Adoptive transfer of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific T cells from the DO.11 TCR transgenic mouse on a Rag(-/-) background into mice expressing OVA in pancreatic islet cells induces acute insulitis and diabetes only if endogenous lymphocytes, including regulatory T cells, are removed. When wild-type OVA-specific/Rag(-/-) T cells, which are all CD25(-), are transferred into islet antigen-expressing mice...

The early event of thymocyte maturation has been analyzed using acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells. A group of ALL cells whose cell surface phenotype was CD2 (SRBC receptor) negative and CD7 (T cell antigen) positive has been considered as precursor thymocyte ALL (pre-T-ALL). No rearrangements of the T cell receptor beta-gene (TCR beta) and gamma-gene (TCR gamma) were found in three of fo...

The induction of transplantation tolerance involves a T-cell-mediated process of immune regulation. In clinical transplantation, the use of immunosuppressive drugs that promote or facilitate this process would be highly desirable. Here, we investigated the tolerance-promoting potential of the immunosuppressive drug FK778, currently under development for clinical therapy. Using a human allogenei...

Our previous research showed that neuropilin (Nrp) -1highCD4+CD25+Regulatory T cells (Tregs) exhibited primary negative immunoregulation in sepsis induced immune dysfunction. Tuftsin is the typical ligand of Nrp-1. Herein, we investigated the potential therapeutic value and mechanisms of tuftsin in sepsis. Sepsis per se markedly decreased the serum concentration of tuftsin, administration of tu...

Interleukin 2 (IL-2)--a Th1 lymphocyte-derived cytokine is at present considered to play an important role in the etiopathogenesis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In the previous studies increased, decreased and unchanged IL-2 levels in patients with recent onset of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) were found. These differences could be a result of different metabolic status o...

BACKGROUND The anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody 105AD7 mimics the tumour associated antigen 791Tgp72, expressed on 70-80% of colorectal cancers. Phase I studies have shown that the vaccine is non-toxic, and a number of patients have been immunised prior to resection of their primary tumours. AIMS To assess lymphocyte activation at the tumour site by measuring expression of the alpha subunit...

Regulatory T (Tr) cells have been shown to arise in the periphery during induction of peripheral tolerance. However, the mechanism involved remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated the potential role of transforming growth factor (TGF)-b in the peripheral induction of regulatory phenotypes in the conventional CD4CD25 T cells. Upon priming in the presence of TGF-b, there was greatl...

Myasthenia gravis is a T cell-dependent, antibody-mediated autoimmune disease. A dual altered peptide ligand (APL) that is composed of the tandemly arranged two single amino acid analogs of two myasthenogenic peptides, p195-212 and p259-271, was demonstrated to down-regulate in vitro and in vivo myasthenia gravis-associated autoreactive responses. The aims of this study were to demonstrate the ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibodies and systemic clinical manifestations. A peptide, designated hCDR1, based on the complementarity-determining region (CDR) 1 of an autoantibody, ameliorated the serological and clinical manifestations of lupus in both spontaneous and induced murine models of lupus. The objectives of the present study were to det...

The phenotypic features acquired subsequent to antigen-specific stimulation in vitro were evaluated by means of the kinetic expressions of CD69 and CD25 activation molecules on T lymphocytes and assayed by flow cytometry in response to PPD, Ag85B, and ferritin in PPD-positive healthy control individuals. In response to PHA, CD69 staining on both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells became initially marked aft...