Involvement of interleukin-1 type 1 receptors in lipopolysaccharide-induced sickness responses

Sickness responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were examined in mice with deletion of the interleukin (IL)-1 type 1 receptor (IL-1R1). IL-1R1 knockout (1(0) mice displayed intact anorexia and HPA-axis activation to intraperitoneally injected LPS (anorexia: 10 or 120 mu g/kg; HPA-axis: 120 mu g/kg), but showed attenuated but not extinguished fever (120 g/kg). Brain PGE2 synthesis was attenuated, but Cox-2 induction remained intact. Neither the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) inhibitor etanercept nor the IL -6 receptor antibody tocilizumab abolished the LPS induced fever in IL -1R1 KO mice. Deletion of IL -1R1 specifically in brain endothelial cells attenuated the LPS induced fever, b…

Application of Liquid-Liquid Partition Chromatography (LLPC) in the Preparation of Steroid Binding Proteins

Two human serum proteins, i.e. sex hormone binding globulin (h-SHBG) and corticosteroid binding globulin (h-CBG), rat corticosteroid binding globulin (r-CBG), and progesterone binding globulin (PBG) from new guinea pig were purified by the application of three different modes of chromatography. The proteins were purified by affinity chromatography and anion exchange chromatography. Fractions containing the steroid binding proteins were finally purified by liquid-liquid partition chromatography on LiParGel 750 (Merck, Darmstadt, FRG). This Chromatographic sequence clearly separated the steroid binding proteins from other proteins, mainly from serum albumin without a loss of protein and compl…

Application of liquid-liquid partition chromatography in the simultaneous purification of sex-hormone-binding globulin and corticosteroid-binding globulin.

Two human serum proteins, corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) and sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), were purified to homogeneity by the application of a combination of three different modes of chromatography. Human pregnancy serum was fractionated with ammonium sulphate. SHBG (50% pellet) and CBG (80% pellet) were then purified by affinity chromatography on tresyl-activated Sepharose with 15-aminopentadecanoic acid (for SHBG) and 1,12-diaminododecane (for CBG) as spacers and 17 zeta-aminoethyl-5 alpha-androstan-3 beta,17-diol (for SHBG) and 17 alpha-hydroxy-4-androsten-3-one-17 beta-carboxylic acid (for CBG) as specific ligands for these two proteins. The eluate was injected into a Mon…

Differential Roles of Macrophages in Diverse Phases of Skin Repair

Abstract Influx of macrophages plays a crucial role in tissue repair. However, the precise function of macrophages during the healing response has remained a subject of debate due to their functional dichotomy as effectors of both tissue injury and repair. We tested the hypothesis that macrophages recruited during the diverse phases of skin repair after mechanical injury exert specific functions to restore tissue integrity. For this purpose, we developed a mouse model that allows conditional depletion of macrophages during the sequential stages of the repair response. Depletion of macrophages restricted to the early stage of the repair response (inflammatory phase) significantly reduced the…

Evaluation of advanced silica packings for the separation of biopolymers by high-performance liquid chromatography

Abstract The linear solvent strength model of Snyder was applied to describe fast protein separations on 2.1-μm non-porous, silica-based strong anion exchangers. It was demonstrated on short columns packed with these anion exchangers that (i) a substantially higher resolution of proteins and nucleotides was obtained at gradient times of less than 5 min than on porous anion exchangers; (ii) the low external surface area of the non-porous anion exchanger is not a critical parameter in analytical separations and (iii) μg-amounts of enzymes of high purity and full biological activity were isolated.

