Tnf-alpha negatively regulates Th2 differentiation in humans

TNF-α is a pleotropic cytokine with multiple physiological functions and is mainly produced from monocytes, macrophages, DCs and T-cells. Along with its physiological functions TNF-α is also a therapeutic target in rheumatoid arthritis, cerebral malaria, sepsis, IBD and psoriasis. However its role in T helper cell differentiation and homeostasis in the above diseases is unclear. In this study we show that TNF-α selectively inhibits the differentiation of human Th2 cells without affecting Th1 and Th17. TNF-α decreased the ROS generation there by lowered the Erk1/2 phosphorylation in differentiating naïve Tells there by down modulated the IL4 synthesis. Whereas cells treated with Anti TNF-α has shown completely opposite effect. Consequently increased TNF-α in T2DM and RA may account for the lowered Th2 differentiation and their increased AICD sensitivity thus exacerbating pre-existing inflammation

Identification and expression analysis of miRNAs and elucidation of their role in salt tolerance in rice varieties susceptible and tolerant to salinity.

Soil salinization is a serious problem for cultivation of rice, as among cereals rice is the most salt sensitive crop, and more than 40% of the total agricultural land amounting to approximately 80 million ha the world over is salt affected. Salinity affects a plant in a varieties of ways, including ion toxicity, osmotic stress and oxidative damage. Since miRNAs occupy the top place in biochemical events determining a trait, understanding their role in salt tolerance is highly desirable, which may allow introduction of the trait in the rice cultivars of choice through biotechnological interventions. High throughput sequencing of sRNAs in the root and shoot tissues of the seedlings of the control and NaCl treated Pokkali, a salt-tolerant rice variety, identified 75 conserved miRNAs and mapped 200 sRNAs to the rice genome as novel miRNAs. Expression of nine novel miRNAs and two conserved miRNAs were confirmed by Northern blotting. Several of both conserved and novel miRNAs that expressed differentially in root and/or shoot tissues targeted transcription factors like AP2/EREBP domain protein, ARF, NAC, MYB, NF-YA, HD-Zip III, TCP and SBP reported to be involved in salt tolerance or in abiotic stress tolerance in general. Most of the novel miRNAs expressed in the salt tolerant wild rice Oryza coarctata, suggesting conservation of miRNAs in taxonomically related species. One of the novel miRNAs, osa-miR12477, also targeted L-ascorbate oxidase (LAO), indicating build-up of oxidative stress in the plant upon salt treatment, which was confirmed by DAB staining. Thus, salt tolerance might involve miRNA-mediated regulation of 1) cellular abundance of the hormone signaling components like EREBP and ARF, 2) synthesis of abiotic stress related transcription factors, and 3) antioxidative component like LAO for mitigation of oxidative damage. The study clearly indicated importance of osa-miR12477 regulated expression of LAO in salt tolerance in the plant