• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.18.1-18.13
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• 2021

TLR signaling is critical for broad scale immune recognition of pathogens and/or danger molecules. TLRs are particularly important for the activation and the maturation of cells comprising the innate immune response. In recent years it has become apparent that several different TLRs regulate the function of lymphocytes as well, albeit to a lesser degree compared to innate immunity. TLR2 heterodimerizes with either TLR1 or TLR6 to broadly recognize bacterial lipopeptides as well as several danger-associated molecular patterns. In general, TLR2 signaling promotes immune cell activation leading to tissue inflammation, which is advantageous for combating an infection. Conversely, inappropriate or dysfunctional TLR2 signaling leading to an overactive inflammatory response could be detrimental during sterile inflammation and autoimmune disease. This review will highlight and discuss recent research advances linking TLR2 engagement to autoimmune inflammation.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.237-247
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• 2020

Dendritic cell is one of the first innate immune cell to encounter T. gondii after the parasite crosses the host intestinal epithelium. T. gondii requires intact DC as a carrier to infiltrate into host central nervous system (CNS) without being detected or eliminated by host defense system. The mechanism by which T. gondii avoids innate immune defense of host cell, especially in the dendritic cell is unknown. Therefore, we examined the role of host PI3K/AKT signaling pathway activation by T. gondii in dendritic cell. T. gondii infection or T. gondii excretory/secretory antigen (TgESA) treatment to the murine dendritic cell line DC2.4 induced AKT phosphorylation, and treatment of PI3K inhibitors effectively suppressed the T. gondii proliferation but had no effect on infection rate or invasion rate. Furthermore, it is found that T. gondii or TgESA can reduce H₂O₂-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as host endogenous ROS via PI3K/AKT pathway activation. While searching for the main source of the ROS, we found that NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) expression was controlled by T. gondii infection or TgESA treatment, which is in correlation with previous observation of the ROS reduction by identical treatments. These findings suggest that the manipulation of the host PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and NOX4 expression is an essential mechanism for the down-regulation of ROS, and therefore, for the survival and the proliferation of T. gondii.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.23-23
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• 2015

Rice blast disease caused by M. oryzae is the most devastating fungal disease in rice. During the infection process, M. oryzae secretes a large number of glycosyl hydrolase (GH) proteins into the apoplast to digest host cell wall and assist fungal ingress into host tissues. In this study, we identified a novel M. oryze arabinofuranosidase B (MoAbfB) which is secreted during fungal infection. Live-cell imaging exhibited that fluorescent labeled MoAbfB was highly accumulated in fungal invasive structures such as appressorium, tips of penetration peg, biotrophic interfacial complex (BIC), as well as invasive hyphal tip. Deletion of MoAbfB mutants extended biotrophic phase followed by enhanced disease severity, whereas, over-expression of OsMoAbfB mutant induced rapid defense responses and enhanced rice resistance to M. oryzae infection. Furthermore, exogenous treatment of MoAbfB protein showed inhibition of fungal infection via priming of defense gene expression. We later found that the extract of MoAbfB degraded rice cell wall fragments could also induce host defense activation, suggesting that not MoAbfB itself but oligosaccharides (OGs) derived from MoAbfB dissolved rice cell wall elicited rice innate immunity.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.138-146
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• 2023

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite which can infect most warm-blooded animals and humans. Among the different mouse models, C57BL/6 mice are more susceptible to T. gondii infection compared to BALB/c mice, and this increased susceptibility has been attributed to various factors, including T-cell responses. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most prominent type of antigen-presenting cells and regulate the host immune response, including the response of T-cells. However, differences in the DC responses of these mouse strains to T. gondii infection have yet to be characterized. In this study, we cultured bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) from BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. These cells were infected with T. gondii. The activation of the BMDCs was assessed based on the expression of cell surface markers and cytokines. In the BMDCs of both mouse strains, we detected significant increases in the expression of cell surface T-cell co-stimulatory molecules (major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II, CD40, CD80, and CD86) and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-12p40, IL-1β, and IL-10) from 3 h post-T. gondii infection. The expression of MHC II, CD40, CD80, CD86, IFN-γ, IL-12p40, and IL-1β was significantly higher in the T. gondii-infected BMDCs obtained from the C57BL/6 mice than in those from the BALB/c mice. These findings indicate that differences in the activation status of the BMDCs in the BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice may account for their differential susceptibility to T. gondii.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.209-215
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• 2006

