• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.189-194
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• 2016

Obesity is characterized as an accumulation of adipose tissue mass represented by chronic, low-grade inflammation. Obesity-derived inflammation involves chemokines as important regulators contributing to the pathophysiology of obesity-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. The obesity-driven chemokine network is poorly understood. Here, we identified the profiles of chemokine signature between human preadipocytes and adipocytes, using PCR arrays and qRT-PCR. Both preadipocytes and adipocytes showed absent or low levels in chemokine receptors in spite of some changes. On the other hand, the chemokine levels of CCL2, CCL7-8, CCL11, CXCL1-3, CXCL6 and CXCL10-11 were dominantly expressed in preadipocytes compared to adipocytes. Interestingly, CXCL14 was the most dominant chemokine expressed in adipocytes compared to preadipocytes. Moreover, there is significantly higher protein level of CXCL14 in conditioned media from adipocytes. In addition, we analyzed the data of the chemokine signatures in adipocytes obtained from healthy lean and obese postmenopausal women based on Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. Adipocytes from obese individuals had significantly higher levels in chemokine signature as follows: CCL2, CCL13, CCL18-19, CCL23, CCL26, CXCL1, CXCL3 and CXCL14, as compared to those from lean ones. Also, among the chemokine networks, CXCL14 appeared to be the highest levels in adipocytes from both lean and obese women. Taken together, these results identify CXCL14 as an important chemokine induced during adipogenesis, requiring further research elucidating its potential therapeutic benefits in obesity.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.391-402
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• 2022

Background: The mechanism of peripheral axon transport in neuropathic pain is still unclear. Chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13) and its receptor (C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5, CXCR5) as well as GABA transporter 1 (GAT-1) play an important role in the development of pain. The aim of this study was to explore the axonal transport of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 with the aid of the analgesic effect of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) in rats. Methods: Chronic constriction injury (CCI) rat models were established. BTX-A was administered to rats through subcutaneous injection in the hind paw. The pain behaviors in CCI rats were measured by paw withdrawal threshold and paw withdrawal latencies. The levels of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 were measured by western blots. Results: The subcutaneous injection of BTX-A relieved the mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia induced by CCI surgery and reversed the overexpression of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 in the spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), sciatic nerve, and plantar skin in CCI rats. After 10 mmol/L colchicine blocked the axon transport of sciatic nerve, the inhibitory effect of BTX-A disappeared, and the levels of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 in the spinal cord and DRG were reduced in CCI rats. Conclusions: BTX-A regulated the levels of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 in the spine and DRG through axonal transport. Chemokines (such as CXCL13) may be transported from the injury site to the spine or DRG through axonal transport. Axon molecular transport may be a target to enhance pain management in neuropathic pain.

• 통합자연과학논문집
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.164-175
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• 2015

CXCR3 is a C-X-C chemokine receptor type 3 also known as GPR9 and CD183. CXCR3 is a G-Protein coupled chemokine receptor which interacts with three endogenous interferon inducible chemokine's (CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11) and is proved to play a vital role in the Th1 inflammatory responses. CXCR3 has been implicated to be associated with various disease conditions like inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, type I diabetes and acute cardiac allograft rejection. Therefore CXCR3 receptor is found to be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Inorder to decipher the biological function of a CXCR3, 3D structure is of much important but the crystal structure for CXCR3 has not yet been resolved. Hence, in the current study Homology modeling of CXCR3 was performed against various templates and validated using different parameters to suggest the best model for CXCR3. The reported best model can be used for further studies such as docking to identify the important binding site residues.

• BMB Reports
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• 제51권12호
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• pp.630-635
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• 2018

C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2) is a small secreted protein that exhibits a structure similar to the proangiogenic subgroup of the CXC chemokine family. Recently, accumulating evidence suggests that chemokines play a pivotal role in cancer progression and carcinogenesis. We examined the expression levels of 7 types of $ELR^+$ CXCLs messenger RNA (mRNA) in 264 clinical samples. We found that CXCL2 expression was stably down-regulated in 94% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens compared with paired adjacent normal liver tissues and some HCC cell lines. Moreover, CXCL2 overexpression profoundly attenuated HCC cell proliferation and growth and induced apoptosis in vitro. In animal studies, we found that overexpressing CXCL2 by lentivirus also apparently inhibited the size and weight of subcutaneous tumours in nude mice. Furthermore, we demonstrated that CXCL2 induced HCC cell apoptosis via both nuclear and mitochondrial apoptosis pathways. Our results indicate that CXCL2 negatively regulates the cell cycle in HCC cells via the ERK1/2 signalling pathway. These results provide new insights into HCC and may ultimately lead to the discovery of innovative therapeutic approaches of HCC.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.67-78
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• 2007

