Investigation of the kynurenine pathway in Indoleamine 2, 3 dioxygenase deficient mice with inflammatory arthritis

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid involved in the protein synthesis, cognition, and immunity. Oxidative catabolism of tryptophan is executed by the sets of biochemical reactions collectively referred to as the kynurenine pathway. In the immune system, two distinct enzymes, Indoleamne 2,3 dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and Indoleamine 2, 3 dioxygenase 2 (IDO2) can initiate metabolic flux through the kynurenine pathway. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease driven by the exacerbated immune response towards self antigens and characterized by the chronic inflammatory reaction of the diarthrodial joints. Collagen induced arthritis (CIA) is an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis. Using CIA in wild type (WT) and mice deficient with Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (Ido1KO), it was of interest to test the impact of Ido1 deletion on the concentration of tryptophan and its catabolites as well as on mRNA expression for other genes on the kynurenine pathway. Here, when compared with samples taken from naïve WT animals and those with CIA, it was found that only in the inguinal lymph nodes (iLN) taken from Ido1KO mice with CIA tryptophan concentration was significantly increased. In contrast, mRNA expression for Ido2 was decreased in naïve as well as in the diseased iLN taken from Ido1KO mice. Deletion of Ido1 and reduced mRNA expression for Ido2 neither affected the concentration of the downstream metabolites of tryptophan nor mRNA expression for downstream genes on the kynurenine pathway in iLN. Moreover, the concentration of kynurenine in sera of mice with CIA was significantly decreased in Ido1KO mice with arthritis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11248-013-9696-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.