Gene therapy may be the next major advance for treatment of many diseases, and severe haemophilia (an inherited deficiency of coagulation factor VIII or IX) is a useful model. Progress in gene therapy has been slowed down following fatal multi-organ failure during an adenovirus vector trial for ornithine-transcarbamylase deficiency and two episodes of leukaemia in a retroviral vector trial for ...

To study the role of peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) in the pathogenesis of human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we transferred PBL from 5 SLE patients into 15 severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Such reconstituted mice showed long-term presence of auto-antibodies characteristic of the donor in their sera, as well as human immunoglobulin deposition, and in some cases mouse C3, ...

The identification of stem-cell-like cancer cells through conventional methods that depend on stem cell markers is often unreliable. We developed a mechanical method for selecting tumorigenic cells by culturing single cancer cells in fibrin matrices of ~100 Pa in stiffness. When cultured within these gels, primary human cancer cells or single cancer cells from mouse or human cancer cell lines g...

A case of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in monozygotic twin sisters was detected at 3 months of age with neutropenia in one twin and a normal differential count in the other. The neutropenic twin, suffering from severe skin ulcers, was successfully treated with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). Discordant occurrence of neutropenia in identical twins shows that there may b...

The antigen receptor repertoires of B- and T-cells form the basis of the adaptive immune response. The repertoires should be sufficiently diverse to recognize all possible pathogens. However, careful selection is needed to prevent responses to self or harmless antigens. Limited antigen receptor repertoire diversity leads to immunodeficiency, whereas unselected or misdirected repertoires can res...

OBJECTIVE To determine the clinico-demographic features and laboratory parameters of children with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). STUDY DESIGN Case series. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Aga Khan University, Karachi, from July 2006 to July 2011. METHODOLOGY Thirteen infants who were discharged with a diagnosis of SCID were inducted in...

X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (XSCID) is characterized by absent or profoundly reduced numbers of T cells and normal numbers of B cells in the circulation. Affected patients have mutations of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor gamma chain gene. Using Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCLs) established from two unrelated XSCID patients, we could show that n...

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is an important cytokine for B and T lymphocyte function and mediates its effects via a receptor that contains gammac. B cells derived from patients with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) are deficient in gammac and provide a useful model in which to dissect the role of this subunit in IL-4-mediated signaling. We found that although IL-4 stimulation of X-SC...