Interferon-${\gamma}$ (IFN-${\gamma}$)의 주된 생산세포는 림프구이며 주로 Interleukin-18(IL-18)에 의해 생산이 된다. IP-10은 IFN-${\gamma}$에 의해 유도, 생산되는 대표적인 케모카인이다. 따라서 본 연구는 마우스 복강내 대식세포에서의 IL-18에 의한 IP-10의 생산 여부를 관찰하고자하였다. IL-18은 마우스 복강내 대식세포에서 IP-10의 발현을 직접적으로 유도 하지는 않았다. 그러나 대식세포에 지다당질을 처리하기 전 IL-18을 전 처리 시킨 결과 지다당질에 의해 유도된 IP-10의 발현이 항진되어 나타남을 확인하였다. 이러한 항진 효과는 IL-18 전처리 16시간에 나타났으며, 이때 NF-${\kappa}B$의 활성이 IP-10의 발현 항진과 일치함을 확인하였다. 비록 IL-18이 IP-10을 직접적으로 발현시키지는 못하나 NF-${\kappa}B$의 활성을 통하여 IL-18의 적정시간에 따른 전 처리시 IP-10 발현의 항진은 케모카인 발현에있어 IL-18의 작용기전을 이해하는데 유용한 자료가 될 것이다.

• 대한병리학회지
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• 제52권6호
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• pp.369-377
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• 2018

Background: Chemokine receptor CXC chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) and its ligand CXC motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12; stromal cell-derived factor-1) are implicated in tumor growth, metastasis, and tumor cell-microenvironment interaction. A number of studies have reported that increased CXCR4 expression is associated with worse prognosis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but its prognostic significance has not been studied in TNBC patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Two hundred eighty-three TNBC patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed. Tissue microarray was constructed from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue and immunohistochemistry for CXCR4 and CXCL12 was performed. Expression of each marker was compared with clinicopathologic characteristics and outcome. Results: High cytoplasmic CXCR4 expression was associated with younger age (p=.008), higher histologic grade (p=.007) and lower pathologic stage (p=.045), while high CXCL12 expression was related to larger tumor size (p=.045), positive lymph node metastasis (p=.005), and higher pathologic stage (p=.017). The patients with high cytoplasmic CXCR4 experienced lower distant recurrence (p=.006) and better recurrence-free survival (RFS) (log-rank p=.020) after adjuvant chemotherapy. Cytoplasmic CXCR4 expression remained an independent factor of distant recurrence (p=.019) and RFS (p=.038) after multivariate analysis. Conclusions: High cytoplasmic CXCR4 expression was associated with lower distant recurrence and better RFS in TNBC patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. This is the first study to correlate high CXCR4 expression to better TNBC prognosis, and the underlying mechanism needs to be elucidated in further studies.

• BMB Reports
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• 제52권7호
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• pp.463-468
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• 2019

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), one of the most common human monogenic diseases (frequency of 1/1000-1/400), is characterized by numerous fluid-filled renal cysts (RCs). Inactivation of the PKD1 or PKD2 gene by germline and somatic mutations is necessary for cyst formation in ADPKD. To mechanistically understand cyst formation and growth, we isolated RCs from Korean patients with ADPKD and immortalized them with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Three hTERT-immortalized RC cell lines were characterized as proximal epithelial cells with germline and somatic PKD1 mutations. Thus, we first established hTERT-immortalized proximal cyst cells with somatic PKD1 mutations. Through transcriptome sequencing and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, we found that upregulated genes were related to cell division and that downregulated genes were related to cell differentiation. We wondered whether the upregulated gene for the chemokine CXCL12 is related to the mTOR signaling pathway in cyst growth in ADPKD. CXCL12 mRNA expression and secretion were increased in RC cell lines. We then examined CXCL12 levels in RC fluids from patients with ADPKD and found increased CXCL12 levels. The CXCL12 receptor CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) was upregulated, and the mTOR signaling pathway, which is downstream of the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis, was activated in ADPKD kidney tissue. To confirm activation of the mTOR signaling pathway by CXCL12 via CXCR4, we treated the RC cell lines with recombinant CXCL12 and the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100; CXCL12 induced the mTOR signaling pathway, but the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 blocked the mTOR signaling pathway. Taken together, these results suggest that enhanced CXCL12 in RC fluids activates the mTOR signaling pathway via CXCR4 in ADPKD cyst growth.

