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Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin 2024There is accumulating evidence that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), clinically used as antidepressants, have a beneficial effect on inflammatory...
There is accumulating evidence that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), clinically used as antidepressants, have a beneficial effect on inflammatory diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We previously compared the inhibitory effects of five U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved SSRIs on the production of an inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and concluded that fluoxetine (FLX) showed the most potent anti-inflammatory activity. Here, we investigated the structure-activity relationship of FLX for anti-inflammatory activity towards J774.1 murine macrophages. FLX suppressed IL-6 production induced by the TLR3 agonist polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly(I : C)) with an IC of 4.76 µM. A derivative of FLX containing chlorine instead of the methylamino group lacked activity, suggesting that the methylamino group is important for the anti-inflammatory activity. FLX derivatives bearing an N-propyl or N-(pyridin-3-yl)methyl group in place of the N-methyl group exhibited almost the same activity as FLX. Other derivatives showed weaker activity, and the N-phenyl and N-(4-trifluoromethyl)benzyl derivatives were inactive. The chlorine-containing derivative also lacked inhibitory activity against TLR9- or TLR4-mediated IL-6 production. These derivatives showed similar structure-activity relationships for TLR3- and TLR9-mediated inflammatory responses. However, the activities of all amino group-containing derivatives against the TLR4-mediated inflammatory response were equal to or higher than the activity of FLX. These results indicate that the substituent at the nitrogen atom in FLX strongly influences the anti-inflammatory effect.
Topics: Structure-Activity Relationship; Animals; Fluoxetine; Mice; Interleukin-6; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Cell Line; Macrophages; Cytokines; Toll-Like Receptor 3; Poly I-C; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; Inflammation
PubMed: 38735732
DOI: 10.1248/bpb.b24-00083 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2024Intelectins belong to a family of lectins with specific and transitory carbohydrate interaction capabilities. These interactions are related to the activity of...
Intelectins belong to a family of lectins with specific and transitory carbohydrate interaction capabilities. These interactions are related to the activity of agglutinating pathogens, as intelectins play a significant role in immunity. Despite the prominent immune defense function of intelectins, limited information about its structural characteristics and carbohydrate interaction properties is available. This study investigated an intelectin transcript identified in RNA-seq data obtained from the South American lungfish (), namely LpITLN2-B. The structural analyses predicted LpITLN2-B to be a homo-trimeric globular protein with the fibrinogen-like functional domain (FReD), exhibiting a molecular mass of 57 kDa. The quaternary structure is subdivided into three monomers, A, B, and C, and each domain comprises 11 β-sheets: an anti-parallel β-sheet, a β-hairpin, and a disordered β-sheet structure. Molecular docking demonstrates a significant interaction with disaccharides rather than monosaccharides. The preferential interaction with disaccharides highlights the potential interaction with pathogen molecules, such as LPS and Poly(I:C). The hemagglutination assay inhibited lectins activity, especially maltose and sucrose, highlighting lectin activity in samples. Overall, our results show the potential relevance of LpITLN2-B in immune defense against pathogens.
Topics: Animals; Lectins; Immunity, Innate; Fishes; Fish Proteins; Molecular Docking Simulation; Amino Acid Sequence; GPI-Linked Proteins
PubMed: 38732017
DOI: 10.3390/ijms25094798 -
PloS One 2024In the fight against antimicrobial resistance, host defense peptides (HDPs) are increasingly referred to as promising molecules for the design of new antimicrobial...
In the fight against antimicrobial resistance, host defense peptides (HDPs) are increasingly referred to as promising molecules for the design of new antimicrobial agents. In terms of their future clinical use, particularly small, synthetic HDPs offer several advantages, based on which their application as feed additives has aroused great interest in the poultry sector. However, given their complex mechanism of action and the limited data about the cellular effects in production animals, their investigation is of great importance in these species. The present study aimed to examine the immunomodulatory activity of the synthetic HDP Pap12-6 (PAP) solely and in inflammatory environments evoked by lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C), in a primary chicken hepatocyte-non-parenchymal cell co-culture. Based on the investigation of the extracellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, PAP seemed to exert no cytotoxicity on hepatic cells, suggesting its safe application. Moreover, PAP was able to influence the immune response, reflected by the decreased production of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and "regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted"(RANTES), as well as the reduced IL-6/IL-10 ratio in Poly I:C-induced inflammation. PAP also diminished the levels of extracellular H2O2 and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) when applied together with Poly I:C and in both inflammatory conditions, respectively. Consequently, PAP appeared to display potent immunomodulatory activity, preferring to act towards the cellular anti-inflammatory and antioxidant processes. These findings confirm that PAP might be a promising alternative for designing novel antimicrobial immunomodulatory agents for chickens, thereby contributing to the reduction of the use of conventional antibiotics.
