Regulatory Effect of Astragalus Polysaccharides on Intestinal Intraepithelial γδT Cells of Tumor Bearing Mice

Molecules

Shuyu Sun⁵  Kang Zheng¹  Hongyan Zhao²  Cheng Lu⁵  Biao Liu⁴  Changyuan Yu³  Ge Zhang⁴  Zhaoxiang Bian⁴  Aiping Lu⁵ 

[1] School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 611756, China; E-Mail:;Institute of Basic Theory, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China; E-Mail:;College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China; E-Mail:;School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China; E-Mails:;Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China; E-Mails:

关键词: astragalus polysaccharides;    enteric mucosa;    γδT cells;    tumor;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules190915224

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) possess multiple immunomodulatory activities. Due to its high molecular weight, orally administration of APS is not easily absorbed into the blood stream, and how APS exerts its capacity in vivo is still not well elucidated. We assume that enteric mucosal immune response might trigger the immune regulation of APS, and our previous studies demonstrated that APS had regulatory activity on intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the functions of APS on intestinal intraepithelial γδT cells, a major subset in IELs and an essential component of maintaining homeostasis and immune regulation in enteric mucosa. Results showed that APS could promote proliferation and function of intestinal intraepithelial γδT cells in vitro, the IFN-γ, FasL and GrB mRNA levels in γδT cells were all significantly increased. Moreover, APS also improved the activity of intestinal intraepithelial γδT cells in vivo, as cytokines production and cytotoxicity of γδT cells were all remarkably improved in tumor-bearing mice treated with APS. In addition, the levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ were significantly increased, whereas the levels of IL-10 and TGF-β were significantly decreased in tumor-bearing mice treated with APS. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that APS could improve proliferation and function of intestinal intraepithelial γδT cells, which might an important pathway for immunomodulation of APS in cancer therapy.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.