Immunostimulatory effects of polysaccharides from Coix lacryma-jobi var. mayuen seed water-soluble extracts on immune cells via the TLR2/4-MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway
Abstract
Coix lacryma-jobi var. mayuen seed extract, also known as yokuinin, is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used to treat warts, chapped skin, rheumatism, and inflammatory diseases. Coix seed water-soluble extracts (CEs) have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-tumor, analgesic, blood sugar-lowering, and immunomodulatory effects. However, the molecular mechanism by which CEs exert their immunomodulatory effects remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that CEs regulate cytokine production in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs), and RAW264.7 cells. We analyzed the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in culture media collected from untreated and CEs-treated BMDMs, BMDCs, and RAW264.7 cells. We found that CEs-induced TNF-α and IL-6 production significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. Coix seed polysaccharides (CSPs), which are abundant in CEs, induce the production of TNF-α and IL-6 in macrophages via the nuclear factor kappa B and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Furthermore, CEs- and CSPs-mediated cytokine production were significantly lower in BMDMs from Toll-like receptor 2 knockout (TLR2–/–) and myeloid differentiation factor 2 knockout (MD-2–/–) mice than in those from wild-type mice. These results suggest that CSPs act as immunostimulatory factors via TLR2 and TLR4/MD-2 in macrophages.
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BibTeX
@article{tomono2026immunostimulatory,
title = {{Immunostimulatory effects of polysaccharides from Coix lacryma-jobi var. mayuen seed water-soluble extracts on immune cells via the TLR2/4-MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway}},
author = {Susumu TOMONO and Yinzhi LIN and Hidehiro ANDO and Masaaki YOSHIDA and Ryutaro FUKUI and Masanori INUI and Daisuke WATANABE and Sachiko AKASHI-TAKAMURA},
journal = {Bioscience of Microbiota, Food and Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.12938/bmfh.2025-079},
url = {https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bmfh/advpub/0/advpub_2025-079/_article},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Immunostimulatory effects of polysaccharides from Coix lacryma-jobi var. mayuen seed water-soluble extracts on immune cells via the TLR2/4-MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway
AU - Susumu TOMONO
AU - Yinzhi LIN
AU - Hidehiro ANDO
AU - Masaaki YOSHIDA
AU - Ryutaro FUKUI
AU - Masanori INUI
AU - Daisuke WATANABE
AU - Sachiko AKASHI-TAKAMURA
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Bioscience of Microbiota, Food and Health
DO - 10.12938/bmfh.2025-079
UR - https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bmfh/advpub/0/advpub_2025-079/_article
AB - Coix lacryma-jobi var. mayuen seed extract, also known as yokuinin, is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used to treat warts, chapped skin, rheumatism, and inflammatory diseases. Coix seed water-soluble extracts (CEs) have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-tumor, analgesic, blood sugar-lowering, and immunomodulatory effects. However, the molecular mechanism by which CEs exert their immunomodulatory effects remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that CEs regulate cytokine production in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs), and RAW264.7 cells. We analyzed the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in culture media collected from untreated and CEs-treated BMDMs, BMDCs, and RAW264.7 cells. We found that CEs-induced TNF-α and IL-6 production significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. Coix seed polysaccharides (CSPs), which are abundant in CEs, induce the production of TNF-α and IL-6 in macrophages via the nuclear factor kappa B and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Furthermore, CEs- and CSPs-mediated cytokine production were significantly lower in BMDMs from Toll-like receptor 2 knockout (TLR2–/–) and myeloid differentiation factor 2 knockout (MD-2–/–) mice than in those from wild-type mice. These results suggest that CSPs act as immunostimulatory factors via TLR2 and TLR4/MD-2 in macrophages.
SN - 2186-3342
ER -