A target-based discovery from a parasitic helminth as a novel therapeutic approach for autoimmune diseases.
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Date
2023-08-12Author
Ni, Yangyue
Xiong, Ruiyan
Zhu, Yuxiao
Luan, Ning
Yu, Chuanxin
Yang, Kun
Wang, Huiquan
Xu, Xuejun
Yang, Yuxuan
Sun, Siyu
Shi, Liyun
Chen, Lin
Chen, Lu
Hou, Min
Xu, Zhipeng
Lai, Ren
Jia, Minjun
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Background: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) can alleviate the development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, thereby proposing their role as a new therapeutic strategy. Parasitic helminths have co-evolved with hosts to generate immunological privilege and immune tolerance through inducing Tregs. Thus, constructing a “Tregs-induction”-based discovery pipeline from parasitic helminth is a promising strategy to control autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Methods: The gel filtration chromatography and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) were used to isolate immunomodulatory components from the egg extracts of Schistosoma japonicum. The extracted peptides were evaluated for their effects on Tregs suppressive functions using flow cytometry, ELISA and T cell suppression assay. Finally, we carried out colitis and psoriasis models to evaluate the function of Tregs induced by helminth-derived peptide in vivo.
Findings: Here, based on target-driven discovery strategy, we successfully identified a small 3 kDa peptide (SjDX5-53) from egg extracts of schistosome, which promoted both human and murine Tregs production. SjDX5-53 presented immunosuppressive function by arresting dendritic cells (DCs) at an immature state and augmenting the proportion and suppressive capacity of Tregs. In mouse models, SjDX5-53 protected mice against autoimmune-related colitis and psoriasis through inducing Tregs and inhibiting inflammatory T-helper (Th) 1 and Th17 responses.
Interpretation: SjDX5-53 exhibited the promising therapeutic effects in alleviating the phenotype of immune-related colitis and psoriasis. This study displayed a screening and validation pipeline of the inducer of Tregs from helminth eggs, highlighting the discovery of new biologics inspired by co-evolution of hosts and their parasites.
Funding: This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (82272368) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20211586).
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