Jusaku Minari

Solid-State Structures and Solution Analyses of a Phenylpropylpyridine N-Oxide and an N-Methyl Phenylpropylpyridine

The crystal structures of phenylpropylpyridine-N-oxide and N-methyl-phenylpropylpyridinium iodide are compared, revealing that hydrogen bonding with the solvent molecule plays an important role in the N-oxide compound, whilst electrostatic interactions are predominant in controlling the solid-state orientation of the N-methylated compound. Fluorescence spectroscopy and NOESY indicate that in contrast to the previously reported pyridinium iodide, the N-oxide is not subject to intramolecular pi-stacking, as judged by excimer emission and a lack of corresponding cross peaks, respectively.

Enhanced cytokine secretion from primary macrophages due to Dectin-1 mediated uptake of CpG DNA/β-1,3-glucan complex.

Unmethylated CpG sequences (CpG DNA) can induce Th1 response and thus become a potential immunotherapeutic agent. A key step in the treatment is to transport CpG DNA to its receptor TLR9 located in the endocytosis pathway of target immune cells. For the effective transport, we prepared a novel complex from a β-1,3-glucan schizophyllan (SPG) and CpG DNA, and administered the complex to murine peritoneal macrophages that had been previously activated by thioglycollate and expressed a major β-1,3-glucan receptor Dectin-1 on the cellular surface. Flow cytometric analysis and microscopic observation showed that the complex was taken up by the macrophage through Dectin-1 mediated pathway. Indeed, ELISA demonstrated that IL-12 production was increased sigmoidally with increasing SPG/CpG DNA ratio in the complexation, and reached the maximum at the SPG-rich composition. In the present work, we describe a new approach to deliver CpG DNA to immune cells by use of a β-1,3-glucan/DNA complex.