Topics: Animals; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; Cells, Cultured; Chickens; Coculture Techniques; Cytokines; Hepatocytes; Immunomodulating Agents; Lipopolysaccharides; Poly I-C; Teichoic Acids
PubMed: 38728358
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302913 -
Nature Communications May 2024In this randomized phase II clinical trial, we evaluated the effectiveness of adding the TLR agonists, poly-ICLC or resiquimod, to autologous tumor lysate-pulsed... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
In this randomized phase II clinical trial, we evaluated the effectiveness of adding the TLR agonists, poly-ICLC or resiquimod, to autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell (ATL-DC) vaccination in patients with newly-diagnosed or recurrent WHO Grade III-IV malignant gliomas. The primary endpoints were to assess the most effective combination of vaccine and adjuvant in order to enhance the immune potency, along with safety. The combination of ATL-DC vaccination and TLR agonist was safe and found to enhance systemic immune responses, as indicated by increased interferon gene expression and changes in immune cell activation. Specifically, PD-1 expression increases on CD4+ T-cells, while CD38 and CD39 expression are reduced on CD8+ T cells, alongside an increase in monocytes. Poly-ICLC treatment amplifies the induction of interferon-induced genes in monocytes and T lymphocytes. Patients that exhibit higher interferon response gene expression demonstrate prolonged survival and delayed disease progression. These findings suggest that combining ATL-DC with poly-ICLC can induce a polarized interferon response in circulating monocytes and CD8+ T cells, which may represent an important blood biomarker for immunotherapy in this patient population.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01204684.
Topics: Humans; Dendritic Cells; Glioma; Female; Male; Interferons; Middle Aged; Cancer Vaccines; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Poly I-C; Adult; Toll-Like Receptors; Imidazoles; Aged; Vaccination; Monocytes; Brain Neoplasms; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Immunotherapy; Toll-Like Receptor Agonists; Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium; Polylysine
PubMed: 38719809
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48073-y -
Frontiers in Immunology 2024NOD1 and NOD2 as two representative members of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) family play important roles in antimicrobial immunity....
NOD1 and NOD2 as two representative members of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) family play important roles in antimicrobial immunity. However, transcription mechanism of and and their signal circle are less understood in teleost fish. In this study, with the cloning of and in Chinese perch, the interaction between NOD1, NOD2, and CARD9 and RIPK2 were revealed through coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence assays. The overexpression of NOD1, NOD2, RIPK2 and CARD9 induced significantly the promoter activity of NF-κB, IFNh and IFNc. Furthermore, it was found that and were induced by poly(I:C), type I IFNs, RLR and even NOD1/NOD2 themselves through the ISRE site of their proximal promoters. It is thus indicated that and can be classified also as ISGs due to the presence of ISRE in their proximal promoter, and their expression can be mechanistically controlled through PRR pathway as well as through IFN signaling in antiviral immune response.
Topics: Animals; Nod1 Signaling Adaptor Protein; Receptor-Interacting Protein Serine-Threonine Kinase 2; Nod2 Signaling Adaptor Protein; Signal Transduction; Fish Proteins; Perches; Interferons; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Transcription, Genetic; Immunity, Innate; Protein Binding
PubMed: 38715616
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1374368 -
Molecular Therapy : the Journal of the... May 2024Current coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines face limitations including waning immunity, immune escape by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)...