The mutability and frequency of genetic reassortment characteristic of rotavirus and resultant antigenic changes make the rotavirus formidable challenges for control efforts such as the vaccine development. An alternative approach to overcome these difficulties in development of the rotavirus vaccine is to develop effective inhibitors of the virus infection. As an effort to achieve this, effects of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), which is an active component of glycyrrhizin, on MA-14 cell infection were examined by employing the human rotavirus isolated from Korea, K-21. The data obtained showed that MA-104 cell infection of the K-21 rotavirus was greatly influenced by the presence of both $18{\alpha}-Ga\;and\;18{\beta}-GA$. Both types of GA have inhibited more than 60% of the rotaviral infection at the concentration of 7.68mM. This inhibition effect became much more evident at the higher concentrations of GA. However, the type of GA did not make much differences on the inhibition effect of the drug. Although GA has to be used in high concentrations to exhibit anti-viral activity and to be virostatic, a long history of safe and high dose usage of licoriece in clinical settings in the Far East makes the GA as an attractive inhibitor of the rotaviral infection.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.316-324
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• 2004

Sinorhizobium sp. strain MUS10 forms nitrogen-fixing stem nodules on Sesbania rostrata, a tropical green manure crop. In this study, the ultrastructural events associated with the formation of stem nodules were investigated. Sinorhizobium sp. strain MUS10 entered the host tissue through cracks created by the emerging adventitious root primordia and multiplied within the intercellular spaces. During early phases of infection, host cells adjacent to invading bacteria revealed cellular damage that is typical of hypersensitive reactions, while the cells at the inner cortex exhibited meristematic activity. Infection threads were numerous in S-day-old nodules and often were associated with the host cell wall. In several cases, more than one infection thread was found in individual cells. The junction at which the host cell walls converged was often enlarged due to fusion of intracellular branches of infection threads resulting in large infection pockets. The infection threads were made up of a homogeneous, amorphous matrix that enclosed the bacteria. Several finger-like projections were seen radiating from these enlarged infection threads and were delineated from the host cytoplasm by the plasma membrane. As in Azorhizobium caulinodans induced root nodules, the release of Sinorhizobia from the infection threads into the plant cells appears to be mediated by 'infection droplets'. A 15-day­old Sesbania stem nodule revealed typical ultrastructure features of a determinate nodule, containing several bacterioids within symbiosomes.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 2008

Herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK) is an inflammatory disorder induced by HSV-1 infection and characterized by T cell-dependent destruction of corneal tissues. It is not known what triggers $CD4^+$ T cell migration into the stroma of HSV-1-infected corneas. The keratocyte is a fibroblast-like cell that can function as an antigen-presenting cell in the mouse cornea by expressing MHC class II and costimulatory molecules after HSV-1 infection. We hypothesized that chemokines produced by stromal keratocytes are involved in $CD4^+$ T cell infiltration into the cornea. We found that keratocytes produce several cytokines and chemokines, including MCP-1, RANTES, and T cell activation (TCA)-3. HSV-1 infection increased the production of MCP-1 and RANTES by keratocytes, and these acted as chemoattractants for HSV-1-primed $CD4^+$ T cells expressing CCR2 and CCR5. ExpreHerpetic stromal keratitis (HSK) is an inflammatory disorder induced by HSV-1 infection and characterized by T cell-dependent destruction of corneal tissues. It is not known what triggers $CD4^+$ T cell migration into the stroma of HSV-1-infected corneas. The keratocyte is a fibroblast-like cell that can function as an antigen-presenting cell in the mouse cornea by expressing MHC class II and costimulatory molecules after HSV-1 infection. We hypothesized that chemokines produced by stromal keratocytes are involved in $CD4^+$ T cell infiltration into the cornea. We found that keratocytes produce several cytokines and chemokines, including MCP-1, RANTES, and T cell activation (TCA)-3. HSV-1 infection increased the production of MCP-1 and RANTES by keratocytes, and these acted as chemoattractants for HSV-1-primed $CD4^+$ T cells expressing CCR2 and CCR5. Expression of MCP-1 in the corneal stroma was confirmed in vivo. Finally, when HSV-1-primed $CD4^+$ T cells were adoptively transferred into wild type and MCP-1-deficient mice that had been sublethally irradiated to minimize chemokine production from immune cells, infiltration of $CD4^+$ T cells was markedly reduced in the MCP-1-deficient mice, suggesting that it is the MCP-1 from HSV-1-infected keratocytes that attracts $CD4^+$ T cells into the cornea.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.325-332
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• 2007

