title: Echinacea pupurea extracts promote murine dendritic cell maturation by activation of JNK, p38 MAPK and NF-κB pathways.
abstract: Dendritic cells (DCs) comprise a system of highly professional antigen presenting cells (APCs) which connect innate and adaptive immunity by undergoing dramatic shift in their maturation state. Phytomedicine Echinacea purpurea extracts (EE) could modulate murine dendritic cell fate and function. However, the underlying mechanism of EE on DCs development and maturation remains limited. In this study, immature DCs were induced phenotypic maturation with up-regulated expression of key accessory molecules and the phagocytic activity was decreased after being treated with EE (400 μg/ml) for 48 h. We found that TLR1/2, JNK, p38-MAPK and NF-κB pathways were activated following EE exposure. Notably, JNK activation was demonstrated to be associated with increased IFN-γ response while p38-MAPK pathway exhibited immuno-regulatory effects via induction of IL-10 and TGF-β1. Furthermore, it was verified that NF-κB signaling was responsible for EE-induced synthesis of IFN-γ, IL-12 and TGF-β1, but not for IL-10 induction. These results indicate that EE have the immunomodulatory potency to promote both phenotypic and functional maturation of BMDCs via modulating the activation of JNK, p38-MAPK and NF-κB pathways. Our findings contributed to the current understanding of the immunoregulatory function of EE and the mechanism of DCs maturation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China; Animal Nutrition and Human Health Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410006, PR China.
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Baikui
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: International Medical Center, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, 310014, PR China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Qilu Animal Health Products Co., Ltd., Jinan, 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongliang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China. Electronic address: weifenli@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Weifen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, PR China. Electronic address: xuxg@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaogang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D020900:Echinacea; D005260:Female; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D010936:Plant Extracts; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
keywords: Dendritic cells; E. purpurea; MAPKs; Maturation; NF-κB; TLRs