Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most deadly solid tumor malignancies worldwide. We recently find that the loss of toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) activities promotes the diethylnitrosamine (DEN) induced hepatocellular carcinogenesis and tumor progression, which associates with an abundant accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. This fin...

Immune mechanisms underlying hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not well understood. Here, we show that the Toll-like receptor TLR2 inhibits production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL18 and protects mice from DEN-induced liver carcinogenesis. On this protocol, Tlr2(-/-) mice exhibited more aggressive HCC development associated with impaired CD8(+) T-cell function. Furthermore, Ly6C(high)IL18...

We designed cell-penetrating peptides comprised of the translocating segment of Drosophila antennapedia homeodomain fused with BB loop sequences of TLR2, TLR4, and TLR1/6. TLR2- and TLR4-BB peptides (BBPs) inhibited NF-kappaB translocation and early IL-1beta mRNA expression induced by LPS, and the lipopeptides S-[2,3-bis(palmitoyloxy)-(2-RS)-propyl]-N-palmitoyl-(R)-Cys-Ser-Lys(4)-OH (P3C) and S...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common and serious respiratory disease, particularly in older individuals, characterised by fixed airway obstruction and persistent airway neutrophilia. The mechanisms that lead to these features are not well established. We investigated the contribution of age, prior smoking, and fixed airflow obstruction on sputum neutrophils, TLR2 expression,...

CD4(+)CD25(high) regulatory T cells (Tregs) control cellular immune responses and maintain peripheral tolerance. We investigated whether TLR2 ligands are able to abrogate Treg-induced suppression in humans based on different reports about effects of triacylated lipopeptide Pam(3)CSK4 in mice. Pretreatment of human Tregs with a mixture of TLR2 ligands Pam(2)CSK4, FSL-1, and Pam(3)CSK4 reduced th...

Recent evidence indicates that toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and 4 are involved in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), but the exact mechanisms of their actions have not been elucidated. We explored the therapeutic potential of blocking TLRs in mice with established cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy was generated by a single intraperitoneal injection of doxorubicin (10 mg/kg). Two weeks...

Activation of microglial cells in response to ischaemic injury, inflammatory and/or immune stimuli is associated with the marked induction of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). At present, little is known about the spatial and temporal sequence of events, micro-regional specificities and the potential long term role of the TLR2 response to brain injuries. To investigate microglial activation/TLR2 res...

Objective. To investigate the regulatory effect of peptidoglycan on the expression of human Toll-like receptors 2 (TLR2) mRNA and proteins in the human extravillous trophoblast cell line (TEV-1). Methods. TEV-1 cells were incubated with different doses of peptidoglycan. The expression of TLR2 mRNA and protein was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocyt...

Dermatophytosis is one of the most common human infections affecting both immunocompetent individuals and immunocompromised patients, in whom the disease is more aggressive and can reach deep tissues. Over the last decades, cases of deep dermatophytosis have increased and the dermatophyte-host interplay remains poorly investigated. Pattern recognition molecules, such as Toll-like receptors (TLR...