Physalis angulata induces in vitro differentiation of murine bone marrow cells into macrophages.

Bruno José Martins Da Silva,Amanda Anastácia P Hage,Edilene O Silva,Luis Henrique S Farias,Ana Paula D Rodrigues,Jose Luiz M Do Nascimento

doi:10.1186/1471-2121-15-37

Abstract

BackgroundThe bone marrow is a hematopoietic tissue that, in the presence of cytokines and growth factors, generates all of the circulating blood cells. These cells are important for protecting the organism against pathogens and for establishing an effective immune response. Previous studies have shown immunomodulatory effects of different products isolated from plant extracts. This study aimed to evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of aqueous Physalis angulata (AEPa) extract on the differentiation of bone marrow cells.ResultsIncreased cellular area, higher spreading ability and several cytoplasmatic projections were observed in the treated cells, using optical microscopy, suggesting cell differentiation. Furthermore, AEPa did not promote the proliferation of lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, however promotes increased the number of macrophages in the culture. The ultrastructural analysis by Transmission Electron Microscopy of treated cells showed spreading ability, high number of cytoplasmatic projections and increase of autophagic vacuoles. Moreover, a high level of LC3b expression by treated cells was detected by flow cytometry, suggesting an autophagic process. Cell surface expression of F4/80 and CD11b also indicated that AEPa may stimulate differentiation of bone marrow cells mainly into macrophages. In addition, AEPa did not differentiate cells into dendritic cells, as assessed by CD11c analysis. Furthermore, no cytotoxic effects were observed in the cells treated with AEPa.ConclusionResults demonstrate that AEPa promotes the differentiation of bone marrow cells, particularly into macrophages and may hold promise as an immunomodulating agent.

Highlights

The bone marrow is a hematopoietic tissue that, in the presence of cytokines and growth factors, generates all of the circulating blood cells
Bone marrow cells (BMCs) were treated with 100 μg/mL AEPA for 96 hours
Effect of aqueous Physalis angulata (AEPa) on BMCs cell viability BMCs were treated with 25, 50 and 100 μg/mL AEPa for 24-96 h and cell viability analyzed by the Method Thiazolyl Blue (MTT) assay (Figure 1a)

Summary

Introduction

The bone marrow is a hematopoietic tissue that, in the presence of cytokines and growth factors, generates all of the circulating blood cells. Hematopoietic stem cells undergo the process of maturation and differentiation in the presence of cytokines and growth factors present in the marrow microenvironment, giving rise to myeloid and lymphoid progenitor cells [2,3]. These myeloid progenitors, when stimulated, differentiate and give rise to blood cells, macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs), while the lymphoid lineage differentiates into T and B lymphocytes, natural killers (NK) cells and DCs [4,5]. Autophagy is essential for monocyte-macrophage differentiation; reports demonstrate that some monocytes cannot survive if the autophagy process is blocked and, if they are to survive, the differentiation process becomes defective inhibiting differentiation of cells into macrophages [9]

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