A Promising Needle-Free Pyro-Drive Jet Injector for Augmentation of Immunity by Intradermal Injection as a Physical Adjuvant.

Current worldwide mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 by intramuscular injection using a needled syringe has greatly protected numerous people from COVID-19. An intramuscular injection is generally well tolerated, safer and easier to perform on a large scale, whereas the skin has the benefit of the presence of numerous immune cells, such as professional antigen-presenting dendritic cells. Therefore, intradermal injection is considered superior to intramuscular injection for the induction of protective immunity, but more proficiency is required for the injection. To improve these issues, several different types of more versatile jet injectors have been developed to deliver DNAs, proteins or drugs by high jet velocity through the skin without a needle. Among them, a new needle-free pyro-drive jet injector has a unique characteristic that utilizes gunpower as a mechanical driving force, in particular, bi-phasic pyrotechnics to provoke high jet velocity and consequently the wide dispersion of the injected DNA solution in the skin. A significant amount of evidence has revealed that it is highly effective as a vaccinating tool to induce potent protective cellular and humoral immunity against cancers and infectious diseases. This is presumably explained by the fact that shear stress generated by the high jet velocity facilitates the uptake of DNA in the cells and, consequently, its protein expression. The shear stress also possibly elicits danger signals which, together with the plasmid DNA, subsequently induces the activation of innate immunity including dendritic cell maturation, leading to the establishment of adaptive immunity. This review summarizes the recent advances in needle-free jet injectors to augment the cellular and humoral immunity by intradermal injection and the possible mechanism of action.

Potent antitumor effects of the conditioned medium of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells via IGFBP-4.

Cell transfer therapy using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has pronounced therapeutic potential, but concerns remain about immune rejection, emboli formation, and promotion of tumor progression. Because the mode of action of MSCs highly relies on their paracrine effects through secretion of bioactive molecules, cell-free therapy using the conditioned medium (CM) of MSCs is an attractive option. However, the effects of MSC-CM on tumor progression have not been fully elucidated. Herein, we addressed this issue and investigated the possible underlying molecular mechanisms. The CM of MSCs derived from human bone marrow greatly inhibited the in vitro growth of several human tumor cell lines and the in vivo growth of the SCCVII murine squamous cell carcinoma cell line with reduced neovascularization. Exosomes in the MSC-CM were only partially involved in the inhibitory effects. The CM contained a variety of cytokines including insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs). Among them, IGFBP-4 greatly inhibited the in vitro growth of these tumors and angiogenesis, and immunodepletion of IGFBP-4 from the CM significantly reversed these effects. Of note, the CM greatly reduced the phosphorylation of AKT, ERK, IGF-1 receptor beta, and p38 MAPK in a partly IGFBP4-dependent manner, possibly through its binding to IGF-1/2 and blocking the signaling. The CM depleted of IGFBP-4 also reversed the inhibitory effects on in vivo tumor growth and neovascularization. Thus, MSC-CM has potent inhibitory effects on tumor growth and neovascularization in an IGFBP4-dependent manner, suggesting that cell-free therapy using MSC-CM could be a safer promising alternative for even cancer patients.

Chemical- and Drug-Induced Allergic, Inflammatory, and Autoimmune Diseases Via Haptenation.

Haptens are small molecules that only elicit an immune response when bound to proteins. Haptens initially bind to self-proteins and activate innate immune responses by complex mechanisms via inflammatory cytokines and damage-associated molecular patterns and the subsequent upregulation of costimulatory signals such as cluster of differentiation 86 (CD86) on dendritic cells. Subsequent interactions between CD86 and CD28 on T cells are critically important for properly activating naive T cells and inducing interleukin 2 production, leading to the establishment of adaptive immunity via effector and memory T cells. Accumulating evidence revealed the involvement of haptens in the development of various autoimmune-like diseases such as allergic, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases including allergic contact dermatitis, atopy, asthma, food allergy, inflammatory bowel diseases, hemolytic anemia, liver injury, leukoderma, and even antitumor immunity. Therefore, the development of in vitro testing alternatives to evaluate in advance whether a substance might lead to the development of these diseases is highly desirable. This review summarizes and discusses recent advances in chemical- and drug-induced allergic, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases via haptenation and the possible molecular underlying mechanisms, as well as in vitro testing alternatives to evaluate in advance whether a substance might cause the development of these diseases.

A novel coculture system for assessing respiratory sensitizing potential by IL-4 in T cells.

