Journal Article

DKFZ-2023-00786

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Chitin oligomers promote lymphoid innate and adaptive immune cell activation.

Maia, A. ; Cardona Gloria, Y. ; Fuchs, K. ; Chang, T.-H. ; Engels, P. ; Zhou, M. ; Hinnenthal, T. ; Rusch, E. ; Gouttefangeas, C.DKFZ* ; Weber, A.DKFZ*

2023
Wiley Hoboken, NJ

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1093/jleuko/qiad044

Abstract: Chitin is a highly abundant N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc) polysaccharide which has been linked to immune responses in the context of fungal infections and allergic asthma, especially to T helper 2 (Th2) immune responses. Unfortunately, due to the frequent use of crude chitin preparations of unknown purity and degree of polymerization, there is still great uncertainty how chitin activates different parts of the human immune system. We recently identified chitin oligomers of six GlcNAc units as the smallest immunologically active chitin motif and the innate immune receptor TLR2 as a primary chitin sensor on human and murine myeloid cells, but the response of further immune cells, e.g. lymphoid cells, to oligomeric chitin has not been investigated. Our analysis of primary human immune cells now shows that chitin oligomers activate immune responses of both innate and adaptive lymphocytes: Notably, chitin oligomers activated Natural Killer (NK) cells but not B lymphocytes. Moreover, chitin oligomers induced maturation of dendritic cells and enabled potent CD8+ T cell recall responses. Our results suggest that chitin oligomers not only trigger immediate innate responses in a limited range of myeloid cells, but also exert critical activities across the entire human immune system. This highlights chitin oligomer immune activation as an interesting and broadly applicable potential target for both adjuvant development and therapeutic interference in chitin-mediated pathologies.

Keyword(s): B cell ; Chitin ; N-acetyl-glucosamine ; Natural killer (NK) cell ; T cell ; Toll-like receptor (TLR) ; antigen-presenting cell ; lymphoid cell ; myeloid cell

Note: 2023 Jul 27;114(2):180-186

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. DKTK Koordinierungsstelle Tübingen (TU01)

Research Program(s):

1. 899 - ohne Topic (POF4-899) (POF4-899)

Appears in the scientific report 2023

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Database coverage:
; BIOSIS Previews ; Biological Abstracts ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Life Sciences ; DEAL Wiley ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 5 ; JCR ; PubMed Central ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection

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