Oral Administration of Lactococcus lactis Subsp. lactis JCM5805 Enhances Lung Immune Response Resulting in Protection from Murine Parainfluenza Virus Infection

When activated by viral infection, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play a primary role in the immune response through secretion of IFN-α. Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis JCM5805 (JCM5805) is a strain of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that activates murine and human pDCs to express type I and type III interferons (IFNs). JCM5805 has also been shown to activate pDCs via a Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) dependent pathway. In this study, we investigated the anti-viral effects of oral administration of JCM5805 using a mouse model of murine parainfluenza virus (mPIV1) infection. JCM5805-fed mice showed a drastic improvement in survival rate, prevention of weight loss, and reduction in lung histopathology scores compared to control mice. We further examined the mechanism of anti-viral effects elicited by JCM5805 administration using naive mice. Microscopic observations showed that JCM5805 was incorporated into CD11c⁺ immune cells in Peyer’s patches (PP) and PP pDCs were significantly activated and the expression levels of IFNs were significantly increased. Interestingly, nevertheless resident pDCs at lung were not activated and expressions levels of IFNs at whole lung tissue were not influenced, the expressions of anti-viral factors induced by IFNs, such as Isg15, Oasl2, and Viperin, at lung were up-regulated in JCM5805-fed mice compared to control mice. Therefore expressed IFNs from intestine might be delivered to lung and IFN stimulated genes might be induced. Furthermore, elevated expressions of type I IFNs from lung lymphocytes were observed in response to mPIV1 ex vivo stimulation in JCM5805-fed mice compared to control. This might be due to increased ratio of pDCs located in lung were significantly increased in JCM5805 group. Taken together, a specific LAB strain might be able to affect anti-viral immunological profile in lung via activation of intestinal pDC leading to enhanced anti-viral phenotype in vivo.     

Novel Parallelized Electroporation by Electrostatic Manipulation of a Water-in-Oil Droplet as a Microreactor

Electroporation is the most widely used transfection method for delivery of cell-impermeable molecules into cells. We developed a novel gene transfection method, water-in-oil (W/O) droplet electroporation, using dielectric oil and an aqueous droplet containing mammalian cells and transgene DNA. When a liquid droplet suspended between a pair of electrodes in dielectric oil is exposed to a DC electric field, the droplet moves between the pair of electrodes periodically and droplet deformation occurs under the intense DC electric field. During electrostatic manipulation of the droplet, the local intense electric field and instantaneous short circuit via the droplet due to droplet deformation facilitate gene transfection. This method has several advantages over conventional transfection techniques, including co-transfection of multiple transgene DNAs into even as few as 10³ cells, transfection into differentiated neural cells, and the capable establishment of stable cell lines. In addition, there have been improvements in W/O droplet electroporation electrodes for disposable 96-well plates making them suitable for concurrent performance without thermal loading by a DC electric field. This technique will lead to the development of cell transfection methods for novel regenerative medicine and gene therapy.     

TAE226, a Bis-Anilino Pyrimidine Compound,Inhibits the EGFR-Mutant Kinase Including T790M Mutant to Show Anti-Tumor Effect on EGFR-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

TAE226, a bis-anilino pyrimidine compound, has been developed as an inhibitor of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-IR). In this study, we investigated the effect of TAE226 on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially focusing on the EGFR mutational status. TAE226 was more effective against cells with mutant EGFR, including the T790M mutant, than against cells with wild-type one. TAE226 preferentially inhibited phospho-EGFR and its downstream signaling mediators in the cells with mutant EGFR than in those with wild-type one. Phosphorylation of FAK and IGF-IR was not inhibited at the concentration at which the proliferation of EGFR-mutant cells was inhibited. Results of the in vitro binding assay indicated significant differences in the affinity for TAE226 between the wild-type and L858R (or delE746_A750) mutant, and the reduced affinity of ATP to the L858R (or delE746_A750) mutant resulted in good responsiveness of the L858R (or delE746_A750) mutant cells to TAE226. Of interest, the L858R/T790M or delE746_A750/T790M mutant enhanced the binding affinity for TAE226 compared with the L858R or delE746_A750 mutant, resulting in the effectiveness of TAE226 against T790M mutant cells despite the T790M mutation restoring the ATP affinity for the mutant EGFR close to that for the wild-type. TAE226 also showed higher affinity of about 15-fold for the L858R/T790M mutant than for the wild-type one by kinetic interaction analysis. The anti-tumor effect against EGFR-mutant tumors including T790M mutation was confirmed in mouse models without any significant toxicity. In summary, we showed that TAE226 inhibited the activation of mutant EGFR and exhibited anti-proliferative activity against NSCLCs carrying EGFR mutations, including T790M mutation.     

