Supramolecular chiroptical sensing of chiral species based on circularly polarized luminescence.

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) refers to the differentiation of the left-handed and right-handed emissions of chiral systems in the excited state. Serving as an alternative characterization method to circular dichroism (CD), CPL can detect changes in fluorescence in a chiral system, which could be more efficient in recognizing chiral species. Although CPL can be generated by attaching luminophores to a chiral unit through a covalent bond, the non-covalent bonding of fluorescent chromophores with chiral species or helical nanostructures can also induce CPL and their changes.

Adenine selected hydrogelation of vitamin B2 with amplified circularly polarized luminescence.

Although the individual VB2 cannot form gels in water, it could form a two-component hydrogel with adenine (A) through the intermolecular π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding between VB2 and A, while other nucleobases, including thymine (T), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and uracil (U), could not. The chiral information of VB2 was amplified in the co-assembly of VB2 and A, which was revealed by the enhanced circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Moreover, due to the different interaction modes between VB2 and A in 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 molar ratio, a reversion of the CPL signal was observed.

ATP-Induced Emergent Circularly Polarized Luminescence and Encryption.

Biomimetic ATP-driven supramolecular assembly is important to understand various biological processes and dissipative systems. Here, we report an ATP-driven chiral assembly exhibiting circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) via the interaction of an achiral terpyridine-based Zn complex with nucleotides. It was found that while the metal complexes could co-assemble with the nucleotides to form fluorescent assemblies, only a combination of furan-substituted terpyridine complex and ATP showed an intense CPL with a dissymmetry factor (g ) as high as 0.

Chiral nanostructures self-assembled from nitrocinnamic amide amphiphiles: substituent and solvent effects.

Chiral nanostructures, such as α-helical proteins and double helix DNA, are widely found in biological systems and play a significant role in the biofunction of life. These structures are essentially fabricated through the covalent or noncovalent bonds between small chiral molecules. It is thus an important issue to understand how small chiral molecules can form chiral nanostructures.

Switchable circularly polarized luminescence from a photoacid co-assembled organic nanotube.

Materials with circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) are currently attracting great interest in view of their potential applications. Here, we reported self-assembled organic nanotubes with switchable CPL performance. A photoacid, 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonate (HPTS), was co-assembled with an amino-terminated dialkyl glutamide (LG or DG) in mixed solvents of DMF and water.

Efficient Therapeutic Function and Mechanisms of Human Polyclonal CD8CD103Foxp3 Regulatory T Cells on Collagen-Induced Arthritis in Mice.

Objective: To investigate the potential therapeutic effect in a rheumatoid arthritis model of stable human CD8 regulatory T cells (hCD8Tregs) induced by TGF-1 and rapamycin (RAPA) .

Methods: Human CD8T cells were isolated from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and induced/expanded with TGF-1 and RAPA along with anti-CD3/28 beads and IL-2 and harvested as hCD8Tregs. The phenotypes, suppressive characteristics, and stability of the hCD8Tregs in an inflammatory microenvironment were examined .

The Effect of Sphingosine 1-Phosphate/Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptor on Neutrophil Function and the Relevant Signaling Pathway.

Background/aims: This study investigated the priming effect of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) on formyl-Met-Leu-Phe-OH (fMLP)-activated neutrophils, by specific analysis of the neutrophil respiratory burst and the signaling pathway involved in S1P activity.

Methods: The neutrophil respiratory burst was indirectly detected by the cytochrome c reduction method and the dihydrorhodamine 123 staining method. The signal transduction pathways of neutrophil respiratory burst primed by S1P were detected by Western blotting.

Tolerogenic splenic IDO (+) dendritic cells from the mice treated with induced-Treg cells suppress collagen-induced arthritis.

TGF-β-induced regulatory T cells (iTregs) retain Foxp3 expression and immune-suppressive activity in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). However, the mechanisms whereby transferred iTregs suppress immune responses, particularly the interplay between iTregs and dendritic cells (DCs) in vivo, remain incompletely understood. In this study, we found that after treatment with iTregs, splenic CD11c(+)DCs, termed "DCiTreg," expressed tolerogenic phenotypes, secreted high levels of IL-10, TGF-β, and IDO, and showed potent immunosuppressive activity in vitro.

[A preliminary study on the biological characteristics and function of tolerogenic dendritic cells induced by tacrolimus].

