Vitamin D is a steroid hormone with a broad range of biological effects ranging from the classical role as a mediator of calcium and phosphate balance to cellular differentiation and immune modulation. These effects impact normal and dysfunctional hematopoietic and immune function, which may allow an avenue for improved treatment and support of patients suffering from hematologic disorders. In ...

Dendritic cells (DC) are highly specialized antigen-presenting cells (APC) that are pivotal in regulating the balance between immune tolerance and protective immunity. This functional versatility is highlighted in the context of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), where DC are crucial for the induction and modulation of graft-versus-host reactions. Furthermore, in th...

Th17 cells, which express the cytokine IL-17A, and master regulator RORγt, are important in the inflammatory response to fungal and bacterial pathogens, but also have a pathogenic role in many inflammatory disorders. In contrast, regulatory T cells (Treg), expressing the Foxp3 transcription factor, have a suppressive function and can dampen an immune response. The appropriate balance of these d...

Various stressors, including both psychological as well as physiological, have been demonstrated to influence the immune response, presumably through activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system. Anecdotal evidence, and retrospective and prospective studies, have demonstrated an effect of psychological and physiological stress on immune-based diseases suc...

There is increasing evidence that reactive oxygen species (ROS), a group of unstable and highly reactive chemical molecules, play a key role in regulating and maintaining life-history trade-offs. Upregulation of ROS in association with immune activation is costly because it may result in an imbalance between pro- and antioxidants and, hence, oxidative damage. Previous research aimed at quantify...

artificial immune systems (ais) can be defined as soft computing systems inspired by immune system of vertebrates. immune system is an adaptive pattern recognition system. ais have been used in pattern recognition, machine learning, optimization and clustering. feature reduction refers to the problem of selecting those input features that are most predictive of a given outcome; a problem encoun...

In practical terms, regardless of HLA compatibility level, whenever tissues are transplanted from one person to another it is essential to suppress the immune response of the recipient. A variety of methods are available however, the most frequently used ones have the disadvantage of being immunologicaly non specific. The consequence is a difficult balance between immunosuppression sufficient t...

Herpes simplex virus (HSV), a human pathogenic virus, has evolved several strategies to evade the production and function of interferons (IFNs) and cytokines generated by the innate immune system to restrict the virus. Equilibrium exists between the virus and the immune response, and a shift in this delicate balance either restricts the virus or enhances virus spread and tissue damage. Therefor...

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor that is activated downstream of many key cytokine receptors expressed by lymphocytes. As such, it plays a critical role in regulating B cells as well as CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Patients with clinically significant immunodeficiency and immune dysregulation resulting from loss-of-function or gain-of-function mutat...

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is a nearly ubiquitous human pathogen, remaining dormant in its human host the majority of the time. The interaction between HSV-1 and the immune system represents a complicated balance of power that allows the virus to persist in the host for a lifetime. However, disruptions in the immune system can activate the virus with the potential to cause devastating infec...