Differential transcriptional profiles induced by amphotericin B formulations on human monocytes during response to hyphae of Aspergillus fumigatus

Amphotericin B formulations possess diverse immunomodulatory properties that may contribute to the activity of phagocytes against invasive aspergillosis. In this work we provide a novel set of data on different gene transcriptional profiles of monocytes exposed to the combination of Aspergillus fumigatus and amphotericin B formulations. We used pathway-specific microarray analysis, RT-PCR analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to compare the effects of amphotericin B deoxycholate (DAMB) at 1 μg/ml and amphotericin B lipid complex (ABLC) at 5 μg/ml to assess gene expression of immune molecules of THP-1 cells exposed to A. fumigatus hyphae (AF) for 4 h. A. fumigatus hyphae at effector/target ratio 10/1 induced mostly chemotactic factors for monocyte recruitment. DAMB at 1 μg/ml in the presence or absence of AF induced the most pronounced changes in pro-inflammatory and chemokine gene expression, while ABLC under the same conditions caused less dramatic effect. There was a reciprocal response of increased expression of the genes encoding IL-1β and IL-20 and decreased expression of IL-10, IL-2 and IL-3 in response of monocytes to both the hyphae and antifungal agents. These results demonstrate that amphotericin B formulations exert differential effects on genes encoding pro-inflammatory molecules, immunoregulatory molecules and chemokines by human monocytes during response to A. fumigatus and that these molecules may affect antifungal activity.