged as an anti-inflammatory protein by inhibiting LPS-mediated NF-κB activation and expression of inflammatory cytokines, in particular TNF-α. Although RGS10 is abundantly expressed in resting macrophages, previous studies have shown that RGS10 expression is suppressed in macrophages following Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation by LPS. However, the molecular mechanism by which LPS induces Rgs10 silencing has not been clearly defined. The goal of the current study was to determine whether LPS silences Rgs10 expression through an NF-κB-mediated proinflammatory mechanism in pulmonary macrophages, a unique type of innate immune cells. We demonstrate that Rgs10 transcript and RGS10 protein levels are suppressed upon LPS treatment in the murine MH-S alveolar macrophage cell line. We show that pharmacological inhibition of PI3K/ NF-κB/p300 (NF-κB co-activator)/TNF-α signaling cascade and the activities of HDAC (1-3) enzymes block LPS-induced silencing of Rgs10 in MH-S cells as well as microglial BV2 cells and BMDMs. Further, loss of RGS10 generated by using CRISPR/Cas9 amplifies NF-κB phosphorylation and inflammatory gene expression following LPS treatment in MH-S cells. Together, our findings strongly provide critical insight into the molecular mechanism underlying RGS10 suppression by LPS in pulmonary macrophages.