The immunostimulatory activity of polysaccharides from Glycyrrhiza uralensis.

Adila Aipire,Mahepali Mahabati,Xinhui Wang,Pengfei Yuan,Jinyao Li,Shanshan Cai,Xianxian Wei,Alimu Aimaier

doi:10.7717/peerj.8294

Abstract

BackgroundThe enhancement of immunity is very important for immunocompromised patients such as cancer patients with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Glycyrrhiza uralensis has been used as food and medicine for a long history. G. uralensis polysaccharides (GUPS) were prepared and its immunostimulatory effects were investigated.MethodsHuman monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) and murine bone marrow-derived DCs were treated with different concentrations of GUPS. The DCs maturation and cytokine production were analyzed by flow cytometry and ELISA, respectively. Inhibitors and Western blot were used to study the mechanism of GUPS. The immunostimulatory effects of GUPS were further evaluated by naïve mouse model and immunosuppressive mouse model induced by cyclophosphamide. ResultsGUPS significantly promoted the maturation and cytokine secretion of human monocyte-derived DCs and murine bone marrow-derived DCs through TLR4 and down-stream p38, JNK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Interestingly, the migration of GUPS treated-DCs to lymph node was increased. In the mouse model, GUPS increased IL-12 production in sera but not for TNF-α. Moreover, GUPS ameliorated the side effect of cyclophosphamide and improved the immunity of immunosuppressive mice induced by cyclophosphamide. These results suggested that GUPS might be used for cancer therapy to ameliorate the side effect of chemotherapy and enhance the immunity.

Highlights

The immune system including organs, cells and molecules plays critical roles in preventing infections, maintaining homeostasis and monitoring abnormal cells
Compared to untreated BM-dendritic cells (DCs), G. uralensis polysaccharides (GUPS) significantly increased the expression of surface markers including CD40, CD80, CD86, major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I/-II and CCR7 (Figs. 1A–1F), and the secretion of cytokines including IL-1β, IL-12p40 and TNF-α (Figs. 1G–1I), in a dose-dependent manner
GUPS significantly upregulated the expression of CD86 and HLA-DR compared with untreated monocyte-derived DCs (Mo-DCs) (Figs. 1J–1M)

Summary

Introduction

The immune system including organs, cells and molecules plays critical roles in preventing infections, maintaining homeostasis and monitoring abnormal cells. For the induction of cellular responses, other signals need to be provided by DCs, such as co-stimulatory molecules and cytokines, which enhance the activation of naïve T cells. The immunostimulatory effects of GUPS were further evaluated by naïve mouse model and immunosuppressive mouse model induced by cyclophosphamide. GUPS significantly promoted the maturation and cytokine secretion of human monocyte-derived DCs and murine bone marrow-derived DCs through TLR4 and down-stream p38, JNK and NF-κB signaling pathways. GUPS ameliorated the side effect of cyclophosphamide and improved the immunity of immunosuppressive mice induced by cyclophosphamide. These results suggested that GUPS might be used for cancer therapy to ameliorate the side effect of chemotherapy and enhance the immunity

Methods

Results

Conclusion