Water extract of Cordyceps militaris enhances maturation of murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells in vitro.
Water extract (WE) of Cordyceps militaris has been reported to produce antitumor and immunomodulatory activities in vivo and in vitro. However, the therapeutic mechanism has not been known. In this study, we investigated whether water extract of C. militaris induces the phenotypic and functional maturation of dendritic cells (DC). It profoundly increased CD40, CD54, CD80, CD86, and MHC class II expression in murine bone marrow (BM)-derived myeloid DC. Endocytosis was assessed by the uptake of FITC-dextran and FITC-albumin. The ability of unstimulated DC (UT-DC) to uptake dextran and albumin was higher than that of WE- or LPS-stimulated DC (LPS-DC). Also, UT-DC secreted a low concentration of IL-12, while WE- or LPS-DC secreted higher levels of IL-12 than UT-DC. WE not only formed morphologically mature DC and clusters, but also induced predominantly functional maturation. Moreover, WE is shown to promote the cytotoxicity of specific-cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) induced by DC which were pulsed with P815 tumor-lysate during the stage of antigen presentation. These results suggest that DC maturation by WE can play a critical role in the improvement of the immunoregulatory function in patients with impaired host defense.
Kim
Gi-Young
GY
School of Applied Marine Science, College of Ocean Science, Cheju National University, Jeju-do 690-756, South Korea. immunkim@cheju.ac.kr
Ko
Woo-Shin
WS
Lee
Jae-Yoon
JY
Lee
Jeong-Ok
JO
Ryu
Chung-Ho
CH
Choi
Byung Tae
BT
Park
Yeong-Min
YM
Jeong
Young-Ki
YK
Lee
Kyeong-Jun
KJ
Choi
Kwang-Sik
KS
Heo
Moon-Soo
MS
Choi
Yung Hyun
YH
D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D032661:Cordyceps / Q000737:chemistry*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008419:Materia Medica / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
D015703:Antigens, CD; D016207:Cytokines; D008419:Materia Medica