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Nicotine treatment alters NF-kappaB expression in human cytomegalovirus-infected ARPE-19 cells
Anissa E Buckner1, Richard D Dix
1Department of Ophthalmology, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA. buckneranissae@uams.edu
Purpose:
To test if nicotine counteracts the dampening effect of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection of NF-kappaB in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, thereby increasing the permissiveness of RPE cells for HCMV replication.
Methods:
Human ARPE-19 cells were transfected with NF-kappaB luciferase DNA, inoculated with HCMV at 24 hr post-transfection, and maintained in the absence or presence of a physiologic dose of nicotine at 1 hr prior to HCMV inoculation.
Results:
Whereas HCMV-infected ARPE-19 cells without nicotine treatment showed a dramatic decrease in NF-kappaB levels, nicotine treatment reduced this decrease but did not abolish it completely. Nicotine treatment of uninfected ARPE-19 cells had no effect on baseline NF-kappaB levels.
Conclusions:
Treatment of HCMV-infected ARPE-19 cells with nicotine at a physiologic dose dampened the downregulation of NF-kappaB observed in HCMV-infected ARPE-19 cells without nicotine treatment. We conclude that nicotine can serve as a cofactor to stimulate productive, lytic replication of HCMV.
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