Cellular & molecular immunology
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Cell. Mol. Immunol. · Feb 2009
Immunotherapeutical potential of Mycobacterium vaccae on M. tuberculosis infection in mice.
Tuberculosis remains the worldwide infectious disease. To identify the therapeutic potential of M. vaccae in treating tuberculosis, M. vaccae was injected into Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) infected mice. ⋯ Treatment with M. vaccae enhanced the percentages of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells, IFN-gamma+CD4+ T cells, innate immune cells including NK cells, NK1.1+ T cells and gammadeltaT cells, and reduced the percentage of IL-4+CD4+ T cells. Therefore, M. vaccae could protect the mice from M. tuberculosis infection and improve mouse innate and adaptive cell-mediated immunity, suggesting that M. vaccae is a potential immunotherapeutic agent in pulmonary tuberculosis.
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Cell. Mol. Immunol. · Jun 2008
Aerosolized STAT1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides decrease the concentrations of inflammatory mediators in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in bleomycin-induced rat pulmonary fibrosis.
It has been demonstrated that alveolar macrophages (AMs) play a key role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis by releasing a variety of cytokines and inflammatory mediators. In addition, abnormal signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 (STAT1) activation in AMs may play a pivotal role in the process of alveolitis and pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, we transfected STAT1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASON) into rats by aerosolization, and then investigated the effect of STAT1 ASON on inflammatory mediators such as TGF-beta, PDGF and TNF-alpha in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from rats with bleomycin (BLM)-induced rat pulmonary fibrosis. ⋯ STAT1 ASON could inhibit mRNA and protein expressions of STAT1 and ICAM-1 in AMs of rat with pulmonary fibrosis, and had no toxic side effect on liver and kidney. Aerosolized STAT1 ASON could ameliorate the alveolitis through inhibiting the secretion of inflammatory mediators in BLM-induced rat pulmonary fibrosis. These results suggest that aerosolized STAT1 ASON might be considered as a promising new strategy in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.
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Cell. Mol. Immunol. · Apr 2008
Apoptosis and proinflammatory cytokine responses of primary mouse microglia and astrocytes induced by human H1N1 and avian H5N1 influenza viruses.
Patients with an influenza virus infection can be complicated by acute encephalopathy and encephalitis. To investigate the immune reactions involved in the neurocomplication, mouse microglia and astrocytes were isolated, infected with human H1N1 and avian H5N1 influenza viruses, and examined for their immune responses. We observed homogeneously distributed viral receptors, sialic acid (SA)-alpha2,3-Galactose (Gal) and SA-alpha2,6-Gal, on microglia and astrocytes. ⋯ The amounts of secreted proinflammatory IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha at 6 h and 24 h p.i. were also induced, with greater induction by H5N1 infection. This study is the first demonstration that both human H1N1 and avian H5N1 influenza viruses can infect mouse microglia and astrocytes and induce apoptosis, cytopathy, and proinflammatory cytokine production in them in vitro. Our results suggest that the direct cellular damage and the consequences of immunopathological injury in the CNS contribute to the influenza viral pathogenesis.
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Cell. Mol. Immunol. · Oct 2005
ReviewNew concepts in tumor antigens: their significance in future immunotherapies for tumors.
The identification and molecular characterization of self-antigens expressed by human malignancies that are capable of elicitation of anti-tumor immune responses in patients have been an active field in tumor immunology. More than 2,000 tumor antigens have been identified, and most of these antigens are self-antigens. These significant progresses have led to the renaissance of tumor immunology and studies on anti-tumor immunotherapy. ⋯ In order to develop more effective antigen specific anti-tumor immunotherapies and to monitor the responses to these immunotherapies in patients with tumors, many important fundamental questions need to be addressed. We propose for the first time that the studies in addressing the characteristics of self-tumor antigens and autoantigens are grouped as a new subject termed "antigenology". In this brief review, we would outline the progress in the identification of tumor antigens in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, and overview the new concepts and principles of antigenology and their significance for future immunotherapies to these malignancies.
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Cell. Mol. Immunol. · Aug 2004
Cross-reaction of SARS-CoV antigen with autoantibodies in autoimmune diseases.
To investigate the significance of the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) antibody, detected by ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence assays (IFA) for the SARS-CoV Vero E6 cell lysates, in non-SARS subjects, 114 serum samples from healthy controls and 104 serum specimens from autoimmune disease patients were collected. The results of ELISA showed that among 114 sera from healthy controls, 4 (3.5%) were positive of SARS-CoV-IgG antibody and 114 (100%) were all negative of SARS-CoV-IgM antibody; the specificity of SARS-CoV-IgG antibody for SARS patients was 96.5%, but the specificity of both SARS-CoV-IgG and -IgM antibodies for SARS patients was 100%. ⋯ All sera for negative or positive ELISA results were also negative or positive results using ELISA with Vero E6 cells lysates. These studies showed that SARS-CoV Vero E6 cell lysates for the ELISA to detect SARS-CoV antibodies could lead to the false-positive reactions or cross-reactions of SARS-CoV antibodies in non-SARS diseases and healthy controls, and the false-positive reactions or cross-reactions were related to Vero E6 cell lysates and autoantibodies in non-SARS population.