A considerable number of studies revealed that B cell development is finely regulated by transcription factors (TFs). Recent studies suggested that TFs are coordinated with microRNAs to control the development of B cells in numerous checkpoints. In the present study, we first found that miR-128-2 was differentially expressed in various immune organs and immunocytes. B cell development was inhib...

The present study demonstrates that stereoselective binding sites for anandamide, a naturally occurring cannabinoid substance, can be found in invertebrate immunocytes and microglia. The anandamide-binding site is monophasic and of high affinity, exhibiting a Kd of 34.3 nM with a Bmax of 441 fmol/mg protein. These sites are highly selective, as demonstrated by the inability of other types of si...

The lymphoid system is the essential basis of immune defences and comprises predominantly bone marrow, spleen, thymus and lymph nodes. Tissue fluid drains into lymph nodes which act as ‘filters’ of antigens and, after processing in the nodes, lymph containing various immunocytes drains from the nodes to lymph ducts and then to the circulation. A lymph node consists of a cortex, paracortex and m...

Olfactomedin (OLF) domain proteins maintain extracellular protein-protein interactions in diverse phyla. Only one OLF family member, amassin-1, has been described from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, a basal invertebrate deuterostome. Amassin-1 mediates intercellular adhesion of coelomocytes (immunocytes). Here we describe the protein structural features of four additional OLF pro...

Macrophages have been shown to be the major population of infiltrated immunocytes at the early stage of insulitis in diabetes-prone BB rats. This study was undertaken to investigate the role of macrophages in the development of insulitis in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. Administration of cyclophosphamide to NOD mice resulted in a significant increase in the incidence of overt diabetes and sever...

CHRONIC REJECfION after transplantation, including experimental composite tissue grafts, is a major cause of late allograft dysfunction. Recently, we have shown that chronic rejection of rat hind limb transplants results in significant structural and immunological changes. 1 A cytokine which is known to exert a variety of immunoregulatory effects is transforming growth factor beta (TGFf3). This...

The effect of dietary administration of bananas on immunocytes in calves was investigated. Twenty Fl hybrid calves were used in this study (treated group n=10, control group n=10). Banana (2 g/kg BW) was administered to the calves for 5 days. Leukocyte subsets were examined on days 0, 5, 10, and 15. The numbers CD3+, (CD3+)CD45R-, and (CD3+)TcR+ cells significantly increased between day 0 and d...

The pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis in F(1) hybrid mice injected with parental spleen cells was investigated in several ways. Whenever glomerulonephritis developed, the lesion had the typical morphology produced by antigen-antibody complexes. Experiments employing backcross mice demonstrated that the antigen is supplied by the recipient and that it is specified by the H-2 gene complex, or by...