Objective: To explore the biological characteristics and the immuno-suppression function of tolerogenic dendritic cells (tDC) induced by tacrolimus.

Methods: Human monocytes derived from peripheral blood were cultured in the cGMP-compliant CellGro DC medium supplemented with GM-CSF and IL-4 to obtain dendritic cells (DCs), and 0.1 μmol/L immunosuppressive drug tacrolimus was added to the culture medium at the third and fifth day to obtain tDCs.

Tolerogenic dendritic cells modified by tacrolimus suppress CD4(+) T-cell proliferation and inhibit collagen-induced arthritis in mice.

Background: Tolerogenic dendritic cells (tDCs) can be generated in vitro by a variety of methods, including genetic or pharmacological modification. DCs that were modified by the immunosuppressive drug tacrolimus were considered to be endowed with tolerogenic functions.

Study Design And Methods: DCs derived from human monocytes were induced in vitro by GM-CSF/IL-4 with tacrolimus.

Regulatory effect of nicotine on collagen-induced arthritis and on the induction and function of in vitro-cultured Th17 cells.

Objectives: To determine the effect of nicotine stimulation on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), especially on Th17 cells, and the influence of activated acetylcholine receptor signaling on the induction and function of in vitro-cultured Th17 cells.

Methods: Mice were divided into control and experimental (nicotine) group, and PBS or nicotine-PBS was orally administered from Day 21 to Day 28. Phenotypic changes in spleen CD4(+) cells were measured by flow cytometry.

A mouse model of adoptive immunotherapeutic targeting of autoimmune arthritis using allo-tolerogenic dendritic cells.

Objective: Tolerogenic dendritic cells (tDCs) are immunosuppressive cells with potent tolerogenic ability and are promising immunotherapeutic tools for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, it is currently unknown whether allogeneic tDCs (allo-tDCs) induce tolerance in RA, and whether the numbers of adoptively transferred allo-tDCs, or the requirement for pulsing with relevant auto-antigens are important.

Methods: tDCs were derived from bone marrow precursors of C57BL/B6 mice, which were induced in vitro by GM-CSF, IL-10 and TGF-β1.

[The role of third-party tolerogenic dendritic cells in the prevention of acute graft-versus-host-disease following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice].

Objective: To explore the biological characteristic of third-party-derived tolerogenic DC(tDC) and the influence of third-party-derived tDC on acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD) following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) in mice.

Methods: tDC from bone marrow cells of D1 mice was cultured with low doses of GM-CSF, IL-10 and TGF-β1D1. The phenotype, expression of cytokines and function associated molecules were identified with FACS and RT-PCR.

[Effect of sphingosine 1-phosphate/sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor signal pathway on function of neutrophils].

The aim of this study was to examine the priming effect of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) on fMLP-activated neutrophils, mainly to detect the neutrophil respiratory burst products, and to investigate the signaling pathway involved in S1P activity. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the new isolated neutrophil; the superoxide anion output was detected indirectly by cytochrome C reduction in respiratory burst; the dihydro-rhodamine 123 was used to detect the intensity of respiratory burst; the signal transduction pathways of neutrophil respiratory burst were explored by Western blot. The results showed that after pretreated with S1P, the level of superoxide anion released by fMLP-activated neutrophils significantly increased; the Rhodamine 123 mean fluorescence intensity in S1P primed fMLP-activated neutrophils group was significantly higher than that in fMLP treatment group; PI3K and Akt proteins involved in the signal pathway of neutrophil respiratory burst.

Comparative study of regulatory T cells expanded ex vivo from cord blood and adult peripheral blood.

In this study, we expanded regulatory T cells (Tregs) ex vivo from CD4(+) CD25(+) T cells from cord blood (CB) and CD4(+) CD25(+) CD127(-) T cells from adult peripheral blood (APB) and compared the suppressive functions of the newly generated Tregs. The Tregs from CB and APB were expanded either in two cycles with a polyclonal stimulus or in two cycles with an alloantigen stimulus in the first cycle and a polyclonal stimulus in the second cycle. Cell yield after Treg expansion with polyclonal stimulation was greater than that of Tregs expanded with combined alloantigen and polyclonal stimulation.

Amelioration of acute graft-versus-host disease by adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded human cord blood CD4+CD25+ forkhead box protein 3+ regulatory T cells is associated with the polarization of Treg/Th17 balance in a mouse model.

