Nocardia rubra cell-wall skeleton promotes CD4+ T cell activation and drives Th1 immune response

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules 2017-08, Vol.101, p.398-407
• Main Authors: Wang, Guangchuan, Wu, Jie, Miao, Miao, Dou, Heng, Nan, Ning, Shi, Mingsheng, Yu, Guang, Shan, Fengping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis - drug effects; CD4+ T cell; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - drug effects; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cell Wall Skeleton - pharmacology; Cytokines - blood; Female; Immune cells; Immunomodulation - drug effects; Immunoregulation; Lymphocyte Activation - drug effects; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Nocardia rubra cell-wall skeleton; Th1 Cells - drug effects; Th1 Cells - immunology
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.03.060

•Nr-CWS can enhance the activation of CD4+ T cells.•Nr-CWS can promote the proliferation of CD4+ T cells.•Nr-CWS can induce Th1 type immunity. Several lines of evidences have shown that Nocardia rubra cell wall skeleton (Nr-CWS) has immunoregulatory and anti-tumor activities. However, there is no information about the effect of Nr-CWS on CD4+ T cells. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of Nr-CWS on the phenotype and function of CD4+ T cells. Our results of in vitro experiments showed that Nr-CWS could significantly up-regulate the expression of CD69 and CD25 on CD4+ T cells, promote the proliferation of CD4+ T cells, increase the production of IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-2 in the supernatants, but has no significant effect on the apoptosis and death of CD4+ T cells. Results of in vivo experiments showed that Nr-CWS could promote the proliferation of CD4+ T cells, and increase the production of IL-2, IFN-γ and TNF-α (Th1 type cytokines). These data suggest that Nr-CWS can enhance the activation of CD4+ T cells, promote the proliferation of CD4+ T cells and the differentiation of CD4+ T cells to Th1 cells.