In genetically predisposed individuals, ingestion of wheat gliadin provokes a T-cell-mediated enteropathy, celiac disease. Gliadin fragments were previously reported to induce phenotypic maturation and Th1 cytokine production by human dendritic cells (DCs) and to boost their capacity to stimulate allogeneic T cells. Here, we monitor the effects of gliadin on ...

Carcinogens frequently provoke immunosuppressive effects thereby allowing cancer cells to persist in the host. 3-Amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-1) is a carcinogenic heterocyclic amine that is abundantly produced by overcooking meat and fish. Here, we investigated the effect of Trp-P-1 on dendritic cells (DCs), which play a central role in the appropriate activation ...

Lithium has been used or explored to treat psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases that are frequently associated with an abnormal immune status. It is likely that lithium may work through modulation of immune responses in these patients. Because dendritic cells (DC) play a central role in regulating immune responses, this study ...

Visfatin, also known as nicotiamide phosphoribosyltransferase or pre-B cell colony enhancing factor, is a pro-inflammatory cytokine whose serum level is increased in sepsis and cancer as well as in obesity. Here we report a pro-inflammatory role of visfatin in the brain, to mediate sickness responses including anorexia, hyperthermia and hypoactivity. ...

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) possess inherent properties of immune privilege with the capacity to evade allogeneic immune responses. Moreover, ESCs have been shown to prevent immune activation in response to third party antigen presenting cells in vitro and have the capacity to promote allograft survival in vivo. However, clinical use ...

Sj16, a 16-kDa protein produced by Schistosoma japonicum, has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory effect. However, the possible mechanism of these phenomena has not been discovered. Here, we tried to touch it with arthritis rats' model induced by injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). A set of pathogenic characters were ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) play an essential role in the induction and maintenance of an effective immune response and express multiple siglecs. In the present study, we investigated whether or not the ligation of tumor-produced mucins with Siglec-9 expressed on immature DCs is related to escape from immunosurveillance in the tumor-bearing ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) matured with helminth-derived molecules that promote Th2 immune responses do not follow conventional definitions of DC maturation processes. While a number of models of DC maturation by Th2 stimuli are postulated, further studies are required if we are to clearly define DC maturation processes that lead to ...

Urban air pollution is a crucial environmental problem in industrialized and developing countries. Although epidemiologic studies have associated exposure to urban aerosols with exacerbations of allergic airway diseases, the underlying mechanism of toxicity is largely unknown. Here, we evaluated the effect of urban aerosols from China, on the induction of ...

To determine whether the administration of an active form of vitamin D(3) (calcitriol) could prevent atherosclerosis through anti-inflammatory actions. Recent clinical studies have shown that lack of vitamin D(3) is a risk factor for cardiovascular events. Oral calcitriol administration decreased atherosclerotic lesions, macrophage accumulation, and CD4(+) T-cell infiltration at the ...

Macrophages and dendritic cells are required for initiating innate immunity and adaptive immunity. Aberrant activation of macrophages and dendritic cells can cause detrimental immune responses; thus, agents effectively modulating their functions are of great clinical value. We herein investigated whether fisetin, a flavonoid prevalently present in fruits and vegetables, could ...

The influence of nanoparticles on the immune system is poorly understood. It was recently shown that exposure to a mixture of nanodiamond (ND)- and nanoplatinum (NP)-coated material (DPV576-C) activates murine T-cells. This study examined the role of a dispersed aqueous mixture of ND/NP (DPV576) in activating human dendritic cells (DCs) ...

Antigen presenting cells, specifically dendritic cells (DCs) are a focal point in the delicate balance between T cell tolerance and immune responses contributing to the onset of type I diabetes (T1D). Weak adjuvant proteins like the cholera toxin B subunit when linked to autoantigens may sufficiently alter the balance of ...

Transfection of primary immune cells is difficult to achieve at high efficiency and without cell activation and maturation. Dendritic cells (DCs) represent a key link between the innate and adaptive immune systems. Delineating the signaling pathways involved in the activation of human primary DCs and reverse engineering cellular inflammatory pathways ...

Therapeutic vaccination with dendritic cells (DC) is an emerging investigational therapy for eradication of minimal residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia. Various strategies are being explored in manufacturing DC vaccines ex vivo, e.g., monocyte-derived DC (MoDC) loaded with leukemia-associated antigens (LAA). However, the optimal source of LAA and the choice ...

Tumour cryotherapy has been described as both immunostimulatory and immunoinhibitory in previous studies. However, previous studies have not accurately reproduced the precise conditions of current clinical cryotherapy. The objective of this study is to assess the immunological effects of cryotreated whole tumour cells on dendritic cells (DC) maturation and function ...

