• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.347-358
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• 2016

Brassinosteroid (BR), a plant steroid hormone, plays key roles in numerous growth and developmental processes as well as tolerance to both abiotic and biotic stress. To understand the biological networks involved in BR-mediated signaling pathways and stress tolerance, we performed comparative genome-wide transcriptome analysis of a constitutively activated BR bes1-D mutant with an Agilent Arabidopsis $4{\times}44K$ oligo chip. As a result, we newly identified 1,091 (562 up-regulated and 529 down-regulated) significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The combination of GO enrichment and protein network analysis revealed that stress-related processes, such as metabolism, development, abiotic/biotic stress, immunity, and defense, were critically linked to BR signaling pathways. Among the identified gene sets, we confirmed more than a 6-fold up-regulation of NB-ARC and FLS2 in bes1-D plants. However, some genes, including TIR1, TSA1 and OCP3, were down-regulated. Consistently, BR-activated plants showed higher tolerance to drought stress and pathogen infection compared to wild-type controls. In this study, we newly developed a useful, comprehensive method for large-scale identification of critical network and gene sets with global transcriptome analysis using a microarray. This study also showed that gain of function in the bes1-D gene can regulate the adaptive response of plants to various stressful conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.306-313
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• 2017

Purple bamboo salt (PuBS) is commonly used as a medicinal food in Korea and has beneficial potentials such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Rubus coreanus is called Bokbunja, which is used as a traditional medicine for treating asthma, impotence, and allergic diseases in Korea. The aim of present study was to investigate the immunostimulatory effect of PuBS composed with Rubus coreanus (PuBS-R). We performed comparative analysis between PuBS and PuBS-R in Raw264.7 cells, which is a mouse macrophage cell line, and peritoneal macrophages isolated primarily from the mouse peritoneal cavity. We evaluated cytotoxicity and the immune cytokine response in PuBS- and PuBS-R-treated cells. Both PuBS and PuBS-R did not have any cytotoxicity in Raw264.7 cells up to $500{\mu}g/mL$. Gene and protein levels of immune cytokines such as tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$), $interferon-{\gamma}$ ($IFN-{\gamma}$), interleukin (IL)-10, and IL-12 were significantly elevated by PuBS-R more than PuBS in Raw264.7 cells. Moreover, we evaluated the immunostimulatory effects of PuBS-R on mouse primary peritoneal macrophages. Protein levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase, $TNF-{\alpha}$, $IFN-{\gamma}$, IL-10, and IL-12 were significantly higher in PuBS-R-treated peritoneal macrophages than PuBS-treated peritoneal macrophages. These results suggest the potential immunostimulatory effect of PuBS-R for immunity against harmful infection.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2005

In Oriental medicine the primordial Qi and the defensive Qi are considered as important for immunity. Therefore it is anticipated that the improvement of the primordial Qi and the defensive Qi can enhance the ability of immune cells. This experiment was conducted to investigate how Ginseng Radix, Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, Glycyrrhizae Radix, representative of Qi tonifying herbs, affect the immune system in terms of controlling and balancing immune cells. Using the MTS assay, increased proliferations were observed from herbal treated cells, among which Gins-eng showed the highest proliferation. When splenocytes were activated with anti-CD3 plus herbal extracts, levels of IFN-g and IL-4 were increased but those of IL-2 showed little change compared with the control cells. Levels of IL-2, IFN-g and IL-4 were increased in purified CD4 T cells when activated with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 but at $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ of Astragali and Atractylodis, levels of IL-2 were decreased by 11% and 42%, respectively and those of IFN-g were decreased by 55% and 12%, respectively. Under Th1/Th2 polarizing conditions, levels of IFN-g in Th1 cells treated with herbal extracts were all decreased but when it comes to IL-4, its levels were increased in Ginseng and Glycyrrhizae treated cells but decreased in Astragali and Atractylodis treated cells. Taken together, the data show that compared with other qi tonifying herbs, Ginseng and Glycyrrhizae have a tendency to favor Th2 cell differentiation in vitro.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.85-93
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• 1999

Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in immunologic defense, and influences upon the functioning of secretory tissues and cells. It also exhibits cytotoxic/cytostatic activity as one of major operating effectors of the cellular immunity system. We investigated the effects of serum on the cell damages and NO production in the mouse liver cell line BNL CL.2 to establish the role of NO. We observed that, when BNL CL.2 cells were cultured in serum-free medium, they were induced to cell damage by the stimulation of IFN-$\gamma$ alone or IFN-$\gamma$ plus LPS. Serum-starved cells showed large amount of nitrite accumulation and NO synthase (NOS) expression in response to IFN-$\gamma$ alone in dose- and time- dependent manners, but serum-supplied cells did not The production of NO was blocked by protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitors, genistein and herbimycin. These results suggest that the deprivation of serum in the BNL CL.2 cell culture medium might primed with the cells to produce NO when the cells are triggered by IFN-$\gamma$ and the involvement of PTK signal transduction pathway in the expression of NOS gene in murine hepatocytes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.496-507
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• 2018

Immunization has been performed for centuries and is generally accepted as a sustainable method of controlling bacteria, viruses, and mediated and infectious diseases. Despite many studies having been performed on animal subjects to demonstrate the importance of toxin immunity, the use of toxoid vaccines in humans and animals has been limited for a long time. Recently, the development of the toxoid antigen delivery system has been facilitated using novel nano-medicinal technology. The micro/nano-carrier has been used to improve vaccination coverage as well as reduce vaccine costs. A micro/nano-carrier is a micro/nano-sized material that delivers immune cargo, including recombinant or peptide toxoid antigens. These toxoid antigens are either encapsulated in the interior or displayed on the surface of micro/nano-carriers as a way to protect them from the cellular machinery. In particular, the combination of toxoid antigens and micro/nano-carriers can induce phagocytosis through the specific interactions between GCs and macrophages; thus, the toxoid antigens can be delivered easily into the macrophages. This paper reviews recent achievements of micro/nano-carriers in the field of vaccine delivery systems such as microbial ghost cells (GCs, Bacterial ghost cells and Yeast ghost cells), gene-manipulated outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) and biocompatible, polymer-based nanoparticles (NPs, NP-Carrier and NP-Cage). Finally, this review shows various aspects in terms of the hosts' immune responses.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1197-1203
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• 2015

Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) JOL389 and χ3339 are strong virulent strains against mouse. ST χ8554 is derived by deletion of the asd gene from ST χ3339. Plasmid pMMP184 carrying a ghost cassette was transformed into ST χ8554, and ST χ8554 ghost cells were prepared and administrated via the oral route to BALB/c mice. Change in the amount of total IgG was not elicited to boosting of single ST χ8554 ghost cells, but the content was increased from 6 weeks after the 3^rd administration. However, when the ST JOL389 ghost cells is administered together with ST χ8554 ghost cells, the content of total IgG was increased in 2 weeks post primary administration. It was found that the content of total IgG of the group mixed with ST JOL389 ghost cells showed an increased value of 8 times or more at 10 weeks when compared with the group of ST χ8554 ghost cells. The content of IgG1, IgG2a, and sIgA in both groups increased from 4 weeks postprimary administration. As a challenge test of virulent ST χ3339, χ8554 (pMMP184) and χ8554 (pMMP184)/JOL389 ghost cell groups showed protection of 50% or more when compared to the control group. These results suggest that the preparation of combined ghost cells from a strong virulent ST increases immunity more than a single strain.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.115-123
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• 2011

Toxoplasma gondii Korean isolate (KI-1) tachyzoites were inoculated intraduodenally to BALB/c mice using a silicon tube, and the course of infection and immune responses of mice were studied. Whereas control mice, that were infected intraperitoneally, died within day 7 post-infection (PI), the intraduodenally infected mice survived until day 9 PI (infection with $1{\times}10^5$ tachyzoites) or day 11 PI (with $1{\times}10^6$ tachyzoites). Based on histopathologic (Giemsa stain) and PCR (B1 gene) studies, it was suggested that tachyzoites, after entering the small intestine, invaded into endothelial cells, divided there, and propagated to other organs. PCR appeared to be more sensitive than histopathology to detect infected organs and tissues. The organisms spread over multiple organs by day 6 PI. However, proliferative responses of splenocytes and mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells in response to con A or Toxoplasma lysate antigen decreased significantly, suggesting immunosuppression. Splenic $CD4^+$ and $CD8^+$ T-Iymphocytes showed decreases in number until day 9 PI, whereas IFN-${\gamma}$ and IL-10 decreased slightly at day 6 PI and returned to normal levels by day 9 PI. No TNF-${\alpha}$ was detected throughout the experimental period. The results showed that intraduodenal infection with KI-1 tachyzoites was successful but did not elicit significant mucosal immunity in mice and allowed dissemination of T. gondii organisms to systemic organs. The immunosuppression of mice included reduced lymphoproliferative responses to splenocytes and MLN cells to mitogen and low production of cytokines, such as IFN-${\gamma}$, TNF-${\alpha}$, and IL-10, in response to T. gondii infection.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.554-559
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• 2016

