The T cell receptor for antigen (TCR) complex is organized into two functional domains: the antigen-binding clonotypic heterodimer and the signal-transducing invariant CD3 and TCRzeta chains. In most vertebrates, there are two different clonotypic heterodimers (TCRalphabeta and TCRgammadelta) that define the alphabeta and gammadelta T cell lineages, respectively. alphabeta- and gammadeltaTCRs a...

A snake-venom C-type lectin-like protein, agkaggregin, has been isolated from Agkistrodon acutus venom. Agkaggregin has an apparent molecular mass of about 28 kDa and consists of two different types of subunits, an alpha-subunit (approximately 15 kDa) and a beta-subunit (approximately 14 kDa). Agkaggregin has the ability to induce platelet aggregation at concentrations of the order of nanomoles...

For the Fr'{e}chet algebras $(A, (p_k))$ and $(B, (q_k))$ and $n in mathbb{N}$, $ngeq 2$, a linear map $T:A rightarrow B$ is called textit{almost $n$-multiplicative}, with respect to $(p_k)$ and $(q_k)$, if there exists $varepsilongeq 0$ such that$$q_k(Ta_1a_2cdots a_n-Ta_1Ta_2cdots Ta_n)leq varepsilon p_k(a_1) p_k(a_2)cdots p_k(a_n),$$for each $kin mathbb{N}$ and $a_1, a_2, ldots, a_nin A$. Th...

The vast majority of cases of T cell large granular lymphocyte (T-LGL) leukemia have a CD3+, CD4-, CD8+ phenotype and express the alphabeta T cell receptor. Whether the rare gammadelta variant should be included in the same diagnostic category is currently unclear. Two well-characterized cases of gammadelta T-LGL leukemia were identified by our laboratory in 2007. These two cases and other repo...

1. A pseudomonad capable of utilizing 4-chlorophenoxyacetate (CPA) as sole source of organic carbon was isolated from soil. 2. The organism was grown in liquid culture and the following compounds were isolated and identified in culture extracts: 4-chloro-2-hydroxyphenoxyacetate, 4-chlorocatechol, beta-chloromuconate probably the cis-trans isomer and gamma-carboxymethylene-Delta(alphabeta)-buten...

In contrast with the alphabeta T cell receptor (TCR), the pre-TCR spontaneously segregates to membrane rafts from where it signals in a cell-autonomous fashion. The disparate behaviors of these two receptors may stem either from differences inherent to the distinct developmental stages during which they are expressed, or from features intrinsic and unique to the receptor components themselves. ...

Through cognate interaction between antigen-specific B-cell and CD4(+) alphabeta T cells, the CD4(+) alphabeta T cells secrete cytokines that initiate immunoglobulin (Ig) class switching from IgM to IgG. In this study, we show that formalin-inactivated influenza PR8 virus induces virus-specific IgM and IgG responses in the absence of CD4(+) T cells and that all four subclasses of IgG are produc...

The relaxation behavior of poly(5-acryloxymethyl-5-methyl-1,3-dioxacyclohexane), a polymer containing highly flexible side groups, is studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy in the frequency and temperature ranges 10(-1)-10(9) Hz and 123-473 K, respectively. Above the glass transition temperature T(g) the dielectric loss in the frequency domain exhibits a prominent alpha absorption, follow...

The immunological basis of tuberculin-induced necrosis, known for more than a century as "Koch's phenomenon," remains poorly understood. Aerosol infection in mice with the highly virulent Mycobacterium avium strain TMC724 causes progressive pulmonary pathology strongly resembling caseating necrosis in human patients with tuberculosis. To identify the cellular and molecular mediators causing thi...