Unravelling the apoptotic mechanisms in T-lymphocytes in an animal model for pollen induced airway allergy and studying the impact of specific immunotherapy

Chrysanthemum sporopollenin: A novel vaccine delivery system for nasal mucosal immunity

Objective

Mucosal immunization was an effective defender against pathogens. Nasal vaccines could activate both systemic and mucosal immunity to trigger protective immune responses. However, due to the weak immunogenicity of nasal vaccines and the lack of appropriate antigen carriers, very few nasal vaccines have been clinically approved for human use, which was a major barrier to the development of nasal vaccines. Plant-derived adjuvants are promising candidates for vaccine delivery systems due to their relatively safe immunogenic properties. In particular, the distinctive structure of pollen was beneficial to the stability and retention of antigen in the nasal mucosa.

Methods

Herein, a novel wild-type chrysanthemum sporopollenin vaccine delivery system loaded with a w/o/w emulsion containing squalane and protein antigen was fabricated. The unique internal cavities and the rigid external walls within the sporopollenin skeleton construction could preserve and stabilize the inner proteins. The external morphological characteristics were suitable for nasal mucosal administration with high adhesion and retention.

Results

Secretory IgA antibodies in the nasal mucosa can be induced by the w/o/w emulsion with the chrysanthemum sporopollenin vaccine delivery system. Moreover, the nasal adjuvants produce a stronger humoral response (IgA and IgG) compared to squalene emulsion adjuvant. Mucosal adjuvant benefited primarily from prolongation of antigens in the nasal cavity, improvement of antigen penetration in the submucosa and promotion of CD8+ T cells in spleen.

Disccusion

Based on effective delivering both the adjuvant and the antigen, the increase of protein antigen stability and the realization of mucosal retention, the chrysanthemum sporopollenin vaccine delivery system has the potential to be a promising adjuvant platform. This work provide a novel idea for the fabrication of protein-mucosal delivery vaccine.

Codonopsis laceolata Water Extract Ameliorates Asthma Severity by Inducing Th2 Cells’ and Pulmonary Epithelial Cells’ Apoptosis via NF-κB/COX-2 Pathway

Asthma is an incurable pulmonary disease with several symptoms, including abnormal breathing, coughing, and sleep apnea, which can lead to death, and the population of asthma patients has been increasing worldwide. There are many adverse effects in current drugs, and thus, we have tried to develop anti-asthmatic agents from natural products such as Codonopsis laceolata. To define the anti-asthmatic effect and the mechanism of Codonopsis laceolata, an animal study was conducted considering different cell counts of BALF, serum IgE levels, morphological changes in the pulmonary system, the Th2 cell transcription factor (GATA-3), and the apoptotic pathway (NF-κB/COX-2). Codonopsis laceolata significantly suppressed the representative asthmatic changes, such as airway remodeling, mucous hypersecretion, epithelial hyperplasia, and inflammatory cell infiltration, in the respiratory system. It suppressed the levels of GATA-3, IL-4, and IL-13. The down-regulation of Th2-related factors, such as GATA-3, IL-4, and IL-13, results from the stimulated apoptosis of Th2 cells and epithelial cells via a decrease in the levels of NF-κB and COX-2. We concluded that Codonopsis laceolata might be a promising anti-asthmatic drug.

The Multiomics Analyses of Gut Microbiota, Urine Metabolome and Plasma Proteome Revealed Significant Changes in Allergy Featured with Indole Derivatives of Tryptophan

Objective

To explore changes in the gut microbiota (GM), urine metabolome and plasma proteome in individuals with allergies using multiomics analyses, and identify the key components and mechanism.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study. All subjects were recruited to collect fecal, urine and blood samples. 16S rDNA sequencing was used to analyze the structure and function of the GM, liquid chromatography mass spectrometry was used to quantify metabolites in the urine, and data-independent acquisition quantitative proteome analysis was used to detect proteins in the plasma. Differences in GM, urine metabolites and plasma proteins between allergic and healthy individuals were displayed using principal component analysis (PCoA) and heatmap, and the co-occurrence network was visualized in Cytoscape using Spearman correlation among differential predominant genera, metabolites and proteins. The functional analysis was performed according to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) dataset. The allergy-related cytokines, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-13, were measured to evaluate the effect of indole derivatives on LPS-induced macrophage activation.

Results

GM α indexes, β distances and the relative abundance of the core differential genera in the allergic group were different from those of healthy individuals, which resulted in a separate distribution in the PCoA and enterotypes. Similarly, the concentrations of 393 metabolites and 144 proteins were different between allergic and healthy individuals. Then, 634 significant correlations were identified among 6 predominant differential genera, 24 differential metabolites and 104 differential proteins, 301 of which were negative and 333 of which were positive. Notably, a core network centered on tryptophan metabolites, indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and indole-3-lactic acid (ILA), displayed high consistency with the results of KEGG pathway analysis. In the LPS-stimulated macrophages, IBA reduced the expression of IL-4 and IL-6, and ILA inhibited the upregulation of IL-6.

Conclusion

The GM, urine metabolome and plasma proteome underwent systematic change in allergic individuals compared to healthy individuals, among which indole derivatives from tryptophan metabolism might play key roles in the progression of allergies and could serve as therapeutic targets of allergy.