Baicalin, a natural compound, promotes regulatory T cell differentiation

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Ming Li¹  Xue Yang²  Ji Yang¹ 

[1] Department of Dermatology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China;Division of Rheumatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai China

关键词: Treg cells;    Foxp3;    Baicalin;   

Others  :  1232151
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-12-64

 received in 2011-07-31, accepted in 2012-03-05,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T (T_reg) cells inhibit autoimmunity and protect against tissue injury. The development of these T_reg cells is controlled by the regulator protein Foxp3, which can be enhanced by the in vitro activation of Foxp3 in the presence of transforming growth factor-beta. However, little is known about alternative methods, such as the use of natural products, for controlling Foxp3-mediated T_reg cell differentiation.

Method

HEK 293 T cells were transfected with Foxp3 expression plasmid, and then treated with different compounds, Foxp3 mRNA expression was determined by real-time RT-PCR. CD4⁺CD25^-T cells were stimulated with Baicalin, Foxp3 protein expression were analyzed by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, the regulatory function of T cells stimulated with Baicalin was detected by the carboxyfluorescien succinimidyl ester.

Results

We demonstrated that Baicalin, a compound isolated from the Chinese herb Huangqin, induced Foxp3 protein expression in cultured T cells, promoted T_reg cell differentiation and regulatory activity. Our data also indicated that Baicalin restored Foxp3 expression following its initial interleukin-6-mediated inhibition and induced Foxp3 expression in vitro.

Conclusions

These data suggest that Baicalin may promote T_reg cell differentiation and regulatory activity and may serve as a promising natural immunosuppressive compound for treating autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Yang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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