Activation of innate immune response by DNA from food

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26560052
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: Tokyo Medical and Dental University
• Principal Investigator: HAYAKAWA Sumio 東京医科歯科大学, 難治疾患研究所, 助教 (00368292)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 高岡 晃教 北海道大学, 遺伝子病制御研究所, 教授 (30323611) ; 亀山 武志 北海道大学, 遺伝子病制御研究所, 助教 (40569505)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 食品 / 核酸 / 自然免疫

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Food is recognized as one of the important factors which regulate human health such as immune response. It is known that vitamins, minerals and proteins are essential nutrients to build a healthy body. However, the role of food DNA on health is not clearly understood. So, we focused on the effect of food DNA on activation of innate immune signaling pathway mediated by PRRs. Here we show that a complex with the food DNA and short peptide, the only cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptide, activated innate immune response and functioned as a ligand of RIG-I in macrophage. We suggest that DNA from food could provide an application in therapy aimed at maintaining good health.

Free Research Field

生化学