Brief Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Sep 21, 2011; 17(35): 4017-4022
Published online Sep 21, 2011. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v17.i35.4017
Corticotropin-releasing factor secretion from dendritic cells stimulated by commensal bacteria
Mariko Hojo, Toshifumi Ohkusa, Harumi Tomeoku, Shigeo Koido, Daisuke Asaoka, Akihito Nagahara, Sumio Watanabe
Mariko Hojo, Daisuke Asaoka, Akihito Nagahara, Sumio Watanabe, Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan
Toshifumi Ohkusa, Harumi Tomeoku, Shigeo Koido, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital, Chiba 277-8567, Japan
Author contributions: Hojo M and Tomeoku H contributed equally to this work; Hojo M, Ohkusa T and Watanabe S designed the research; Hojo M, Tomeoku H, Koido S, Asaoka D and Nagahara A performed the research; and Hojo M and Ohkusa T wrote the paper.
Supported by Grants in Aid for Scientific Research (C) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, No. 17590679
Correspondence to: Toshifumi Ohkusa, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital, Chiba 277-8567, Japan. ohkusa@jikei.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-4-71641111  Fax: +81-4-71669374
Received: December 24, 2010
Revised: February 11, 2011
Accepted: February 18, 2011
Published online: September 21, 2011
Abstract

AIM: To study the production and secretion of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) by dendritic cells and the influence of commensal bacteria.

METHODS: JAWSII cells (ATCC CRL-11904), a mouse dendritic cell line, were seeded into 24-well culture plates and grown for 3 d. Commensal bacterial strains of Clostridium clostrodiiforme (JCM1291), Bacteroides vulgatus (B. vulgatus) (JCM5856), Escherichia coli (JCM1649), or Fusobacterium varium (F. varium) (ATCC8501) were added to the cells except for the control well, and incubated for 2 h. After incubation, we performed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the cultured medium and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for the dendritic cells, and compared these values with controls.

RESULTS: The level of CRF secretion by control dendritic cells was 40.4 ± 6.2 pg/mL. The CRF levels for cells incubated with F. varium and B. vulgatus were significantly higher than that of the control (P < 0.0001). CRF mRNA was present in the control sample without bacteria, and CRF mRNA levels in all samples treated with bacteria were above that of the control sample. F. varium caused the greatest increase in CRF mRNA expression.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that dendritic cells produce CRF, a process augmented by commensal bacteria.

Keywords: Commensal bacteria, Corticotrophin-releasing factor, Dendritic cell, Fusobacterium varium, Irritable bowel syndrome