• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.113-121
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• 2018

Taste is closely related to intake of food. Taste perception is also influenced by type of food ingested, and nutrition and health status. Bitter taste plays an important role in the survival of human and animals to avoid probable toxic and harmful substances. Vertebrate animals recognize bitter taste through type 2 taste receptors (T2Rs). Several T2Rs have been expressed extra-oral such as the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, urogenital tract, brain and immune cells, and parts of their functions are being revealed. This review will discuss physiological roles of T2Rs in relation to innate immunity, secretion and smooth muscle contraction expressed in extra-oral cells and tissues, and we summarize relationships between polymorphisms in T2Rs and general or oral diseases. It is not a coincidence that animals pay much genetic costs for taste and smell during evolution.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.181-190
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• 2005

BIRPs (BIR containing Proteins) which contain one to three BIR domains constitute a highly conserved family from yeast to human. BIR domains mediate the interaction of BIRPs with various other proteins. Some of the members acquire a Ring domain which acts as an E3 ubiquitin ligase. The first member of BIRPs identified in the baculovirus was found as an inhibitor of apoptosis and most of the family members in the other species have been recognized to have the same function which bind to and inhibit caspases, thereby suppresses apoptotic cell death. But an increasing number of evidences indicate that BIRPs are involved in various cellular events such as cell division, control of cell cycle, signal transduction, cell migration, innate immunity as well as regulation of apoptosis. In this review, we summarize the structural and functional features of the BIRPs, especially focus on the various functions of BIRPs unrelated to regulation of apoptosis by the recent findings.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.26-30
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• 2015

nc886 (=vtRNA2-1, pre-miR-886, or CBL3) is a newly identified non-coding RNA (ncRNA) that represses the activity of protein kinase R (PKR). nc886 is transcribed by RNA polymerase III (Pol III) and is intriguingly the first case of a Pol III gene whose expression is silenced by CpG DNA hypermethylation in several types of cancer. PKR is a sensor protein that recognizes evading viruses and induces apoptosis to eliminate infected cells. Like viral infection, nc886 silencing activates PKR and induces apoptosis. Thus, the significance of the nc886:PKR pathway in cancer is to sense and eliminate pre-malignant cells, which is analogous to PKR's role in cellular innate immunity. Beyond this tumor sensing role, nc886 plays a putative tumor suppressor role as supported by experimental evidence. Collectively, nc886 provides a novel example how epigenetic silencing of a ncRNA contributes to tumorigenesis by controlling the activity of its protein ligand.

• Allergy, Asthma & Respiratory Disease
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.279-283
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• 2018

Asthma is considered a chronic inflammatory airway disease. Mounting evidence reports that patients with asthma are at significantly higher risk of developing communicable diseases such as invasive pneumococcal disease, Haemophilus influenza, varicella, measles, pertussis and tetanus. While impaired innate immunity may play a role in increased risk of developing these infections, suboptimal adaptive immune responses have also been reported to play a role in asthmatic subjects with regard to increased risk of infections. This review discusses the currently underrecognized immunological effect of asthma on antibody to vaccines and recommends that clinicians be aware of less optimal antibody production in response to vaccines in subjects with asthma.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.264-275
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• 2022

The regulation of macrophages is a major target for dietary immune modulation for their involvement in both innate and adoptive immune responses. Studies revealed that macrophages are unique in their plasticity to polarize into either inflammatory M1 subset or anti-inflammatory M2 cells. Recently, cellular energy metabolism including both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation is demonstrated to control macrophage dichotomy. In this review, the differential utilization of glucose, lipids, amino acids, and irons by M1 and M2 cells are discussed in detail. In addition, several dietary approaches for the alteration of inflammatory M1 cells to M2 phenotypes are reviewed for development of functional foods for immune regulation.

• Korean Journal of Transplantation
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.113-120
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• 2014

Two-signal models are useful in explaining various types of immune responses. In particular, secondary, so-called costimulatory, signals are critically required for the process of T-cell activation, survival, differentiation, and memory formation. Early studies in rodent models showed that targeting T-cell costimulatory pathways elicits immunological tolerance, providing a basis for development of costimulatory therapeutics in allograft rejection. However, as the classic definition of T-cell costimulation continues to evolve, simple blockade of costimulatory pathways has limitations in prevention of allograft rejection. Furthermore, functions of costimulatory molecules are much more diverse than initially anticipated and beyond T cells. In this mini-review, we will discuss CD137-CD137L bidirectional signals as examples showing that two-signals can be applicable to multiple phases of immune responses.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.176-178
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• 2023

We report the case of a toddler, with a history of mild atopic dermatitis (AD) since early infancy, presented to the Giannina Gaslini, a pediatric polyclinic hospital, 14 days after measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination, for the occurrence of a disseminated vesico-pustular rash, accompanied by general malaise, fever, restlessness, and anorexia. Eczema herpeticum (EH) was diagnosed clinically and confirmed by laboratory examinations. The exact pathogenesis of EH in AD is still debated and possibly involves an inter-play between altered cell-mediated and humoral immunity, failure to up-regulate antiviral proteins, and exposure of viral binding sites through the dermatitis and an epidermal barrier failure. We hypothesize that in this particular case, MMR vaccination might have played an additional important role in the alteration of innate immune response, facilitating the manifestation of herpes simplex virus type 1 in the form of EH.

• 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.24 no.4
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• pp.29.1-29.18
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• 2024

NK cells belong to innate lymphoid cells and able to eliminate infected cells and tumor cells. NK cells play a valuable role in controlling viral infections. Also, they have the potential to shape the adaptive immunity via a unique crosstalk with the different immune cells. Murine models are important tools for delineating the immunological phenomena in viral infection. To decipher the immunological virus-host interactions, two major infection models are being investigated in mice regarding NK cell-mediated recognition: murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). In this review, we recapitulate recent findings regarding the multifaceted role of NK cells in controlling LCMV and MCMV infections and outline the exquisite interplay between NK cells and other immune cells in these two settings. Considering that, infections with MCMV and LCMV recapitulates many physiopathological characteristics of human cytomegalovirus infection and chronic virus infections respectively, this study will extend our understanding of NK cells biology in interactions between the virus and its natural host.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.444-450
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• 2018

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells that play a pivotal role in modulating both innate and adaptive immunity. This study examined the immunomodulatory activities of hot-water extracts of bee pollen (BPW) in bone-marrow derived DCs (BMDC) and mice splenocytes. BMDCs isolated from mice were treated with 250 and $500{\mu}g/mL$ BPW for 24 h. BPW, up to $500{\mu}g/mL$, did not display any cellular toxicity against BMDCs. In fact, it functionally induced BMDC activation via augmentation of CD80, CD86, and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I/II expression and pro-inflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor; $TNF-{\alpha}$, interleukin; IL-6, and $IL-1{\beta}$) production. Interestingly, BPW treatment significantly increased the production of interferon $(IFN)-{\gamma}$ in splenocytes, suggesting its possible contribution to Th1 polarization in immune response. Taken together, these findings suggest that BPW may regulate innate and adaptive immunity via DC activation and Th1 polarization in immune responses.