Dexamethasone-Induced FKBP51 Expression in CD4+ T-Lymphocytes Is Uniquely Associated With Worse Asthma Control in Obese Children With Asthma.

Introduction: There is evidence that obesity, a risk factor for asthma severity and morbidity, has a unique asthma phenotype which is less atopic and less responsive to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are important to the immunologic pathways of obese asthma and steroid resistance. However, the cellular source associated with steroid resistance has remained elusive. We compared the lymphocyte landscape among obese children with asthma to matched normal weight children with asthma and assessed relationship to asthma control. Methods: High-dimensional flow cytometry of PBMC at baseline and after dexamethasone stimulation was performed to characterize lymphocyte subpopulations, T-lymphocyte polarization, proliferation (Ki-67+), and expression of the steroid-responsive protein FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP51). T-lymphocyte populations were compared between obese and normal-weight participants, and an unbiased, unsupervised clustering analysis was performed. Differentially expressed clusters were compared with asthma control, adjusted for ICS and exhaled nitric oxide. Results: In the obese population, there was an increased cluster of CD4+ T-lymphocytes expressing Ki-67 and FKBP51 at baseline and CD4+ T-lymphocytes expressing FKBP51 after dexamethasone stimulation. CD4+ Ki-67 and FKBP51 expression at baseline showed no association with asthma control. Dexamethasone-induced CD4+ FKBP51 expression was associated with worse asthma control in obese participants with asthma. FKBP51 expression in CD8+ T cells and CD19+ B cells did not differ among groups, nor did polarization profiles for Th1, Th2, Th9, or Th17 percentage. Discussion: Dexamethasone-induced CD4+ FKBP51 expression is uniquely associated with worse asthma control in obese children with asthma and may underlie the corticosteroid resistance observed in this population.

CD73 on cancer-associated fibroblasts enhanced by the A2B-mediated feedforward circuit enforces an immune checkpoint.

CD73, an ecto-5'-nucleotidase (NT5E), serves as an immune checkpoint by generating adenosine (ADO), which suppresses immune activation through the A2A receptor. Elevated CD73 levels in tumor tissues correlate with poor clinical outcomes. However, the crucial source of CD73 activity within the tumor microenvironment remains unspecified. Here, we demonstrate that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) constitute the prominent CD73hi population in human colorectal cancers (CRCs) and two CD73- murine tumor models, including a modified CRC. Clinically, high CAF abundancy in CRC tissues correlates strongly with elevated CD73 activity and poor prognosis. Mechanistically, CAF-CD73 expression is enhanced via an ADO-A2B receptor-mediated feedforward circuit triggered by tumor cell death, which enforces the CD73-checkpoint. Simultaneous inhibition of A2A and A2B pathways with CD73-neutralization synergistically enhances antitumor immunity in CAF-rich tumors. Therefore, the strategic and effective targeting of both the A2B-mediated ADO-CAF-CD73 feedforward circuit and A2A-mediated immune suppression is crucial for improving therapeutic outcomes.

Curculin exhibits sweet-tasting and taste-modifying activities through its distinct molecular surfaces.

Curculin isolated from Curculigo latifolia, a plant grown in Malaysia, has an intriguing property of modifying sour taste into sweet taste. In addition to this taste-modifying activity, curculin itself elicits a sweet taste. Although these activities have been attributed to the heterodimeric isoform and not homodimers of curculin, the underlying mechanisms for the dual action of this protein have been largely unknown. To identify critical sites for these activities, we performed a mutational and structural study of recombinant curculin. Based on the comparison of crystal structures of curculin homo- and heterodimers, a series of mutants was designed and subjected to tasting assays. Mapping of amino acid residues on the three-dimensional structure according to their mutational effects revealed that the curculin heterodimer exhibits sweet-tasting and taste-modifying activities through its partially overlapping but distinct molecular surfaces. These findings suggest that the two activities of the curculin heterodimer are expressed through its two different modes of interactions with the T1R2-T1R3 heterodimeric sweet taste receptor.

Coactivator CBP in the regulation of conceptus IFNtau gene transcription.

Studies of ovine interferon-tau (oIFNtau) gene regulation, an anti-luteolytic factor produced by conceptuses of the ruminant ungulates, have been carried out, but a definitive mechanism for its spatial-temporal transcription has not been elucidated. Recently, specific binding regions for transcription factors AP-1 and Ets-2 on the oIFNtau gene were identified; however, a molecular mechanism by which these factors regulate oIFNtau gene transcription has not been characterized. In the present study, we investigated the potential relationship between AP-1 and Ets-2, and their association with a coactivator, cAMP-response element binding protein-binding protein (CBP), on oIFNtau gene transcription in a transient transfection system using human choriocarcinoma JEG3 cells. The oIFNtau gene promoter/enhancer (-654 to + 1 bases, wild type)-luciferase reporter construct (pGL3-654) or its mutant at the AP-1 or Ets-2 site was cotransfected with CBP (pRc/RSV-CBP) construct along with c-jun, c-fos, and/or Ets-2 expression plasmid. CBP enhanced transcription of the wild type oIFNtau-reporter construct; however, this coactivator had no effect on the oIFNtau-reporter construct with mutated AP-1 or Ets-2 site. Cotransfection of CBP with c-jun and/or Ets-2, but not with c-fos, further increased oIFNtau gene transactivation although amounts of c-jun and c-fos expression, resulting from expression vectors, were similar. In addition, CBP inhibitor adenovirus 12S E1A (E1A), but not the mutant of E1A without CBP binding domain (Delta2-36), suppressed oIFNtau gene transcription. These observations suggest that c-jun and Ets-2 are the most probable binding partners for CBP in the potentiation of oIFNtau gene transcription. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 65: 23-29, 2003.