Monocytes have a limited life span, and their homeostasis is regulated by programmed cell death in vivo (1, 2). Human monocytes cultured in the absence of appropriate exogenous stimuli undergo apoptosis that is enhanced by serum removal (3). The onset of apoptosis can be prevented by adding activating factors such as LPS, TNF-α, IL-1β, and CD40 ligand; and monocytes receiving such signals diffe...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of targeting the high-affinity receptor for immunoglobulin E (FcεRI), that plays a central role in allergic responses and is constitutively expressed on mast cells and basophils, in clinical disease and autoimmune T-cell response in experimental MS. METHODS Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in C57BL/6 mice by immunization with mye...

Background Safe and cost-effective biological surrogate markers to evaluate the severity threshold dose of peanut allergy (PA) reactions during an oral food challenge (OFC) are lacking. Objective To associated with allergic reaction OFC in a population children PA. Methods Demographic parameters basophil activation test (BAT) results were collected. Patients stratified into 2 groups (mild-to-mo...

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune blistering disease mediated by autoantibodies targeting BP180 (type XVII collagen). Patient sera and tissues typically have IgG and IgE autoantibodies and elevated eosinophil numbers. Although the pathogenicity of the IgE autoantibodies is established in BP, their contribution to the disease process is not well understood. Our aims were two-fold: 1) To e...

We present an analytical method using correlation functions to quantify clustering in super-resolution fluorescence localization images and electron microscopy images of static surfaces in two dimensions. We use this method to quantify how over-counting of labeled molecules contributes to apparent self-clustering and to calculate the effective lateral resolution of an image. This treatment appl...

Chronic idiopathic urticaria is a condition that is often controllable with antihistamine therapy. However, some patients have disease burden that is difficult to manage, non-responsive to antihistamines and often requires immunosuppressive medications such as corticosteroids or cyclosporine. We present here a study that demonstrates the effectiveness of omalizumab in treating this condition an...

Mast cells are critical effector cells in the pathophysiology of allergic asthma and other IgE-mediated diseases. The Tec family of tyrosine kinases Itk and Btk serve as critical signal amplifiers downstream of antigen receptors. Although both kinases are expressed and activated in mast cells following FcεRI stimulation, their individual contributions are not clear. To determine whether these k...

We present a detailed mathematical model of the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation events that occur upon ligand-induced receptor aggregation, for a transfectant expressing FcεRI, Lyn, Syk and endogenous phosphatases that dephosphorylate exposed phosphotyrosines on FcεRI and Syk. Through model simulations we show how changing the ligand concentration, and consequently the concentration of re...

The role of basophils, the rarest of blood granulocytes, in the pathophysiology of allergic asthma is still incompletely understood. Indirect evidence generated over many decades is consistent with a role for basophils in disease promotion. Recent improvements in procedures to purify and analyze very small numbers of human cells have generally supported this view, but have also revealed new com...

Aggregation of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) on mast cells (MCs) causes MC degranulation, a process that involves cortical F-actin disassembly. Actin depolymerization may be triggered by increase of cytosolic Ca(2+). Entry of Ca(2+) through the Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) channels is under powerful regulation by the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase SGK1. Moreover, ...