The role of progesterone in modulating dendritic cell (DC) function following stimulation of different TLRs is relatively unknown. We compared the ability of progesterone to modulate murine bone marrow-derived DC cytokine production (IL-6 and IL-12) and costimulatory molecule expression (CD40, CD80, and CD86) induced by either TLR3 or TLR4 ligation ...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an etiological agent of pulmonary tuberculosis, causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Pathogenic mycobacteria survive in the host by subverting host innate immunity. Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that are vital for eliciting immune responses to infectious agents, including pathogenic mycobacteria. DCs orchestrate distinct Th responses ...

Decoctions of Phyllanthus niruri (PN) (Fam. Euphorbiaceae) is promoted in traditional medicine of Africa, Asia, and South America as beneficial supplement for different infectious diseases, especially for viral hepatitis, tumor, and for immune compromised patients. This stimulated the interest in understanding the mechanisms by which the whole extract of the ...

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates cell growth and survival and exists as rapamycin-sensitive mTOR complex (mTORC) 1 and as rapamycin-insensitive mTORC2. Although mTOR is a well-known regulator of diverse immune cells, its detailed role in human dendritic cell (DC) function and differentiation is only incompletely understood. In this ...

To investigate the polymicrobial infection of periodontal disease, which elicits inflammatory mediators/cytokines/chemokines in the local gingival tissues, and a polybacterial challenge of antigen-presenting cells, e.g. macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs), at the mucosal surface. The cytokine/chemokine profiles of human macrophages and DCs in response to polybacterial challenges were investigated. Oral ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells with attributes for priming/activating T cells and mediating immune responses. Considering the importance of DCs in the initiation of immune responses, it will be of interest to study their mechanisms of regulation. Histone-modifying enzymes, such as histone deacetylases (HDACs), are critical in controlling ...

We demonstrate herein that SHIP negatively regulates the proliferation, differentiation, and survival of FL-DCs from BM precursors, as shown by a more rapid appearance and higher numbers of CD11c(+) DCs from SHIP-/- cultures as well as increased survival of mature FL-DCs in the absence of Flt3L. This increased survival, which ...

Sparassis crispa is a medicinal mushroom containing high 6-branched 1,3-β-D-glucan (sparan) content, which exhibits immune-mediated antitumor activity. In the present study, we investigated the stimulating effect of sparan on phenotypic and functional maturation of dendritic cells (DCs). Phenotypic maturation was confirmed by the elevated expressions of CD40, CD80, CD86, and ...

Summary.  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes a chronic liver infection, which may result in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Impairment of the maturation process in dendritic cells (DCs) may be one of the mechanisms responsible for immune evasion of HCV. The core and NS3 proteins are among the most conserved HCV ...

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is the major negative regulator of T-cell responses, although growing evidence supports its wider role as an immune attenuator that may also act in other cell lineages. Here, we have analyzed the expression of CTLA-4 in human monocytes and monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs), and the ...

TongXinLuo (TXL) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine with multiple vasoprotective activities. Dendritic cells (DCs) play an active role in the immunological processes related to atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect and possible mechanisms of TXL on oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OX-LDL)-induced maturation and immune function ...

BACKGROUND: The stable prostaglandin I2 analogue (iloprost) iloprost has been shown to inhibit allergic airway inflammation in mice by modulating the function of myeloid dendritic cells (DCs). OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to investigate the biological activity of iloprost on human monocyte-derived DCs. METHODS: I prostanoid (IP) ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional APCs providing a critical link between adaptive and innate immune responses. Our previous studies have shown that Escherichia coli K1 internalization of myeloid DCs suppressed the maturation of the cells for which outer membrane protein A (OmpA) expression is essential. In this study, we demonstrate ...

Glabridin has multiple pharmacological activities including anti-microbial, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-nephritic, anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular protective activities. In this study, we investigated the effect of glabridin on dendritic cells, which play an essential role in innate and adaptive immune responses. Glabridin inhibited lipopolysaccharide-, poly (I:C)-, or zymosan-induced phenotypic maturation of dendritic cells (DCs), ...

The present study was performed to investigate in vivo the effect of high-mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1) on the maturation of dendritic cell (DC) and the influence on T-cell-mediated immunity after thermal injury. Rats were randomly divided into 3 groups as follows: sham burn group, burn group, and burn with ...

Airway epithelial cells were shown to drive the differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells (DCs) with a suppressive phenotype. In this study, we investigated the impact of virus-induced inflammatory mediator production on the development of DCs. Monocyte differentiation into functional DCs, as reflected by the expression of CD11c, CD123, BDCA-4, ...

The ligand for CD137 (4-1BB) is expressed on peripheral human monocytes and delivers a potent activating signal via reverse signaling. Here we show that treatment of monocytes with a recombinant CD137 protein that induces reverse signaling through CD137 ligand reduces typical macrophage characteristics such as phagocytosis, oxidative burst and CD14 ...

