Purpose: We investigated the pathogenesis of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) by measuring effects two specific miRNAs on Th2 cells in children with this disease. Methods: After informed consent, we enrolled 20 active INS before steroid initiation, remission after therapy, and age-matched healthy controls. Flow cytometry was used to measure levels a cytometric bead array IgE, interleukin (IL...

AIM To determine interleukin 8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) expression in response to mechanical injury in human retinal pigment epithelial (HRPE) cells. METHODS Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine IL-8 and MCP-1 secretion by HRPE cells after mechanical denudation. IL-8 and MCP-1 mRNA expression by HRPE cells was assessed using semiqua...

Leishmaniasis affects 12 million people but there are no vaccines in routine use. Recently, we used DNA vaccination in a susceptible BALB/c high-dose model of infection to screen 100 novel Leishmania major genes as vaccine candidates. In addition to finding novel protective antigens, we identified several antigens that reproducibly exacerbated disease. Here we examined the immune response to tw...

Interleukin (IL)-4-induced STAT6 activation and the subsequent up-regulation of GATA3 are crucial for the induction of chromatin remodeling of the Th2 cytokine gene loci as Th2 cells undergo development. This study probes the role of these molecules in the maintenance of memory Th2 cells. IL-4 was not required to maintain the capability for Th2 cytokine production in in vivo generated antigen-s...

This study aimed to more precisely assess the correlation between interleukin-4 (IL-4) promoter polymorphisms and the susceptibility risk of asthma. We conducted association studies on IL-4 promoter C-33T, C-589T, and G-1098T polymorphisms with asthma using data obtained from MEDLINE up to September 2011. Results showed that the polymorphisms IL-4 C-33T and C-589T were significantly associated ...

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) and IL-13 share many biological functions. Both cytokines promote growth of activated human B cells and induce naive human surface immunoglobulin D+ (sIgD+) B cells to produce IgG4 and IgE. Here we show that a mutant form of human IL-4, in which the tyrosine residue at position 124 is replaced by aspartic acid (hIL-4.Y124D), specifically blocks IL-4 and IL-13-induced prolif...

X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) is characterized by an absent or diminished number of T cells and natural-killer (NK) cells with a normal or elevated number of B cells, and results from mutations of the gammac chain. The gammac chain is shared by interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, and IL-15 receptors. Recently, a survival signal through the IL-7 receptor alpha (IL-7Ralph...

The expression of interleukin 4 (IL-4) receptors on resting T and B lymphocytes was enhanced 4- to 8-fold by IL-4 stimulation of these cells. Other agents such as lipopolysaccharide and anti-IgM for B cells and concanavalin A for T cells also caused increased IL-4 receptor expression, although to a somewhat smaller degree than IL-4. Using a newly developed flow cytometric analysis based on the ...