• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.281-286
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• 2012

Helminthic infections afflict over 1.5 billion people worldwide, while Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects one third of the world's population, resulting in 2 million deaths per year. Although tuberculosis and helminthic infections coexist in many parts of the world, and it has been demonstrated that the T-helper 2 and T-regulatory cell responses elicited by helminths can affect the ability of the host to control mycobacterial infection, it is still unclear whether helminth infections in fact affect tuberculosis disease. In this review article, current progress in the knowledge about the immunomodulation induced by helminths to diminish the protective immune responses to bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccination is reviewed, and the knowledge about the types of immune responses modulated by helminths and the consequences for tuberculosis are summarized. In addition, recent data supporting the significant reduction of both M. tuberculosis antigen-specific Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and TLR9 expression, and pro-inflammatory cytokine responses to TLR2 and TLR9 ligands in individuals with M. tuberculosis and helminth co-infection were discussed. This examination will allow to improve understanding of the immune responses to mycobacterial infection and also be of great relevance in combating human tuberculosis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.291-299
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• 2019

Background: Ginsenosides of Korean Red Ginseng extracts (RGE) and its saponin components suppress secretion of inflammasome-mediating cytokines, whereas the nonsaponin fraction (NS) of RGE oppositely stimulates cytokine secretion. Although direct exposure of NS to macrophages in mice induces cytokine production, oral administration of NS has not been studied in inflammasome-related disease in animal models. Methods: Mice were fed RGE or NS for 7 days and then developed peritonitis. Peritoneal cytokines were measured, and peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) were collected to assay expression levels of a set of toll-like receptors (TLRs) and cytokines in response to NS ingestion. In addition, the role of intestinal bacteria in NS-fed mice was assessed. The effect of preexposure to NS in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) on cytokine production was further confirmed. Results: NS ingestion attenuated secretion of peritoneal cytokines resulting from peritonitis. In addition, the isolated PECs from NS-fed mice presented lower TLR transcription levels than PECs from control diet-fed mice. BMDMs treated with NS showed downregulation of TLR4 mRNA and protein expression, which was mediated by the $TLR4-MyD88-NF{\kappa}B$ signal pathway. BMDMs pretreated with NS produced less cytokines in response to TLR4 ligands. Conclusion: NS administration directly inhibits TLR4 expression in inflammatory cells such as macrophages, thereby reducing secretion of cytokines during peritonitis.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2016

Chronic/cyclic neutropenia, leukocyte adhesion deficiency syndrome, Papillon-$Lef{\grave{e}}vre$ syndrome, and $Ch{\grave{e}}diak$-Higashi syndrome are associated with severe periodontitis, suggesting the importance of neutrophils in the maintenance of periodontal health. Various Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands are known to stimulate neutrophil function, including FcR-mediated phagocytosis. In the present study, the effect of TLR2 activation on the non-opsonic phagocytosis of oral bacteria and concomitant production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by human neutrophils was evaluated. Neutrophils isolated from peripheral blood were incubated with Streptococcus sanguinis or Porphyromonas gingivalis in the presence of various concentrations of $Pam_3CSK_4$, a synthetic TLR2 ligand, and analyzed for phagocytosis and ROS production by flow cytometry and chemiluminescence, respectively. $Pam_3CSK_4$ significantly increased the phagocytosis of both bacterial species in a dose-dependent manner. However, the enhancing effect was greater for S. sanguinis than for P. gingivalis. $Pam_3CSK_4$ alone induced ROS production in neutrophils and also increased concomitant ROS production induced by bacteria. Interestingly, incubation with P. gingivalis and $Pam_3CSK_4$ decreased the amounts of ROS, as compared to $Pam_3CSK_4$ alone, indicating the possibility that P. gingivalis survives within neutrophils. However, neutrophils efficiently killed phagocytosed bacteria of both species despite the absence of $Pam_3CSK_4$. Although P. gingivalis is poorly phagocytosed even by the TLR2-activated neutrophils, TLR2 activation of neutrophils may help to reduce the colonization of P. gingivalis by efficiently eliminating S. sanguinis, an early colonizer, in subgingival biofilm.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1051-1058
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• 2014

Platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR) plays an important role in bacterial infection and inflammation. We examined the effect of the bacterial cell wall components lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from Lactobacillus plantarum (pLTA) and Staphylococcus aureus (aLTA) on PAFR expression in THP-1, a monocyte-like cell line. LPS and aLTA, but not pLTA, significantly increased PAFR expression, whereas priming with pLTA inhibited LPS-mediated or aLTA-mediated PAFR expression. Expression of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and 4, and CD14 increased with LPS and aLTA treatments, but was inhibited by pLTA pretreatment. Neutralizing antibodies against TLR2, TLR4, and CD14 showed that these receptors were important in LPS-mediated or aLTA-mediated PAFR expression. PAFR expression is mainly regulated by the nuclear factor kappa B signaling pathway. Blocking PAF binding to PAFR using a PAFR inhibitor indicated that LPS-mediated or aLTA-mediated PAF expression affected TNF-${\alpha}$ production. In the mouse small intestine, pLTA inhibited PAFR, TLR2, and TLR4 expression that was induced by heat-labile toxin. Our data suggested that pLTA has an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the expression of PAFR that was induced by pathogenic ligands.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.134-137
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• 2018

S100A8 and S100A9 are involved in pathogenesis of cancer by induction or inhibition of cancer as well as inflammation. In this study, we investigated the association of S100A8 and S100A9 with pathogenesis of leukemia using human monocytic leukemia cells, THP-1. The expression of TLR4, which is a known receptor of S100A8 and S100A9, was examined by using flow cytometry and Western blotting. THP-1 cells have high surface and cytosol expression of TLR4. S100A8 and S100A9 suppressed the cell survival, and this suppression was found to be associated with apoptosis because they increased the number of apoptotic cells in a dose- and a time-dependent manners. However, S100A8 and S100A9 had no effect on the survival and apoptosis of monocytes isolated from the peripheral blood. We next examined the apoptotic effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA), which are other ligands of TLR4, in THP-1 cells. Lipopolysaccharide had no effect on cell survival, but MPLA is effective on the cell apoptosis. These results suggest that S100A8 and S100A9 may regulate leukemia cell survival via TLR4, which is an essential receptor in the pro-apoptotic mechanism induced by S100A8 and S100A9. These findings may shed light on development of a possible therapeutic drug for leukemia treatment.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.181-190
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• 2007

Compound K (CK), a protopanaxadiol ginsenoside metabolite, was previously shown to have immunomodulatory effects. In this study, we isolated the CK rich fractions (CKRF) from Korean Red Ginseng and investigated the regulation of CKRF-mediated inflammatory signaling during Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated cellular activation. Among various TLR ligands, CKRF considerably abrogated TLR4- or TLR9-induced inflammatory signaling. Both LPS and CpG-containing oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) stimulation rapidly activates mitogen-activated protein kinases [MAPKs; extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 and p38], NF-${\kappa}B$, and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$, and interleukin-6 in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Of interest, pre-treatment of CKRF in either LPS/TLR4- or CpG-ODN/TLR9-stimulated macrophages substantially attenuated the LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine production and mRNA expressions, as well as MAPK and NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. To our knowledge, this is the first description of the inhibitory roles for CKRF in TLR4- or TLR9-associated signaling in BMDMs. Collectively, these results demonstrate that CKRF specifically modulates distinct TLR4 and TLR9-mediated inflammatory responses, and further studies are urgently needed for their in vivo roles for potential therapeutic uses, such as in systemic inflammatory syndromes.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.185-191
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• 2019

Nucleoporin 210 (Nup210) is associated with several physiological processes including muscle and neural cell differentiation, autoimmune diseases, and peripheral T cell homeostasis. Chicken Nup210 (chNup210) gene was originally identified as one of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the kidney tissues of chicken. To elucidate the role of Nup210 in metabolic disease of chicken, we studied the molecular characteristics of chNup210 and analyzed its gene expression under the stimulation of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) ligands. The Nup210 genomic DNA and amino acid sequences of various species including fowls, fishes, and mammals were retrieved from the Ensemble database and subjected to bioinformatics analyses. The expression of Nup210 from several chicken tissues was probed through qRT-PCR, and chicken fibroblast DF-1 cell line was used to determine the change in expression of chNup210 after stimulation with TLR3 ligand, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly (I:C)). The chNup210 gene was highly expressed in chicken lung and spleen tissues. Although highly conserved among the species, chNup210 was evolutionary clustered in the same clade as that of duck compared to other mammals. Furthermore, this study revealed that chNup210 is expressed in TLR3 signaling pathway and provides fundamental information on Nup210 expression in chicken. Future studies that offer insight into the involvement of chNup210 in the chicken innate immune response against viral infection are recommended.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2013

