Neutrophil DREAM Promotes Neutrophil Recruitment in Vascular Inflammation Via Nuclear Factor Kappa B-Dependent and Independent Mechanisms

The interaction between neutrophils and endothelial cells (ECs) is critical for the pathogenesis of vascular inflammation. Neutrophil recruitment to inflamed tissues is initiated by rolling on activated ECs through the interactions between P-/E-selectins and their ligands. Subsequently, activated integrins (mainly αLβ2 and αMβ2) and chemokine receptors bind to their ligands on ECs and mediate slow-rolling, adhesion, crawling, and transmigration of neutrophils. Although many neutrophil adhesion receptors have been identified, the regulation of their ligand-binding function remains not fully understood. Using real-time intravital microscopy with mice lacking downstream regulatory element antagonist modulator (DREAM) and their bone marrow chimeric mice, we demonstrated that hematopoietic cell DREAM contributes to neutrophil recruitment to sites of vascular inflammation induced by TNF-α- but not a G protein-coupled receptor ligand, MIP-2 or fMLP. Our studies using adoptive neutrophil transfers and flow chamber assays revealed that neutrophil DREAM positively regulates the neutrophil recruitment processes under TNF-α-induced inflammatory conditions. Using RNA-seq and biochemical and cell biological studies, we found that neutrophil DREAM upregulates numerous pro-inflammatory molecules and down-regulates anti-inflammatory molecules after TNF-α treatment. In particular, neutrophil DREAM repressed expression of A20, a negative regulator of NF-κB signaling, and enhanced phosphorylation of IκB kinase (IKK) in response to TNF-α, suggesting the role of neutrophil DREAM in NF-κB activity. Furthermore, we observed that DREAM deletion and IKK inhibition significantly diminishes the ligand-binding activity of β2 integrins in neutrophils after short-term treatment with TNF-α and that deletion of neutrophil DREAM does not affect the expression of other neutrophil adhesion receptors, such as PSGL-1, L-selectin, CD44, CXCR2, and CXCR4. As assessed by flow cytometry using conformation-specific reporter antibodies, knockdown of DREAM in neutrophil-like HL-60 cells decreased TNF-α-induced activation of β2 integrins. Neutrophil DREAM promoted degranulation through IKK-mediated SNAP-23 phosphorylation after short-term treatment with TNF-α, implying the role of neutrophil DREAM-IKK signaling in NF-κB-independent signaling. Using intravital microscopy with Berkeley mice (a mouse model of sickle cell disease) deficient in hematopoietic or nonhematopoietic DREAM, we demonstrated that hematopoietic cell DREAM is crucial for inducing intravascular cell-cell aggregation and vaso-occlusive events in microvessels following the TNF-α challenge. Furthermore, infusion of DREAM KO neutrophils, compared with WT neutrophils, significantly reduced neutrophil recruitment and vaso-occlusive events in TNF-α-challenged SCD mice. These results demonstrate that neutrophil DREAM positively regulates β2 integrin function and promotes neutrophil recruitment during sterile inflammation via NF-κB-dependent and independent mechanisms. Our study provides evidence that targeting DREAM might be a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce excessive neutrophil recruitment in inflammatory diseases.