Abstract Trichinella is a unique nematode. Its developmental stages include adult worms, newborn larvae, and muscle larvae. Besides humans, the parasite also infects many kinds of animals, including ...mice. Mice are widely used as an animal model in the research fields of immunology, cell biology, and host-parasite relationships of trichinellosis. The different developmental stages of Trichinella share similar, but unique characteristics. Therefore, it is important to collect different sources of Trichinella -derived materials for research with appropriate methods. In the present study, we introduce methods to collect Trichinella at different stages as well as their ES products. By optimizing the concentration of artificial gastric juice, volume of medium, and time of incubation for ES collection in vitro , muscle larvae, adult worms, and newborn larvae were collected with less contamination by host materials, and the ES products collected were confirmed to be originally antigenic and biologically active. The DNA, RNA, and proteins isolated from the parasites collected were confirmed to be applicable to analyses, including PCR, real-time PCR, Western blotting, and stimulators of cell cultures (macrophages, splenocytes, and tumor cells). The present study compiled protocols to collect materials from Trichinella and provides a reference for research on Trichinella.
The impact of spaceflight on the immune system has been investigated extensively during spaceflight missions and in model experiments conducted on Earth. Data suggest that the spaceflight environment ...may affect the development of acquired immunity, and immune responses. Herein we summarize and discuss the influence of the spaceflight environment on acquired immunity. Bone marrow and the thymus, two major primary lymphoid organs, are evidently affected by gravitational change during spaceflight. Changes in the microenvironments of these organs impair lymphopoiesis, and thereby may indirectly impinge on acquired immunity. Acquired immune responses may also be disturbed by gravitational fluctuation, stressors, and space radiation both directly and in a stress hormone-dependent manner. These changes may affect acquired immune responses to pathogens, allergens, and tumors.
Proteasomes are multisubunit proteases that play a critical role in maintaining cellular function through the selective degradation of ubiquitinated proteins. When 3 additional β subunits, expression ...of which is induced by IFN-γ, are substituted for their constitutively expressed counterparts, the structure is converted to an immunoproteasome. However, the underlying roles of immunoproteasomes in human diseases are poorly understood. Using exome analysis, we found a homozygous missense mutation (G197V) in immunoproteasome subunit, β type 8 (PSMB8), which encodes one of the β subunits induced by IFN-γ in patients from 2 consanguineous families. Patients bearing this mutation suffered from autoinflammatory responses that included recurrent fever and nodular erythema together with lipodystrophy. This mutation increased assembly intermediates of immunoproteasomes, resulting in decreased proteasome function and ubiquitin-coupled protein accumulation in the patient's tissues. In the patient's skin and B cells, IL-6 was highly expressed, and there was reduced expression of PSMB8. Downregulation of PSMB8 inhibited the differentiation of murine and human adipocytes in vitro, and injection of siRNA against Psmb8 in mouse skin reduced adipocyte tissue volume. These findings identify PSMB8 as an essential component and regulator not only of inflammation, but also of adipocyte differentiation, and indicate that immunoproteasomes have pleiotropic functions in maintaining the homeostasis of a variety of cell types.
Neutrophil elastase (NE) is necessary for effective sterilization of phagocytosed bacterial and fungal pathogens; however, NE increases alveolocapillary permeability and induces proinflammatory ...cytokine production in sepsis-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome. Under septic conditions, the pulmonary endothelial glycocalyx covering on the healthy endothelium surface is injured, but the contribution of NE to this injury remains unknown. Our aim was to examine whether NE-induced pulmonary endothelial injury is associated with endotoxemia. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 20 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally into 9- to 12-week–old granulocyte colony-stimulating factor knockout (G-CSFKO) mice, which harbor few neutrophils, and littermate control mice; in a second assay, mice were injected with the NE-inhibitor sivelestat (0.2 mg/kg) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours after LPS administration. Subsequently, vascular endothelial injury was evaluated through ultrastructural analysis. At 48 hours after LPS injection, survival rate was more than threefold higher among G-CSFKO than control mice, and degradation of both thrombomodulin and syndecan-1 was markedly attenuated in G-CSFKO compared with control mice. Ultrastructural analysis revealed attenuated vascular endothelial injury and clear preservation of the endothelial glycocalyx in G-CSFKO mice. Moreover, after LPS exposure, survival rate was approximately ninefold higher among sivelestat-injected mice than control mice, and sivelestat treatment potently preserved vascular endothelial structures and the endothelial glycocalyx. In conclusion, NE is associated with pulmonary endothelial injury under LPS-induced endotoxemic conditions.
