Nocardia rubra cell-wall skeleton promotes CD4+ T cell activation and drives Th1 immune response

Several lines of evidences have shown that Nocardia rubra cell wall skeleton (Mr-CM/S) has immunoregulatory and anti-tumor activities. However, there is no information about the effect of Nr-CWS on CD4(+) T cells. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of Nr-CWS on the phenotype and function of CD4(+) T cells. Our results of in vitro experiments showed that Nr-CWS could significantly up-regulate the expression of CD69 and CD25 on CD4(+) T cells, promote the proliferation of CD4(+) T cells, increase the production of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-2 in the supernatants, but has no significant effect on the apoptosis and death of CD4(+) T cells. Results of in vivo experiments showed that Nr-CWS could promote the proliferation of CD4(+) T cells, and increase the production of IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. (Th1 type cytokines). These data suggest that Nr-CWS can enhance the activation of CD4(+) T cells, promote the proliferation of CD4(+) T cells and the differentiation of CD4(+) T cells to Th1 cells. 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.