We identified the four-and-a-half LIM domain protein 2 (FHL2) as a novel regulator of CCL19-induced dendritic cell (DC) migration. Initiation of migration is a hallmark of DC function and plays a central role in the induction and regulation of immune responses. In vivo, DCs continuously acquire Ag in the periphery ...

Pharmacological modulation is known to temper the immune capacity of DC, enhancing the notion that modulated Ag-bearing DC might be used therapeutically to induce tolerance. We have investigated phenotypic features shared by such DC, and queried their potential to tolerize in different settings. Immature, IL-10, TGF-beta and 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3)-modulated BMDC ...

Human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) is the causative agent of the common childhood febrile illness, exanthema subitum. The virus is predominantly regarded as a T-cell tropic virus, although in reality it has the ability to infect a wide variety of cell types including monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells (DC). Although DC ...

Rapamycin (Rapa), a recently introduced immunosuppressive drug, appears to be effective in preventing acute allograft rejection episodes. Its effects on differentiation and maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) have been studied. In this report, we evaluated the effects of Rapa on the intracellular signal transduction pathways in mature DCs. The results ...

Midostaurin, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been shown efficacy against acute myeloid leukemia and various other malignancies in clinical trials. Prior studies indicate midostaurin affects the function of immune cells such as lymphocytes and macrophages. To understand the effect of midostaurin on human myeloid dendritic cells (DCs), we conducted an ...

DCs play a central role in the development of innate and adaptive immunity but also in the induction and maintenance of immune tolerance. Identification of factors that govern DC activation, their maturation state, and their capacity to induce proinflammatory or tolerogeneic responses therefore represents a crucial aim of research. We ...

Regulation of antigen-presenting cells (APC) is crucial in controlling allograft rejection. Dendritic cells (DC) are the most potent APC and must mature to present antigens to T-cell receptors. During DC maturation, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a key transcriptional factor. We synthesized dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ), which specifically inhibits the final step of ...

Prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) is an inflammatory mediator often used to increase CCR7 expression in the dendritic cells (DCs) used as cancer vaccines and to enhance their responsiveness to lymph node-associated chemokines. Here, we show that high surface expression of CCR7 on PGE(2)-matured DCs is associated with their suppressed production of ...

Dendritic cell (DC) migration to secondary lymphoid organs is a critical step to properly exert its role in immunity and predominantly depends on the interaction of the chemokine receptor CCR7 with its ligands CCL21 and CCL19. Polysialic acid (PSA) has been recently reported to control CCL21-directed migration of mature DCs. ...

The immunomodulatory effects of vitamin D have primarily been investigated using the biologically active form 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (1,25-D3). It was recently demonstrated that dendritic cells (DC) are able to convert the inactive 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 (25-D3) into the active form via 1 alpha-hydroxylase. In this study, we set out ...

Polyelectrolyte microcapsules (MCs) are potent protein delivery vehicles which can be tailored with ligands to stimulate maturation of dendritic cells (DCs). We investigated the immune stimulatory capacity of monocyte-derived DC (Mo-DC) loaded with these MCs, containing p24 antigen from human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) alone [p24-containing MC (MCp24)] or ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are at the interface of innate and adaptive immune responses. Once activated via triggering of their pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), they acquire a mature state and migrate to the lymph nodes where they activate T cells and direct the immune response. Compounds that trigger PRRs are potential ...

Persistent levels of IL-10 play a central role in progressive immune dysfunction associated with chronic viral infections such as HIV, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Because IL-10 affects the phenotypic and functional properties of DCs, which are responsible for initiating adaptive immune responses, we investigated whether IL-10 induces ...

Recent studies support the idea that certain chemotherapeutic agents do not act only by cytotoxicity, but also have immunomodulatory activity. Because of their role in mitosis chemotherapeutic agents targeting microtubules are widely used, and this study determined the outcome of disturbing tubulin cytoskeleton dynamics on human dendritic cell function. Dendritic ...

Mice deficient in CCR7 signals show severe defects in lymphoid tissue architecture and immune response. These defects are due to impaired attraction of CCR7+ DC and CCR7+ T cells into the T zones of secondary lymphoid organs and altered DC maturation. It is currently unclear which CCR7 ligand mediates these ...

Mature dendritic cells (DCs) represent, by far, the most potent antigen-presenting cells. The development of clinical grade techniques to produce them in large numbers has rendered possible their use in clinical trials. It is therefore crucial to assess the DCs characteristics according to the methodology used to generate them, to ...

Defect of dendritic cell (DC) maturation in tumor microenvironments is an important immunological problem limiting the success of cancer immunotherapy. Here, we investigated the effects of polysaccharide (cordlan) isolated from Cordyceps militaris on DC maturation. Phenotypic maturation of DCs by cordlan was demonstrated by the elevated expressions of CD40, CD80, ...