CD4⁺ helper T (Th) cells differentiate toward distinct effector cell lineages characterized by their distinct cytokine expression patterns and functions. Multiple Th cell populations secrete IL-22 ...that contributes to both protective and pathological inflammatory responses. Although the differentiation of IL-22-producing Th cells is controlled by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), little is known about the regulatory mechanisms inducing physiological stimulators for AhR. Here, we show that Notch signaling enhances IL-22 production by CD4⁺ T cells by a mechanism involving AhR stimulation. Notch-mediated stimulation of CD4⁺ T cells increased the production of IL-22 even in the absence of STAT3. CD4⁺ T cells from RBP-J-deficient mice had little ability to produce IL-22 through T cell receptor-mediated stimulation. RBP-J-deficient mice were highly susceptible to the detrimental immunopathology associated with ConA-induced hepatitis with little IL-22 production by CD4⁺ T cells. Exogenous IL-22 protected RBP-J-deficient mice from ConA-induced hepatitis. Notch signaling promoted production of endogenous stimulators for AhR, which further augmented IL-22 secretion. Our studies identify a Notch-AhR axis that regulates IL-22 expression and fine-tunes immune system control of inflammatory responses.
A new species of the genus
of the parasitic cyclopoid family Chondracanthidae is described from the gill cavity of the callionymid
(Jordan and Fowler, 1903) collected from off Kii Peninsula, Japan. ...This is the first record of the occurrence of the genus from the North Pacific, and is only the second species in the genus. The female of the new species is easily distinguished from that of the Australian type species
Ho and Dojiri, 1988 by having a squared trunk lacking paired posterior processes, and by the very short neck. In the male, the new species can be differentiated from the type species by having three inner setae on the caudal ramus, and by the distal segment of the antennule having a setal formula of 4, 3, 7+ ae. An adult female was accompanied by an attached adult male, whereas fourth and fifth copepodid females each carried a fifth and a fourth attached copepodid male, respectively. This is the first record of precopulatory mate guarding in a cyclopoid family parasitic on fish hosts, and of mate guarding between late copepodids of both sexes. The zoogeography of the genus and its relatives with an atrophied tip on the antenna is also discussed.
Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The pathological hallmark of PD is the appearance of ...intraneuronal cytoplasmic α-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregation, called Lewy bodies. α-Syn aggregation is deeply involved in the pathogenesis of PD. Oxidative stress is also associated with the progression of PD. In the present study, to investigate whether a hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-prolyl hydroxylase (PH) inhibitor, FG-4592 (also called roxadustat), has neuroprotective effects against α-Syn-induced neurotoxicity, we employed a novel α-Syn stably expressing cell line (named α-Syn-N2a cells) utilizing a piggyBac transposon system. In α-Syn-N2a cells, oxidative stress and cell death were induced by α-Syn, and FG-4592 showed significant protection against this neurotoxicity. However, FG-4592 did not affect α-Syn protein levels. FG-4592 triggered heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression downstream of HIF-1α in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, FG-4592 decreased the production of reactive oxygen species possibly via the activation of HO-1 and subsequently suppressed α-Syn-induced neurotoxicity. Moreover, FG-4592 regulated mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration via the induction of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α. As FG-4592 has various neuroprotective effects against α-Syn and is involved in drug repositioning, it may have novel therapeutic potential for PD.
Trichinella infection can experimentally ameliorate many autoimmune diseases. However, the immune mechanism of the amelioration and the identification of corresponding Trichinella-derived molecule(s) ...are still not fully elucidated. Fifty-three kDa excretory-secretory (ES) protein from Trichinella pseudospiralis (Tpp53) is a molecule like TsP53 reported as a protein exerting immune-inhibitory effect in T. spiralis. In this study, we investigated the immunomodulatory effect of Tpp53 using imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis model, which is a mouse model of autoimmune disease with the pathogenic interleukin 17 (IL-17) producing CD4+ T cells (Th17) via IL-23/IL17 axis. Administrating the recombinant Tpp53 (rTpp53) mixed with IMQ cream on the skin of mice ameliorated psoriatic lesions, as revealed by the improvement of erythema, scaling, skin thickening, epidermis hyperplasia and parakeratosis, thickening of acanthosis cell layer, epidermal extension of dermis, less infiltration of inflammatory cells, and decreased expression of inflammatory marker. The increased expression of the factors related to the IL-23/IL-17 axis, including IL-17A, IL-6, Il17F and Il23a, in the skins of IMQ-treated mice was inhibited by rTpp53 treatment. Moreover, the expression of activated keratinocyte-produced cytokines, chemokines, and antimicrobial peptides in the skin was also down-regulated in rTpp53-treated IMQ-treated mice. Co-culture of splenocytes with rTpp53 inhibited IL-17A and treatment of macrophages with rTpp53 reduced IL-6 production. Overall, our study revealed that the Trichinella-secreted 53 kDa ES protein could ameliorate IMQ-induced psoriasis by inhibiting the IL-23/IL-17 axis, suggesting that Tpp53 might involve in regulating host Th17 for immune evasion and have an alternative potential for psoriasis therapy.
