Akt Activation Regulates Macrophage Survival and Differentiation: Role of M-CSF and Endogenous ROS.

Previous reports from our laboratory showed M-CSF promotes PI 3-kinase activation resulting in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and PI 3-kinase inhibitors, and the antioxidants diphenyleneiodonium (DPI) and n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) suppressed M-CSF-stimulated Erk activation. In this study, we hypothesized that M-CSF-induced generation of ROS affected Akt1 activation and sought to define the role of Akt1 in monocyte/macrophage survival and differentiation. We found that the production of ROS following M-CSF-treatment was inhibited by the antioxidant DPI. The addition of either DPI or NAC to the monocytes in the presence of M-CSF resulted in decrease cell survival as measured by Annexin V/PI and DNA fragmentation. In the cells treated with the antioxidants, there was a reduction in pAKT protein levels compared to M-CSF alone treatment suggesting that ROS contributed to Akt activity and cell survival. Macrophages from p47^{phox −/−} mice, lacking a key component of the NADPH oxidase complex required for ROS generation were examined for M-CSF-induced survival and Akt1 activation. Bone marrow macrophages from p47^{phox −/ −} mice and wild type (WT) littermates were isolated and differentiated in RPMI-1640 medium in the presence of 20 ng/ml of M-CSF for 5 days. We observed a reduction in Akt1 phosphorylation, cellular survival and increase in apoptosis measured by Annexin V/PI staining in p47^{phox −/ −} macrophages compared to WT controls.

Since macrophages from the p47^phox−/− mice had reduced Akt1 activity and cell survival to M-CSF stimulation, we next wanted to independently evaluate the role of Akt in macrophage survival and differentiation. We therefore examined macrophages from mice that had targeted expression of activated Akt1 (Myr-Akt1) in mononuclear phagocytes. Bone marrow from Myr-Akt1 mice and (WT) littermates was isolated and cultured in the presence of 20 ng/ml of M-CSF for 5 days. We found that Myr-Akt1 cells had enhanced survival and reduced apoptosis versus WT cells. Interestingly, Myr-Akt1 mice had normal circulating numbers of monocytes, but had splenomegaly and increased numbers of mature macrophages in their spleens by CD68 staining. Since the expression of Myr-Akt1 in BMM enhanced cell survival, we were interested in the effect in human monocytes. Peripheral blood monocytes (PBM) were transiently transfected with Myr-Akt1 constructs. We observed a decrease in Annexin V/PI staining indicating promotion of cell survival in PBM expressing Myr-Akt compared to untransfected PBM. Since Akt1 appeared to be important for macrophage survival/differentiation, we examined its contribution in human alveolar macrophage homeostasis and found that freshly isolated macrophages had constitutive Akt1 activity and had increased levels of Akt1 protein. This data support a critical role for Akt1 in macrophage differentiation in mice. Together, our findings may provide insight in the pathogenesis of monocyte/macrophage homeostasis.