Elsevier

Autoimmunity Reviews

Volume 18, Issue 1, January 2019, Pages 25-35
Autoimmunity Reviews

The characteristics and pivotal roles of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 in autoimmune diseases

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2018.07.008Get rights and content

Highlights

  • TREM-1 engagement directly induces or amplifies inflammatory responses.

  • TREM-1 expression was dysregulated in inflammatory autoimmune diseases.

  • TREM-1 may serve as a promising therapeutic target for autoimmune disease.

Abstract

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) engagement can directly trigger inflammation or amplify an inflammatory response by synergizing with TLRs or NLRs. Autoimmune diseases are a family of chronic systemic inflammatory disorders. The pivotal role of TREM-1 in inflammation makes it important to explore its immunological effects in autoimmune diseases. In this review, we summarize the structural and functional characteristics of TREM-1. Particularly, we discuss recent findings on TREM-1 pathway regulation in various autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), type 1 diabetes (T1D), and psoriasis. This receptor may potentially be manipulated to alter the inflammatory response to chronic inflammation and possible therapies are explored in this review.

Introduction

Autoimmune diseases are a family of chronic systemic inflammatory disorders, characterized by the dysregulation of the immune system which finally results in the break of tolerance to self-antigen. Fine-tuning the immune response is absolutely critical to prevent excessive inflammation and tissue damage in autoimmune diseases. Complex overlapping pathogenic pathways span multiple aspects of the immune system. A better understanding of these pathways has led to the development of pharmacologic therapies targeting specific elements of the immune system which play a role in disease pathogenesis.

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREMs) are a family of cell surface receptors that play important roles in innate and adaptive immunity. In a number of chronic inflammatory conditions and malignancies, TREMs has been implicated in disease severity and progression. Among them, TREM-1 (CD354) was the first identified. TREM-1 is a pivotal innate immune receptor, which acts to initiate inflammation or to amplify inflammatory responses by cross-talking with Toll like receptors (TLRs) and/or nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors (NLRs). It was initially demonstrated that TREM-1 was predominantly associated with infectious diseases [1,2]. Indeed, TREM-1 receptor and its signaling pathways contribute to the pathology of several non-infectious acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Given the role that TREM-1 plays in the numerous inflammatory conditions, a large bulk of pre-existing data clearly identifies a key functional role for TREM-1 in numerous types of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [3,4], systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) [[5], [6], [7]], inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) [8,9], type 1 diabetes (T1D) [10], and psoriasis [11]. Blockade of TREM-1 could be a novel therapeutic target in autoimmune diseases without impairing the host defense against microbes. The aim of this review was to discuss the state of the field of TREM-1 biology, including the structure and expression pattern of TREM-1, the putative ligands for TREM-1, TREM-1 signaling pathway and soluble TREM-1 (sTREM-1), etc. Furthermore, the strategy for TREM-1 blockade is also reviewed in context of developing novel therapeutics. Particular emphasis is placed on role of TREM-1 in autoimmune diseases and the challenges that remain in the treatment of autoimmune diseases up to date.

Section snippets

Structure and expression pattern of TREM-1

The gene encoding TREM-1 is mapped to human chromosome 6p21. TREM-1 is a 30 kD immunoglobulin superfamily member. Crystal structure data are inconclusive as to whether or not TREM-1 forms homodimers [12,13]. Human membrane TREM-1 is a 234 amino acid type I transmembrane protein consisting of a single extracellular immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domain (184 amino acids), a transmembrane region with a positively charged lysine residue, and a short cytoplasmic tail (5 amino acids) lacking any signaling

RA

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease caused by various factors, and is characterized by chronic inflammation of synovial joints, which leads to progressive destruction of cartilage and bone causing damage to extra-articular tissue [97]. Overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines are strongly associated with the pathology of RA [98]. Although TNF inhibitors have been widely used in the treatment of RA, substantial proportion (up to a third) of RA patients

TREM-1 Blockade: a novel therapeutic approach

Enhanced TREM-1 expression and activation were observed in several infectious and noninfectious inflammatory disorders, suggesting a pathogenetic role for this molecule. Several preclinical approaches have been developed for TREM-1 blockade, from genetic invalidation to the use of antibodies or decoy receptors, with the purpose of either identification of TREM-1 involvement in pathologies or treatment. A number of strategies have been developed to inhibit TREM-1 receptor activation using small

Conclusion and clinical perspectives

Accumulating data suggest that TREM-1 is commonly referred to as amplifier of inflammatory immune responses in the context with PRRs. Moreover, engagement of TREM-1 by itself can also lead to myeloid cell activation including the production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and phagocytosis. A thorough characterization of TREM-1 will allow for a better understand of the role TREM-1 in autoimmune disorders associated with exaggerated inflammation (e.g., RA, SLE, IBD, etc.) and may

Disclosures

The authors declare no financial or commercial conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (grant number LQ16C080002), the Research Development Foundation of Wenzhou Medical University (grant number QTJ14025), and the Science and Technology Plan Project of Wenzhou (grant number Y20160179, Y20160191).

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