TY - JOUR T1 - Analysis of In Vivo Nuclear Factor-κB Activation during Liver Inflammation in Mice: Prevention by Catalase Delivery JF - Molecular Pharmacology JO - Mol Pharmacol SP - 446 LP - 453 DO - 10.1124/mol.106.027169 VL - 71 IS - 2 AU - Kenji Hyoudou AU - Makiya Nishikawa AU - Yuki Kobayashi AU - Yukari Kuramoto AU - Fumiyoshi Yamashita AU - Mitsuru Hashida Y1 - 2007/02/01 UR - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/71/2/446.abstract N2 - Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is a transcription factor that plays crucial roles in inflammation, immunity, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Until now, there have been few studies of NF-κB activation in whole animals because of experimental difficulties. Here, we show that mice receiving a simple injection of plasmid vectors can be used to examine NF-κB activation in the liver. Two plasmid vectors, pNF-κB-Luc (firefly luciferase gene) and pRL-SV40 (Renilla reniformis luciferase gene), were injected into the tail vein of mice by the hydrodynamics-based procedure, an established method of gene transfer to mouse liver. Then, the ratio of the firefly and R. reniformis luciferase activities (F/R) was used as an indicator of the NF-κB activity in the liver. Injection of thioacetamide or lipopolysaccharide plus d-galactosamine increased the F/R ratio in the liver, and this was significantly (P < 0.001) inhibited by an intravenous injection of catalase derivatives targeting liver nonparenchymal cells. Imaging the firefly luciferase expression in live mice clearly demonstrated that the catalase derivatives efficiently prevented the NF-κB-mediated expression of the firefly luciferase gene. Plasma transaminases and the survival rate of mice supported the findings obtained by the luminescence-based analyses. Thus, this method, which requires no genetic recombination techniques, is highly sensitive to the activation of NF-κB and allows us to continuously examine the activation in live animals. In conclusion, this novel, simple, and sensitive method can be used not only for analyzing the NF-κB activation in the organ under different inflammatory conditions but also for screening drug candidates for the prevention of liver inflammation. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -