CX3CR1 deficiency exacerbates immune-mediated hepatitis by increasing NF-κB-mediated cytokine production in macrophage and T cell

Immune-mediated hepatitis is marked by liver inflammation characterized by immune cell infiltration, chemokine/cytokine production, and hepatocyte injury. C-X3C motif receptor 1 (CX3CR1), as the receptor of chemokine C-X3C motif ligand 1 (CX3CL1)/fractalkine, is mainly expressed on immune cells including monocytes and T cells. Previous studies have shown that CX3CR1 protects against liver fibrosis, but the exact role of CX3CL1/CX3CR1 in acute immune-mediated hepatitis remains unknown. Here, we investigate the role of the CX3CL1/CX3CR1 axis in immune-mediated hepatitis using concanavalin A (ConA)-induced liver injury model in CX3CR1-deficient (Cx3cr1(-/-)) mice. We observed that Cx3cr1(-/-) mice had severe liver injury and increased pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-alpha], interferon-gamma [IFN-gamma], interleukin-1 beta [IL-1 beta], and IL-6) in serum and liver compared to wild-type (Cx3cr1(+/+)) mice after ConA injection. The deficiency of CX3CR1 did not affect ConA-induced immune cell infiltration in liver but led to elevated production of TNF-alpha in macrophages as well as IFN-gamma in T cells after ConA treatment. On the contrary, exogenous CX3CL1 attenuated ConA-induced cytokine production in wild type, but not CX3CR1-deficient macrophages and T cells. Furthermore, in vitro results showed that CX3CR1 deficiency promoted the pro-inflammatory cytokine expression by increasing the phosphorylation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) p65 (p-NF-kappa B p65). Finally, pre-treatment of p-NF-kappa B p65 inhibitor, resveratrol, attenuated ConA-induced liver injury and inflammatory responses, especially in Cx3cr1(-/-) mice. In conclusion, our data show that the deficiency of CX3CR1 promotes pro-inflammatory cytokine production in macrophages and T cells by enhancing the phosphorylation of NF-kappa B p65, which exacerbates liver injury in ConA-induced hepatitis.