Hematopoietic Modulation by the Tachykinins

We have been studying hematopoietic effects by the tachykinins, which like many other neuropeptides can be expressed in neural and nonneural tissues. Substance P (SP) and neurokinin-A (NK-A), members of the tachykinins are immune and hematopoietic modulators. SP and NK-A are derived from the preprotachykinin-I gene (PPT-I) through alternate splicing and posttranslational modification. In the bone marrow (BM), nerve fibers provide a source of neural SP and the stroma provides a source of nonneural SP. The tachykinins interact with each of three cloned neurokinin (NK) receptors (NK-1R, NK-2R, NK-3R) with SP and NK-A exhibiting binding preferences for NK-1R and NK-2R, respectively. Proliferation of myeloid progenitors (CFU-GM) is differentially regulated by SP and NK-A. The former enhances the proliferation whereas the latter is inhibitory. The BM stroma mediates most of the hematopoietic effects exerted by SP and NK-A partly through the induction of cytokines. The proliferative effects of SP correlate with the induction of positive hematopoietic growth factors such as IL-3, IL-6, GM-CSF and c-kit ligand and the inhibitory effects by NK-A correlate with the induction of two negative hematopoietic regulators, MlP-lα and TGF-β. Intracellular signals mediated by NK-1R and NK-2R are part of the mechanism responsible for tachykinin-mediated regulation of hematopoiesis. The stimulatory effects on BM progenitors mediated by NK-1R can be partly inhibited by NK-2R activation. IL-1 and other cytokines induced by SP in BM stroma modulate NK-1R induction. Furthermore, SP can induce IL-1 type I receptor in stroma. Together, these data suggest that the tachykinins and the cytokines interact to regulate hematopoiesis. These interactions contribute to hematopoietic regulation by mechanisms that involve induction of: (1) tachykinins and cytokines by each other; (2) NK-1R by cytokines and (3) cytokine receptor by the tachykinins. These studies emphasize that in terms of hematopoiesis, the cytokines and neuropeptides are not mutually exclusive factors and thus, the hematopoietic regulatory network would be incomplete without the role of neuropeptides being considered.