A review of immune amplification via ligand clustering by self-assembled liquid-crystalline DNA complexes

Ernest Y Lee; Calvin K Lee; Nathan W Schmidt; Fan Jin; Roberto Lande; Tine Curk; Daan Frenkel; Jure Dobnikar; Michel Gilliet; Gerard C L Wong

doi:10.1016/j.cis.2016.02.003

A review of immune amplification via ligand clustering by self-assembled liquid-crystalline DNA complexes

Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 Jun:232:17-24. doi: 10.1016/j.cis.2016.02.003. Epub 2016 Feb 19.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States.
³ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne 1009, Switzerland; Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road CB21EW, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road CB21EW, Cambridge, UK; Department for Theoretical Physics, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia; International Center for Soft Matter Research, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
⁷ Department of Dermatology, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne 1009, Switzerland.

Abstract

We examine how the interferon production of plasmacytoid dendritic cells is amplified by the self-assembly of liquid-crystalline antimicrobial peptide/DNA complexes. These specialized dendritic cells are important for host defense because they quickly release large quantities of type I interferons in response to infection. However, their aberrant activation is also correlated with autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and lupus. In this review, we will describe how polyelectrolyte self-assembly and the statistical mechanics of multivalent interactions contribute to this process. In a more general compass, we provide an interesting conceptual corrective to the common notion in molecular biology of a dichotomy between specific interactions and non-specific interactions, and show examples where one can construct exquisitely specific interactions using non-specific interactions.

Keywords: Innate immunity; Multivalency; Polyelectrolytes; SAXS; Statistical mechanics; TLR9.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Autoimmune Diseases
DNA*
Dendritic Cells* / chemistry
Dendritic Cells* / immunology
Humans
Immunity, Cellular
Interferon Type I

Substances

Interferon Type I
DNA

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding