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A fluorescent probe to unravel functional features of cannabinoid receptor CB1 in human blood and tonsil immune system cells Mar Martín-Fontecha, Alba Angelina, Beate Rückert, Ainoa Rueda- Zubiaurre, Leticia Martin-Cruz, Willem van de Veen, Mübeccel Akdis, Silvia OrtegaGutierrez, María L. López-Rodríguez, Cezmi Akdis, and Oscar Palomares Bioconjugate Chem., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.7b00680 • Publication Date (Web): 09 Jan 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on January 10, 2018
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Bioconjugate Chemistry
Martín-Fontecha et al. 1
A fluorescent probe to unravel functional features of cannabinoid receptor CB1 in
2
human blood and tonsil immune system cells
3 4
Mar Martín-Fontecha,a Alba Angelina,b Beate Rückert,c Ainoa Rueda-Zubiaurre,a
5
Leticia Martín-Cruz,b Willem van de Veen,c Mübeccel Akdis,c Silvia Ortega-Gutiérrez,a
6
María Luz López-Rodríguez,a Cezmi A. Akdis,c Oscar Palomaresb*
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
a
Department of Organic Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain b Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Chemistry, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain c Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), University of Zurich, Davos, Switzerland
*Corresponding Author:
Oscar Palomares, PhD Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry School, Complutense University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Telephone: + 34 913944161 Fax: + 34 913944159 Email:
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Martín-Fontecha et al. 24
Abstract
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The human endogenous cannabinoid system (ECS) regulates key physiological
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processes and alterations in its signalling pathways and endocannabinoid levels are
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associated to diseases such as neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions, cancer, pain
28
and inflammation, obesity, metabolic and different immune related disorders. Immune
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system cells express the G-protein coupled cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) but its
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functional role has not been fully understood, likely due to the lack of appropriate tools.
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The availability of novel tools to investigate the role of CB1 in immune regulation might
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contribute to identify CB1 as a potential novel therapeutic target or biomarker for many
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diseases. Herein, we report the development and validation of the first fluorescent small
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molecule probe to directly visualize and quantify CB1 in blood and tonsil immune cells
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by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. We coupled the cannabinoid agonist
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HU210 to the fluorescent tag Alexa Fluor 488, generating a fluorescent probe with high
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affinity for CB1 and selectivity over CB2. We validate HU210-Alexa488 for the rapid,
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simultaneous, and reproducible identification of CB1 in human monocytes, T and B
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cells by multiplexed flow cytometry. This probe is also suitable for the direct
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visualization of CB1 in tonsil tissues, allowing the in vivo identification of tonsil CB1-
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expressing T and B cells. This study provides the first fluorescent chemical tool to
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investigate CB1 expression and function in human blood and tonsil immune cells, which
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might well pave the way to unravel essential features of CB1 in different immune and
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ECS-related diseases.
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Bioconjugate Chemistry
Martín-Fontecha et al. 45
GRAPHICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CB1 visualization in tonsils
Lymphocytes 59.4%
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CB1 quantification in blood
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Martín-Fontecha et al. 49
The human endogenous cannabinoid system (ECS) is a complex signalling network
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involved in a large number of physiological processes.1,
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endocannabinoid ligands, the proteins related to their synthesis and degradation and the
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cannabinoid receptors (CBRs).2 The endocannabinoids anandamide (AEA) and 2-
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arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) bind to the G-protein coupled cannabinoid receptor 1
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(CB1) and 2 (CB2). CB1 is largely expressed in the central nervous system and also in
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peripheral tissues and immune cells.2-4 The high-resolution crystal structure of human
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CB1 and agonist-bound complexes have been recently reported.5-7 CB2 is mainly
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expressed in immune cells and also in other cell types.2,
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triggers a complex network of signalling pathways leading to the regulation of key
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physiological processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and cell survival.2-4,
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Alterations in the ECS signalling pathways and changes in the endocannabinoid levels
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have been associated to different diseases such as neurological and neuropsychiatric
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conditions, cancer, pain, inflammation, obesity, metabolic disorders, septic shock and
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different immune system related disorders.2, 8-11
2
3
The ECS comprises the
The activation of CBRs
8
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The immune system encompasses a complex interactive network of cells and
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molecules that protect the host against potentially dangerous pathogens, while keeping a
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state of tolerance to self and innocuous non-self antigens.12,
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system employs a plethora of tightly regulated mechanisms, and alterations in these
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processes lead to immune tolerance-related diseases such as autoimmunity, tumour
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tolerance, rejection of organ transplants or allergy. For long time, it was thought that
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CB1 and CB2 modulated neurological and immune functions, respectively. However,
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several studies demonstrated that immune system cells also express functional CB1 that
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could play a role in the immune regulation of T cells, B cells and innate immune cells
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such as monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs) or macrophages.8, 14-18 Therefore, there is an
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For that, the immune
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Bioconjugate Chemistry
Martín-Fontecha et al. 74
increased interest in studying the role of CB1 in the control of immune responses. The
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better understanding of the role of CB1 in immune regulation might well contribute to
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identify CB1 as a potential novel therapeutic target as well as to determine whether it
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can be a candidate biomarker of disease, prognosis or treatment response.
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In the particular case of allergic diseases, mouse models showed different roles for
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the ECS.19-23 In humans, CB1 plays a potent inhibitory role on mast cell activation in the
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airway mucosa and skin.24, 25 We showed that the mRNA expression levels of CB1 are
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upregulated in tonsils and peripheral blood immune cells of allergic patients.16 Although
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it is plausible that the ECS may contribute to the regulation of allergic diseases, the
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underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood and human data are still
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scarce. In the same way, whether CB1 might represent a potential novel biomarker in the
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context of allergy or other immune tolerance-related diseases remains completely
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unknown and requires further investigations. Up to date, the lack of appropriate tools
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has hampered these particular studies. In this regard, antibodies for CB1 could be
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employed, but they have important limitations in terms of sensitivity and specificity
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likely due to the poor immunogenicity reported for CBRs.26, 27 In addition, the batch-to-
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batch variations inherent the way in which antibodies are produced has been recognized
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as an important problem of accuracy and reliability.28, 29 Therefore, there is a need for
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the development of tools that enable the direct visualization and quantification of CB1 in
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immune cells. The availability of such tools would allow the quantification of up- or
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down-regulation of CB1 as a disease biomarker in a straightforward manner both in
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peripheral blood and tissue samples, which might well contribute to stratify patients for
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personalized medicine.
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In this work, we develop and validate the first fluorescent small molecule probe that
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allows the visualization and quantification of CB1 in peripheral blood and tonsil immune
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cells. For this purpose, we coupled the synthetic cannabinoid agonist HU21030 to the
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fluorescent tag Alexa Fluor 488. The resulting fluorescence probe displays high affinity
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for CB1 and selectivity over CB2. We validate this probe as a chemical tool for the
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rapid, simultaneous and reproducible identification of functional CB1 in human
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monocytes, T cells and B cells from peripheral blood and tonsils by flow cytometry in a
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single multiplexed manner. In addition, we demonstrate that HU210-Alexa488 is
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suitable for the visualization of CB1 in tonsil tissues, which allows the ex vivo
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identification of tonsil T and B cell subsets expressing this receptor. This study provides
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the first fluorescent chemical tool to interrogate CB1 expression in blood and tonsil
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immune cells, which might well pave the way to unravel the functional features of CB1
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and to uncover the potential role of this receptor as a novel biomarker not only for
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allergy but also for other immune related diseases. The applicability of this validated
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fluorescent probe could be also extended to other ECS-related diseases.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
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Development of a CB1-specific fluorescence small molecule probe
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A small molecule fluorescent probe to visualize and quantify CB1 should contain three
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main components: i) a high affinity CB1 ligand with a position amenable for
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derivatization, ii) an appropriate fluorophore and iii) a suitable spacer to avoid potential
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steric interferences of the bulky fluorophore that could produce the loss of affinity for
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the receptor under study (Figure 1A). Regarding the ligand, among the cannabinoids
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that could be initially considered, the main endocannabinoids (AEA, 2-AG) were ruled
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out because our previous studies revealed that the attachment of tags to these ligands
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reduces the affinity of the probes, which restricts their use to the visualization of the
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CBRs only to transfected cells.31 We focused our efforts on the synthetic high-affinity
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cannabinoid ligand HU210 [Ki (CB1) = 0.061 nM, Ki (CB2) = 0.52 nM],30 because we
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previously demonstrated that this ligand admits the introduction of biotin in the free
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allylic hydroxyl group without any important loss of affinity (Figure 1B).16,
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Biotinylated probes 1 and 2 have been successfully used for the visualization of CB1 in
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neurons and in different immune cells, but they require a two-step labelling process and
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additional steps to block endogenous biotin, which do not make them suitable for flow
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cytometry clinical routine or tissue staining. To avoid these drawbacks, we selected the
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bright fluorescent Alexa Fluor 488 dye that is commonly used for flow cytometry and
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confocal microscopy imaging. The spacer between the ligand and fluorophore consists
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of a 6-aminocarbonyl linker that will be attached to the HU210 through amide
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functionality to avoid the potential lability of the ester group (Figure 1A).
