China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (4): 1844-1851.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2025.04.036

• Preventive Veterinary Medicine • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Study on the Mechanism of Caffeic Acid Enhancing Macrophage Immunosuppression

BAI Lixia1, LI Yang2, LI Jianyong1   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of New Animal Drug Project of Gansu Province, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmaceutical Development of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China;
    2. Lanzhou Biotechnique Development Co., Ltd., Lanzhou 730046, China
  • Received:2024-07-08 Published:2025-03-29

Abstract: 【Objective】 The enhancement function and regulatory mechanism of caffeic acid (CA) on immunosuppression of macrophages were studied,in order to provide theoretical support for the development of a new immunoenhancer for immunosuppressive diseases (ISD).【Method】 Transmission electron microscopy and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) were used to determine the morphology and concentration of macrophage-derived exosomes (Exos).Phosphoramide mustard (PM) was used to establish the immunosuppression model,RAW264.7 cells were treated with CA of 6.25,12.5,25,50, 100 and 200 μmol/L for 24 h, respectively,cytotoxicity test and neutral red were used to investigate cell viability and phagocytosis,Exos concentration was determined by NTA,mRNA expression in Exos was tested by transcriptomics,GO function and KEGG pathway were used to analyze the enrichment of mRNA differentially expressed genes,respectively,in order to explore the mechanism of CA enhancing immune function.【Result】 Exos was a complete cup shape with a bilayer membrane structure and a particle size between 30 and 200 nm. Compared with PM model group,CA could prominently enhance the activity and phagocytosis of macrophages (P<0.01),encourage the secretion of Exos (P<0.01),and upregulate 1 961 mRNA differentially expressed genes and downregulate 3 274 mRNA differentially expressed genes in Exos.GO function enrichment analysis showed that CA mainly affected cell process,biological regulation and molecular binding,and its function was to positively regulate the chemotaxis of dendritic cells.KEGG pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that CA played an important role in the immune system,endocrine system,infectious diseases and signal transduction,mainly regulating T cell receptor and B cell receptor related signal pathways,indicating that CA could exert an important influence on immune cells through mediating Exos mRAN expression.【Conclusion】 CA enhanced the viability and phagocytosis of macrophages by promoting the generation of macrophage derived Exos and regulating mRNA gene expression.

Key words: caffeic acid; macrophage; exosomes; mRNA; immunosuppression

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