In Vitro Immunomodulatory Activity of Interferon Alpha on Toll-Like Receptor 9 Signaling Pathway in Chronic Hepatitis B
To cite this article:
Wang Xin, Zhao Ying-Ren, Liu Hong-Li, Ma Xiao-Hua, and Zhang Yu. Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research. May 2015, 35(5): 385-391. doi:10.1089/jir.2014.0182.
Published in Volume: 35 Issue 5: May 5, 2015
Online Ahead of Print: December 23, 2014
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Author information
Xin Wang,1 Ying-Ren Zhao,1 Hong-Li Liu,2 Xiao-Hua Ma,2 and Yu Zhang1
1Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, P.R. China.
2The Eighth Hospital of Xi'an, Xi'an, P.R. China.
Address correspondence to:
Dr. Xin Wang
Department of Infectious Diseases
The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University
277 Yanta West Road
Xi'an 710061
Shaanxi Province
P.R. China
E-mail: [email protected]
Received 28 September 2014
Accepted 16 October 2014
ABSTRACT
Interferon alpha (IFN-α) is registered for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment. However, the antiviral mechanism of IFN-α and the biological function of many IFN-α responsive genes have not been fully elucidated. We investigated to determine the regulative effect of IFN-α on toll-like receptor (TLR) 9 signaling in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from CHB patients in vitro. We examined the changes of expression and function of TLR9 signaling pathway in the PBMCs with different treatment methods and investigated the synergism of IFN-α and TLR9 ligand on antiviral cytokine secretions in vitro. The data showed that, for the TLR9 signaling pathway, IFN-α not only augmented the expressions of TLR9 signal transduction molecules but also activated the TLR9 signal function. This study has clearly demonstrated that the TLR9 ligand could stimulate PBMCs that have been pretreated with IFN-α. Furthermore, the quantity of antiviral cytokines secreted by the pretreated PBMCs was greater than those without pretreatment. The interaction between IFN-α and TLR9 ligand appears to be synergistic. Data revealed IFN-α could influence TLR9 signaling transduction and synergistically improve the immune efficacy of TLR9 ligand against CHB. The present study suggests a potential novel mechanism for the antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus and a new individualized antiviral strategy.