Extracellular Vesicles from Neural Stem Cells Transfer IFN-γ via Ifngr1 to Activate Stat1 Signaling in Target Cells

The idea that stem cell therapies work only via cell replacement is challenged by the observation of consistent intercellular molecule exchange between the graft and the host. Here we defined a mechanism of cellular signaling by which neural stem/precursor cells (NPCs) communicate with the microenvironment via extracellular vesicles (EVs), and we elucidated its molecular signature and function. We observed cytokine-regulated pathways that sort proteins and mRNAs into EVs. We described induction of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) pathway in NPCs exposed to proinflammatory cytokines that is mirrored in EVs. We showed that IFN-γ bound to EVs through Ifngr1 activates Stat1 in target cells. Finally, we…

Innate Sensing through Mesenchymal TLR4/MyD88 Signals Promotes Spontaneous Intestinal Tumorigenesis

Summary MyD88, an adaptor molecule downstream of innate pathways, plays a significant tumor-promoting role in sporadic intestinal carcinogenesis of the Apcmin/+ model, which carries a mutation in the Apc gene. Here, we show that deletion of MyD88 in intestinal mesenchymal cells (IMCs) significantly reduces tumorigenesis in this model. This phenotype is associated with decreased epithelial cell proliferation, altered inflammatory and tumorigenic immune cell infiltration, and modified gene expression similar to complete MyD88 knockout mice. Genetic deletion of TLR4, but not interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R), in IMCs led to altered molecular profiles and reduction of intestinal tumors similar to …

Tolerance without clonal expansion: self-antigen-expressing B cells program self-reactive T cells for future deletion.

Abstract B cells have been shown in various animal models to induce immunological tolerance leading to reduced immune responses and protection from autoimmunity. We show that interaction of B cells with naive T cells results in T cell triggering accompanied by the expression of negative costimulatory molecules such as PD-1, CTLA-4, B and T lymphocyte attenuator, and CD5. Following interaction with B cells, T cells were not induced to proliferate, in a process that was dependent on their expression of PD-1 and CTLA-4, but not CD5. In contrast, the T cells became sensitive to Ag-induced cell death. Our results demonstrate that B cells participate in the homeostasis of the immune system by abl…

Extracellular vesicles from neural stem cells transfer the IFN-gamma/IFNGR1 complex to activate Stat1-dependent signalling in target cells

TGF-β inhibitor Smad7 regulates dendritic cell-induced autoimmunity

TGF-β is an anti-inflammatory cytokine whose signaling is negatively controlled by Smad7. Previously, we established a role for Smad7 in the generation of autoreactive T cells; however, the function of Smad7 in dendritic cells (DCs) remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that DC-specific Smad7 deficiency resulted in elevated expression of the transcription factors Batf3 and IRF8, leading to increased frequencies of CD8(+)CD103(+) DCs in the spleen. Furthermore, Smad7-deficient DCs expressed higher levels of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme associated with tolerance induction. Mice devoid of Smad7 specifically in DCs are resistant to the development of experimental autoimmune ence…

IL ‐1 signaling is critical for expansion but not generation of autoreactive GM ‐ CSF + Th17 cells

Abstract Interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) is implicated in numerous pathologies, including multiple sclerosis and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, the exact mechanism by which IL‐1 is involved in the generation of pathogenic T cells and in disease development remains largely unknown. We found that following EAE induction, pertussis toxin administration leads to IL‐1 receptor type 1 (IL‐1R1)‐dependent IL‐1β expression by myeloid cells in the draining lymph nodes. This myeloid‐derived IL‐1β did not vitally contribute to the generation and plasticity of Th17 cells, but rather promoted the expansion of a GM‐CSF + Th17 cell subset, thereby enhancing its encephalitog…

Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies

The marriage between immunology and cytometry is one of the most stable and productive in the recent history of science. A rapid search in PubMed shows that, as of July 2017, using “flow cytometry immunology” as a search term yields more than 68 000 articles, the first of which, interestingly, is not about lymphocytes. It might be stated that, after a short engagement, the exchange of the wedding rings between immunology and cytometry officially occurred when the idea to link fluorochromes to monoclonal antibodies came about. After this, recognizing different types of cells became relatively easy and feasible not only by using a simple fluorescence microscope, but also by a complex and some…

