Sinomenine inhibits primary CD4+ T-cell proliferation via apoptosis.
Sinomenine is an active component isolated from Sinomenium acutum and is widely used as an immunosuppressive drug for treating autoimmune diseases. CD4(+) T-cell population plays a key role in adaptive immune response and is related to some autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated the possible immunosuppressive effect of sinomenine on CD4(+) T cells and its underlying mechanism. Our data demonstrated that sinomenine remarkably suppressed the proliferation of CD4(+) T cells, blocked the cell cycle progression from G0/G1 phase to S plusG2/M phases. Finally, the immunosuppressive activity elicited by sinomenine in CD4(+) primary lymphocytes was found to be largely accounted for by caspase 3-dependent cells apoptosis. Sinomenine did not significantly alter the expression of bcl-2 in activated CD4(+) primary T cells, suggesting that bcl-2 might not be involved in sinomenine-induced T cells apoptosis. In sum, this study proposes a novel mechanism for the immunosuppressive function of sinomenine on primary mouse CD4(+) T cells.
Shu
Luan
L
State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 22 Hankou Road, Nanjing 210093, P.R. China.
Yin
Wu
W
Zhang
Jing
J
Tang
Bo
B
Kang
Yuan-Xi
YX
Ding
Fan
F
Hua
Zi-Chun
ZC
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009019:Morphinans / Q000494:pharmacology*
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D009019:Morphinans; C009271:sinomenine