The RNA interference (RNAi) pathway is found in most eukaryotic lineages but curiously is absent in others, including that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that reconstituting RNAi in S. cerevisiae causes loss of a beneficial double-stranded RNA virus known as killer virus. Incompatibility between RNAi and killer viruses extends to other fungal species in that RNAi is absent in all species ...

Splenic sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) modulates cellular immune functions such as splenic natural killer cell activity. Lactobacillus pentosus strain S-PT84 enhances splenic natural killer cell activity. Here, we examined whether S-PT84 affects splenic natural killer activity through splenic SNA in BALB/c mice. Splenic SNA was significantly decreased following the administration of S-PT84. T...

The yeast Schwanniomyces occidentalis produces a killer toxin lethal to sensitive strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Killer activity is lost after pepsin and papain treatment, suggesting that the toxin is a protein. We purified the killer protein and found that it was composed of two subunits with molecular masses of approximately 7.4 and 4.9 kDa, respectively, but was not detectable with per...

Research is revealing the causes of heart disease and what can be done to tackle world’s biggest killer.

background: chronic fatigue syndrome (cfs) is a complex condition involving severe fatigue and disabling musculoskeletal and cognitive symptoms. we reported that 6, 12 and 24 months following infectious mononucleosis (im), 13%, 7% and 4% of adolescents, respectively, met criteria for cfs. whether endocrinologic or immunologic dysfunction accompanies cfs is unclear. objectives: to determine if s...

background: multiple sclerosis (ms) and neuromyelitis optica (nmo) are inflammatory and demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (cns). nk cells are supposed to play an important role in the pathophysiology of ms, but their role in the nmo remains unknown. the aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of different subpopulations of nk cells in the patients with ms and nmo and ...

Natural killer cells are the key components in tumor immunity and defects in function are necessary for tumor immune escape. Emerging studies on tumor cell-derived exosomes have shown the biological significance in tumor microenvironment, but the underlying role of exosomes in regulating natural killer cells functions in clear cell renal cell carcinoma patients remains unknown. Firstly, we prec...

In vitro irradiation with long wavelength ultraviolet light (UV-A), in clinically relevant dosages, of a natural killer cell line containing cell preparations from 17 control subjects reduced natural killer cell cytotoxicity with the cell line K562 as target. The spontaneous function of natural killer cells from 12 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) correlated inversely with the o...