Evaluation of the Multi-ImmunoTox Assay composed of 3 human cytokine reporter cells by examining immunological effects of drugs

Yutaka Kimura, Chizu Fujimura, Yumiko Ito, Toshiya Takahashi, Setsuya Aiba

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We established a luciferase reporter assay system, the Multi-ImmunoTox Assay (MITA), to evaluate the effects on key predictive. in vitro components of the human immune system. The system is composed of 3 stable reporter cell lines transfected with 3 luciferase genes, SLG, SLO, and SLR, under the control of 4 cytokine promoters, IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-1β, and IL-8, and the G3PDH promoter. We first compared the effects of dexamethasone, cyclosporine, and tacrolimus on these cell lines stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin, or lipopolysaccharides, with those on mRNA expression by the mother cell lines and human whole blood cells after stimulation. The results demonstrated that MITA correctly reflected the change of mRNA of the mother cell lines and whole blood cells. Next, we evaluated other immunosuppressive drugs, off-label immunosuppressive drugs, and non-immunomodulatory drugs. Although MITA did not detect immunosuppressive effects of either alkylating agents or antimetabolites, it could demonstrate those of the off-label immunosuppressive drugs, sulfasalazine, chloroquine, minocycline, and nicotinamide. Compared with the published immunological effects of the drugs, these data suggest that MITA can present a novel high-throughput approach to detect immunological effects of chemicals other than those that induce immunosuppressive effects through their inhibitory action on cell division.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)759-768
Number of pages10
JournalToxicology in Vitro
Volume28
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014 Aug

Keywords

  • Alternatives to animals
  • Immunotoxicity
  • Reporter assay

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