The difference in immune response and IL-12p35 methylation between newborns and adults
Journal
Journal of Biomedical Science
Journal Volume
21
Journal Issue
1
Date Issued
2014
Author(s)
Abstract
Background: The immune system of newborn is generally depressed by impaired production of Th1-cell associated cytokines, which results in increased susceptibility to intracellular pathogens and poor response to vaccinations. For avoiding abortion, the maternal and fetal immune systems tend to Th2-cell polarizing cytokines. Besides, IL-12p35 is a determining factor of the bioactivity of IL-12, which has an important role in the Th1 response. Recently methylated DNA is known to associate to inhibit transcription. Therefore, we explored the methylation status of CpG sites upstream of the coding sequence of the IL-12p35 gene to determine whether neonatal peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) synthesis lower level of IL-12 is related to methylated DNA. Results: PBMCs from adults expressed higher levels of IL-12p40 (p = 0.303) and IL-12p70 (p = 0.045) and had a strong ability to produce IL-12p35 mRNA (p = 0.01). However, there was no difference in the methylation status of CpG sites in the promoter of IL-12p35 between adults and newborns. Conclusions: We found that PBMC synthesis of bioactive IL-12p70 was significantly impaired in the neonatal period, potentially though a reduction in IL-12p35 production. The reeducation in IL-12p35 production might not be due to methylation of the promoter gene. But, the impairment of IL-12p35 expression during the neonatal period might be caused by other epigenetic regulation occurs in the chromatin level. ? 2014 Chen et al.; licensee BioMed Central.
Subjects
Interleukin-12; Methylation; Newborn
SDGs
Other Subjects
gamma interferon; interleukin 10; interleukin 12; interleukin 12p35; interleukin 12p40; interleukin 12p70; interleukin 17; interleukin 6; messenger RNA; tumor necrosis factor; chromatin; IL12A protein, human; interleukin 12p35; adult; Article; clinical article; controlled study; CpG island; cytokine production; DNA methylation; gene expression; gene sequence; genetic code; genetic transcription; human; human cell; immune response; newborn; newborn period; normal human; nucleotide sequence; peripheral blood mononuclear cell; promoter region; protein synthesis; aging; chromatin; clinical trial; comparative study; cytology; DNA methylation; female; genetic epigenesis; genetics; immunology; male; Th1 cell; Th2 cell; Adult; Aging; Chromatin; CpG Islands; DNA Methylation; Epigenesis, Genetic; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Interleukin-12 Subunit p35; Male; Th1 Cells; Th2 Cells
Publisher
BioMed Central Ltd.
Type
journal article