• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.171-181
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• 2014

Asthma is a common pulmonary disease with several different forms. The most studied form of asthma is the allergic form, which is mainly related to the function of Th2 cells and their production of cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) in association with allergen sensitization and adaptive immunity. Recently, there have been many advances in understanding non-allergic asthma, which seems to be related to environmental factors such as air pollution, infection, or even obesity. Cells of the innate immune system, including macrophages, neutrophils, and natural killer T cells as well as the newly described innate lymphoid cells, are effective producers of a variety of cytokines and seem to play important roles in the development of non-allergic asthma. In this review, we focus on recent findings regarding innate lymphoid cells and their roles in asthma.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.344-347
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• 2005

Helper T(Th) cells regulate immune response by producing various kinds of cytokines in response to antigen stimulation. The regulatory functions of Th cells are promoted by their differentiation into two distinct subsets, Th1 and Th2 cells. Th1 cells are involved in inducing cellular immune response by activating cytotoxic T cells. Th2 cells trigger B cells to produce antibodies, protective proteins used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign substances. Because cellular and humoral immune responses have quite different roles in protecting the host from foreign substances, Th cell differentiation is a crucial event in the immune response. The destiny of a naive Th cell is mainly controlled by cytokines such as IL-4, IL-12, and IFN-${\gamma}$. To understand the mechanism of Th cell differentiation, many mathematical models have been proposed. One of the most difficult problems in mathematical modeling is to find appropriate kinetic parameters needed to complete a model. However, it is relatively easy to get qualitative or linguistic knowledge of a model dynamics. To incorporate such knowledge into a model, we propose a novel approach, fuzzy continuous Petri nets extending traditional continuous Petri net by adding new types of places and transitions called fuzzy places and fuzzy transitions. This extension makes it possible to perform fuzzy inference with fuzzy places and fuzzy transitions acting as kinetic parameters and fuzzy inference systems between input and output places, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.584-589
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• 2006

Bifidobacteria has been suggested to exert health promoting effects on the host by maintaining microbial flora and modulating immune functions in the human intestine. We assessed modulatory effects of the different cell fractions of Bifidobacterium sp. BGN4 on macrophage cells and other immune cells from the spleen and Peyer's patches (PP) of mouse. Cell free extracts (CFE) of the BGN4 fractions induced well-developed morphological changes in the macrophages and increased the phagocytic activity more effectively than other fractions in the mouse peritoneal cells. Nitric oxide (NO) production was significantly reduced by both the cell walls (CW) and CFE in the cultured cells from the spleen and PP. The production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) was eminent in the spleen cells treated with experimental BGN4 cell fractions. However, in the PP cells, IL-6 was slightly decreased by the treatment with the whole cell (WC) and CW, whereas IL-10 was significantly increased by the treatment with the CW and CFE. These results suggest that different types of bifidobacterial cell fractions may have differential immunomodulatory activities depending on their location within the host immune system.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.324-328
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• 2023

Excessive inflammation in the body causes immune cells to release cytokines that damage normal tissues and cells, leading to rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis. Pulsed magnetic field(PMF) stimulation has many applications in the treatment of neurological, muscular disorders and pain. Therefore, in this study, we aim to investigate the effect of PMF stimulation on the regulation of excessive inflammation in the overall immune system. Macrophages, a primary immune cell, and T cells, a secondary immune cell, were co-cultured in the insert wells under the same conditions, and then inflammation was artificially induced. The changes in inflammatory activity following PMF stimulation were measured by pH and IL-6 concentration. After inflammation induction, both cells became more acidic and increased IL-6 expression, but after PMF stimulation, we observed improved acidification of macrophages and T cells and decreased IL-6 expression. Our results showed that infected macrophages activated T cells and that the recovery of excessive inflammatory response regulation after PMF stimulation proceeded more rapidly in macrophages. Therefore, this study suggests that PMF has a positive anti-inflammatory effect on the overall immune system and thus has the potential to be used as a non-invasive therapy for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.191-195
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• 2011

${\beta}$-Glucans are naturally occurring polysaccharides that are produced by bacteria, yeast, fungi, and many plants. Although their pharmacological activities, such as immunomodulatory, anti-infective and anti-cancer effects, have been well studied, it is still unclear how ${\beta}$-glucans exert their activities. However, recent studies on the ${\beta}$-glucans receptors shed some light on their mechanism of action. Since ${\beta}$-glucans have large molecular weights, they must bind surface receptors to activate immune cells. In this review, we summarize the immunopharmacological activities and the potential receptors of ${\beta}$-glucans in immune cells.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.52-60
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• 2016

