HBD-3 regulation of the immune response and the LPS/TLR4-mediated signaling pathway

The aim of the study was to investigate the mechanisms of human β-defensin 3 (HBD-3) regulation of the immune response and the lipopolysaccharide/Toll-like receptor-4 (LPS/TLR4)-mediated signaling pathway. A TLR4 extracellular gene fragment was cloned into the pET32a plasmid to determine its expression in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and purification. A dialysis labeling method was used to stain HBD-3 with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). FITC-HBD-3 was used to induce the differentiation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) into immature dendritic cells (imDC) in vitro. Binding reactions were established using FITC-HBD-3 and sTLR4 into cell suspensions. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to analyze the results. Western blot analysis confirmed the identity of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and was used to quantify its nuclear translocation. The results showed that, HBD-3 bound to imDC in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner, and sTLR4 and LPS competitively inhibited the binding. HBD-3 competitively blocked the binding of LPS and imDC by binding to imDC. HBD-3 significantly decreased the translocation of LPS-induced NF-κB into the nucleus. In conclusion, HBD-3 can competitively inhibit the binding of LPS and imDC through its binding to TLR4 molecules, which are expressed in imDC, thereby preventing LPS from inducing the maturity of the imDCs.