Page 54 - M. Immunology

[M. Immunology-33]

Immunostimulating activity of a natural plant anthraquinone

glycoside, QNG, in murine RAW264.7 macrophages

Hee Jin Kim¹, Hyeon Jeong Kim¹, Jisun Lee¹, Gi Eun Park¹, Jae Kyung Sohng², Yong Il Park¹˙*

¹Department of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon 14662, Republic of Korea, ²Department

of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Institute of Biomolecule Reconstruction, Sun Moon University, Asansi 31460,
Republic of Korea

Immunostimulation is an important strategy for enhancing the body’s defense systems, especially in the elderly

and cancer patients. QNG is a glycoside derivative of anthraquinones, present mainly in the roots of a medicinal

plant Rubia tinctorum. In this study, we investigated immunostimulating activities of the QNG using murine
macrophage RAW264.7 cells. The results showed that QNG significantly and dose-dependently induced the secretion
of cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) and chemokines (MIP-1α and RANTES), with no significant cytotoxicity at up to 100

μM. The QNG enhanced the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, NO production, and the level of
phosphorylation of MAPKs (ERK and p38). The QNG also stimulated the expression of cyclin D1, indicating that it

enhances the macrophage proliferation. These results that QNG effectively stimulated macrophages to secrete pro-
inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, NO production, and cyclin D1 expression, through upregulation of MAPK

signaling pathway, suggested that QNG enhances early innate immunity and may therefore represent a novel
immunostimulator.