1. Academic Validation
  2. Naringenin inhibits pro‑inflammatory cytokine production in macrophages through inducing MT1G to suppress the activation of NF‑κB

Naringenin inhibits pro‑inflammatory cytokine production in macrophages through inducing MT1G to suppress the activation of NF‑κB

  • Mol Immunol. 2021 Sep;137:155-162. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2021.07.003.
Jie Yang 1 Lin Liu 1 Mengmeng Li 1 Xuemei Huang 1 Huanjie Yang 2 Kai Li 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China.
  • 2 School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China. Electronic address: yanghj@hit.edu.cn.
  • 3 School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China. Electronic address: likai2017@hit.edu.cn.
Abstract

Naringenin (Nar) is a flavanone that has been suggested to provide human health benefits such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. However, the mechanisms underlying these benefits are complex and still not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the effect of Nar on the inflammatory response of macrophages and its underlying mechanism. In lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human macrophages, Nar inhibited the activation of NF-κB pathway and suppressed the downstream expression of pro-inflammatory factors. In addition, Nar was also able to induce metallothionein 1 G (MT1G) expression, and the inhibitory effects of Nar on the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines was dependent on MT1G. Mechanistically, we found that MT1G-mediated inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines responses might be through repressing NF-κB activation via zinc chelation. Overall, this study reveals a novel mechanism of Nar on inflammatory responses, the suppression of NF-κB activation through upregulation of MT1G.

Keywords

Inflammation; MT1G; NF-κB; Naringenin.

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