iNOS (Inducible nitric oxide synthase) and TLR-4 (Toll-like Receptor-4) play crucial roles in innate immunity of poultry. iNOS has been mapped to chicken chromosome 14 and implicated in a variety of chicken diseases. iNOS possesses potent antimicrobial activity, including the inhibition of microbes replication in vitro. TLR-4 is a pathogen associated molecular-pattern receptor for bacterial product, such as LPS (lipopolysaccharides) found in Gram negative bacteria, that triggers pro-inflammatory cytokine expression after engagement with ligands. In the previous studies, genetic analysis of iNOS and TLR-4 revealed the possible association of mutation in these genes with the intestinal microflora of cecum when infected with Salmonella spp. This study was aimed to augment previous findings, which show the association of iNOS (C14513T) and TLR-4 (G4409T) polymorphisms with economic traits in Korean Native Black (KNB), Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Cornish chickens. Investigation in the effect of SNPs on economic traits (layday, layw, layno, bw150, bw270, layw270) was conducted. iNOS (C14513T) had a significant effect on the average body weight at 270 days of age (p<0.05) in both KNB and RIR, whereas TLR-4 (G4409T) showed no significant correlation with all traits (p>0.05). The results obtained from using the candidate genes can be useful for the genetic improvement of body weight in both KNB and RIR breeds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.580-586
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• 2014

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) forming the barrier for the first-line of protection are interconnected by tight junction (TJ) proteins. TJ alteration results in impaired barrier function, which causes potentially excessive inflammation leading to intestinal disorders. It has been suggested that toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 ligands and some bacteria enhance epithelial barrier function in humans and mice. However, no such study has yet to be claimed in swine. The aim of the present study was to examine whether Bacillus subtilis could improve barrier integrity and protection against deoxynivalenol (DON)-induced barrier disruption in porcine intestinal epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2). We found that B. subtilis decreased permeability of TJ and improved the expression of zonula occludens (ZO)-1 and occludin during the process of forming TJ. In addition, ZO-1 expression of IPEC-J2 cells treated with B. subtilis was up-regulated against DON-induced damage. In conclusion, B. subtilis may have potential to enhance epithelial barrier function and to prevent the cells from DON-induced barrier dysfunction.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.42.1-42.20
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• 2021

Eosinophils play critical roles in the maintenance of homeostasis in innate and adaptive immunity. Although primarily known for their roles in parasitic infections and the development of Th2 cell responses, eosinophils also play complex roles in other immune responses ranging from anti-inflammation to defense against viral and bacterial infections. However, the contributions of pattern recognition receptors in general, and NOD-like receptors (NLRs) in particular, to eosinophil involvement in these immune responses remain relatively underappreciated. Our in vivo studies demonstrated that NLRC4 deficient mice had a decreased number of eosinophils and impaired Th2 responses after induction of an allergic airway disease model. Our in vitro data, utilizing human eosinophilic EoL-1 cells, suggested that TLR2 induction markedly induced pro-inflammatory responses and inflammasome forming NLRC4 and NLRP3. Moreover, activation by their specific ligands resulted in caspase-1 cleavage and mature IL-1β secretion. Interestingly, Th2 responses such as secretion of IL-5 and IL-13 decreased after transfection of EoL-1 cells with short interfering RNAs targeting human NLRC4. Specific induction of NLRC4 with PAM3CSK4 and flagellin upregulated the expression of IL-5 receptor and expression of Fc epsilon receptors (FcεR1α, FcεR2). Strikingly, activation of the NLRC4 inflammasome also promoted expression of the costimulatory receptor CD80 as well as expression of immunoregulatory receptors PD-L1 and Siglec-8. Concomitant with NLRC4 upregulation, we found an increase in expression and activation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, but not MMP-2. Collectively, our results present new potential roles of NLRC4 in mediating a variety of eosinopilic functions.