Department of Bio-medical Sciences, University of Catania, Via Androne, 83, 95124, Catania, Italy.
Mol Cell Biochem. 2013 Feb;374(1-2):73-80. doi: 10.1007/s11010-012-1506-5. Epub 2012 Nov 6.
Acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase) and chitotriosidase (CHIT-1) are two active chitinases expressed in humans. The chitinase activity of AMCase was found to be causative in allergic inflammation and its expression was found to be induced by interleukin-13. CHIT1-1 is expressed by phagocytic cells and extremely high levels are seen in lysosomal storage diseases. Despite that AMCase expression in the inflammation is under investigation, little is known regarding its regulation during macrophages' full maturation and polarization. In this study, we compared AMCase and CHIT-1 modulation during monocyte to macrophage transition and polarization. Gene expression analysis was investigated by real-time PCR from mRNA of human monocytes obtained from buffy coat of healthy volunteers, from mRNA of polarized to classically activated macrophages (or M1), obtained by interferon (IFN)-γ and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment, and from mRNA of alternatively activated macrophages (or M2) obtained by interleukin (IL)-4 exposure. Our results showed that the expression of AMCase and CHIT-1 were differently modulated in HMMs at different stage of maturation. The behavior of these two active chitinase suggests that in the immune response their role is complementary.
酸性哺乳动物几丁质酶（AMCase）和几丁质酶 1（CHIT-1）是两种在人类中表达的活性几丁质酶。发现 AMCase 的几丁质酶活性与过敏炎症有关，其表达受白细胞介素-13 诱导。CHIT1-1 由吞噬细胞表达，在溶酶体贮积病中可见极高水平。尽管 AMCase 在炎症中的表达正在研究中，但对于其在巨噬细胞完全成熟和极化过程中的调节知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们比较了单核细胞向巨噬细胞转化和极化过程中 AMCase 和 CHIT-1 的调节。通过实时 PCR 从健康志愿者的 buffy coat 获得的人单核细胞的 mRNA、通过干扰素 (IFN)-γ 和脂多糖 (LPS) 处理获得的极化到经典激活的巨噬细胞（或 M1）的 mRNA，以及通过白细胞介素 (IL)-4 暴露获得的替代激活的巨噬细胞（或 M2）的 mRNA 研究了基因表达分析。我们的结果表明，在单核细胞向巨噬细胞的不同成熟阶段，AMCase 和 CHIT-1 的表达存在差异调节。这两种活性几丁质酶的行为表明，在免疫反应中，它们的作用是互补的。
