Potential role of interleukin-29 in oral mucosal defense against viruses

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K09548
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 57020:Oral pathobiological science-related
• Research Institution: National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology
• Principal Investigator: Shikama Yosuke 国立研究開発法人国立長寿医療研究センター, 口腔疾患研究部, 副部長 (10588908)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 口腔粘膜 / 自然免疫 / ウイルス感染

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Interferon (IFN) lambda-1 (IFN-l1), a type III IFN, exhibits type I IFN-like antiviral activity. In contrast to ubiquitously expressed type I IFN receptors, IFN-l receptor 1 (IFN-lR1) is mainly expressed on epithelial cells. The regulation of type III IFN receptor expression and its functions in the oral mucosa remain unclear. We herein showed the expression of IFN-lR1 in human gingival keratinocytes. The expression of IL-6 and IL-8 in human primary gingival keratinocytes (HGK) was significantly higher following treatments with either type I IFN (IFN-b) or type II IFN (IFN-g) than with IFN-l1. However, the IFN-l1 treatment strongly induced toll-like receptor (TLR) 3 and retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I), which mainly recognize viral nucleic acids, via the STAT-1-mediated pathway. Furthermore, a stimulation with a RIG-I or TLR3 agonist promoted the production of IL-6, IL-8, and IFN-b in HGK, which was significantly enhanced by a pretreatment with IFN-l1.

Free Research Field

免疫学　ウイルス学　病理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ウイルスに関する研究は非常に幅広く行われているが、口腔粘膜における抗ウイルス能の増強、賦活作用に着目した検討はほどんど行われていない。歯科領域疾患の中で、ウイルス感染に起因する疾患の予防、治療法開発は臨床上非常に重要であると考えられる。本研究はIL-29が口腔粘膜を介したウイルス感染予防法として臨床応用出来る可能性を示した、意義深い研究である。