Liver inflammation in a mouse model of Th1 hepatitis despite the absence of invariant NKT cells or the Th1 chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR5

Identification of Targets for Subsequent Treatment of Crohn's Disease Patients After Failure of Anti-TNF Therapy

Background

Anti-TNF medications are the first-line treatment for Crohn's Disease (CD), despite the fact that a significant portion of the population continues to be ineffectively treated. This research aims to discover accurate intervention targets for the follow-up of anti-TNF non-responders using bioinformatics technology.

Methods

GSE16879, GSE111761, and GSE52746 retrieved from the GEO database. Unbiased differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were discovered utilizing the limma and RobustRankAggreg (RRA) tools. Then, we used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify the module most strongly associated with non responders and subjected this module to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis with overlapping genes of the DEGs. GSEA analysis applied to check the results of GO and KEGG. Using the Cytoscape program, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. The software's MCODE addon and CytoHubba addon was used to find the most important modules and the hub genes. Subsequently, we employed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to confirm hub gene expression from mucosal biopsy specimens.

Results

There were a total of 142 genes co-upregulated and 65 genes co-downregulated. According to the WGCNA analysis, 42 genes were duplicated inside the light cyan module. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses of overlapped genes in nonresponders demonstrated an increase in the expression of genes associated with inflammation and immune response, consistent with GSEA results. The PPI network was constructed using 41 protein nodes and 177 edges. After validation, 8 of the top 10 genes were verified to be differentially expressed.

Conclusion

Our investigation is the first to integrate three CD databases after the anti-TNF medication treatment. We identified IL1B, CCL4, CXCL1, CXCL10, CCL3, CSF3, TREM1, and IL1RN as potential therapeutic targets for patients whose anti-TNF treatment failed.

TGF-β Signaling in Liver, Pancreas, and Gastrointestinal Diseases and Cancer

Genetic alterations affecting transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling are exceptionally common in diseases and cancers of the gastrointestinal system. As a regulator of tissue renewal, TGF-β signaling and the downstream SMAD-dependent transcriptional events play complex roles in the transition from a noncancerous disease state to cancer in the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and pancreas. Furthermore, this pathway also regulates the stromal cells and the immune system, which may contribute to evasion of the tumors from immune-mediated elimination. Here, we review the involvement of the TGF-β pathway mediated by the transcriptional regulators SMADs in disease progression to cancer in the digestive system. The review integrates human genomic studies with animal models that provide clues toward understanding and managing the complexity of the pathway in disease and cancer.

Regulatory T Cell Plasticity and Stability and Autoimmune Diseases

CD4⁺CD25⁺ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a class of CD4⁺ T cells with immunosuppressive functions that play a critical role in maintaining immune homeostasis. However, in certain disease settings, Tregs demonstrate plastic differentiation, and the stability of these Tregs, which is characterized by the stable expression or protective epigenetic modifications of the transcription factor Foxp3, becomes abnormal. Plastic Tregs have some features of helper T (Th) cells, such as the secretion of Th-related cytokines and the expression of specific transcription factors in Th cells, but also still retain the expression of Foxp3, a feature of Tregs. Although such Th-like Tregs can secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines, they still possess a strong ability to inhibit specific Th cell responses. Therefore, the plastic differentiation of Tregs not only increases the complexity of the immune circumstances under pathological conditions, especially autoimmune diseases, but also shows an association with changes in the stability of Tregs. The plastic differentiation and stability change of Tregs play vital roles in the progression of diseases. This review focuses on the phenotypic characteristics, functions, and formation conditions of several plastic Tregs and also summarizes the changes of Treg stability and their effects on inhibitory function. Additionally, the effects of Treg plasticity and stability on disease prognosis for several autoimmune diseases were also investigated in order to better understand the relationship between Tregs and autoimmune diseases.

Recipient-derived IL-22 alleviates murine acute graft-versus-host disease in association with reduced activation of antigen presenting cells

Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) remains a major challenging complication of patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). CD4+ effector T cells and their related cytokines mediate pathogenesis of aGVHD, in which donor-T-cell derived interleukin-22 (IL-22) was recently indicated to play a role. The role of recipient-derived IL-22 in aGVHD remains to be elucidated. By applying IL-22 knock out (IL-22KO) mice as recipients of allotransplant, we found recipient derived IL-22 alleviated aGVHD and improved survival of allotransplant recipients. Knock out of IL-22 in recipient increased levels of T-helper (Th1) 1 cells but decreased levels of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in target tissues of aGVHD. Levels of IL-22 increased in aGVHD mice. Recipient antigen presenting cells (APCs) are important sources of IL-22. IL-22 reduced activation of APCs in vitro. Defect of IL-22 in APCs resulted in increased polarization of Th1 cells but decreased level of Tregs in an in vitro co-culture system. Our data highlight an immunoregulatory function of recipient-derived IL-22 in aGVHD.