Xinjiang Key Lab of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
Key Lab of Medical Molecular Virology, School of Basic Medical Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
PLoS One. 2018 Jan 23;13(1):e0191356. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191356. eCollection 2018.
A safe and effective vaccine adjuvant is important in modern vaccines. Various Chinese herbal polysaccharides can activate the immune system. Cistanche deserticola (CD) is a traditional Chinese herb and an adjuvant candidate. Here, we confirmed that water-extractable polysaccharides of CD (WPCD) could modulate immune responses in vitro and in vivo. In a dose-dependent manner, WPCD significantly promoted the maturation and function of murine marrow-derived dendritic cells (BM-DCs) through up-regulating the expression levels of MHC-II, CD86, CD80, and CD40, allogenic T cell proliferation, and the yields of IL-12 and TNF-α via toll-like receptor4 (TLR4), as indicated by in vitro experiments. In addition, its immunomodulatory activity was also observed in mice. WPCD effectively improved the titers of IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a and markedly enhanced the proliferation of T and B cells, the production of IFN-γ and IL-4 in CD4+ T cells and the expression level of IFN-γ in CD8+ T cells better than Alum. Furthermore, WPCD could markedly up-regulate the expression levels of CD40 and CD80 on DCs in spleen and down-regulate the Treg frequency. The study suggests that polysaccharides of Cistanche deserticola are a safe and effective vaccine adjuvant for eliciting both humoral immunity and cellular immunity by activating DCs via TLR4 signaling pathway.
一种安全有效的疫苗佐剂在现代疫苗中至关重要。各种中草药多糖可以激活免疫系统。肉苁蓉是一种传统的中草药，也是一种佐剂候选物。在这里，我们证实了肉苁蓉水提多糖（WPCD）可以在体外和体内调节免疫反应。在一定剂量范围内，WPCD 通过上调 MHC-II、CD86、CD80 和 CD40 的表达水平、同种异体 T 细胞增殖以及 TLR4 介导的 IL-12 和 TNF-α的产生，显著促进了鼠骨髓来源树突状细胞（BM-DCs）的成熟和功能，这在体外实验中得到了证实。此外，其免疫调节活性也在小鼠中得到了观察。WPCD 有效提高了 IgG、IgG1 和 IgG2a 的滴度，显著增强了 T 和 B 细胞的增殖，CD4+T 细胞中 IFN-γ和 IL-4 的产生以及 CD8+T 细胞中 IFN-γ的表达水平均优于 Alum。此外，WPCD 可以显著上调脾脏树突状细胞上的 CD40 和 CD80 的表达水平，并下调 Treg 频率。研究表明，肉苁蓉多糖通过 TLR4 信号通路激活 DCs，是一种安全有效的疫苗佐剂，可引发体液免疫和细胞免疫。