Current coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines face limitations including waning immunity, immune escape by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, limited cellular response, and poor mucosal immunity. We engineered a Clec9A-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody construct that delivers the SARS-CoV-2 RBD to conventional type 1 dendritic cells. Compared with non-targeting approaches, single dose immunization in mice with Clec9A-RBD induced far higher RBD-specific antibody titers that were sustained for up to 21 months after vaccination. Uniquely, increasing neutralizing and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity activities across the sarbecovirus family was observed, suggesting antibody affinity maturation over time. Consistently and remarkably, RBD-specific follicular T helper cells and germinal center B cells persisted up to 12 months after immunization. Furthermore, Clec9A-RBD immunization induced a durable mono- and poly-functional T-helper 1-biased cellular response that was strongly cross-reactive against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including Omicron subvariants, and with a robust CD8 T cell signature. Uniquely, Clec9A-RBD single-shot systemic immunization effectively primed RBD-specific cellular and humoral immunity in lung and resulted in significant protection against homologous SARS-CoV-2 challenge as evidenced by limited body weight loss and approximately 2 log decrease in lung viral loads compared with non-immunized controls. Therefore, Clec9A-RBD immunization has the potential to trigger robust and sustained, systemic and mucosal protective immunity against rapidly evolving SARS-CoV2 variants.
PubMed: 38715364
DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.05.003 -
Journal of Neuroinflammation May 2024Maternal inflammation during gestation is associated with a later diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the...
Maternal inflammation during gestation is associated with a later diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the specific impact of maternal immune activation (MIA) on placental and fetal brain development remains insufficiently understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MIA by analyzing placental and brain tissues obtained from the offspring of pregnant C57BL/6 dams exposed to polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid (poly I: C) on embryonic day 12.5. Cytokine and mRNA content in the placenta and brain tissues were assessed using multiplex cytokine assays and bulk-RNA sequencing on embryonic day 17.5. In the placenta, male MIA offspring exhibited higher levels of GM-CSF, IL-6, TNFα, and LT-α, but there were no differences in female MIA offspring. Furthermore, differentially expressed genes (DEG) in the placental tissues of MIA offspring were found to be enriched in processes related to synaptic vesicles and neuronal development. Placental mRNA from male and female MIA offspring were both enriched in synaptic and neuronal development terms, whereas females were also enriched for terms related to excitatory and inhibitory signaling. In the fetal brain of MIA offspring, increased levels of IL-28B and IL-25 were observed with male MIA offspring and increased levels of LT-α were observed in the female offspring. Notably, we identified few stable MIA fetal brain DEG, with no male specific difference whereas females had DEG related to immune cytokine signaling. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that MIA contributes to the sex- specific abnormalities observed in ASD, possibly through altered neuron developed from exposure to inflammatory cytokines. Future research should aim to investigate how interactions between the placenta and fetal brain contribute to altered neuronal development in the context of MIA.
Topics: Female; Animals; Pregnancy; Male; Cytokines; Mice; Brain; Placenta; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Sex Characteristics; Poly I-C; Transcriptome; Disease Models, Animal; Fetus
PubMed: 38715090
DOI: 10.1186/s12974-024-03106-7 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Apr 2024PARP14 is a 203 kDa multi-domain protein that is primarily known as an ADP-ribosyltransferase, and is involved in a variety of cellular functions including DNA damage,...
PARP14 is a 203 kDa multi-domain protein that is primarily known as an ADP-ribosyltransferase, and is involved in a variety of cellular functions including DNA damage, microglial activation, inflammation, and cancer progression. In addition, PARP14 is upregulated by interferon (IFN), indicating a role in the antiviral response. Furthermore, PARP14 has evolved under positive selection, again indicating that it is involved in host-pathogen conflict. We found that PARP14 is required for increased IFN-I production in response to coronavirus infection lacking ADP-ribosylhydrolase (ARH) activity and poly(I:C), however, whether it has direct antiviral function remains unclear. Here we demonstrate that the catalytic activity of PARP14 enhances IFN-I and IFN-III responses and restricts ARH-deficient murine hepatitis virus (MHV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication. To determine if PARP14's antiviral functions extended beyond CoVs, we tested the ability of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and several negative-sense RNA viruses, including vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), Ebola virus (EBOV), and Nipah virus (NiV), to infect A549 PARP14 knockout (KO) cells. HSV-1 had increased replication in PARP14 KO cells, indicating that PARP14 restricts HSV-1 replication. In contrast, PARP14 was critical for the efficient infection of VSV, EBOV, and NiV, with EBOV infectivity at less than 1% of WT cells. A PARP14 active site inhibitor had no impact on HSV-1 or EBOV infection, indicating that its effect on these viruses was independent of its catalytic activity. These data demonstrate that PARP14 promotes IFN production and has both pro- and anti-viral functions targeting multiple viruses.