• International Neurourology Journal
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.260-267
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• 2018

Purpose: A major question remaining in approaches to tissue engineering and organ replacement is the role of native mobilized native cells in the regeneration process of damaged tissues and organs. The goal of this study was to compare the cell mobilizing effects of the chemokine CXCL12 and cell therapy on the urinary sphincter of nonhuman primates (NHP) with chronic intrinsic urinary sphincter dysfunction. Methods: Either autologous lenti-M-cherry labeled skeletal muscle precursor cells (skMPCs) or CXCL12 were injected directly into the sphincter complex of female NHPs with or without surgery-induced chronic urinary sphincter dysfunction (n=4/treatment condition). All monkeys had partial bone marrow transplantation with autologous lenti-green fluorescent protein (GFP) bone marrow cells prior to treatment. Labeled cells were identified, characterized and quantified using computer-assisted immunohistochemistry 6 months posttreatment. Results: GFP-labeled bone marrow cells (BMCs) were identified in the bone marrow and both BMCs and skMPCs were found in the urinary sphincter at 6-month postinjection. BMCs and skMPCs were present in the striated muscle, smooth muscle, and lamina propria/urothelium of the sphincter tissue. Sphincter injury increased the sphincter content of BMCs when analyzed 6-month postinjection. CXCL12 treatment, but not skMPCs, increased the number of BMCs in all layers of the sphincter complex (P<0.05). CXCL12 only modestly (P=0.15) increased the number of skMPCs in the sphincter complex. Conclusions: This dual labeling methodology now provides us with the tools to measure the relative number of locally injected cells versus bone marrow transplanted cells. The results of this study suggest that CXCL12 promotes mobilization of cells to the sphincter, which may contribute more to sphincter regeneration than injected cells.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.200-205
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• 2022

Established cancer cell lines are widely used for developing biomarkers for the patient-specific treatment of colorectal cancer and predicting prognoses. However, cancer cell lines may exhibit different drug responses depending upon the characteristics of the cell line. Therefore, it is necessary to select a tumor cell line suitable for the purpose of the study by considering the cell characteristics. This study investigated the levels of CXCL10, which were recently been reported to play an important role in the outcome of tumor treatment, secreted by colon cancer cells. 2 × 10⁵ cells/mL of each colorectal cancer cell was seeded into a 35 mm cell culture dish. After 24 h incubation, culture supernatant was used to determine the secreted CXCL10 levels. Among six colorectal cancer cell lines (HT-29, HCT116, CaCo-2, SW620, SW480, and CT26), Caco-2 cells showed the highest level of CXCL10 secretion. HT-29 cells showed the second-highest level of CXCL10 secretion. No significantly measurable level of CXCL10 secretion was detected in HCT116 cells. These results will be helpful in investigating the molecular basis of colorectal cancer.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.564-570
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• 2015

Peptidoglycan (PG), the gram positive bacterial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP), is detected in a high proportion in macrophage-rich atheromatous regions, and expression of chemokine CXCL8, which triggers monocyte arrest on early atherosclerotic endothelium, is elevated in monocytes/ macrophages in human atherosclerotic lesion. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PG induced CXCL8 expression in the cell type and to determine cellular signaling pathways involved in that process. Exposure of THP-1 cell, human monocyte/macrophage cell line, to PG not only enhanced CXCL8 release but also profoundly induced il8 gene transcription. PG-induced release of CXCL8 and induction of il8 gene transcription were blocked by OxPAPC, an inhibitor of TLR-2/4 and TLR4, but not by polymyxin B, an inhibitor of LPS. PG-mediated CXCL8 release was significantly attenuated by inhibitors of PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathways. PKC inhibitors, MAPK inhibitors, and ROS quenchers also significantly attenuated expression of CXCL8. The present study proposes that PG contributes to inflammatory reaction and progression of atherosclerosis by inducing CXCL8 expression in monocytes/macrophages, and that TLR-2, PI3K-Akt-mTOR, PKC, ROS, and MAPK are actively involved in the process.