There have been extensive developments on cellular and molecular mechanisms of immune regulation in allergy, asthma, autoimmune diseases, tumor development, organ transplantation, and chronic infections during the last few years. Better understanding the functions, reciprocal regulation, and counterbalance of subsets of immune and inflammatory cells that interact through interleukins, interferons, TNF-α, and TGF-β offer opportunities for immune interventions and novel treatment modalities in the era of development of biological immune response modifiers particularly targeting these molecules or their receptors. More than 60 cytokines have been designated as interleukins since the initial discoveries of monocyte and lymphocyte interleukins (called IL-1 and IL-2, respectively). Studies of transgenic or gene-deficient mice with altered expression of these cytokines or their receptors and analyses of mutations and polymorphisms in human genes that encode these products have provided essential information about their functions. Here we review recent developments on IL-1 to IL-38, TNF-α, TGF-β, and interferons. We highlight recent advances during the last few years in this area and extensively discuss their cellular sources, targets, receptors, signaling pathways, and roles in immune regulation in patients with allergy and asthma and other inflammatory diseases.

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BackgroundDietary changes are suggested to play a role in the increasing prevalence of allergic diseases and asthma. Short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are metabolites present in certain foods and are produced by microbes in the gut following fermentation of fibers. SCFAs have been shown to have anti‐inflammatory properties in animal models. Our objective was to investigate the potential role of SCFAs in the prevention of allergy and asthma.MethodsWe analyzed SCFA levels by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in fecal samples from 301 one‐year‐old children from a birth cohort and examined their association with early life exposures, especially diet, and allergy and asthma later in life. Data on exposures and allergic diseases were collected by questionnaires. In addition, we treated mice with SCFAs to examine their effect on allergic airway inflammation.ResultsSignificant associations between the levels of SCFAs and the infant's diet were identified. Children with the highest levels of butyrate and propionate (≥95th percentile) in feces at the age of one year had significantly less atopic sensitization and were less likely to have asthma between 3 and 6 years. Children with the highest levels of butyrate were also less likely to have a reported diagnosis of food allergy or allergic rhinitis. Oral administration of SCFAs to mice significantly reduced the severity of allergic airway inflammation.ConclusionOur results suggest that strategies to increase SCFA levels could be a new dietary preventive option for allergic diseases in children.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a devastating disease in which aberrant synaptic plasticity plays a major role. We identify matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 9 as a novel synaptic enzyme and a key pathogenic factor in two animal models of TLE: kainate-evoked epilepsy and pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) kindling–induced epilepsy. Notably, we show that the sensitivity to PTZ epileptogenesis is decreased in MMP-9 knockout mice but is increased in a novel line of transgenic rats overexpressing MMP-9. Immunoelectron microscopy reveals that MMP-9 associates with hippocampal dendritic spines bearing asymmetrical (excitatory) synapses, where both the MMP-9 protein levels and enzymatic activity become strongly increased upon seizures. Further, we find that MMP-9 deficiency diminishes seizure-evoked pruning of dendritic spines and decreases aberrant synaptogenesis after mossy fiber sprouting. The latter observation provides a possible mechanistic basis for the effect of MMP-9 on epileptogenesis. Our work suggests that a synaptic pool of MMP-9 is critical for the sequence of events that underlie the development of seizures in animal models of TLE.

Dicer-dependent noncoding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), play an important role in a modulation of translation of mRNA transcripts necessary for differentiation in many cell types. In vivo experiments using cell type-specific Dicer1 gene inactivation in neurons showed its essential role for neuronal development and survival. However, little is known about the consequences of a loss of miRNAs in adult, fully differentiated neurons. To address this question, we used an inducible variant of the Cre recombinase (tamoxifeninducible CreERT2) under control of Camk2a gene regulatory elements. After induction of Dicer1 gene deletion in adult mouse forebrain, we observed a progressive loss of a whole set of brain-specific miRNAs. Animals were tested in a battery of both aversively and appetitively motivated cognitive tasks, such as Morris water maze, IntelliCage system, or trace fear conditioning. Compatible with rather long half-life of miRNAs in hippocampal neurons, we observed an enhancement of memory strength of mutant mice 12 weeks after the Dicer1 gene mutation, before the onset of neurodegenerative process. In acute brain slices, immediately after high-frequency stimulation of the Schaffer collaterals, the efficacy at CA3-to-CA1 synapses was higher in mutant than in control mice, whereas long-term potentiation was comparable between genotypes. This phenotype was reflected at the subcellular and molecular level by the elongated filopodia-like shaped dendritic spines and an increased translation of synaptic plasticity-related proteins, such as BDNF and MMP-9 in mutant animals. The presented work shows miRNAs as key players in the learning and memory process of mammals.