SUMMARYWe examined the role of IL-12 in host resistance to Cryptococcus neoformans using a murine model of pulmonary and disseminated infection. In this model, mice were infected intratracheally with viable yeast cells. Mice untreated with IL-12 allowed an uncontrolled multiplication of yeast cells in the lung with infiltrations of few inflammatory cells, and a cryptococcal dissemination to the brain and meningitis by 3 weeks, resulting in death of all animals within 4-6 weeks. IL-12, when administered from the day of tracheal infection for 7 days, induced a marked infiltration of inflammatory cells, consisting mostly of mononuclear cells, and significantly reduced the number of viable yeast cells in the lung. The treatment suppressed brain dissemination, as shown by a marked reduction of yeast cells in the brain and prevention of meningitis. These effects resulted in a significant increase in the survival rate of infected mice. In contrast, late administration of IL-12 commencing on day 7 after instillation of yeast cells failed to protect the mice against infection with C. neoformans. In further experiments, early administration of IL-12 markedly induced interferon-gamma (IFN-°) mRNA in the lungs of infected mice, while no IFN-°mRNA was detected without this treatment. Our results indicate that IL-12 is effective when administered in the early period of pulmonary cryptococcal infection.

The increasing number of biological applications for black phosphorus (BP) nanomaterials has precipitated considerable concern about their interactions with physiological systems. Here we demonstrate the adsorption of plasma protein onto BP nanomaterials and the subsequent immune perturbation effect on macrophages. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, 75.8% of the proteins bound to BP quantum dots were immune relevant proteins, while that percentage for BP nanosheet–corona complexes is 69.9%. In particular, the protein corona dramatically reshapes BP nanomaterial–corona complexes, influenced cellular uptake, activated the NF-κB pathway and even increased cytokine secretion by 2–4-fold. BP nanomaterials induce immunotoxicity and immune perturbation in macrophages in the presence of a plasma corona. These findings offer important insights into the development of safe and effective BP nanomaterial-based therapies.

BackgroundIntrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a common disease affecting up to 5% of pregnancies and which can cause fetal arrhythmia and sudden intrauterine death. We previously demonstrated that bile acid taurocholate (TC), which is raised in the bloodstream of ICP, can acutely alter the rate and rhythm of contraction and induce abnormal calcium destabilization in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCM). Apart from their hepatic functions bile acids are ubiquitous signalling molecules with diverse systemic effects mediated by either the nuclear receptor FXR or by a recently discovered G-protein coupled receptor TGR5. We aim to investigate the mechanism of bile-acid induced arrhythmogenic effects in an in-vitro model of the fetal heart.Methods and ResultsLevels of bile acid transporters and nuclear receptor FXR were studied by quantitative real time PCR, western blot and immunostaining, which showed low levels of expression. We did not observe functional involvement of the canonical receptors FXR and TGR5. Instead, we found that TC binds to the muscarinic M2 receptor in NRCM and serves as a partial agonist of this receptor in terms of inhibitory effect on intracellular cAMP and negative chronotropic response. Pharmacological inhibition and siRNA-knockdown of the M2 receptor completely abolished the negative effect of TC on contraction, calcium transient amplitude and synchronisation in NRCM clusters.ConclusionWe conclude that in NRCM the TC-induced arrhythmia is mediated by the partial agonism at the M2 receptor. This mechanism might serve as a promising new therapeutic target for fetal arrhythmia.

To ward off a wide variety of pathogens, the human adaptive immune system harbors a vast array of T-cell receptors (TCRs) and B-cell receptors (BCRs), collectively referred to as the immune repertoire. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) of TCR/BCR genes allows in-depth molecular analysis of T/B-cell clones, providing an unprecedented level of detail when examining the T/B-cell repertoire of individuals. It can evaluate TCR/BCR complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) diversity and assess the clonal composition, including the size of the repertoire; similarities between repertoires; V(D)J segment use; nucleotide insertions and deletions; CDR3 lengths; and amino acid distributions along the CDR3s at sequence-level resolution. Deep sequencing of B-cell and T-cell repertoires offers the potential for a quantitative understanding of the adaptive immune system in healthy and disease states. Recently, paired sequencing strategies have also been developed, which can provide information about the identity of immune receptor pairs encoded by individual T or B lymphocytes. HTS technology provides a previously unimaginable amount of sequence data, accompanied, however, by numerous challenges associated with error correction and interpretation that remain to be solved. The review details some of the technologies and some of the recent achievements in this field.

