Background: Macrophage immune responses are affected by the secretory proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). This study aimed to examine the immune responses of macrophages to Mtb secretory antigens, namely ESAT-6, CFP-10, and ESAT-6/CFP-10.Methods: THP-1 cells (a human monocytic cell line) were cultured and differentiated to macrophages by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. The cytotoxici...

Background: Sharks get cancer rarely. A major difference between these animals and other species is that sharks have a great amount of cartilaginous tissue. Immunomodulatory effects of the cartilage of some species (cow) have been proved. Because the immune system has a major role in the defense of the body against cancer, we studied the effects of shark cartilage on the mouse and human immune...

Background: During pregnancy, the maternal immune system is in close contact with cells and tissue from the semiallogenic fetus .The human leucocyte antigen (HLA) class Ib molecules, HLA-E, -F and -G, are expressed at the materno-fetal interface. Because of the apparent immunoregulatory functions of these proteins, they may be involved in successful acceptance of the semi-allogenic fetus during...

KCNK2 was previously shown to regulate immune-cell trafficking into the central nervous system (CNS). Kcnk2-/- mice demonstrated a more severe disease course in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosis, due to an increased immune-cell migration into the CNS. An upregulation of the cellular adhesion molecules ICAM1 and VCAM1 on brain endothelial cells in K...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Inflammation caused by immune cells destroy the myelin and then axon. CNS failure to complete repair results in permanent disabilities. Some types of stem cells have special potentials to repair these injuries and even cure MS. Neural crest stem cells with a mutual origin with CNS and the ability of differen...

dendritic cells (dcs) are antigen presenting cells with unique capability to take up and process antigens in the peripheral blood and tissues. they subsequently migrate to draining lymph nodes where they present these antigens and stimulate naive t lympho-cytes. during their life cycle, dcs go through two maturation stages and are referred to as immature and mature cells, respectively. while im...

Background: The direct effect of some opioids on immune cells has been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to assess the apoptotic effect of opium on Jurkat T lymphocyte cells. Methods: Different concentrations of opium (2.86 × 10-3 to 2.86 × 10-11 g/ml) were added to 24-well plates containing 5 × 105 Jurkat cells. Apoptotic events were assessed after 6, 24, and 72 hours by flow-cytometric...