Cell-mediated immune response (CMI) is a major immune protective mechanism against tuberculosis (TB) infection. Among several components involved in CMI, recent studies suggest that CD8+ T cells are important in controlling TB infection. In our previous report, we defined four Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) derived epiotpe peptides specific for HLA-A*0201-restricted CD8+ T cells. These four peptides are $PstAl_{75-83}$, $ThyA_{30-38}$, $RpoB_{127-135}$ and $85B_{15-23}$. In this study, these epitope peptides specific CD8+ T cell responses in tuberculous pleurisy were investigated using ex vivo $IFN-\gamma$ elispot assay and intracellular $IFN-\gamma$ staining method. As a result, we observed these epitope peptide specific CD8+ T cell responses are induced in all three patients with tuberculous pleurisy suggesting that CD8+ T cells are involved in protective immune mechanism against MTB infection in tuberculous pleurisy. However, the CMI to mitogens and MTB antigens from pleural fluids of patients with tuberculous pleurisy does not seem to correlate with that from peripheral blood, although the sample size is too small to make any conclusion. In sum, the MHC I restricted CD8+ T cell responses seem to be induced efficiently in the pleural fluids, at the site of TB infection, in which the CMI is actively induced. In addition, these experiments suggest that MHC I restricted CD8+ T cell mediated immune responses are also involved in protective mechanism against MTB infection in extra-pulmonary TB.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.311-320
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• 2016

Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines (Xag) is a necrotrophic bacterial pathogen of the soybean that causes bacterial pustules and is a nonhost pathogen of the chili pepper. In the current study, chili pepper fruit wound inoculated in planta with Xag 8ra formed necrotic lesions on the fruit surface and induced several structural and chemical barriers systemically in the fruit tissue. The initial defense response included programmed cell death of necrotizing and necrotized cells, which was characterized by nuclear DNA cleavage, as detected by TUNEL-confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and phosphatidylserine exposure on cell walls distal to the infection site, as detected by Annexin V FLUOS-CLSM. These two responses may facilitate cell killing and enhance transportation of cell wall materials used for cell wall thickening, respectively. The cells beneath the necrotic tissue were enlarged and divided to form periclinal cell walls, resulting in extensive formation of several parallel boundary layers at the later stages of infection, accompanying the deposition of wall fortification materials for strengthening structural defenses. These results suggest that nonhost resistance of chili pepper fruit against the nonhost necrotrophic pathogen Xag 8ra is activated systematically from the initial infection until termination of the infection cycle, resulting in complete inhibition of bacterial pathogenesis by utilizing organspecific in situ physiological events governed by the expression of genes in the plant fruit organ.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.844-854
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• 2022

Helicobacter pylori, a group 1 carcinogen, colonizes the stomach and affects the development of stomach diseases. Progranulin (PGRN) is an autocrine growth factor that regulates multiple cellular processes and plays a tumorigenic role in many tissues. Nevertheless, the mechanism of action of PGRN in gastric cancer caused by H. pylori infection remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of PGRN in cell cycle progression and the cell proliferation induced by H. pylori infection. We found that the increased PGRN was positively associated with CDK4 expression in gastric cancer tissue. PGRN was upregulated by H. pylori infection, thereby promoting cell proliferation, and that enhanced level of proliferation was reduced by PGRN inhibitor. CDK4, a target gene of PGRN, is a cyclin-dependent kinase that binds to cyclin D to promote cell cycle progression, which was upregulated by H. pylori infection. We also showed that knockdown of CDK4 reduced the higher cell cycle progression caused by upregulated PGRN. Moreover, when the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway (which is promoted by PGRN) was blocked, the upregulation of CDK4 mediated by PGRN was reduced. These results reveal the potential mechanism by which PGRN plays a major role through CDK4 in the pathological mechanism of H. pylori infection.