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Diesel exhaust particles induce oxidative stress, proinflammatory signaling, and P-glycoprotein up-regulation at the blood-brain barrier.

Hartz AM, Bauer B, Block ML, Hong JS, Miller DS

*Laboratory of Pharmacology and Chemistry, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA;Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical School, andDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, USA; andDepartment of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Campus, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Here, we report that diesel exhaust particles (DEPs), a major constituent of urban air pollution, affect blood-brain barrier function at the tissue, cellular, and molecular levels. Isolated rat brain capillaries exposed to DEPs showed increased expression and transport activity of the key drug efflux transporter, P-glycoprotein (6 h EC50 was approximately 5 microg/ml). Up-regulation of P-glycoprotein was abolished by blocking transcription or protein synthesis. Inhibition of NADPH oxidase or pretreatment of capillaries with radical scavengers ameliorated DEP-induced P-glycoprotein up-regulation, indicating a role for reactive oxygen species in signaling. DEP exposure also increased brain capillary tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels. DEP-induced P-glycoprotein up-regulation was abolished when TNF-receptor 1 (TNF-R1) was blocked and was not evident in experiments with capillaries from TNF-R1 knockout mice. Inhibition of JNK, but not NF-kappaB, blocked DEP-induced P-glycoprotein up-regulation, indicating a role for AP-1 in the signaling pathway. Consistent with this, DEPs increased phosphorylation of c-jun. Together, our results show for the first time that a component of air pollution, DEPs, alters blood-brain barrier function through oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokine production. These experiments disclose a novel blood-brain barrier signaling pathway, with clear implications for environmental toxicology, CNS pathology, and the pharmacotherapy of CNS disorders.-Hartz, A. M. S., Bauer, B., Block, M. L., Hong, J.-S., Miller, D.-S. Diesel exhaust particles induce oxidative stress, proinflammatory signaling, and P-glycoprotein up-regulation at the blood-brain barrier.

Published 13 May 2008 in FASEB J.
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