Although several in vitro assays that predict the sensitizing potential of chemicals have been developed, none can distinguish between chemical respiratory and skin sensitizers. Recently, we established a new three-dimensional dendritic cell (DC) coculture system consisting of a human airway epithelial cell line, immature DCs derived from human peripheral monocytes, and a human lung fibroblast cell line. In this coculture system, compared to skin sensitizers, respiratory sensitizers showed enhanced mRNA expression in DCs of the key costimulatory molecule OX40 ligand (OX40L), which is important for T helper 2 (Th2) cell differentiation. Herein, we established a new two-step DC/T cell coculture system by adding peripheral allogeneic naïve CD4+ T cells to the DCs stimulated in the DC coculture system. In this DC/T cell coculture system, model respiratory sensitizers, but not skin sensitizers, enhanced mRNA expression of the predominant Th2 marker interleukin-4 (IL-4). To improve the versatility, in place of peripheral monocytes, monocyte-derived proliferating cells called CD14-ML were used in the DC coculture system. As in peripheral monocytes, enhanced mRNA expression of OX40L was induced in CD14-ML by respiratory sensitizers compared to skin sensitizers. When these cell lines were applied to the DC/T cell coculture system with peripheral allogeneic naïve CD4+ T cells, respiratory sensitizers but not skin sensitizers enhanced the mRNA expression of IL-4. Thus, this DC/T cell coculture system may be useful for discriminating between respiratory and skin sensitizers by differential mRNA upregulation of IL-4 in T cells.

Induction of potent antitumor immunity by intradermal DNA injection using a novel needle-free pyro-drive jet injector.

The current success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 has highlighted the effectiveness of mRNA and DNA vaccinations. Recently, we demonstrated that a novel needle-free pyro-drive jet injector (PJI) effectively delivers plasmid DNA into the skin, resulting in protein expression higher than that achieved with a needle syringe. Here, we used ovalbumin (OVA) as a model antigen to investigate the potential of the PJI for vaccination against cancers. Intradermal injection of OVA-expression plasmid DNA into mice using the PJI, but not a needle syringe, rapidly and greatly augmented OVA-specific CD8+ T-cell expansion in lymph node cells. Increased mRNA expression of both interferon-γ and interleukin-4 and an enhanced proliferative response of OVA-specific CD8+ T cells, with fewer CD4+ T cells, were also observed. OVA-specific in vivo killing of the target cells and OVA-specific antibody production of both the IgG2a and IgG1 antibody subclasses were greatly augmented. Intradermal injection of OVA-expression plasmid DNA using the PJI showed stronger prophylactic and therapeutic effects against the progression of transplantable OVA-expressing E.G7-OVA tumor cells. Even compared with the most frequently used adjuvants, complete Freund's adjuvant and aluminum hydroxide with OVA protein, intradermal injection of OVA-expression plasmid DNA using the PJI showed a stronger CTL-dependent prophylactic effect. These results suggest that the novel needle-free PJI is a promising tool for DNA vaccination, inducing both a prophylactic and a therapeutic effect against cancers, because of prompt and strong generation of OVA-specific CTLs and subsequently enhanced production of both the IgG2a and IgG1 antibody subclasses.

Protective effects of conditioned media of immortalized stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth on pressure ulcer formation.

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are increasing with aging worldwide, but there is no effective causal therapy. Although mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) promote cutaneous wound healing, the effects of the conditioned medium (CM) of MSCs on cutaneous PU formation induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury have been poorly investigated. To address this issue, herein, we first established an immortalized stem cell line from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED). This cell line was revealed to have superior characteristics in that it grows infinitely and vigorously, and stably and consistently secretes a variety of cytokines. Using the CM obtained from the immortalized SHED cell line, we investigated the therapeutic potential on a cutaneous ischemia-reperfusion mouse model for PU formation using two magnetic plates. This is the first study to show that CM from immortalized SHEDs exerts therapeutic effects on PU formation by promoting angiogenesis and oxidative stress resistance through vascular endothelial growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor. Thus, the CM of MSCs has potent therapeutic effects, whereas these therapies have not been implemented in human medicine. To try to meet the regulatory requirements for manufacturing and quality control as much as possible, it is necessary to produce CM that is consistently safe and effective. The immortalization of stem cells could be one of the breakthroughs to meet the regulatory requirements and consequently open up a novel avenue to create a novel type of cell-free regenerative medicine, although further investigation into the quality control is warranted.

Upregulation of CD86 and IL-12 by rhododendrol in THP-1 cells cocultured with melanocytes through ROS and ATP.