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•First-time utilization of imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis in the study of immunomodulation by parasite-derived molecules.•Recombinant Trichinella pseudospiralis-secreted 53 kDa ES protein (rTpp53) could ameliorate IMQ-induced psoriasis.•rTpp53 inhibited the IL-23/IL-17 axis, keratinocyte-produced cytokines, chemokines and antimicrobial peptides in the psoriatic skin lesions.•rTpp53 suppressed Th17 response of splenocytes and IL-6 production from intraperitoneal macrophages in vivo and in vitro.
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a malignancy of bile duct with the difficulty in early diagnosis, poor prognosis and less alternation in therapy. S100P is a member of S100 family proteins and plays ...important roles in cancers. We investigated the S100P expression and its correlation with clinicopathology in 78 cases of opisthorchiasis‐associated CCA, and the effects of S100P knockdown with shRNA interference on the proliferation, cell cycle, migration, apoptosis and sensitivity to anti‐cancer drug. Extremely high expression of S100P mRNA was detected in the CCA tumor tissues. The increased S100P protein expression was immunohistochemically confirmed and localized in the CCA cytoplasm and/or nuclei as well as in the hyperneoplasia and dysplasia bile ducts, but not in normal bile ducts. The intensity of immunostaining was correlated with survival, tumor stage and metastasis, and the high expression could be an independent prognostic factor. High levels of S100P were detected in the serum and bile fluid of CCA patients. The shRNA‐mediated knockdown of S100P expression inhibited the proliferation in vitro and in vivo, and migration of CCA cells, arrested cell cycle with the up‐regulated expression of cell cycle arrest related factors, p21, p27, GADD45A, and 14‐3‐3 zeta. S100P knockdown also promoted CCA cell apoptosis by up‐regulating expression of apoptosis related factors, DR5, TRADD, caspase 3 and BAX, and increased the sensitivity of CCA cells to the chemotherapeutic agents sunitinib and apigenin. Taken together, this study indicates that S100P might be a promising biomarker for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of CCA.
What's new?
Infection with the parasite Opisthorchis viverrini is an important risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), though methods to detect infection and diagnose and monitor CCA development are limited. In this study, expression of the Ca2+‐binding protein S100P was found to be significantly elevated in opisthorchiasis‐associated CCA tumor tissue, and its expression levels were associated with patient survival. Hence, S100P may be a prognostic marker in CCA. Knockdown of S100P expression inhibited CCA proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest, favored apoptosis, and enhanced CCA cell sensitivity to the drugs sunitinib and apigenin.
ABSTRACTMyocardial injury in sepsis may be caused by a burst of several inflammatory mediators, leading to vascular endothelial injuries. However, the contribution of neutrophil elastase (NE) to ...myocardial injury in sepsis is still unknown. We aimed to evaluate whether endotoxemia-induced myocardial injury is associated with NE. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was injected intraperitoneally at a dose of 20 mg/kg into granulocyte-colony-stimulating-factor knockout mice (G-CSF-KO), which have few neutrophils, and littermate control mice. The survival rate of G-CSF-KO mice 48 hours after LPS injection was significantly greater than that of control mice. The serum level of troponin I in G-CSF-KO mice was significantly lower than that in control mice. In addition, the concentration of inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) was significantly decreased 6 and 12 hours after LPS administration compared with that in control mice. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that vascular endothelial structures and the endothelial glycocalyx in G-CSF-KO mice were clearly preserved. Next, mice were injected with 0.2 mg/kg sivelestat (an NE inhibitor) after LPS administration. The survival rate was significantly higher and the serum level of troponin I was lower in sivelestat-injected mice than in control mice, respectively. Furthermore, IL-6 levels were significantly decreased 6 and 12 hours after LPS administration compared with those in control mice. Vascular endothelial structures and the endothelial glycocalyx in sivelestat-treated mice were clearly preserved at the ultrastructural level. In conclusion, NE is significantly associated with myocardial injury in endotoxemia. Inhibition of NE may be a useful tool for the management of endotoxemia.
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