Background: The immunomodulatory effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their exosomes have been receiving increasing attention. This study investigated the immunoregulatory human amniotic (hAMSCs) on phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced peripheral blood mononuclear (PBMCs). Methods: hAMSCs used in experiment were identified by light microscopy flow cytometry, differentiation ab...

The epididymis maintains a state of immune tolerance towards spermatozoa while also protecting them and itself against infection and acute inflammation. The immunosuppressive enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (Ido1) participates in this delicate local equilibrium. Using the mouse Ido1(-/-) model, we show here that the absence of IDO1 expression leads in the epididymis but not in serum to (1)...

The haem proteins TDO (tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase) and IDO (indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase) are specific and powerful oxidation catalysts that insert one molecule of dioxygen into L-tryptophan in the first and rate-limiting step in the kynurenine pathway. Recent crystallographic and biochemical analyses of TDO and IDO have greatly aided our understanding of the mechanisms employed by these enzymes...

Inflammation and depression are closely inter-related; inflammation induces symptoms of depression and, conversely, depressed mood and stress favor an inflammatory phenotype. The mechanisms that mediate the ability of inflammation to induce symptoms of depression are intensively studied at the preclinical level. This review discusses how it has been possible to build animal models of inflammati...

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase is a heme enzyme that catalyzes the oxidative degradation of L-Trp and other indoleamines. We have used resonance Raman spectroscopy to characterize the heme environment of purified recombinant human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (hIDO). In the absence of L-Trp, the spectrum of the Fe(3+) form displayed six-coordinate, mixed high and low spin character. Addition of L-T...

Cutaneous sclerosis, resembling that seen in subcutaneous morphea, is a feature of eosinophilic fasciitis and eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, two conditions in which the kynurenine pathway is known to be activated. To investigate the possibility of activation of the kynurenine pathway in morphea, skin biopsies were taken from involved and non-involved sites in a series of three patients with mor...

Purpose:Glioblastomamultiforme (GBM) is an aggressive adult brain tumorwith a poor prognosis.One hallmark of GBM is the accumulation of immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting CD4þFoxP3þGITRþ regulatory T cells (Tregs). Here, we investigated the role of indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO) in brain tumors and the impact on Treg recruitment. Experimental Design: To determine the clinical relevance of...

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), a flavin-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of tryptophan to kynurenine, is induced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by interferon-gamma (IFN gamma). Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is a cytokine that modulates the functional properties of monocytes/macrophages, and we investigated the effects of IL-4 on IDO. We showed that IL-4 inhibited the induction o...

IFN-γ activation of mononuclear phagocytes significantly increases indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and flux through the kynurenine pathway (KP). However, the effect of IDO on NAD+ synthesis, the end product of KP metabolism, is unknown. To investigate this, primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured up to 10 days and activated with IFN-γ in the presence or absence of a pol...