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ABSTRACT: Asthma prevalence and severity are higher in females than in males after puberty. The underlying mechanisms of this gender difference are not fully understood. More severe airway inflammation in female mice has been reported to be associated with higher levels of T helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines in asthma models. The aim of this study was to investigate sex differences in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell functions in Th2 cytokine production.
Splenocytes from naive mice were stimulated with anti-CD3/CD28 antibodies and the proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were analyzed. CD4+ T cells were stimulated in the presence of CD8+ T cells. The concentrations of interleukin (IL)-5, IL-10 and interferon (IFN)-γ in the cultures were measured.
The concentration of IL-5, but not IFN-γ, was significantly higher in female splenocytes than in male splenocytes. There were no sex differences in the proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the splenocytes. Although the IL-5 production levels in male and female CD4+ T cells were similar, IL-5 production in male CD4+ T cells, but not female CD4+ T cells, was suppressed by both male and female CD8+ T cells. While IL-5 and IL-10 were not detected in the cultures from both male and female CD8+ T cells, IFN-γ concentration in female CD8+ T cells was significantly higher than in male CD8+ T cells.
The sex difference in the sensitivity of CD4+ T cells to CD8+ T cell suppression might contribute to the sex difference in IL-5 production by splenocytes.
International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 01/2012; 158 Suppl 1:35-41. · 2.40 Impact Factor
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Yuki Fujii,
Shigeki Sugawara,
Daisuke Araki, Tasuku Kawano,
Takeo Tatsuta,
Kohta Takahashi,
Sarkar M A Kawsar,
Ryo Matsumoto,
Robert A Kanaly,
Hidetaro Yasumitsu,
Yasuhiro Ozeki,
Masahiro Hosono,
Taeko Miyagi,
Sen-Itiroh Hakomori,
Motoaki Takayanagi,
Kazuo Nitta
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ABSTRACT: A novel anticancer mechanism of catfish (Silurus asotus) egg lectin (SAL) was found to occur via the down-regulation of the membrane transopter protein, MRP1 (multidrug resistance associate protein-1) on Burkitt's lymphoma cells through Gb3(Galα1-4Galβ1-4Glc)-glycosphingolipid. Although SAL did not influence the viability of the cells directly, only 10 and 100 ng/mL of vincristine and etoposide, respectively induced anticancer effects when the lectin was applied in conjunction with these drugs. These phenomena were specifically inhibited by the co-presence of the α-galactoside, melibiose, which is a strong haptenic sugar of SAL that mimicks Gb3. The degree of expression regulation of the transporter proteins on the cells surface was investigated through the examination of the binding between SAL and Gb3-glycosphingolipid by immunological and molecular biological procedures. PCR data showed that MRP1 was more highly expressed when compared to another ATP-binding cassette family, multi-drug resistant protein and the expression levels of MRP1 on the cells were specifically dose- and time-dependently depleted by the addition of SAL. These results were also evaluated by immunological procedures using FACS and western-blotting. Small interfering RNA coding a part of MRP1 was transfected to Raji cells to knock down the protein, and cell death was increased by 10% when vincristine was administered at a concentration as low as 10 ng/mL compared to non-transfected cells. These results indicated that SAL possesses the potential to enhance the anticancer activites of low-concentrations of vincristine by the down-regulating the MRP1 gene expression to inhibit the multidrug resistance by binding to the target ligand Gb3-glycosphingolipid on Burkitt's lymphoma cells.
The Protein Journal 11/2011; 31(1):15-26. · 1.04 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Before puberty, the prevalence and severity of asthma are higher in boys than in girls, but this pattern is reversed after puberty. The underlying mechanisms of these gender differences in asthma are not fully understood. Using murine models of allergic asthma, a sex difference in Th2 cytokine production has been suggested to contribute to the gender differences in asthma. Therefore, we determined which subsets of T cells are involved in the sex difference in Th2 cytokine production.
Splenocytes from wild-type mice and CD4+ T cell-, CD8+ T cell-, and iNKT cell-deficient mice were stimulated with anti-CD3/CD28 antibodies for 3 days, and the concentrations of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IFN-γ in the cultures were measured by ELISA.
IL-5, but not IL-4 and IL-13, concentrations in culture derived from female wild-type mice were significantly higher than those in male wild-type mice. The sex difference in IL-5 concentrations was not observed in the cultures of splenocytes from CD4+ and CD8+ T cell-deficient mice. The disappearance of the sex differences in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell-deficient mice was attributable to a decrease in IL-5 concentration in female mice and an increase in IL-5 concentration in male mice. In iNKT cell-deficient mice, the sex difference was still observed. There was no significant difference between the sexes in any type of mice with respect to IFN-γ production.
There was a sex difference in IL-5 production by splenocytes stimulated by TCR activation. The difference might be attributable to sex differences in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell functions.
