A novel cell-based system for the rapid quantitative evaluation of (anti)-inflammatory potential of test substances.

The control of NF-kappaB activation is a proven therapeutic strategy in the treatment of multiple inflammatory disorders. Drug discovery and development for such a therapy demands a battery of assays to reliably demonstrate both clinical effectiveness and biological safety of prospective medications. Unlike traditional in vitro biochemical analyses, cell-based assays more closely mimic the actual in vivo physiologic environment, addressing simultaneously biological activity and toxicity issues.

Induction of in vitro reprogramming by Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and TLR4 agonists in murine macrophages: effects of TLR "homotolerance" versus "heterotolerance" on NF-kappa B signaling pathway components.

In this study, tolerance induction by preexposure of murine macrophages to Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and TLR4 agonists was revisited, focusing on the major signaling components associated with NF-kappaB activation. Pretreatment of macrophages with a pure TLR4 agonist (protein-free Escherichia coli (Ec) LPS) or with TLR2 agonists (Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS or synthetic lipoprotein Pam3Cys) led to suppression of TNF-alpha secretion, IL-1R-associated kinase-1, and IkappaB kinase (IKK) kinase activities, c-jun N-terminal kinase, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation, and to suppression of NF-kappaB DNA binding and transactivation upon challenge with the same agonist (TLR4 or TLR2 "homotolerance," respectively). Despite inhibited NF-kappaB DNA binding, increased levels of nuclear NF-kappaB were detected in agonist-pretreated macrophages.

Cyclosporin A blocks the expression of lymphotoxin alpha, but not lymphotoxin beta, in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The 2 lymphotoxin subunits LTalpha (also called tumor necrosis factor beta [TNF-beta]) and LTbeta belong to the family of TNF-related cytokines. They form either a soluble homotrimeric ligand (LTalpha(3)) that binds to and signals through CD120a/b (TNFRp55 and TNFRp75), or a membrane-associated heterotrimeric ligand (LTalpha(1)beta(2)) that binds to and signals through the LTbeta receptor (LTbetaR). In mice, LTbetaR signaling is critical for the maintenance of peripheral lymphoid tissues and optimal immune responses, and its down-regulation results in immunodeficiency.

Adenovirus type 5 vectors induce dendritic cell differentiation in human CD14(+) monocytes cultured under serum-free conditions.

To determine whether infection by a model virus is capable of initiating dendritic cell (DC) differentiation, human CD14(+) peripheral blood monocytes were infected with replication-defective type 5 adenovirus. Under serum-free conditions, this resulted in differentiation of a majority of cells toward a DC phenotype within 36 to 48 hours, without the need for cytokine-induced predifferentiation. Infection induced DC morphology and altered the expression of surface markers, including loss of CD14, de novo induction of CD83 and CD25, and strongly augmented expression of CD86, CD80, CD40, and HLA-DR and HLA class I molecules.