Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is a vision impairing condition that arises in some patients following cataract surgery. The fibrotic form of PCO is caused by myofibroblasts that may emerge in the lens years after surgery. In the chick embryo lens, myofibroblasts are derived from Myo/Nog cells that are identified by their expression of the skeletal muscle specific transcription factor Myo...

In many non-excitable and excitable cells, store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) represents an additional pathway for calcium entry upon Ca(2+) store depletion. In a previous study, we demonstrated SOCE activity in intact mouse cardiac pacemaker tissue, specifically from sinoatrial node (SAN) tissue. However, store content as a key determinant of SOCE activity is difficult to measure in intact SA...

Oral administration of tumour cells induces an immune hypo-responsiveness known as oral tolerance. We have previously shown that oral tolerance to a cancer is tumour antigen specific, non-cross-reactive and confers a tumour growth advantage. We investigated the utilisation of regulatory T cell (Treg) depletion on oral tolerance to a cancer and its ability to control tumour growth. Balb/C mice w...

Background Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), so far studied mostly in mouse models, are important tissue-resident innate immune that play roles the colorectal cancer microenvironment and maintain mucosal tissue homeostasis. Plasmacytoid dendritic (pDCs) present complexity various tumor types correlated with poor prognosis. pDCs can promote HIV-1–induced group 3 ILC (ILC3) depletion through CD95 pat...

RATIONALE Macrophages populate the steady-state myocardium. Previously, all macrophages were thought to arise from monocytes; however, it emerged that, in several organs, tissue-resident macrophages may self-maintain through local proliferation. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to study the contribution of monocytes to cardiac-resident macrophages in steady state, after macrophage depletion in CD11b(DTR...