Do orchid bees sting? Female orchid bees, like the rest of the aculate Hymenoptera, have a sting apparatus, which evolved from modified ovipositor structures. Although quite painful, people rarely get stung by orchid bees, mainly because orchid bees are solitary and do not aggressively defend their nests. Also, most researchers work with stingless males, which can be easily lured to synthetic c...

Introduction: Cytosolic DNA of exogenous or endogenous origin triggers activation cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), a cytosolic sensor, that activates innate immune responses through the adaptor protein STING. The latter, in turn, TBK1 and IKK kinases that, activate IRF3 NF-κB transcription factors, which induce expression interferons (IFNs), chemokines cytokines involved anti-tumor responses. pa...

OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were to highlight some epidemiological aspects of scorpion envenomations, to analyse and interpret the available data for Biskra province, Algeria, and to develop a forecasting model for scorpion sting cases in Biskra province, which records the highest number of scorpion stings in Algeria. METHODS In addition to analysing the epidemiological profile of scorp...

The IL-1β and type I interferon-β (IFN-β) molecules are important inflammatory cytokines elicited by the eukaryotic host as innate immune responses against invading pathogens and danger signals. Recently, a predominantly nuclear gamma-interferon-inducible protein 16 (IFI16) involved in transcriptional regulation has emerged as an innate DNA sensor which induced IL-1β and IFN-β production throug...

468 Urticarial Vasculitis After Bee-sting Therapy June-Hyuk Lee, Sung Woo Park, An-Soo Jang, DoJin Kim, and ChoonSik Park. Respiratory and allergy, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, South Korea; Division of Respiratory and Allergy Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Hospital, College of Medicine, Bucheon, South Korea. Background: Bee-sting therapy is one of the oriental traditi...

It is believed that the resemblance of many hoverflies to stinging hymenopterans is a case of Batesian mimicry, though there is little experimental evidence that it is effective in protecting them from predators. In this study the effectiveness of hoverfly mimicry was investigated for humans by presenting groups of university students and schoolchildren with a questionnaire which included pictu...

Chronic inflammation in adipose tissue plays a key role in obesity-induced insulin resistance. However, the mechanisms underlying obesity-induced inflammation remain elusive. Here we show that obesity promotes mtDNA release into the cytosol, where it triggers inflammatory responses by activating the DNA-sensing cGAS-cGAMP-STING pathway. Fat-specific knockout of disulfide-bond A oxidoreductase-l...

Dengue virus (DENV) is a pathogen with a high impact on human health. It replicates in a wide range of cells involved in the immune response. To efficiently infect humans, DENV must evade or inhibit fundamental elements of the innate immune system, namely the type I interferon response. DENV circumvents the host immune response by expressing proteins that antagonize the cellular innate immunity...

Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) was defined as an important molecule for promoting antitumor immunity through mediating type I interferon (IFN) production by sensing its ligands such as cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP). Our recent study indeed demonstrated that intratumoral injection of cGAMP showed effective antitumor responses via accumulating activated macrophages in the tumor microenvironment ...

Stinging insect allergy is a relatively common medical problem, responsible for an estimated 40 fatalities per year in the USA and considerable anxiety and lifestyle modification. There are no criteria to identify people at risk of initial venom anaphylaxis. Reactions may occur at any age and are unrelated to the time interval of prior venom exposure. There is an approximate 60% re-sting reacti...