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that bridge innate and adaptive immune responses, thereby leading to immune activation. DCs have been known to recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and nucleic acids via their pattern recognition receptors, which trigger signaling of their maturation and effector functions. Furthermore, DCs take up and process antigens as a form of peptide loaded on the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and present them to T cells, which are responsible for the adaptive immune response. Conversely, DCs can also play a role in inducing immune suppression under specific circumstances. From this perspective, the role of DCs is related to tolerance rather than immunity. Immunologists refer to these special DCs as tolerogenic DCs (tolDCs). However, the definition of tolDCs is controversial, and there is limited information on their development and characteristics. In this review, we discuss the current concept of tolDCs, cutting-edge methods for generating tolDCs in vitro, and future applications of tolDCs, including clinical use.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.38.1-38.14
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• 2023

Neutrophils are professional phagocytes that provide defense against invading pathogens through phagocytosis, degranulation, generation of ROS, and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Although long been considered as short-lived effector cells with limited biosynthetic activity, recent studies have revealed that neutrophils actively communicate with other immune cells. Neutrophils employ various types of soluble mediators, including granules, cytokines, and chemokines, for crosstalk with immune cells. Additionally, ROS and NETs, major arsenals of neutrophils, are utilized for intercellular communication. Furthermore, extracellular vesicles play a crucial role as mediators of neutrophil crosstalk. In this review, we highlight the extracellular mechanisms of neutrophils and their roles in crosstalk with other cells.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.3-9
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• 2001

In the view of oriental medicine, the liver is the general of the army in its function of protecting against the enemy. So this concept is very closely associated to the immunological function. Its relations with immunological function are as follows. 1. The liver produces most of the proteins and converts them with hepatocytes, composes 80% in total reticuloendothelial system with Kuffer cells & endothelial cells and has typical structure of sinusoidal vessels closely related with the blood system. 2. The liver plays an important role in innate immunity with Kuffer cells as well as with the molecules that the liver produces, related to complementary systems. 3. In the embryonic period, the liver is associated with immune associated cell growth and their maturation. After birth, it is associated with removing old red blood cells and with systematically modulating immune system through hormone metabolism. 4. The liver controls the autoimmune disease resulting from immune complex by removing molecules like immune complex. 5. In the processing of blood 19A from the digestive system, the liver has an important role in protecting the body from unnecessary immune responses. 6. In the oriental medical view, liver plays a major role in the immune function by storing blood and dispersing stagnated hepatoqi with the help of the kidneys and spleen.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2015

Interactions between microbes and epithelial cells in the gastrointestinal tract are closely associated with regulation of intestinal mucosal immune responses. Recent studies have highlighted the modulation of mucosal immunity by microbe-derived molecules such as ATP and short-chain fatty acids. In this study, we undertook to characterize the expression of the ATP-gated $P2X_7$ receptor ($P2X_7R$) on M cells and its role in gastrointestinal mucosal immune regulation because it was poorly characterized in Peyer's patches, although purinergic signaling via $P2X_7R$ and luminal ATP have been considered to play an important role in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we present the first report on the expression of $P2X_7R$ on M cells and characterize the role of $P2X_7R$ in immune enhancement by ATP or LL-37.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.9-24
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• 2022

The aim of this study was to identify the expression of zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1), its prognostic significance, and correlation between ZEB1 and infiltrating immune cells in lung cancer. Correlation between ZEB1 and telomerase was also analyzed in different types of cancers. RNA sequencing analysis and survival rates of patients were confirmed by Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). The Kaplan-Meier plotter and PrognoScan databases were used to analyze the prognostic value of ZEB1 in various cancers. The Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource (TIMER) was used to determine the correlation between ZEB1 and infiltrating immune cells. Lower ZEB1 expression was lower in lung cancer and was related to poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). ZEB1 expression exhibited a significantly positive correlation with infiltration levels of immune cells in LUAD and lung squamous cell carcinoma. Furthermore, we found that the ZEB1 expression correlated with subunits of telomerase. Our findings suggest ZEB1 as a potential biomarker to be used for prognostic significance and tumor immunology in lung cancer. The correlation between the expression of ZEB1 and telomere-related gene will help in understand the cancer-promoting mechanisms.