One of the diseases associated with obesity is asthma, a disease in which inflammation plays a central role. Calorie-restriction, which entails decreasing food intake by 30-40% is known to decrease inflammation. In our search for a calorie-restriction mimetic, we discovered that inhibition of DNA-PK decreases inflammation. DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) mediates double-stranded DNA break repair, V(D)J recombination and immunoglobulin class switch recombination, as well as innate immune and pro-inflammatory responses. However, there is limited information regarding the role of DNA-PK in adaptive immunity mediated by dendritic cells (DCs), which are the primary antigen-presenting cells in allergic asthma. We found that house dust mite induces DNA-PK phosphorylation, which is a marker of DNA-PK activation, in DCs via the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species. Pharmacological inhibition of DNA-PK, as well as the specific deletion of DNA-PK in DCs, attenuates the induction of allergic sensitization and Th2 immunity via a mechanism that involves the impaired presentation of mite antigens. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of DNA-PK following antigen priming similarly reduces the manifestations of mite-induced airway disease. Collectively, these findings suggest that DNA-PK may be a potential target for treatment of allergic asthma.
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