Prof\nChen Xin in the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences (ICMS), University of\nMacau (UM), and a research team led by Dr Joost J Oppenheim in the United States\nNational Cancer Institute (NCI), have found that tetrandrine, an active anti-inflammatory\ningredient isolated from Chinese herbal medicine Stephania tetrandra S Moore,\ncan selectively increase the membrane-bound TNF (mTNF) expression on myeloid\ncells and promote the in vivo expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) through\nTNF-TNFR2 signalling pathway. This study may be helpful in the development of\nsafer and more effective anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive drugs. The study\nhas been published in Science Advances<\/i>,\na member of prestigious Science<\/i> family\nof journals.<\/p>
An\nautoimmune disease arises from a normal human tissue being attacked by pathogenic\nimmune responses. However, the cause of autoimmune diseases remains elusive.\nAlthough the immunomodulatory effect of Chinese medicines has been known for\nthousands of years, the exact mechanism by which Chinese medicines regulate the\nimmune responses remains largely unclear. The study conducted by Prof Chen and\nhis collaborator has shown that tetrandrine is effective in alleviating disease\nprogression of colitis in mice through the mTNF-TNFR2 signalling pathway. Further investigation has found that\ntetrandrine inhibited the transportation of TNF\u03b1 Converting Enzyme (TACE) and\nthe expression of TACE on cell surface by blocking two-pore channels (TPCs),\nthus preventing the cleavage of mTNF to sTNF. The study not only reveals the\nmechanism underlying the anti-inflammatory effect of tetrandrine, an ingredient\nextracted from the Chinese medicine Stephania tetrandra S Moore, but also\nindicates that TPCs could be a novel target for the treatment of autoimmune\ndiseases. This will help develop safer and more effective anti-inflammatory and\nimmunosuppressive drugs. The study has attracted attention from the scientific\ncommunity because one of the \u2018Ten Most Important and Cutting-edge Scientific Topics\u2019\ndesignated earlier this year by the Chinese government is how Chinese medicines\nregulate the immune system at cellular and molecular levels.<\/p>
Prof Chen\nhas been studying autoimmune diseases, tumours, and Treg cells for decades. By\ncollaborating with Dr Oppenheim, he has, for the first time, found and reported\nthat TNFR2 plays a decisive role in the activation, proliferative expansion,\nfunction, and phenotypical stability of Treg cells. Prof Chen has published a\nseries of studies, which have been highly recognized by the international\nscientific community. His discoveries have become the theoretical basis for the\ndevelopment of new drugs for the treatment of tumours and autoimmune diseases.<\/p>
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He\nTianzhen, a PhD student at UM, is the first author of the paper. Prof Chen is\nthe last author and co-corresponding author. This study was funded by The Science\nand Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR (File no: 014\/2015\/A1, 201\/2017\/A3\nand 0056\/2019\/AFJ) and funded by University of Macau (File no: MYRG2017-00120-ICMS\nand MYRG2019-00169-ICMS).<\/p>
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Source: Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences<\/p>
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Media Contact Information:<\/p>
Communications Office, University of Macau<\/p>
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Albee Lei Tel\uff1a(853) 88228004<\/p>
Judite Lam Tel\uff1a(853) 88228022<\/p>
Email\uff1aprs.media@um.edu.mo<\/p>
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UM Website\uff1awww.um.edu.mo <\/p>
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Prof Chen Xin in the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences (ICMS), University of Macau (UM), and a research team led by Dr Joost J Oppenheim in the United States National…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n