Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in mouse are inflammatory cells that play critical roles in promoting cancer growth and metastasis by directly stimulating cancer cell proliferation and suppressing immune surveillance. In order to facilitate characterization of biochemical and cellular mechanisms of MDSCs, it is urgent to establish an "MDSC-like" cell line. By cross breeding of immortom...

Wegener 's granulomatos is , a d isease of unknown et io logy, is character ized by a granulomatous vascul i t is of the upper and lower r e s p i r a t o r y t r a c t s . Va r y i n g d e g r e e s o f s y s t e m i c v a s c u l i t i s o f s m a l l arter ies and veins may also be seen <1>. Renal disease in the form of f o c a l o r d i f f u s e n e c r o t i z i n g g l o m e r u l i t i ...

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells, which can give rise to several cell types including osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondroblasts. These cells can be found in a variety of adult and fetal tissues, such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, cord blood, and placenta. In recent years, the biological properties of MSCs have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide due to thei...

Preclinical studies have shown that gene transfer following readministration of viral vectors is often inefficient due to the presence of neutralizing antibodies. Vectors derived from ubiquitous human adenoviruses may have limited clinical use because preexisting humoral and cellular immunity is found in 90% of the population. Furthermore, risks associated with the use of human adenovirus vecto...

Platycodin D is a major pharmacological constituent of Platycodi radix and has showed various pharmacological activities through oxidative stress defense mechanisms. Here, possible antitumor, anticachexia, and immunomodulatory activities of platycodin D were observed on the H520 tumor cell-bearing athymic nude mice after confirming the in vitro cytotoxicity. Platycodin D was orally administered...

OBJECTIVES Interleukin (IL) -10 is a potent cytokine with a dual ability to immunosuppress or immunostimulate. We aimed to explore the association of IL10 promoter polymorphisms with risk of gastric cancer (GC) in a Han population in Southwestern China. METHODS We enrolled 308 pairs of GC and control subjects from four hospitals and a community between October 2010 and August 2011 in a 1:1 ma...

Introduction Over the past decade bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has graduated from being an experimental treatment to having an established role in the first line management of patients with life threatening haematological disorders. The therapeutic principle involved is that the administration of myelotoxic treatment (preparative protocol), at doses beyond the threshold normally set to gua...

Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are ectoparasites of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and cause serious damage to bee colonies. The mechanism of how varroa mites kill honey bees remains unclear. We have addressed the effects of the mites on bee immunity and the replication of a picorna-like virus, the deformed wing virus (DWV). The expression of genes encoding three antimicrobial peptides (abaecin,...

This study aimed to investigate the effect of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) on infections with Escherichia coli in chickens. Initially, the basic levels of MBL in 4 different lines of layer chickens, namely ISA Brown, Lohmann Selected Leghorn, Lohmann Braun, and Hellevad, were investigated. This investigation revealed a 2-to 3-fold difference in the basic levels of MBL in serum between some of t...