Abstract
In previous studies, Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP), a traditional Chinese medicine, can promote immature dendritic cells (DCs) to mature. However, the molecular mechanisms by which LBP works are not yet elucidated. Here, we found that LBP can induce DCs maturation, which is mainly characterized by the upregulation of MHCII and costimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86), and increase the production of IL-6 and IL-4. Furthermore, we found that LBP could increase the mRNA and protein expression of TLR4, p38, Erk1/2, JNK, and Blimp1 signal molecules. More interestingly, after blocking by Toll-like receptor 4 inhibitor, Resatorvid (TAK 242), the mRNA and protein expression of TLR4, Erk1/2, and Blimp1 was significantly decreased while the expression of p38 and JNK has not changed. Then, we found that after blocking by p38 inhibitor (SB203580), Erk inhibitor (PD98059), and JNK inhibitor (SP603580) separately, Blimp1 protein expression was significantly reduced; after downregulating Blimp1 by Blimp1-siRNA, the production of IL-6 was reduced. In conclusion, our results indicate that LBP can induce maturation of DCs through the TLR4-Erk1/2-Blimp1 signal pathway instead of the JNK/p38-Blimp1 pathway. Our findings may provide a novel evidence for understanding the molecular mechanisms of LBP on activating murine DCs.
Highlights
Chinese herbal medicine has a long history used to treat many kinds of human diseases
Our data suggested that Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) can promote dendritic cells (DCs) phenotype and functional maturity; we focused on analyzing the molecular mechanism of LBP on DCs
Previous studies have shown that Lycium barbarum polysaccharide liposome (LBPL) can activate immature DCs and induce DC maturation characterized by upregulation of cell surface molecules MHCII, CD80, CD86, and CD40, production of cytokines IL-12p40 and TNF-α, and enhancement of antigen presentation [34, 35]
Summary
Chinese herbal medicine has a long history used to treat many kinds of human diseases. Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) are the major biological active ingredient of Lanthanum which consist of six kinds of monosaccharides such as arabinose, glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, and rhamnose and have a variety of biological and pharmacological functions, including antioxidant, anticancer and antiradiation activities [1,2,3,4]. LBP is that it mainly regulated the functions of T cells, CTL cells, NK cells, peritoneal macrophages, and partially dendritic cells (DCs). Some studies have shown that LBP can increase the expression of surface molecular CD11c and MHCII and the secretion of IL-12p40 in mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) [5]. DCs are the most powerful antigen presenting cells (APC) known to act as a bridge between innate and adaptive immune responses [6].
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