High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) as an immune-modulating factor for polarization of human T lymphocytes

Objective This study was performed to investigate the effect of high mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB 1) on immune function of human T lymphocytes in vitro and explore its potential role in cell-mediated immune dysfunction.Methods Fresh blood was obtained from healthy adult volunteers and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated,then rhHMGB 1 was added to PBMCs.Four-color flow cytometric (FCM) analysis was used for the measurement of intracellular cytokine including interleukin Results (1) Different stimulating time and dosage of rhHMGB 1 did not alter the number of IFN-a positive cells (Th 1).rhHMGB 1 stimulation provoked a dose-dependent and time-dependent increase in Th2 subset and decrease in ratio of Th 1 to Th2.(2) Compared with the untreated cells,when the cells were coincubated with rhHMGB 1 (10-100ng/ml) for 12 hrs,protein release of IL-2 and sIL-2R were significantly up-regulated.At 48 hrs,in contrast,protein production was relatively lower in cells after exposure to 100-1000 ng/ml rhHMGBI.Conclusions These findings demonstrated that HMGB1 has a dual influence on immune functions of human T lymphocytes.