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Martín-Fontecha et al. A
B
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Figure 1. Development of a CB1 fluorescent probe. (A) Scheme of the main
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components of a fluorescent probe and structure of the HU210-Alexa Fluor 488 probe
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3. (B) Structure of the cannabinoid ligand HU210 and biotin-based probes 1 and 2
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previously described.
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The preparation of the desired fluorescent compound 3 involved the synthesis of the
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HU210 scaffold functionalized as the corresponding allylic amine, followed by the
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incorporation of the appropriate spacer and further coupling with the commercially
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available tetrafluorophenyl (TFP) ester of Alexa Fluor 488 (Scheme 1). Thus, phenol
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433 was protected as triisopropylsilyl (TIPS) ether under microwave (MW) irradiation,
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followed by removal of the pivaloyl group with lithium aluminum hydride to afford
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alcohol 5, which was transformed into the corresponding allylic amine 7 through
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Mitsunobu reaction with phthalimide and subsequent deprotection, using hydrazine as
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the cleaving reagent. Condensation of 7 with 6-(N-Boc-amino)hexanoic acid and further
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removal of TIPS and Boc protecting groups yielded 6-aminohexanamide 10, which was
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finally coupled with Alexa Fluor 488 TFP ester to afford fluorescent derivative 3.
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Bioconjugate Chemistry
Martín-Fontecha et al. 152
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Scheme 1 Synthesis of the fluorescent probe 3. Reagents and conditions: (a) TIPS-Cl,
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imidazole, DMF, MW, 200 ⁰C, 95%; (b) LiAlH4, THF, 0 ⁰C, 72%; (c) phthalimide, PPh3,
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DEAD, THF, rt, 93%; (d) i) N2H4·H2O, EtOH, reflux; ii) HCl/H2O 1:1 reflux to rt, 96%; (e) 6-
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(N-Boc-amino)hexanoic acid, DCC, DCM, rt, 74%; (f) TBAF, THF, 0 ⁰C, 81%; (g) TFA, DCM,
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rt, 84%; (h) Alexa Fluor 488 TFP ester, DCM, DMF, rt, 66%.
159 160
Affinity of synthesized compound 3 for CB1 and CB2 was assessed by radioligand
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competitive binding assays using membranes of HEK-293-EBNA cells transfected with
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human CB1 and CB2, respectively, and [3H]-CP55940 as radioligand. Interestingly,
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fluorescent probe 3 exhibited affinity values in the nanomolar range toward CB1, while
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showing almost no affinity for CB2 (submicromolar range) [Ki (CB1)=27±4 nM; Ki
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(CB2)=0.8±0.2 μM]. Therefore, the newly identified fluorescent derivative 3 displays an
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optimized profile in terms of affinity and selectivity (30-fold over CB2) to carry out its
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validation as a chemical tool to interrogate CB1 in immune system cells.
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Martín-Fontecha et al. 169
Validation of HU210-Alexa488 probe 3 to detect and quantify CB1-expressing
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immune cells by flow cytometry
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To assess the capacity of the new fluorescent probe 3 to identify and quantify peripheral
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blood CB1-expressing immune cells by flow cytometry, we isolated peripheral blood
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mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors and stained with probe 3 (1 μM) or
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with Alexa Fluor 488 alkyne (1 μM) as control (Figure 1A). We analysed the expression
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of CB1 in lymphocytes and monocytes by gating according to cell size and granularity
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(Figure 2A). Around 60% of lymphocytes and 80% of monocytes stained positive with
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HU210-Alexa488 fluorescent probe 3, whereas only around 1% and 4%, respectively,
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did so with control Alexa Fluor 488 alkyne (Figure 2A). As negative control, we also
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used the HEK293T cell line (Figure 2B), which does not constitutively express CBRs.
