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Modulation of IL-37 expression by triptolide and triptonide in THP-1 cells

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 12, pages 515–518 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

IL-37 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that was only recently identified, and it is highly expressed in tissues from patients with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory stimuli can induce the upregulation of IL-37. However, it has not been reported whether anti-inflammatory medications induce the expression of IL-37. In this work, we uncovered, for the first time, that two main bioactive components, triptolide and triptonide, from the herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f. (TwHF), which possess anti-inflammatory activity, upregulate the expression of IL-37, and this expression was suppressed by ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK inhibitors. Overall, our research demonstrated, for the first time, that anti-inflammatory active components (triptolide and triptonide) upregulated the expression of IL-37 most likely via activation of the ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK pathways.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the grants from the Science & Technology Innovation Fund of Guangdong Medical College (No. STIF201107) and the College Students' Innovative Training Program of Guangdong Province, China (No. 1057113038).

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Author notes

  1. Lingge He and Zhuangyan Liang: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Medical Molecular Diagnostic of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Medical College, Dongguan, China

    Lingge He, Fuqian Zhao, Lifei Peng & Zhangquan Chen

  2. Department of Clinical Immunology, Guangdong Medical College, Dongguan, China

    Zhuangyan Liang & Zhangquan Chen

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  1. Lingge He
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  2. Zhuangyan Liang
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  3. Fuqian Zhao
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  4. Lifei Peng
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Correspondence to Zhangquan Chen.

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He, L., Liang, Z., Zhao, F. et al. Modulation of IL-37 expression by triptolide and triptonide in THP-1 cells. Cell Mol Immunol 12, 515–518 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2014.92

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