Reverse signaling from LIGHT promotes pro-inflammatory responses in the human monocytic leukemia cell line, THP-1

•LIGHT-mediated signaling was analyzed in human macrophage cell line THP-1.•LIGHT triggering induced expression of MMP-9 and IL-8.•LIGHT triggering suppressed phagocytic activity of THP-1 cells.•ERK/PI3K/NF-κB mediated in the signaling induced by LIGHT. LIGHT is a type II transmembrane protein belonging to the TNF superfamily which is involved in co-stimulation of T cells or apoptosis in tumors. In this study, the possibility of LIGHT-mediated reverse signaling was tested in the human monocytic leukemia cell line, THP-1. For stimulation of LIGHT, cells were stimulated with specific monoclonal antibody and changes in macrophage-related functions such as phagocytosis, adhesion, migration, cytokine secretion, and production of pro-inflammatory mediators were tested. Triggering of LIGHT induced production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as interleukin (IL)-8 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 while suppressing the phagocytic activity. Utilization of signaling inhibitors and Western blot demonstrated that LIGHT activated ERK MAPK and PI3K and the major inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB. These data indicate that LIGHT-mediated signaling could modulate the macrophage activities and that successful regulation of its activity could be beneficial to the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions where macrophages play an important role.