SUMMARYWe investigated the role of TNF-in the host defence mechanism against infection with a virulent strain of Cryptococcus neoformans. Administration of exogenous recombinant human TNF-significantly prolonged the survival time of mice infected by intratracheal instillation of the organism. Surprisingly, neutralizing MoAb to murine TNF-did not shorten their survival time, a finding inconsistent with previous results. To investigate the cause of this inconsistency, we examined the production of TNFin the lungs of infected mice. During the course of cryptococcosis, there was little or no generation of TNF-mRNA in the lung. This might be partly due to a direct inhibitory action of the fungal microorganism on TNF-production by macrophages. In vitro production of TNF-by murine interferon-gamma (IFN-)-and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages was strongly inhibited by co-culturing with the whole yeast cells. In contrast, administration of recombinant murine IL-12 markedly induced TNF-production and the neutralizing anti-TNF-MoAb strongly blocked IL-12-induced protection of mice against cryptococcal infection. These results indicate that endogenously synthesized TNF-has the potential to contribute to the elimination of C. neoformans and partly mediates the protective effect of IL-12.

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Cigarette smoke (CS), the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, contains a variety of oxidative components that were implicated in the regulation of Src homology domain 2-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase 2 (Shp2) activity. However, the contribution of Shp2 enzyme to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease pathogenesis remains unclear. We investigated the role of Shp2 enzyme in blockading CS-induced pulmonary inflammation. Shp2 levels were assessed in vivo and in vitro. Mice (C57BL/6) or pulmonary epithelial cells (NCI-H292) were exposed to CS or cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to induce acute injury and inflammation. Lungs of smoking mice showed increased levels of Shp2, compared with those of controls. Treatment of lung epithelial cells with CSE showed elevated levels of Shp2 associated with the increased release of IL-8. Selective inhibition or knockdown of Shp2 resulted in decreased IL-8 release in response to CSE treatment in pulmonary epithelial cells. In comparison with CS-exposed wild-type mice, selective inhibition or conditional knockout of Shp2 in lung epithelia reduced IL-8 release and pulmonary inflammation in CS-exposed mice. In vitro biochemical data correlate CSE-mediated IL-8 release with Shp2-regulated epidermal growth factor receptor/Grb-2–associated binders/MAPK signaling. Our data suggest an important role for Shp2 in the pathological alteration associated with CS-mediated inflammation. Shp2 may be a potential target for therapeutic intervention for inflammation in CS-induced pulmonary diseases.

What is already known about this subject • Both oral clearance as well as delivery of pravastatin to its molecular targets in hepatoctyes are greatly influenced by the organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B1 (OATP1B1), encoded by SLCO1B1. • The role of genetic factors that determine the marked interindividual variability in lipid‐lowering efficacy of pravastatin in Chinese patients is not known. • The present study was designed to evaluate the impact of a common functional genetic polymorphism in SLCO1B1 (521T→C: Val174Ala) on pravastatin efficacy in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease. What this study adds 521T→C functional genetic polymorphism of SLCO1B1 is significantly associated with an attenuated total cholesterol‐lowering efficacy of pravastatin in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease. Aims Pravastatin is a 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG‐CoA) reductase inhibitor, which is widely used both in primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD). Pravastatin is not subject to metabolism by cytochrome P450s, but it is actively transported from blood into target tissues (e.g. hepatocytes in the liver) by the organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B1 (OATP1B1), encoded by SLCO1B1. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of SLCO1B1 521T→C (Val174Ala) functional genetic polymorphism on the lipid‐lowering efficacy of multiple‐dose pravastatin in Chinese patients with CHD. Methods Forty‐five hospitalized patients with CHD prospectively received pravastatin as a single‐agent therapy (20 mg day−1 p.o.) for 30 days. Serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol and high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol concentrations were determined before and after pravastatin treatment. Results Pravastatin treatment significantly decreased plasma lipids in all patients (P < 0.001). Importantly, we showed an attenuated pravastatin pharmacodynamic effect on total cholesterol in patients with 521TC heterozygote genotype (from 5.52 ± 0.51 mmol l−1 to 4.70 ± 0.35 mmol l−1, % change  −14.5 ± 6.6%, N = 9) compared with 521TT homozygote genotype (from 5.47 ± 1.15 mmol l−1 to 4.21 ± 0.89 mmol l−1, % change −22.4 ± 10.3%, N = 36) (mean ± SD, P = 0.03, two‐tailed test with α set at 5%). SLCO1B1 521T→C functional polymorphism did not significantly influence pravastatin pharmacodynamics on other plasma lipids (P > 0.05). Conclusions The 521T→C polymorphism of SLCO1B1 appears to modulate significantly the total cholesterol‐lowering efficacy of pravastatin in Chinese patients with CHD. Further studies are warranted to determine the extent to which SLCO1B1 genetic variation may contribute to resistance to pravastatin in Asian patients treated with standard doses of pravastatin.