| Summary: | 碩士 === 臺灣大學 === 植物科學研究所 === 95 === Hot water extracts from a variety of mushrooms and tree fungi have been used for centuries as folk remedies, especially in traditional Chinese medicine. Today, they are still commonly used in many cultures for general health care and specific therapeutic properties. Glucans are a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides comprised of D-glucopyranosyl units and can be found in a wide variety of cereals, plants, algae, bacteria, fungi, mushrooms and yeasts. Zymosan, a crude extract of yeast cell wall component from Saccaromyces cerevisiae, is composed of β-glucans, mannans, and chitins. In this study, specific and differential effects of zymosan on expression of several key cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-10 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), were investigated in human dendritic cells (hDCs) in primary cultures. This study showed that zymosan-treated DCs can effectively induce GM-CSF expression, which in turn may stimulate T cell proliferation, and this effect is distinct from the activities observed for hDCs when stimulated with LPS. In our lab previous data, we also have observed that a plant extract fraction (DsCE-I) containing mainly glucan isolated from Dioscorea batatas plant showed a similar effect on the induction of GM-CSF transgenic promoter activity in mouse skin tissue. Therefore, we suggest that zymosan or similar β-glucan components from plant tissues may be developed as useful adjuvants or agents for stimulating adaptive immune activities, with a specific by mediation via the GM-CSF signal transduction system. Our studies also suggest that the current DC based system may be employed for future systematic screening and evaluation of potent and functionally-specific tumor vaccine adjuvants or immune-modulatory agents.
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