title: Astragalus polysaccharides enhance immune responses of HBV DNA vaccination via promoting the dendritic cell maturation and suppressing Treg frequency in mice.
abstract: Astragalus polysaccharides (APS), an extract from a kind of Chinese traditional herb Astragalus membranaceus, was proved to have strong immunoregulatory properties. In this study, APS was employed as an adjuvant of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA vaccine (pcDS2) and its' effects on immune system of mice were investigated. Our data demonstrated that APS as an adjuvant could increase the HBsAg-specific antibody level as well as the proliferating activity of T cells. APS also could induce CD4(+) T cells to produce IL-4, IL-2 and IFN-γ and enhance IFN-γ expression of CD8(+) T cells. Moreover, APS could induce the robust activity of the cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTL). Additionally, APS could stimulate the dendritic cells (DC) maturation which is characterized by up-regulation of MHC I/II, CD40, CD80 and CD86, and decreased the frequency of the regulatory T cells (nTreg). Collectively, these findings suggest that APS is a potent adjuvant for the hepatitis B DNA vaccine and can enhance the immune responses of HBV DNA vaccine via promoting DC maturation and inhibit the Treg frequency.
authors.affiliation: Applied Biophysics and Immune Engineering Laboratory, College of Life Science, Sichuan Agriculture University, Ya'an, Sichuan 625014, China.
authors.forename: Xiaogang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jinyao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaohan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Mingkun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diao
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Xiaobing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhiyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xianyin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D027883:Astragalus Plant / Q000737:chemistry*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D056724:Immunity, Humoral / Q000187:drug effects; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000187:drug effects*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011134:Polysaccharides; D019444:Vaccines, DNA