Journal Club – 2023.01.27

Ursolic acid downregulates thymic stromal lymphopoietin through the blockade of intracellular calcium/caspase‐1/NF‐κB signaling cascade in HMC‐1 cells

PHIL-DONG MOON1,2*, NA-RA HAN1*, JIN SOO LEE1, HYUNG-MIN KIM1 and HYUN-JA JEONG3

1department of Pharmacology, college of Korean Medicine, 2center for converging Humanities, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447; 3department of Food Science and Technology and Research Institute for Basic Science, Hoseo University, Asan, chungnam 31499, Republic of Korea

Received december 14, 2018; Accepted March 20, 2019 dOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2019.4144

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays an important role in allergic disorders, including atopic dermatitis and asthma. Ursolic acid (UA) has various pharmacological properties, such as antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory and anti- cancer. However, the effect of UA on TSLP regulation has not been fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to analyze how UA regulates the production of TSLP in the human mast cell line HMc-1. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, western blotting, caspase-1 assay and fluorescent measurements of intracellular calcium levels were conducted to analyze the regulatory effects of UA. The results revealed that UA inhib- ited TSLP production and mRNA expression. In addition, UA reduced the activation of nuclear factor-κB and degradation of IκBα. caspase-1 activity was increased by exposure to phorbol myristate acetate plus calcium ionophore, whereas it was reduced by UA. Finally, UA treatment prevented an increase in intracellular calcium levels. These results indicated that UA may be a useful agent for the treatment and/or prevention of atopic and inflammatory diseases, and its effects are likely mediated by TSLP downregulation.