Summary The gut microbiota can be altered by dietary interventions to prevent and treat various diseases. However, the mechanisms by which food products modulate commensals remain largely unknown. We demonstrate that plant-derived exosomes-like nanoparticles (ELNs) are taken up by the gut microbiota and contain RNAs that alter microbiome composition and host physiology. Ginger ELNs (GELNs) are preferentially taken up by Lactobacillaceae in a GELN lipid-dependent manner and contain microRNAs that target various genes in Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG). Among these, GELN mdo-miR7267-3p-mediated targeting of the LGG monooxygenase ycnE yields increased indole-3-carboxaldehyde (I3A). GELN RNAs or I3A, a ligand for aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), are sufficient to induce production of IL-22, which is linked to barrier function improvement. These functions of GELN RNAs can ameliorate mouse colitis via IL-22-dependent mechanisms. These findings reveal how plant products and their effects on the microbiome may be used to target specific host processes to alleviate disease.

Inflammation is a hallmark of cancer. Activated immune cells are intrinsically capable of homing to inflammatory sites. Using three inflammatory driven disease mouse models, we show that grapefruit-derived nanovectors (GNVs) coated with inflammatory related receptor enriched membranes of activated leukocytes (IGNVs) are enhanced for homing to inflammatory tumor tissues. Blocking LFA-1 or CXCR1 and CXCR2 on the IGNVs significantly inhibits IGNV homing to the inflammatory tissue. The therapeutic potential of IGNVs was further demonstrated by enhancing the chemotherapeutic effect as shown by inhibition of tumor growth in two tumor models and inhibiting the inflammatory effects of DSS induced mouse colitis. The fact that IGNVs are capable of homing to inflammatory tissue and that there is an overexpression of chemokines in diseased human tissue provides the rationale for using IGNVs to more directed delivery of therapeutic agents to inflammatory tumor sites and the use of IGNVs as personalized medicine for treatment of certain cancers.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a major role in promoting tumor growth and metastasis and in suppressing the antitumor immune response. Despite the immunosuppressive environment created by the tumor and enforced by tumor-associated macrophages, treatment of tumor-bearing mice with IL-12 induces tumor regression associated with appearance of activated NK cells and activated tumor-specific CTLs. We therefore tested the hypothesis that IL-12 treatment could alter the function of these tumor-associated suppressor macrophages. Analysis of tumor-infiltrating macrophages and distal TAMs revealed that IL-12, both in vivo and in vitro, induced a rapid (<90 min) reduction of tumor supportive macrophage activities (IL-10, MCP-1, migration inhibitory factor, and TGFβ production) and a concomitant increase in proinflammatory and proimmunogenic activities (TNF-α, IL-15, and IL-18 production). Similar shifts in functional phenotype were induced by IL-12 in tumor-infiltrating macrophages isolated from the primary tumor mass and in TAMs isolated from lung containing metastases, spleen, and peritoneal cavity. Therefore, although TAMs display a strongly polarized immunosuppressive functional profile, they retain the ability to change their functional profile to proinflammatory activities given the appropriate stimulus. The ability of IL-12 to initiate this functional conversion may contribute to early amplification of the subsequent destructive antitumor immune response.

The life spans of individual Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells were determined microscopically by counting the number of buds produced by each cell to provide a measure of the number of cell generations (age) before death. As the cells aged, their generation times increased five-to sixfold. The generation times of daughter cells were virtually identical to those of their mothers throughout the life spans of the mothers. However, within two to three cell divisions after the daughters were detached from their mothers by micromanipulation, their generation times reverted to that characteristic of their own age. Recovery from the mother cell effect was also observed when the daughters were left attached to their mothers. The results suggest that senescence, as manifested by the increase in generation time, is a phenotypically dominant feature in yeast cells and that it is determined by a diffusible cytoplasmic factor(s) that undergoes turnover. This factor(s) appeared to be transmitted by a cell not only to its daughter, but also indirectly to its granddaughter. In separate studies, it was determined that the induced deposition of chitin, the major component of the bud scar, in the yeast cell wall had no appreciable effect on life span. We raise the possibility that the cytoplasmic factor(s) that appears to mediate the "senescent phenotype" is a major determinant of yeast life span. This factor(s) may be the product of age-specific gene expression.The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae possesses a limited life span (6). Yeast cells produce a finite number of daughters during their life spans, which are elaborated on the surface of mother cells as buds. The number of buds produced by the mother, one during each cell division cycle, is the metric of the life span. Chronological age does not play a role (9). Yeast aging can be described by the Gompertz equation (15). Morphological and physiological changes accompany the aging process. These include an increase in cell size (6), an increase in generation time one to three divisions before cell death (6), and a decrease in the ability to mate (8). Individual cells display a wide range of life spans. The mean and the maximum life spans for a given yeast strain are characteristic for that strain, but they vary from one strain to another (4, 6-9). As yeast cells age, they accumulate bud scars on their surface due to bud abscission. These bud scars are the product of the deposition of the polysaccharide chitin in the cell wall. It has been suggested that the accumulation of bud scars on the yeast cell surface may result in its senescence (4,6).Yeast cells appear to be an excellent experimental system for the study of aging. Besides ease of cultivation, yeast cells possess the advantage that they are well suited to genetic manipulation, both classical and molecular (19). In addition, life span studies can be readily carried out on individual cells and pedigrees can be constructed, due to the asymmetric mode of cell division. However, nothing is known about the molecular dete...