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Immunopotentiation on murine spleen lymphocytes induced by polysaccharide fraction of Panax ginseng via upregulating calcineurin activity
Author(s) -
ZHANG SONGDONG,
YIN YANXIA,
WEI QUN
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2010.02589.x
Subject(s) - spleen , calcineurin , concanavalin a , ginseng , verapamil , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , in vitro , pharmacology , phosphatase , biology , biochemistry , immunology , medicine , calcium , transplantation , phosphorylation , alternative medicine , pathology , organic chemistry
Zhang S‐D, Yin Y‐X, Wei Q. Immunopotentiation on murine spleen lymphocytes induced by polysaccharide fraction of Panax ginseng via upregulating calcineurin activity. APMIS 2010; 118: 288–96. Calcineurin (CN), a unique Ca 2+ /calmodulin (CaM)‐dependent serine/threonine protein phosphatase, plays a pivotal role in the activation and proliferation of T lymphocytes. Based on the effective molecular screening model established in our laboratory, we found that a part of polysaccharides from the stem and leaves of Panax ginseng , termed PGP‐SL, could activate CN activity. Subsequently, we investigated whether PGP‐SL also has immunological competence on murine spleen lymphocytes. In the present study, we demonstrated that PGP‐SL could significantly promote in vitro spleen lymphocyte proliferation in the absence of either concanavalin A or LPS in a concentration‐dependent manner at concentrations ranging from 100 to 500 μg/ml (p < 0.001). In addition, the proliferation of cyclosporin A (CsA)‐treated spleen lymphocytes was also significantly promoted in the same pattern (p < 0.001); the production of IL‐2 was elevated and the effect appeared as early as 24 h after PGP‐SL treatment. The results of RT‐PCR also indicated that the IL‐2 mRNA level was markedly enhanced, particularly at PGP‐SL concentrations of 300 and 500 μg/ml, and Fura‐2/AM fluorescence probe analysis showed that PGP‐SL could dramatically increase the intracellular free calcium concentration of spleen lymphocytes, i.e. [Ca 2+ ] i was significantly increased by approximately 181 and 107% at 300 and 500 μg/ml of PGP‐SL, respectively. However, this effect could be totally inhibited by verapamil treatment. Taking our results together, we suggest that PGP‐SL exhibits immunopotentiation effects on murine spleen lymphocytes by the Ca 2+ –CN–NFAT–IL‐2 signaling pathway.