BACKGROUND Whether bevacizumab exerts its anti-tumor properties through systemic effects beyond local inhibition of angiogenesis and how these effects can be monitored in patients, remain largely elusive. To address these questions, we investigated bone marrow-derived cells and cytokines in the peripheral blood of metastatic breast cancer patients undergoing therapy with bevacizumab. METHODS ...

The follicle-associated epithelium (FAE) secretes chemokines important in the recruitment of various cell types including CCL20 (MIP-3alpha). CCL20 is chemotactic to the CD11b(+) dendritic cells (DCs) distributed in the subepithelial dome regions of the Peyer's patches, and mice deficient in the receptor for CCL20, CCR6, have been reported to be devoid of the CD11b(+) DCs in the dome regions. H...

T cell dysfunction that occurs after surgery or trauma is associated with a poor clinical outcome. We describe that myeloid suppressor cells expressing CD11b(+)/Gr-1(+) markers invade the spleen after traumatic stress and suppress T cell function through the production of arginase 1. We created a consistent model of traumatic stress in C57BL/6 mice to perform this work. A significant number of ...

BACKGROUND CD11b/CD18 is a key adhesion receptor that mediates leukocyte adhesion, migration and immune functions. We recently identified novel compounds, leukadherins, that allosterically enhance CD11b/CD18-dependent cell adhesion and reduce inflammation in vivo, suggesting integrin activation to be a novel mechanism of action for the development of anti-inflammatory therapeutics. Since a numb...

OBJECTIVES The rs1143679 variant of ITGAM, encoding the R77H variant of CD11b (part of complement receptor 3; CR3), is among the strongest genetic susceptibility effects in human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The authors aimed to demonstrate R77H function in ex-vivo human cells. METHODS Monocytes/monocyte-derived macrophages from healthy volunteers homozygous for either wild type (WT) o...

BACKGROUND Patients with asthma show altered surface expression of the adhesion molecules CD11b and L-selectin on airway granulocytes compared with blood granulocytes. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether this modulation is related to disease activity or due to transendothelial migration, we compared the CD11b and L-selectin expression on blood and induced sputum eosinophils and neutrophils betwe...

BACKGROUND Recent observational clinical and ex-vivo studies suggest that inflammation and in particular leukocyte activation predisposes to atrial fibrillation (AF). However, whether local binding and extravasation of leukocytes into atrial myocardium is an essential prerequisite for the initiation and propagation of AF remains elusive. Here we investigated the role of atrial CD11b/CD18 mediat...

BACKGROUND Growing evidence suggests a protective effect of volatile anaesthetics in ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R)-injury, and the accumulation of neutrophils is a crucial event. Pro-inflammatory cytokines carrying the C-X-C-motif including interleukin-8 (IL-8) and CXC-ligand 1 (CXCL1) activate CXC receptor-1 (CXCR1; stimulated by IL-8), CXC receptor-2 (CXCR2; stimulated by IL-8 and CXCL1), or bo...

background helicobacter pylori is responsible for one of the most common human infections and is a major risk factor for stomach ulcer disease and gastric cancer. h. pylori infection has been reported to be associated with generation and development of coronary artery disease (cad). moreover, diabetic patients positive for h. pylori infection showed a higher prevalence of cad compared to h. pyl...

The immune system takes its cues from antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to either go on the offensive against a foreign enemy or to stand down and tolerate a harmless threat. Ehirchiou et al. (page 1519) now report a new mechanism by which APCs power down the immune system: an APC surface receptor suppresses the development of overzealous T helper (Th)-17 cells. According to dogma, APCs that have...