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Inhibition Mechanisms of Bioflavonoids Extracted from the Bark of Pinus maritima on the Expression of Proinflammatory Cytokines
Author(s) -
Cho KyungJoo,
Yun ChangHyun,
Packer Lester,
Chunga AnSik
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb05644.x
Subject(s) - proinflammatory cytokine , jurkat cells , ionomycin , gene expression , activator (genetics) , microbiology and biotechnology , reporter gene , cell culture , phorbol , transfection , biology , chemistry , biochemistry , t cell , signal transduction , gene , inflammation , immunology , protein kinase c , immune system , intracellular , genetics
A bstract : The effect of bioflavonoids extracted from the bark of Pinus maritima , Pycnogenol (PYC), on gene expression of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) were investigated in RAW 264.7 cells and Jurkat E6.1 cells, respectively. PYC exerted strong scavenging activities against reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by H 2 O 2 in RAW 264.7. In situ ELISA, immunoblot analysis, and competitive RT‐PCR demonstrated that pretreatment of LPS‐stimulated RAW 264.7 cells with PYC dose‐dependently reduced both the production of IL‐1β and its mRNA levels. Furthermore, in the same cells, PYC blocked the activation of nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) and activator protein‐1 (AP‐1), two major transcription factors centrally involved in IL‐1β gene expression. Concordantly, pretreatment of the cells with PYC abolished the LPS‐induced IκB degradation. We also investigated the effect of PYC on IL‐2 gene expression in phorbol 12‐myristate 13acetate plus ionomycin (PMA/Io)‐stimulated human T‐cell line Jurkat E6.1. PYC inhibited the PMA/Io‐induced IL‐2 mRNA expression. However, as demonstrated in a reporter gene assay system, the mechanism of IL‐2 gene transcriptional regulation by PYC was different from the regulation of IL‐1β. PYC inhibited both NF‐AT and AP‐1 chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) activities in transiently transfected Jurkat E6.1, but not NF‐κB CAT activity. We also found that PYC can destabilize PMA/Io‐induced IL‐2 mRNA by posttranscriptional regulation. All these results suggest that bioflavonids can be useful therapeutic agents in treating many inflammatory, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases based on its diverse action mechanisms.