Background: Human cord blood (CB) is a superior source of regulatory T cells (Tregs) compared with peripheral blood. Initial studies have shown that CB-derived Tregs can be effectively expanded ex vivo. However, in vitro suppressor activity of expanded CB-Tregs and their efficacy in the prevention of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in vivo are poorly understood.

[A preliminary study on the influence of human plasma exosomes-like vesicles on macrophage Wnt5A-Ca²+ pathway].

Objective: To study the influence of human plasma exosomes-like vesicles on the regulatory function of macrophages.

Methods: The exosomes-like vesicles were purified from healthy donors plasma with a series of high-speed centrifugation and ultrafiltration. Macrophages were derived from cultured human blood monocytes.

A combination of exosomes carrying TSA derived from HLA-A2-positive human white buffy coat and polyI:C for use as a subcellular antitumor vaccination.

To improve its antitumor effect, we used human leukocyte antigen -A2 (HLA-A2)-positive human dendritic cell (DC)-derived DEXs (DC-derived exosomes) to support NY-ESO-1 antigen and polyI:C, with the aim of increasing the proliferation of specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in transgenic mice. Mature dendritic cells derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from the blood of healthy adults with positive HLA-2A. Using centrifuge and membrane ultrafiltration, EXO (exosomes) were extracted from the supernatant of DCs secretions.

Xenogeneic immunosuppression of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in a major histocompatibility complex-mismatched allogeneic acute graft-versus-host disease murine model.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold great promise for treating immune disorders owing to their immunoregulatory capacity, but the mechanism remains controversial. As we show here, the mechanism of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (HUCMSC)-mediated immunosuppression involves TGF-β and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). In this study, we investigated the influence of xenogeneic HUCMSCs on acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in murine allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT).

[A proliminary study on the regulatory function of human plasma exosomes-like vesicles].

Objective: To identify the exosomes-like vesicles from the plasma and study their biologic characteristics and regulatory effect.

Methods: The exosomes-like vesicles were purified from healthy donors plasma with a series of high-speed centrifugations and ultrafiltration. Morphology was identified by transmission electron microscopy and biologic characteristics by Western blot and flow cytometry.

Exosomal-like vesicles with immune-modulatory features are present in human plasma and can induce CD4+ T-cell apoptosis in vitro.

Background: Exosomes are small membrane vesicles that are secreted from many cell types into various body fluids. These vesicles are thought to play a role in cell-cell interactions.

Study Design And Methods: Vesicles were isolated from human plasma of healthy donors by differential ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration.

The novel lipopolysaccharide-binding protein CRISPLD2 is a critical serum protein to regulate endotoxin function.

LPS is an immunostimulatory component of Gram-negative bacteria. Acting on the immune system in a systemic fashion, LPS exposes the body to the hazard of septic shock. In this study we report that cysteine-rich secretory protein LCCL domain containing 2 (CRISPLD2/Crispld2; human and mouse/rat versions, respectively), expressed by multitissues and leukocytes, is a novel LPS-binding protein.

Adoptive therapy by transfusing expanded donor murine natural killer T cells can suppress acute graft-versus-host disease in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Background: Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) may suppress graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic transplantation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic potential of iNKT cells from major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mismatched donors for preventing GVHD after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT).

Study Design And Methods: In vitro, mouse iNKT cells were expanded with alpha-galactosylceramide and interleukin (IL)-2 treatment.

[Immunity mechanism of exosomes derived from dendritic cells].

To confirm the mechanism of exosomes as tumor vaccines inducing immunity response, dendritic cells (DCs) were induced from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, while exosomes were isolated from DC loaded tumor antigen. The effect of exosomes on priming T cell proliferation was analysed under conditions with or without DCs, or DCs at different mature stages. The function of exosomes in immunity was detected through block test after blocking some molecules (CD11a, CD11b, CD11c, CD54, MFG-E8 and CD83).

In vivo enhancement of angiogenesis by adenoviral transfer of HIF-1alpha-modified endothelial progenitor cells (Ad-HIF-1alpha-modified EPC for angiogenesis).

Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha over-expression may have beneficial effects in cell therapy of hypoxia-induced pathophysiological processes, such as ischemic disease. Our previous study showed the feasibility of ex vivo modification of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) by HIF-1alpha transfection. In this study, we sought to determine if such ex vivo modified EPCs facilitated functional therapeutic neovascularization.