BACKGROUND: The tyrosinase inhibitor rhododendrol (RD), used as a skin whitening agent, reportedly has the potential to induce leukoderma. OBJECTIVE: Although an immune response toward melanocytes was demonstrated to be involved in leukoderma, the molecular mechanism is not fully understood. METHODS: We hypothesized that if RD is a pro-hapten and tyrosinase-oxidized RD metabolites are melanocyte-specific sensitizers, the sensitizing process could be reproduced by the human cell line activation test (h-CLAT) cocultured with melanocytes (h-CLATw/M) composed of human DC THP-1 cells and melanoma SK-MEL-37 cells. Cell surface expression, ROS generation and ATP release, mRNA expression, and the effects of several inhibitors were examined. RESULTS: When RD was added to the h-CLATw/M, the expression of cell-surface CD86 and IL-12 mRNA was greatly enhanced in THP-1 cells compared with those in the h-CLAT. The rapid death of melanoma cells was induced, with ROS generation and ATP release subsequently being greatly enhanced, resulting in the cooperative upregulation of CD86 and IL-12. Consistent with those observations, an ROS inhibitor, ATP receptor P2X7 antagonist, or PERK inhibitor antagonized the upregulation. CD86 upregulation was similarly observed with another leukoderma-inducible tyrosinase inhibitor, raspberry ketone, but not with the leukoderma noninducible skin-whitening agents ascorbic acid and tranexamic acid. CONCLUSION: RD is a pro-hapten sensitizer dependent on tyrosinase that induces ROS generation and ATP release from melanocytes for CD86 and IL-12 upregulation in DCs, possibly leading to the generation of tyrosinase-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The coculture system h-CLATw/M may be useful for predicting the sensitizing potential to induce leukoderma.

A Chaperone-Like Role for EBI3 in Collaboration With Calnexin Under Inflammatory Conditions.

The interleukin-6 (IL-6)/IL-12 family of cytokines plays critical roles in the induction and regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses. Among the various cytokines, only this family has the unique characteristic of being composed of two distinct subunits, α- and ß-subunits, which form a heterodimer with subunits that occur in other cytokines as well. Recently, we found a novel intracellular role for one of the α-subunits, Epstein-Barr virus-induced gene 3 (EBI3), in promoting the proper folding of target proteins and augmenting its expression at the protein level by binding to its target protein and a well-characterized lectin chaperone, calnexin, presumably through enhancing chaperone activity. Because calnexin is ubiquitously and constitutively expressed but EBI3 expression is inducible, these results could open an avenue to establish a new paradigm in which EBI3 plays an important role in further increasing the expression of target molecules at the protein level in collaboration with calnexin under inflammatory conditions. This theory well accounts for the heterodimer formation of EBI3 with p28, and probably with p35 and p19 to produce IL-27, IL-35, and IL-39, respectively. In line with this concept, another ß-subunit, p40, plays a critical role in the assembly-induced proper folding of p35 and p19 to produce IL-12 and IL-23, respectively. Thus, chaperone-like activities in proper folding and maturation, which allow the secretion of biologically active heterodimeric cytokines, have recently been highlighted. This review summarizes the current understanding of chaperone-like activities of EBI3 to form heterodimers and other associations together with their possible biological implications.

IL-23p19 and CD5 antigen-like form a possible novel heterodimeric cytokine and contribute to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis development.

Among various cytokines, interleukin (IL)-12 family cytokines have very unique characteristics in that they are composed of two distinct subunits and these subunits are shared with each other. IL-23, one of the IL-12 family cytokines, consists of p19 and p40 subunits, is mainly produced by antigen-presenting cells, and plays a critical role in the expansion and maintenance of pathogenic helper CD4+ T (Th)17 cells. Since we initially found that p19 is secreted in the culture supernatant of activated CD4+ T cells, we have further investigated the role of p19. p19 was revealed to associate with CD5 antigen-like (CD5L), which is a repressor of Th17 pathogenicity and is highly expressed in non-pathogenic Th17 cells, to form a composite p19/CD5L. This p19/CD5L was shown to activate STAT5 and enhance the differentiation into granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-producing CD4+ T cells. Both CD4+ T cell-specific conditional p19-deficient mice and complete CD5L-deficient mice showed significantly alleviated experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) with reduced frequency of GM-CSF+CD4+ T cells. During the course of EAE, the serum level of p19/CD5L, but not CD5L, correlated highly with the clinical symptoms. Thus, the composite p19/CD5L is a possible novel heterodimeric cytokine that contributes to EAE development with GM-CSF up-regulation.

DNA replication machinery prevents Rad52-dependent single-strand annealing that leads to gross chromosomal rearrangements at centromeres.

Homologous recombination between repetitive sequences can lead to gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs). At fission yeast centromeres, Rad51-dependent conservative recombination predominantly occurs between inverted repeats, thereby suppressing formation of isochromosomes whose arms are mirror images. However, it is unclear how GCRs occur in the absence of Rad51 and how GCRs are prevented at centromeres. Here, we show that homology-mediated GCRs occur through Rad52-dependent single-strand annealing (SSA). The rad52-R45K mutation, which impairs SSA activity of Rad52 protein, dramatically reduces isochromosome formation in rad51 deletion cells. A ring-like complex Msh2-Msh3 and a structure-specific endonuclease Mus81 function in the Rad52-dependent GCR pathway. Remarkably, mutations in replication fork components, including DNA polymerase α and Swi1/Tof1/Timeless, change the balance between Rad51-dependent recombination and Rad52-dependent SSA at centromeres, increasing Rad52-dependent SSA that forms isochromosomes. Our results uncover a role of DNA replication machinery in the recombination pathway choice that prevents Rad52-dependent GCRs at centromeres.

