The cr and /3 chains constituting the TCR are expressed specifically on T lymphoid cells after genomic rearrangements have led to the assembly of functional a and /3 chain genes (1) . T cell-specific transcriptional activation of the unrearranged gene segments is considered to be a prerequisite for the recombination process that apparently uses the same enzymatic machinery that rearranges the I...

Similar to preeclamptic women, hypertension in the chronic Reduced Uterine Perfusion Pressure Rat Model Of Preeclampsia (RUPP) is associated with increased CD4+ T cells, cytokines, sFlt-1 and agonistic autoantibodies to the AngII receptor (AT1-AA). We examined the effect inhibition of T cell co-stimulation in RUPP rats treated with (A) (abatacept, 250 mg/kg, infused i.v. at gestation day 13), o...

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of topical FTY720 and cyclosporin A (CsA) on allogeneic corneal transplantation in mice. METHODS A total of 75 BALB/c mice received corneal grafts from C57BL/6 donors. Recipients were treated with 0.1%, 0.3%, or 0.5% FTY720 ophthalmic gel or 1% CsA eye-drops after the graft (controls received no treatment). The number of cluster of differentiation (CD)4+ T c...

Spleen and bone marrow cells from DBA/2 mice protected against infection with a leukemogenic dose of Friend leukemia virus (FLV) by passive therapy with chimpanzee anti-FLV serum were shown to be able to adoptively transfer antiviral resistance to unimmunized irradiated syngeneic recipients. Similar to the results obtained with donor mice immunized against a synge neic FLV erythroleukemia cell ...

We have previously demonstrated that depletion of CDS* T-cells by the use of a monoclonal anti-Lyt-2.2 antibody abolishes the curative effectiveness of low-dose melphalan (i.-phenylalanine mustard; L-PAM) therapy for BALB/c mice bearing a large (>20 mm) s.c. MOPC-315 tumor and extensive métastases (Mokyr et al.. Cancer Res., 49: 45974606, 1989). Here we show that as a consequence of low-dose L...

The study of an autoimmune disease model such as experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE)' will hopefully reveal a means to control such disease. EAE is an antigen-specific T cell-mediated disease that is considered to be a model for multiple sclerosis due toits similar pattern ofcentral nervous system (CNS) lesions and demyelination (1, 2) . This disease was first noted in patients whohad...

BACKGROUND Kynurenine/Tryptophan ratio (KTR) is increased in HIV infection, and linked to immune activation. We hypothesized that early cART initiation results in lower KTR compared to late initiation. Furthermore, we hypothesized that KTR prior to cART is a predictor of the magnitude of subsequent reduction in immune activation. METHODS Prospective study including 57 HIV-infected individuals...

Th17 and regulatory T (Treg) cells are integral in maintaining immune homeostasis and Th17-Treg misbalance associates with inflammation. We demonstrate that in addition to natural (n)Treg and induced (i)Treg cells developed from naïve precursors, Th17 cells are a novel source of Foxp3 cells by converting into ex-Th17 Foxp3 cells, and this helps to reconcile the contradictory information about t...

Protective immunity in mice to infection with the Gram-positive bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes, is mediated by Listeria-sensitized Tcells, but expressed by macrophages (1) . It is known (2, 3) that protective T cells are generated progressively between days 2 and 6 of a sublethal immunizing infection, and are lost progressively after this time, as active immunity is replaced by immunologic m...

protection against bacterial infection. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 2008;17:348-52. 2. White HJ. Vitamin D Signaling, infectious diseases and regulation of innate immunity. Infect Immun. 2008;76:3837. 3. Cantorna MT. Vitamin D and autoimmunity: is vitamin D status an environmental factor affecting autoimmune disease prevalence? Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 2000;223:230-3. 4. Pichler J, Gerstmayr M, ...