Influence of olive-derived hydroxytyrosol on the toll-like receptor 4-dependent inflammatory response of mouse peritoneal macrophages

Macrophages play important roles in the host innate immune response and are involved in the onset of diseases caused by inflammation. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated inflammatory responses of macrophages may be associated with diseases such as diabetes and diseases of the cardiovascular system. Hydroxytyrosol (HT) exerts strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and may be applied in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. In the present study conducted in vitro, we investigated the effects of the TLR4-dependent anti-inflammatory effect of HT on peritoneal macrophage of BALB/c mice. We show here that the elevated levels of iNOS gene expression and nitric oxide production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (0.25 μg/ml) were suppressed by HT (12.5 μg/ml). LPS-dependent NF-κB gene expression and phosphorylation of NF-κB were not affected by HT under these conditions. In contrast, the expression of TNF-α was significantly increased in the presence of LPS and HT. These results suggest that HT suppressed nitric oxide production by decreasing iNOS gene expression through a mechanism independent of the NF-κB signaling pathway. These novel findings suggest that the modulation by HT of the expression of genes involved in inflammation may involve multiple mechanisms.     

A simple and highly efficient transgenesis method in mice with the Tol2 transposon system and cytoplasmic microinjection

Creating transgenic mice is an important technology for genetic studies and is currently performed by pronuclear microinjection of plasmid DNA into fertilized eggs. Since survival of injected embryos and integration of plasmid DNA are not efficient, total efficiency is only around 3% with a standard protocol. To circumvent this problem, here we describe a novel transgenesis method, the Tol2-mediated cytoplasmic injection method (Tol2:CI). We injected a foreign DNA cloned in a Tol2-transposon vector together with the transposase mRNA into the cytoplasm of fertilized eggs. As expected, the survival rate of the injected embryos was increased drastically. Also, the foreign DNA was transposed from the plasmid to the genome and transmitted to the next generation very efficiently. Together, the overall transgenic efficiency became more than 20%. Considering its simplicity and perfect compatibility with existing pronuclear microinjection facilities, we propose that the Tol2:CI method is applicable to high throughput functional genomics studies.     

Induction of cell size vesicles from human lymphoma cell lines and their application to drug carriers

Sodium butyrate (NaB) induced the membrane enclosed cell size vesicles from several IgM producing cell lines. We considered the application of the cell-derived vesicles (CDVs) to drug delivery system (DDS) using the lung cancer specific IgM producing AE6 cell line. Microscopic observation showed that the DiI fluorescence labeled AE6 vesicles were incorporated into the lung cancer cell line A549. The anticancer drug, actinomycin D (actD), contained in AE6 and Ramos vesicles decreased the A549 cell viability to 46 and 62% of control without actD, respectively. The cytotoxic effect in AE6 vesicles was superior to that in the Ramos vesicles that have the lung cancer non-specific IgM on their surfaces. However, the result of the Ramos vesicles suggests that the surface molecules other than IgM may interact with the A549 cells. In our method for vesicle production, more specific and abundant antibodies mounted vesicles can be generated by transfection of their genes into cells followed by NaB treatment. These suggest that the CDVs may be useful for the development of a drug carrier for DDS.     

Syntheses of water-soluble [60]fullerene derivatives and their enhancing effect on neurite outgrowth in NGF-treated PC12 cells

Water-soluble [60]fullerene (C₆₀) derivatives were synthesized to examine their bioactivities. PC12 cells were used as a model of nerve cells and the bioactivities of synthesized C₆₀ derivatives together with some reported ones were tested. Among the compounds tested, C₆₀/(γ-CyD)₂, C₆₀-bis(γ-CyD) (5) containing C₆₀-mono(γ-CyD) (5′), and C₆₀/PVP were sufficiently soluble in water and showed an enhancing effect on the neurite outgrowth of NGF-treated PC12 cells.     

