RESUMEN
Beta-glucan (ß-glucan) including zymosan has been known as a super food because of its multifunctional activities, such as the enhancement of immune responses. To study the functional mechanism of ß-glucan in immune stimulation, the effect of zymosan on dendritic cell (DC) was investigated by monitoring the production of TNF-α, a pro-inflammatory cytokine. DC was differentiated from Mutz-3, a human acute myeloid leukemia cell line, by cytokine treatment and characterized. DC-specific cell surface markers were increased during the differentiation. Especially, Dectin-1, a ß-glucan receptor, was upregulated during DC differentiation, and mediated zymosan-induced TNF-α production, which was inhibited by silencing of dectin-1. Zymosan exhibited synergistic effect with other immune stimuli such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a well-known PKC activator. Simultaneous treatment of zymosan and PMA enhanced the nuclear translocation of NF-κB subunits, p50 and p65, mediating the increase of TNF-α production. Bay 11-7082, an NF-κB inhibitor, blocked morphological changes and TNF-α production induced by zymosan and/or PMA treatment. Western blot analysis has showed zymosan-Dectin-1 pathway mediated destructive phosphorylation of inhibitor of NF-κB (IκB) kinase α subunit (IKKα) in IKK complexes, while PMA-PKC pathway regulated selective phosphorylation and degradation of IKKß. Simultaneous phosphorylation of separate IKK subunits by co-treatment of zymosan and PMA resulted in cooperative activation of NF-κB and TNF-α production.