Mycobacterium abscessus, a member of the group of non-tuberculous mycobacteria, has been identified as an emerging pulmonary pathogen in humans. However, little is known about the protective immune response of antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs), which guard against M. abscessus infection. The M. abscessus gene MAB1843 encodes ᴅ-alanyl-ᴅ-alanine dipeptidase, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of ᴅ-alanyl-ᴅ-alanine dipeptide. We investigated whether MAB1843 is able to interact with DCs to enhance the effectiveness of the host's immune response. MAB1843 was found to induce DC maturation via toll-like receptor 4 and its downstream signaling pathways, such as the mitogen-activated protein kinase and nuclear factor kappa B pathways. In addition, MAB1843-treated DCs stimulated the proliferation of T cells and promoted Th1 polarization. Our results indicate that MAB1843 could potentially regulate the immune response to M. abscessus, making it important in the development of an effective vaccine against this mycobacterium.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.722-729
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• 2004

Leptin is an adipocyte-secreted hormone and its plasma levels correlate with total body fat mass, however, it also plays a regulatory role in immunity, inflammation, and hematopoiesis. Chemokine is known as a chemoattractant cytokine in inflammatory reaction, but its role in leptin reaction has not been well studied. In this study, the direct effect of leptin on the expression of chemokine mRNAs and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chemokine KC mRNA in mouse peritoneal macrophages was investigated. Leptin did not induce the expression of lymphotactin, RANTES, eotaxin, MIP-1$\beta$, MIP-1$\alpha$, MIP-2, MCP-1, IP-10, TCA-3, and KC mRNA in mouse peritoneal macrophages, and had no direct effect on the expression of these LPS-induced chemokine mRNAs except KC mRNA. The synergistic effect of leptin on the expression of LPS-induced KC mRNA occurred late in the time course of response to LPS. The increased expressions of Ob-Rb mRNA and leptin receptor protein were detected during the LPS treatment. Leptin produced a substantial increase in the stability of the LPS-induced KC mRNA, and the synergistic effect of leptin on LPS-induced KC mRNA expression was further augmented by cycloheximide (CHX). Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) did not block the synergistic effect of leptin on LPS-induced KC mRNA expression in mouse peritoneal macrophages. These data suggest that although leptin has no direct effect on the expression of lymphotactin, RANTES, eotaxin, MIP-1$\beta$, MIP-1$\alpha$, MIP-2, MCP-1, IP-10, TCA-3, and KC mRNA in mouse peritoneal macrophages, the synergistic effect of leptin on the expression of LPS-induced KC mRNA has the possibility that LPS might induce the expression of the Ob-Rb receptor or an unknown gene(s) that sensitizes macrophages to the synergistic function of leptin. Therefore, further studies are necessary to examine leptin as a regulatory factor of chemokine production.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.212-215
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• 2012

The antimicrobial activity of ursolic acid (UA) and oleanolic acid (OA), both triterpenoid compounds, against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is controversial. We examined the antimicrobial effects of UA and OA against 19 strains of MRSA isolated from Koreans by determining minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC). The data showed that the methicillin-sensitive strain S. aureus KCTC $1621^T$ was more resistant to UA and OA than that of the MRSA strains. The MBC values of UA and OA against MRSA had broad ranges; 4 to 32 ${\mu}g/ml$ and 16 to >256 ${\mu}g/ml$, respectively. It was difficult to understand the different antimicrobial activities of UA and OA among the MRSA strains, because UA and OA antimicrobial mechanisms are unknown. These results indicate that the antimicrobial effects of UA and OA against MRSA are dependent on resistance to UA and OA in each strain.