Human short tandem repeat identification using a nanopore-based DNA sequencer: a pilot study.

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are repetitive DNA sequences that are highly polymorphic and widely used for personal identification in the field of forensic medicine. The standard method for determining the repeat number of STRs is capillary electrophoresis of PCR products; however, the use of DNA sequencing has increased because it can identify same-sized alleles with nucleotide substitutions (iso-alleles). In this study, we performed human STR genotyping using a portable nanopore-based DNA sequencer, the MinION, and evaluated its performance. Because the sequence quality obtained by MinION is considerably lower than those obtained with other DNA sequencers, we developed an original scoring scheme for judging the genotypes from MinION reads. Analysis of seven human samples for 21-45 STR loci yielded an average of 857 thousand reads per sample, and the accuracy of genotyping and iso-allele identification reached 75.7% and 82%, respectively. Although the accuracy is higher than that reported previously, further improvements are required before this method can be practically applied.

Increased Granulopoiesis in the Bone Marrow following Epstein-Barr Virus Infection.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with several disorders. EBV is known to modulate the proliferation and survival of hematopoietic cells such as B cells and T cells in human. However, the effects of EBV on hematopoiesis itself have not been investigated. To study EBV infection in murine models, their hematopoiesis must be humanized, since EBV infection is limited only in primates. To engraft the human hematopoiesis, NOD/Shi-scid-IL2rγnull (NOG) mice were used. Usually, the hematopoiesis humanized mice reconstitute only lymphoid cells, but myeloid cells are not. However, we revealed human macrophages (hMφ) and their precursor monocytes were increased in peripheral tissues of EBV-infected mice. Furthermore, our previous report indicated Mφ accumulation in spleen was essential for development of EBV-positive tumors, suggesting that EBV modulates human hematopoiesis in order to thrive. Interestingly, we revealed a dramatic increase of immature granulocytes only in bone marrow of EBV-infected mice. In addition, GM-CSF, a cytokine that is essential for differentiation of the myeloid lineage, was significantly increased in EBV-infected mice. These results were also reproduced in patients with EBV-related disorders. We suggest that the hematopoietic alterations during EBV-infection might contribute immune suppression to the development and exacerbation of EBV-related disorders.

Regulation of mitotic recombination between DNA repeats in centromeres.

Centromeres that are essential for faithful segregation of chromosomes consist of unique DNA repeats in many eukaryotes. Although recombination is under-represented around centromeres during meiosis, little is known about recombination between centromere repeats in mitotic cells. Here, we compared spontaneous recombination that occurs between ade6B/ade6X inverted repeats integrated at centromere 1 (cen1) or at a non-centromeric ura4 locus in fission yeast. Remarkably, distinct mechanisms of homologous recombination (HR) were observed in centromere and non-centromere regions. Rad51-dependent HR that requires Rad51, Rad54 and Rad52 was predominant in the centromere, whereas Rad51-independent HR that requires Rad52 also occurred in the arm region. Crossovers between inverted repeats (i.e. inversions) were under-represented in the centromere as compared to the arm region. While heterochromatin was dispensable, Mhf1/CENP-S, Mhf2/CENP-X histone-fold proteins and Fml1/FANCM helicase were required to suppress crossovers. Furthermore, Mhf1 and Fml1 were found to prevent gross chromosomal rearrangements mediated by centromere repeats. These data for the first time uncovered the regulation of mitotic recombination between DNA repeats in centromeres and its physiological role in maintaining genome integrity.

Imbalanced expression of polycistronic miRNA in acute myeloid leukemia.

miR-1 and miR-133 are clustered on the same chromosomal loci and are transcribed together as a single transcript that is positively regulated by ecotropic virus integration site-1 (EVI1). Previously, we described how miR-133 has anti-tumorigenic potential through repression of EVI1 expression. It has also been reported that miR-1 is oncogenic in the case of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we show that expression of miR-1 and miR-133, which have distinct functions, is differentially regulated between AML cell lines. Interestingly, the expression of miR-1 and EVI1, which binds to the promoter of the miR-1/miR-133 cluster, is correlative. The expression levels of TDP-43, an RNA-binding protein that has been reported to increase the expression, but inhibits the activity, of miR-1, were not correlated with expression levels of miR-1 in AML cells. Taken together, our observations raise the possibility that the balance of polycistronic miRNAs is regulated post-transcriptionally in a hierarchical manner possibly involving EVI1, suggesting that the deregulation of this balance may play some role in AML cells with high EVI1 expression.