Abstract

The type 4 phosphodiesterase (PDE4) is the predominant PDE isozyme in various leukocytes and plays a key role in the regulation of inflammatory cell activation. There are four PDE4 subtypes (A, B, C, and D), and within each subtype, there are multiple variants. Very recently, we found in monocytes that PDE4B gene expression is selectively induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and that the induction is inhibited by interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-4. In this study, we show that the PDE4B gene is constitutively expressed in neutrophils and that this expression remains unaffected by LPS or IL-10. PDE4B is the predominant subtype in neutrophils and in unstimulated or LPS-stimulated monocytes, and in these cells, the PDE4B2 variant is the only detectable molecular species of PDE4B. Therefore, PDE4B2 is the predominant PDE isoform in human neutrophils and monocytes, and its expression is regulated differently by these two cell types. Furthermore, leukocytes are the most dominant source of PDE4B2, suggesting that PDE4B2 is a relatively specific target for discovering anti-inflammatory drugs.