ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Allergens from dust mites play a critical role in the pathogenesis of airway allergy. The mechanism by which dust mite allergens induce allergic diseases is not fully understood yet. OBJECTIVE: This study tests a hypothesis that the eighth subtypes of Dermatophagoides farina allergen (Derf8) play an important role in the induction of airway allergy. METHODS: The protein of Derf8 was synthesized via molecular cloning approach. Dendritic cells (DC) were stimulated with Derf8 in the culture, and then, the expression of T cell immunoglobulin mucin domain 4 (TIM4) in dendritic cells (DC) was analysed. The role of Derf8 in the induction of airway allergy was evaluated with a mouse model. RESULTS: Exposure to Derf8 markedly induced the TIM4 expression in DCs by modulating the chromatin at the TIM4 promoter locus. Derf8 played a critical role in the expansion of the T helper 2 response in the mouse airway via inducing DCs to produce TIM4. Administration with Derf8-depleted dust mite extracts (DME) inhibited the allergic inflammation and induced regulatory T cells in mice with airway allergy. CONCLUSION: Derf8 plays an important role in the initiation of dust mite allergy. Vaccination with Derf8-deficient DME is more efficient to inhibit the dust mite allergic inflammation than using wild DME.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Dermatophagoides/immunology , Bronchial Hyperreactivity/genetics , Bronchial Hyperreactivity/immunology , Dendritic Cells/immunology , Dendritic Cells/metabolism , Glutathione Transferase/metabolism , Membrane Proteins/genetics , T-Lymphocytes/immunology , T-Lymphocytes/metabolism , Animals , Bronchial Hyperreactivity/pathology , Bronchial Hyperreactivity/therapy , Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid/immunology , Cytokines/metabolism , Disease Models, Animal , Gene Expression , Genetic Loci , Humans , Immunotherapy , Membrane Proteins/metabolism , Mice , Vaccines/immunologyABSTRACT
Embryogenic cultures were initiated from mature zygotic embryos of Picea abies. The somatic embryos in the embryogenic cultures were first stimulated to mature and then either to develop further into plantlets or to differentiate new embryogenic cultures. The procedure was repeated three times during two years. The ability to give rise to new embryogenic cultures or to develop into plantlets was similar for all somatic embryos irrespective of how long they had been cultured in vitro. The nuclear DNA content, measured in a flow cytometer, was estimated at 32 pg/G1 nuclei in seedings developed from zygotic embryos. Nuclei isolated from embryogenic cultures and from plantlets regenerated from somatic embryos had the same DNA content as those isolated from seedlings.