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HEK cells did not stain positive with probe 3 beyond the basal background detected
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with the control supporting that the probe 3 did not show non-specific binding (Figure
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2B). An excess of unlabelled HU210 (50 μM), but not of the CB2 selective agonist
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HU3084, 30 (50 μM) significantly shifted the positive staining detected with probe 3 (1
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μM) in both lymphocytes and monocytes (Figure S1), thus confirming the specificity of
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this fluorescent probe to detect CB1-expressing cells in peripheral blood by flow
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cytometry. These data strongly suggest that the fluorescent signal provided by probe 3
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is due to CB1 but not to CB2 expression. We also analysed the stained PBMC and HEK
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cells after cytospin by confocal microscopy (Figure 2C). CB1-expessing cells were only
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visualized in PBMC but not in HEK cells, supporting the flow cytometry results. Our
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cumulative data revealed that the percentage of CB1-expressing cells within monocytes
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is significantly higher than within lymphocytes (Figure 2D). Mean fluorescent intensity
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(MFI) analysis for probe 3 indicated that the density of CB1 was also significantly
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higher in monocytes than lymphocytes (Figure 2D). Supporting these data, the CB1
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Martín-Fontecha et al. 194
mRNA levels were also significantly higher in purified monocytes than lymphocytes as
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determined by quantitative PCR (Figure 2E). To further confirm the CB1 specificity, we
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stained PBMC with probe 3 and retrieved the obtained positive and negative fractions
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after cell sorting by flow cytometry to quantify the mRNA expression of CB1 (Figure
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2F). Our data demonstrated that the cells contained in the fraction that stain positive for
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probe 3 display significantly higher levels of CB1-specific mRNA than those contained
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in the negative fraction, supporting the correlation between probe 3 fluorescence signal
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and CB1 expression (Figure 2F). Collectively, all these data demonstrated that HU210-
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Alexa488 probe 3 represents the first fluorescent chemical probe suitable to identify and
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quantify peripheral blood CB1-expressing immune cells by flow cytometry.
204 Lymphocytes
A PBMC
Control
Control
Probe 3
4.1%
59.4%
79.1%
Alexa488
FS
Lymphoid gate
FS
SS
B
C
HEK cells Control
PBMC Control
Probe 3 1.5%
HEK cells Probe 3
Control
Probe 3
2.4%
FS
60
40
20
0
**
800
** 600
400
200 60 40 20 0
** **
150
F *
PBMC
** **
Probe +
100
50
Probe -
SS
0
205 206
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1000
CB1 mRNA expression A.u. rel EF1α (x104)
80
** **
ΔMFI after control subtraction
E 100
Alexa488
D
CB1 mRNA expression A.u. rel EF1α (x104)
Alexa488
Monocytes
Probe 3
1.0%
Monocyte gate
% of positive cells after control subtraction
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Bioconjugate Chemistry
*
100
10
1
0 .1
0 .0 1
Probe-
Probe+
Bioconjugate Chemistry 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Martín-Fontecha et al. 207
Figure 2. Validation of HU210-Alexa488 probe 3 to detect and quantify CB1-expressing
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immune cells by flow cytometry. Representative flow cytometry dot plots after staining with
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HU210-Alexa488 probe 3 (1 μM) or Alexa Fluor 488 alkyne [2-(6-amino-3-iminio-4,5-
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disulfonato-3H-xanthen-9-yl)-5-(prop-2-yn-1-ylcarbamoyl)benzoate] (1 μM) as control of (A)
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gated lymphocytes and monocytes from whole PBMC or (B) HEK cells. (C) Representative
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confocal microscopy images of PBMC and HEK cells after staining with probe 3 or control. (D)
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Percentages and mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) after control subtraction of lymphocytes and
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monocytes in freshly isolated PBMC (n=6 independent experiments) and HEK cells (n=4
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independent experiments) stained positive with probe 3. (E) mRNA expression levels of CB1 in
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sorted lymphocytes, monocytes and HEK cells (n=4 independent experiments) as determined by
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quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Arbitrary units (A.u.) are 2-(ΔCt) values multiplied by 104, with
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ΔCt defined as the difference between the cycle threshold value for CB1 gene and elongation
219
factor 1α (EF1α) as a housekeeping gene. (F) Representative dot plot of the cells stained
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negative or positive with probe 3 in whole freshly isolated PBMC and employed gates for
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subsequent flow cytometry cell sorting. mRNA expression levels of CB1 in sorted cells stained
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negative and positive with probe 3 (n=6 independent experiments). *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01.