International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 01/2011; 155 Suppl 1:21-6. · 2.40 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Silurus asotus (catfish) egg lectin (SAL) has a strong affinity to Gal alpha-linked carbohydrate chains of not only glycoproteins but also glycosphingolipids such as globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). SAL uniformly bound to surfaces of Gb3-expressing (Gb3+) Burkitt's lymphoma cells, while Gb3 molecules were interspersed on the surfaces of Gb3+ cells. After a short period of treating Raji and Daudi cells with SAL, each cell size was 10 and 25% smaller than that of untreated cells, respectively. Treatment of Gb3+ cells with SAL caused an increase in binding of annexin V, however, neither caspase activation nor DNA fragmentation was observed after treatment with SAL for 22 h. Since SAL did not induce cell death in Gb3+ cells, SAL may function as an inducer of early apoptotic signal. We have revealed that SAL did not bind to D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morphorino-1-propanol (D-PDMP)-treated Raji cells, and no cell shrinkage was observed in Gb3-deficient Raji cells treated with SAL, indicating that Gb3 localized in the glycosphingolipid-enriched microdomain (GEM) was involved in SAL-induced cell shrinkage through activation of voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3, and that the glycoprotein ligands on Gb3-deficient Raji cells treated with SAL were not included in this phenomenon. These results suggest that SAL leads the cells to early apoptotic status via binding to Gb3 existing in GEM, and that this binding is a prerequisite condition to induce early stage of apoptosis.
Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin 04/2009; 32(3):345-53. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are divided into stress-inducible and constitutive types. Generally, HSP70 (stress inducible) and HSC70 (constitutive) are representative of their types, respectively. From the results of immunocytochemical analysis, both HSP70 and HSC70 were constitutively expressed in globotriaosylceramide (Gb3)-expressing Raji cells as well as Gb3-negative K562 cells. Furthermore, the membrane-bound form of HSP70 was present on the surfaces of two cell lines as patch and cap-like structures, and was recovered in the cholesterol rich microdomains (CRM) prepared from them. On the other hand, HSP70 was partially co-localized with Gb3 on the surface of Raji cells. This result suggested that HSP70 was not associated with all of Gb3 molecules but with Gb3 specifically located in the particular environment. The effect of Silurus asotus lectin (SAL), which is one of the rhamnose-binding lectins and specifically binds to Gb3, on the disappearance of membrane-bound HSP70 was dependent on whether Gb3 was present or not. These results suggested that the disappearance of membrane-bound HSP70 was caused by SAL binding to Gb3, that the reduction of membrane-bound HSP70 might result in the decrease in cell volume observed, and that the mechanism of SAL-induced HSP70 expression may differ from that of heat shock in Raji cells.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 11/2008; 1790(2):101-9. · 4.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Silurus asotus lectin (SAL) is a member of the rhamnose-binding lectin (RBL) family, and recognizes globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) on the cell surface of Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines, such as Raji and Daudi cells. The variation of gene expression in the treatment of both cells with SAL was analyzed using the differential display (DD) method with combination of 16 kinds of arbitary primers and 3 kinds of anchor primers. Treatment of Raji cells with SAL down-regulated mitochondria-associated granulocyte-macropharge colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) signaling molecule (Magmas) gene, and up-regulated N-myc downstream regulated gene (NDRG) 3. On the other hand, treatment of Daudi cells with SAL down-regulated Rad50 gene. Since Magmas gene expression was repressed in SAL-treated Raji cells, but did not change in SAL-treated D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morphorino-1-propanol (PDMP)-pretreated Raji cells, it was clear that the expression of Magmas, NDRG3 or Rad50 was regulated by SAL binding to Gb3.
Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin 06/2008; 31(5):998-1002. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Silurus asotus (catfish) egg lectin (SAL) has potent affinity to Gal alpha-linked carbohydrate chains of not only glycoproteins but also glycosphingolipids such as globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). SAL selectively bound to Gb3 localized in glycosphingolipid-enriched microdomain (GEM) of Gb3-expressing (Gb3(+)) Burkitt's lymphoma cells. Since treatment of Gb3(+) cells with SAL caused an increase in externalization of phosphatidylserine via activation of P-glycoprotein, and apoptotic volume decrease via activation of G-protein activated K(+) channel-1, SAL may function as an inducer of early apoptotic signal; however, neither caspase-8 and -3 activation nor DNA fragmentation was observed. We therefore investigated whether cell proliferation and viability were altered in SAL-treated Raji cells. SAL caused reduction of Raji cell proliferation without cytotoxicity. Although SAL did not induce apoptotic cell death to Gb3-expressing cells, it functionally behaved as a regulator of cell proliferation. SAL activated the suppression system of cell proliferation, such as down-regulation of c-myc and cdk4, and up-regulation of p21 and p27, inducing G1 arrest of the cell cycle, and consequently inhibited cell proliferation of Raji cells. Therefore, we conclude that SAL leads the cells to early apoptotic status but not late apoptotic (necrotic) status via binding to Gb3 existing in GEM, and that this binding is a prerequisite condition to induce cell cycle stop signal.
Yakugaku zasshi journal of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan 05/2007; 127(4):553-61. · 0.39 Impact Factor
