Innate immunity and transcription of MGAT-III and Toll-like receptors in Alzheimer's disease patients are improved by bisdemethoxycurcumin.

We have tested a hypothesis that the natural product curcuminoids, which has epidemiologic and experimental rationale for use in AD, may improve the innate immune system and increase amyloid-beta (Abeta) clearance from the brain of patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Macrophages of a majority of AD patients do not transport Abeta into endosomes and lysosomes, and AD monocytes do not efficiently clear Abeta from the sections of AD brain, although they phagocytize bacteria. In contrast, macrophages of normal subjects transport Abeta to endosomes and lysosomes, and monocytes of these subjects clear Abeta in AD brain sections. Upon Abeta stimulation, mononuclear cells of normal subjects up-regulate the transcription of beta-1,4-mannosyl-glycoprotein 4-beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (MGAT3) (P < 0.001) and other genes, including Toll like receptors (TLRs), whereas mononuclear cells of AD patients generally down-regulate these genes. Defective phagocytosis of Abeta may be related to down-regulation of MGAT3, as suggested by inhibition of phagocytosis by using MGAT3 siRNA and correlation analysis. Transcription of TLR3, bditTLR4, TLR5, bditTLR7, TLR8, TLR9, and TLR10 upon Abeta stimulation is severely depressed in mononuclear cells of AD patients in comparison to those of control subjects. In mononuclear cells of some AD patients, the curcuminoid compound bisdemethoxycurcumin may enhance defective phagocytosis of Abeta, the transcription of MGAT3 and TLRs, and the translation of TLR2-4. Thus, bisdemethoxycurcumin may correct immune defects of AD patients and provide a previously uncharacterized approach to AD immunotherapy.

Direct interaction of C/EBPdelta and Sp1 at the GC-enriched promoter region synergizes the IL-10 gene transcription in mouse macrophage.

We previously reported that LPS activates the transcription of the IL-10 gene through the Sp1 and C/EBP binding sites and indicated that Sp1, C/EBPbeta and C/EBPdelta can coactivate the IL-10 gene expression in mouse macrophage cells [Liu Y.-W., Tseng H.-P., Chen L.-C., Chen B.-K., Chang W.-C. J. Immunol. 171: 821-828, 2003]. In the present report, we demonstrated the direct physical interaction between C/EBPdelta and Sp1, and also mapped the interaction domains of these two proteins. C/EBPdelta binds to Sp1 via its basic region leucine zipper domain. The C-terminus of Sp1 was also the major region interacting with C/EBPdelta. However, both glutamine- and serine/threonine-rich homologus regions of Sp1 also interacted with C/EBPdelta. The binding of Sp1 and C/EBPdelta as a complex to the Sp1 binding site on the promoter of IL-10 was further confirmed by using the DNA affinity precipitation assay. By using Sp1-deficient SL2 cells, we also found that the overexpressions of C/EBPdelta and Sp1 synergically activate the transcriptional activity of IL-10 gene. Taken together, our present results revealed a novel mechanism of a superactivation of Sp1 by C/EBPdelta via a direct interaction between these two transcription factors leading to the activation of the IL-10 gene in mouse macrophage cells.