Sofalcone, a gastric mucosa protective agent, increases vascular endothelial growth factor via the Nrf2-heme-oxygenase-1 dependent pathway in gastric epithelial cells

Sofalcone, 2′-carboxymethoxy-4,4-bis(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy)chalcone, is an anti-ulcer agent that is classified as a gastric mucosa protective agent. Recent studies indicate heat shock proteins such as HSP32, also known as heme-oxygenase-1(HO-1), play important roles in protecting gastrointestinal tissues from several stresses. We have previously reported that sofalcone increases the expression of HO-1 in adipocytes and pre-adipocytes, although the effect of sofalcone on HO-1 induction in gastrointestinal tissues is not clear. In the current study, we investigated the effects of sofalcone on the expression of HO-1 and its functional role in rat gastric epithelial (RGM-1) cells. We found that sofalcone increased HO-1 expression in RGM-1 cells in both time- and concentration-dependent manners. The HO-1 induction was associated with the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) in RGM-1 cells. We also observed that sofalcone increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production in the culture medium. Treatment of RGM-1 cells with an HO-1 inhibitor (tin-protoporphyrin), or HO-1 siRNA inhibited sofalcone-induced VEGF production, suggesting that the effect of sofalcone on VEGF expression is mediated by the HO-1 pathway. These results suggest that the gastroprotective effects of sofalcone are partly exerted via Nrf2-HO-1 activation followed by VEGF production.     

Significance of HLA class I antibody-induced antioxidant gene expression for endothelial cell protection against complement attack

It has been observed that a graft organ continues to survive and function normally even in the presence of anti-graft antibodies. However, the mechanisms behind acquirement of this condition remain unknown. Here we report that the anti-HLA ligation on endothelial cells induces PI3K/AKT activation followed by antioxidant gene induction through Nrf2-mediated antioxidant-responsive element (ARE) activation. Activation of PI3K/AKT in endothelial cells by a low concentration of anti-HLA ligation enhances protection from complement attack. A real-time quantitative PCR and flow-cytometry experiment showed that ferritin H and HO-1 mRNAs were induced in a PI3K/AKT-dependent manner, while CD55 and CD59 expression were not enhanced by anti-HLA ligation. Anti-HLA ligation on endothelial cells activates ferritin H ARE and induces Nrf2 binding on its enhancer element. Finally, overexpression of Nrf2 in endothelial cells attenuates complement-mediated cytotoxicity. These experiments suggest that induction of PI3K/AKT-dependent cytoprotective genes by Nrf2 is an important mechanism to prevent complement attack. Thus, a protocol to activate this pathway would be a potential strategy for avoidance of graft rejection in transplantation.     

Identification of a novel type of CA19-9 carrier in human bile and sera of cancer patients: an implication of the involvement in nonsecretory exocytosis

Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) is a well-known tumor marker for pancreatic cancer. Although the CA19-9 level is measured using anti-sialyl Lewis A antibodies, it remains unknown which molecules carry CA19-9 other than mucins. Here we report the identification and characterization of a novel type of CA19-9 carrier, BGM (bile globular membrane), which is thought to exist in normal bile and to be secreted into sera of patients with pancreatic cancer. We purified the BGM from bile juice using a β-casein column because surface plasmon resonance analysis could detect such carrier vesicles binding to β-casein in sera of patients with pancreatic cancer. We identified characteristic molecules for BGM such as AHNAK (desmoykoin) and a novel golgin family member, CABIN (CAsein Binding domain integral protein with golgIN motif) by mass spectrometry analysis. BGM was detected in the sera of patients with pancreatic cancer as well as athymic mice with transplanted pancreatic cancer cells. Down regulation of CABIN inhibited the secretion of CA19-9 on BGM in pancreatic cancer cell lines. We measured and visualized BGM in sera of patients with cancer. Thus, BGM might be another CA19-9 carrier (glyco-lipids on membrane vesicles) other than mucins and could be applied to the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.