PubMed: 38712082
DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.26.591186 -
NPJ Vaccines May 2024The cytokine IL-12p70 is crucial for T helper 1 (Th1) polarization and the generation of type 1 immunity required to fight cancer and pathogens. Therefore, strategies to...
The cytokine IL-12p70 is crucial for T helper 1 (Th1) polarization and the generation of type 1 immunity required to fight cancer and pathogens. Therefore, strategies to optimize the production of IL-12p70 by human dendritic cells (DCs) may significantly improve the efficacy of vaccines and immunotherapies. However, the rules governing the production of IL-12p70 remain obscure. Here, we stimulated pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) representing five families of PRRs, to evaluate their ability to elicit high production of IL-12p70 by monocyte-derived DCs. We used ten well-characterized agonists and stimulated DCs in vitro with either single agonists or 27 different combinations. We found that poly(I:C), which engages the RNA-sensing PRRs TLR3 and MDA5, and LPS which stimulates TLR4, were the only agonists that could elicit notable IL-12p70 production when used as single ligands. We identified six different combinations of PRR agonists, all containing either the TLR3/MDA5 agonist poly(I:C) or the TLR7/8 agonist R848, that could synergize to elicit high production of IL-12p70 by human DCs. Five of the six combinations also triggered high production of the antiviral and antitumor cytokine IFNβ. Overall, the tested PRR ligands could be divided into three groups depending on whether they triggered production of both IL-12p70 and IFNβ, only one of the two, or neither. Thus, combinations of PRR agonists were found to increase the production of IL-12p70 by human DCs in a synergistic manner, and we identified six PRR agonist combinations that may represent strong adjuvant candidates, in particular for therapeutic cancer vaccines.
PubMed: 38702320
DOI: 10.1038/s41541-024-00869-1 -
PLoS Pathogens May 2024Major 5'-terminally deleted (5'TD) RNA forms of group-B coxsackievirus (CVB-5'TD) has been associated with myocarditis in both mice and humans. Although it is known that...
Major Group-B Enterovirus populations deleted in the noncoding 5' region of genomic RNA modulate activation of the type I interferon pathway in cardiomyocytes and induce myocarditis.
Major 5'-terminally deleted (5'TD) RNA forms of group-B coxsackievirus (CVB-5'TD) has been associated with myocarditis in both mice and humans. Although it is known that interferon-β (IFN-β) signaling is critical for an efficient innate immune response against CVB-induced myocarditis, the link between CVB-5'TD RNA forms and type I IFN signaling in cardiomyocytes remains to be explored. In a mouse model of CVB3/28-induced myocarditis, major early-emerging forms of CVB-5'TD RNA have been characterized as replicative viral populations that impair IFN-β production in the heart. Synthetic CVB3/28 RNA forms mimicking each of these major 5'TD virus populations were transfected in mice and have been shown to modulate innate immune responses in the heart and to induce myocarditis in mice. Remarkably, transfection of synthetic viral RNA with deletions in the secondary structures of the 5'-terminal CVB3 RNA domain I, modifying stem-loops "b", "c" or "d", were found to impair IFN-β production in human cardiomyocytes. In addition, the activation of innate immune response by Poly(I:C), was found to restore IFN-β production and to reduce the burden of CVB-5'TD RNA-forms in cardiac tissues, thereby reducing the mortality rate of infected mice. Overall, our results indicate that major early-emerging CVB3 populations deleted in the domain I of genomic RNA, in the 5' noncoding region, modulate the activation of the type I IFN pathway in cardiomyocytes and induce myocarditis in mice. These findings shed new light on the role of replicative CVB-5'TD RNA forms as key pathophysiological factors in CVB-induced human myocarditis.
Topics: Myocarditis; Animals; Myocytes, Cardiac; Mice; Enterovirus B, Human; Coxsackievirus Infections; Interferon Type I; RNA, Viral; Humans; Immunity, Innate; Signal Transduction; Interferon-beta; Male; 5' Untranslated Regions
PubMed: 38696536
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012125