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Data represent means with SEMs.
224 225
HU210-Alexa488 probe 3 as a flow cytometry tool to monitor changes in CB1
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expression in blood and tonsil immune cells
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Plasma membrane CB1 decrease following long agonist exposure as a consequence of
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finely regulated mechanisms that shuttle the receptor to lysosomes for degradation,
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contributing to the control of downstream signaling during sustained stimulation.34-36 To
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determine whether the probe 3 could be used to monitor changes in plasma membrane
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CB1, we cultured PBMC in medium or stimulated with the cannabinoid agonists
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WIN552122 or HU210 for 18 h and we tracked CB1 expression with probe 3 (1 μM) by
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flow cytometry (Figure 3A). The percentage of blood lymphocytes expressing CB1 as 12 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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Bioconjugate Chemistry
Martín-Fontecha et al. 234
well as the expression levels of the receptor were significantly downregulated after
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prolonged stimulation with both synthetic cannabinoids (Figure 3A), demonstrating that
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probe 3 is able to detect up- and down-regulation of plasma membrane CB1 in blood
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immune cells.
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Next, we isolated tonsil mononuclear cells (TMC) from the tissue following our
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previously described protocols37 and assessed the capacity of probe 3 to identify tonsil
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CB1-expressing immune cells by flow cytometry (Figure 3B). Tonsils are easily
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accessible secondary lymph organs located at the main gateway of the respiratory and
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digestive tracts, representing the first contact point of the immune system with all the
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pathogens and allergens that enter the body via these ways.12,
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showed that human tonsils are organs where the induction of oral tolerance occurs
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through the generation of functional allergen-specific regulatory T (Treg) cells.12, 13, 37
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Tonsils are organs where immune regulation to viral and bacterial infections,
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immunometabolism and allergy takes place.39-41 Interestingly, the expression of CB1 at
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the mRNA level is upregulated in TMC from allergic patients compared to healthy
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donors.16 The availability of chemical fluorescent probes to track up- and down-
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regulation of tonsil CB1-expressing cells is of utmost importance to monitor changes in
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the expression of this receptor at the protein level. Our data revealed that probe 3 (1
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μM) also allows the detection of CB1-expressing cells in TMC (Figure 3B). The
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percentage of CB1-expressing cells was also significantly downregulated in TMC
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stimulated with the synthetic cannabinoids WIN552122 or HU210 for 18 h compared to
255
the unstimulated condition (Figure 3B). Collectively, all these data demonstrated that
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HU210-Alexa488 probe 3 is a suitable tool to monitor physiological changes in the
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expression pattern of plasma membrane CB1 in blood and tonsil immune cells by flow
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cytometry.
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37, 38
We previously
Bioconjugate Chemistry
Martín-Fontecha et al. 259
PBMC
60
** ***
40 20
60
0
*
WIN552122
US
*
60.5%
34.9%
HU210 40.3%
40
Alexa488
80
ΔMFI after control subtraction
% of positive cells after control subtraction
A
20
0
FS
TMC
B
40
20
0
*
*
50 40
WIN552122
US
* **
43.5%
24.6%
HU210 33.4%
30
Alexa488
60
ΔMFI after control subtraction
% of positive cells after control subtraction
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20 10 0
FS
260 261 262
Figure 3. HU210-Alexa488 probe 3 allows the tracking of changes in CB1 expression in blood
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and tonsil immune cells by flow cytometry. Percentages and mean fluorescent intensity (MFI)
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of (A) PBMC and (B) TMC cultured in medium (US) or with cannabinoid agonists WIN552122
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or HU210 for 18 h (n=5 independent experiments) stained with probe 3 (1 μM) after control
266
subtraction. Representative flow cytometry dot plots are also displayed in each case. *P < 0.05,
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**P < 0.01 and ***P