Mouse fetal liver cell-derived exosomes inhibit LPS-induced inflammation in microglia

Abstract

The liver, an organ with robust regenerative capacity, is involved in many physiological functions, such as detoxification and modulation of optimal brain function. Exosomes are secreted by almost all cell types and mediate intercellular communication, as well as, they are involved in neuroinflammatory process. In this study, we found that fetal liver cell-derived exosomes (FLC-EXOs) administration to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced microglia, which are brain resident immune cells responsible for neuroinflammation, decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), in the LPS-activated microglia. We also examined the different signaling pathways that may be involved in this process to determine the anti-inflammatory mechanism of FLC-EXOs. The results showed that activation of the p38 pathway was attenuated after FLC-EXOs administration, which may be related to the anti-inflammatory effects of FLC-EXOs.

KEYWORDS:

• Liver cell
• exosome
• microglia
• inflammation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in “figshare” at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14191052.v2.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number C31660316]; Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province: [Grant Number gzwjkj2015-1-029]; Training Foundation for Young Scholar of Guizhou Medical University: [Grant Number [2018] 7779-73]; The Joint Foundation of Guiyang: [Grant Number GY 2017-8].