Nitric oxide inhibits indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in interferon-gamma primed mononuclear phagocytes

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and nitric oxide synthase are part of the anti-tumor and antimicrobial activities of mononuclear phagocytes induced by interferon-gamma (IFN gamma). As IDO is a heme-containing enzyme and NO, the product of nitric oxide synthase-initiated arginine degradation, is a regulator of heme enzymes, we investigated whether NO is capable of modulating IDO activity in IFN gamma-primed mononuclear phagocytes. Authentic NO gas or the NO-generating compound, diethylamine dinitric oxide adduct, dose-dependently inhibited IDO activity in cell lysates prepared from IFN gamma-primed human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, as assessed by the ascorbate/methylene blue assay for IDO. In contrast, neither nitrite nor nitrate affected IDO activity. Exposure of intact IFN gamma-primed human peripheral blood mononuclear cells or monocyte-derived macrophages to any of the NO-generating compounds, sodium nitroprusside, glyceryl trinitrate, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine, or diethylamine dinitric oxide adduct, resulted in inhibition of both the consumption of tryptophan from and formation of its metabolite, kynurenine, in the culture medium. The observed inhibition of IDO activity was not due to toxicity of the NO generators and was abrogated by the co-addition of oxyhemoglobin, an antagonist of NO function. Comparable concentrations of nitrite or nitrate did not inhibit IDO activity in intact cells. In contrast to human cells, addition of IFN gamma to murine macrophages, cultured in complete RPMI 1640 medium, readily induced nitric oxide synthase. Others have reported that such treatment does not induce IDO activity in these cells. However, induction of IDO activity was observed in murine macrophages when the synthesis of reactive nitrogen species was inhibited, by using arginine-free medium and/or the nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. Together, these results demonstrate that both exogenous and endogenous NO inhibit IDO activity and that oxidative arginine and tryptophan metabolism in IFN gamma-primed mononuclear phagocytes are functionally related. Our study thereby provides an insight into how these cells may regulate some of their antimicrobial and anti-tumor activities.