Wang Y, et al. Immune Netw. 2020 Nov;20(6):e50. https://doi.org/10.4110/in.2020.20.e50

Natural polysaccharides have shown promising effects on the regulation of immunity in animals. In this study, we examined the immune stimulatory effect of intranasally administered Codium fragile polysaccharides (CFPs) in mice. Intranasal administration of CFPs in C57BL/6 mice induced the upregulation of surface activation marker expression in macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) in the mediastinal lymph node (mLN) and the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-12p70, and tumor necrosis factor-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Moreover, the number of conventional DCs (cDCs) was increased in the mLNs by the upregulation of C-C motif chemokine receptor 7 expression, and subsets of cDCs were also activated following the intranasal administration of CFP. In addition, the intranasal administration of CFPs promoted the activation of natural killer (NK) and T cells in the mLNs, which produce pro-inflammatory cytokines and cytotoxic mediators. Finally, daily administration of CFPs inhibited the infiltration of Lewis lung carcinoma cells into the lungs, and the preventive effect of CFPs on tumor growth required NK and CD8 T cells. Furthermore, CFPs combined with anti-programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody (Ab) improved the therapeutic effect of anti-PD-L1 Ab against lung cancer. Therefore, these data demonstrated that the intranasal administration of CFP induced mucosal immunity against lung cancer.

Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) promoted different innate immune activation than that promoted by Escherichia coli (E. coli) LPS. In this study, we examined the effect of P. gingivalis LPS on the proliferation and activation of natural killer (NK) cells in vivo and compared that function with that of E. coli LPS. Administration of P. gingivalis LPS to C57BL/6 mice induced stronger proliferation of NK cells in the spleen and submandibular lymph nodes (sLNs) and increased the number of circulating NK cells in blood compared to those treated with E. coli LPS. However, P. gingivalis LPS did not induce interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) production and CD69 expression in the spleen and sLN NK cells in vivo, and this was attributed to the minimal activation of the spleen and sLN dendritic cells (DCs), including low levels of co-stimulatory molecule expression and pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Furthermore, P. gingivalis LPS-treated NK cells showed less cytotoxic activity against Yac-1 target cells than E. coli LPS-treated NK cells. Hence, these data demonstrated that P. gingivalis LPS promoted limited activation of spleen and sLN NK cells in vivo, and this may play a role in the chronic inflammatory state observed in periodontal disease.

Introduction: As tick-borne diseases rise to become the second most prevalent arthropod-transmitted disease globally, the increasing investigations focus on ticks correspondingly. Factors contributed to this increase include anthropogenic influences, changes in vertebrate faunal composition, social-recreational shifts, and climatic variation. Employing the 16S gene sequence method in next-generation sequencing (NGS) allows comprehensive pathogen identification in samples, facilitating the development of refined approaches to tick research omnidirectionally.Methods: In our survey, we compared the microbial richness and biological diversity of ticks in Wuwei City, Gansu province, differentiating between questing ticks found in grass and parasitic ticks collected from sheep based on 16S NGS method.Results: The results show Rickettsia, Coxiella, and Francisella were detected in all 50 Dermacentor nuttalli samples, suggesting that the co-infection may be linked to specific symbiotic bacteria in ticks. Our findings reveal significant differences in the composition and diversity of microorganisms, with the Friedmanniella and Bordetella genera existing more prevalent in parasitic ticks than in questing ticks (p < 0.05). Additionally, the network analysis demonstrates that the interactions among bacterial genera can be either promotive or inhibitive in ticks exhibiting different lifestyles with the correlation index |r| > 0.6. For instance, Francisella restrains the development of 10 other bacteria in parasitic ticks, whereas Phyllobacterium and Arthrobacter enhance colonization across all tick species.Discussion: By leveraging NGS techniques, our study reveals a high degree of species and phylogenetic diversity within the tick microbiome. It further highlights the potential to investigate the interplay between bacterial genera in both parasitic and questing ticks residing in identical habitat environments.

In this work, Au-Bi₂Te₃ nanocomposite thermoelectric film with a hierarchical sub-micron antireflection quasi-periodic structure was synthesized via a low-temperature chemical route using Troides helena (Linnaeus) forewing (T_FW) as the biomimetic template. This method combines chemosynthesis with biomimetic techniques, without the requirement of expensive equipment and energy intensive processes. The microstructure and the morphology of the Au-Bi₂Te₃ nanocomposite thermoelectric film was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning-electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Coupled the plasmon resonances of the Au nanoparticles with the hierarchical sub-micron antireflection quasi-periodic structure, the Au-Bi₂Te₃ nanocomposite thermoelectric film possesses an effective infrared absorption and infrared photothermal conversion performance. Based on the finite difference time domain method and the Joule effect, the heat generation and the heat source density distribution of the Au-Bi₂Te₃ nanocomposite thermoelectric film were studied. The heterogeneity of heat source density distribution of the Au-Bi₂Te₃ nanocomposite thermoelectric film opens up a novel promising technique for generating thermoelectric power under illumination.