Introduction We and others recently showed that IL-17-producing Th17 cells are highly unstable in their phenotype and swiftly upregulate T-bet and Th1-associated cytokines in the inflamed CNS of mice with EAE [1] . This inherent plasticity was recently associated with IL-23, IFN-γ or IL-12 signalling on effector T cells [2] , [3] . Aim To understand the role of IFN-γ and IL-27 signaling for plasticity of Th17 cells in vivo. Methods We use mice lacking the IFN-γ receptor 2 chain specifically in T cells (CD4cre × IFNγR2FL/FL) as well as blocking antibodies for IFN-γ and IL-27-p28 and knockout mice for IL-27-EBI3. Further we use IL-17 reporter mice to sort Th17 cells prior adoptive transfer. W…

Genetic Cell Ablation Reveals Clusters of Local Self-Renewing Microglia in the Mammalian Central Nervous System

SummaryDuring early embryogenesis, microglia arise from yolk sac progenitors that populate the developing central nervous system (CNS), but how the tissue-resident macrophages are maintained throughout the organism’s lifespan still remains unclear. Here, we describe a system that allows specific, conditional ablation of microglia in adult mice. We found that the microglial compartment was reconstituted within 1 week of depletion. Microglia repopulation relied on CNS-resident cells, independent from bone-marrow-derived precursors. During repopulation, microglia formed clusters of highly proliferative cells that migrated apart once steady state was achieved. Proliferating microglia expressed …

Mast Cells Are Key Promoters of Contact Allergy that Mediate the Adjuvant Effects of Haptens

SummaryA prominent feature of sensitizing environmental compounds that cause allergic contact dermatitis is the rapid induction of an innate inflammatory response that seems to provide danger signals for efficient T cell priming. We generated mouse models of mast cell deficiency, mast cell-specific gene inactivation, and mast cell reporter mice for intravital imaging and showed that these adjuvant effects of contact allergens are mediated by mast cells and histamine. Mast cell deficiency resulted in impaired emigration of skin DCs to the lymph node and contact hypersensitivity was dramatically reduced in the absence of mast cells. In addition, mast cell-specific inactivation of the Il10 gen…

TGF-β signalling is required for CD4⁺ T cell homeostasis but dispensable for regulatory T cell function.

Signalling by the cytokine TGF-β regulates mature CD4+ T cell populations but is not involved in the survival and function of regulatory T cells.

Excessive CpG 1668 stimulation triggers IL-10 production by cDC that inhibits IFN-alpha responses by pDC.

Upon stimulation with a wide range of concentrations of CpG oligodeoxynucleotide 2216 (CpG 2216), plasmacytoid DC are induced to produce type I IFN (IFN-alpha/beta). In contrast, CpG 1668 shows a bell-shaped dose-response correlation, i.e. only intermediate but not high doses of CpG 1668 induce IFN-alpha/beta. Interestingly, high-dose CpG 1668 completely inhibited IFN-alpha responses induced by CpG 2216. Experiments using supernatant of high-dose CpG-1668-treated cells indicated that secreted inhibitor(s) mediated the IFN-alpha shut-off. Among modulating cytokines, IL-10 turned out to be one important negative regulator. In line with this, supernatants of IL-10-deficient DC cultures stimula…

Making sense of big data in health research: {T}owards an {EU} action plan

Genome medicine 8(1), 71 (2016). doi:10.1186/s13073-016-0323-y

Adsorption of proteins on porous and non-porous poly(ethyleneimine) and tentacle-type anion exchangers

Abstract Adsorption isotherms of proteins [bovine serum albumin (BSA), soybean trypsin inhibitor and alcohol dehydrogenase] on anion exchangers were measured by on-line and off-line methods. The poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) type and the tentacle-type materials exhibited principally different modes of adsorption. On thin layers of PEI, bonded to non-porous silica, BSA adsorption data corresponded to a monolayer of molecules, with 80% adsorbed side-on, with a high affinity constant for binding, and 20% adsorbed more weakly. With porous material, the amount of BSA bound per unit surface with high affinity was smaller. With tentacle-type anion exchangers, adsorption exceeded a monolayer by far, an…