Search results for " Immunology"
showing 10 items of 1841 documents
Sustained oscillations in the MAP kinase cascade.
2016
Abstract The MAP kinase cascade is a network of enzymatic reactions arranged in layers. In each layer occurs a multiple futile cycle of phosphorylations. The fully phosphorylated substrate then serves as an enzyme for the layer below. This paper focuses on the existence of parameters for which Hopf bifurcations occur and generate periodic orbits. Furthermore it is explained how geometric singular perturbation theory allows to generalize results from simple models to more complex ones.
On the origin of mitosing cells: A historical appraisal of Lynn Margulis endosymbiotic theory
2017
Although for a long-time symbiosis was considered to be quite rare and with no role in evolutionary processes, Lynn Margulis demonstrated that endosymbiotic events played a key role in the origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells. Starting with her seminal assay in the Journal of Theoretical Biology in 1967 (authored as Lynn Sagan), her lifelong work on eukaryogenesis and the role of symbiosis in evolution stands as a valid and authoritative contribution to science. As was quick to acknowledge, she was not the first to discuss the significance of symbiosis to explain the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts, but no one else had done it to her extent and depth, nor had anyone provided a v…
Evolutionary distances corrected for purifying selection and ancestral polymorphisms.
2019
Abstract Evolutionary distance formulas that take into account effects due to ancestral polymorphisms and purifying selection are obtained on the basis of the full solution of Jukes–Cantor and Kimura DNA substitution models. In the case of purifying selection two different methods are developed. It is shown that avoiding the dimensional reduction implicitly carried out in the conventional model solving is instrumental to incorporate the quoted effects into the formalism. The problem of estimating the numerical values of the model parameters, as well as those of the correction terms, is not addressed.
Lymph node - an organ for T-cell activation and pathogen defense.
2016
The immune system is a multicentered organ that is characterized by intimate interactions between its cellular components to efficiently ward off invading pathogens. A key constituent of this organ system is the distinct migratory activity of its cellular elements. The lymph node represents a pivotal meeting point of immune cells where adaptive immunity is induced and regulated. Additionally, besides barrier tissues, the lymph node is a critical organ where invading pathogens need to be eliminated in order to prevent systemic distribution of virulent microbes. Here, we explain how the lymph node is structurally and functionally organized to fulfill these two critical functions - pathogen de…
Differentially Tolerized Mouse Antigen Presenting Cells Share a Common miRNA Signature Including Enhanced mmu-miR-223-3p Expression Which Is Sufficie…
2018
Dendritic cells (DCs) are pivotal for the induction and maintenance of antigen-specific tolerance and immunity. miRNAs mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation and control in part the differentiation and stimulation-induced immunogenic function of DCs. However, the relevance of miRNAs for the induction and maintenance of a tolerogenic state of DCs has scarcely been highlighted yet. We differentiated mouse bone marrow cells to conventional/myeloid DCs or to tolerogenic antigen presenting cells (APCs) by using a glucocorticoid (dexamethasone) or interleukin-10, and assessed the miRNA expression patterns of unstimulated and LPS-stimulated cell populations by array analysis and QPCR. Differ…
Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies
2017
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…
IRF8 Transcription Factor Controls Survival and Function of Terminally Differentiated Conventional and Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells, Respectively
2016
International audience; Interferon regulatory factor-8 (IRF8) has been proposed to be essential for development of monocytes, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) and remains highly expressed in differentiated DCs. Transcription factors that are required to maintain the identity of terminally differentiated cells are designated `' terminal selectors.'' Using BM chimeras, conditional Irf8(fl/fl) mice and various promotors to target Cre recombinase to different stages of monocyte and DC development, we have identified IRF8 as a terminal selector of the cDC1 lineage controlling survival. In monocytes, IRF8 was necessary during early but not late d…
Combined B, T and NK Cell Deficiency Accelerates Atherosclerosis in BALB/c Mice.
2016
This study focused on the unique properties of both the Ldlr knockout defect (closely mimicking the human situation) and the BALB/c (C) inbred mouse strain (Th-2 slanted immune response). We generated two immunodeficient strains with severe combined B- and T-cell immunodeficiency with or without a complete lack of natural killer cells to revisit the role of adaptive immune responses on atherogenesis. C-Ldlr-/- Rag1-/- mice, which show severe combined B- and T-cell immunodeficiency and C-Ldlr-/- Rag1-/- Il2rg-/- mice, which combine the T- and B-cell defect with a complete lack of natural killer cells and inactivation of multiple cytokine signalling pathways were fed an atherogenic Western ty…
Time to activin on pathogenic T cells
2020
In multiple sclerosis (MS), Th17 cells are critical drivers of autoimmune central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and demyelination. Th17 cells exhibit functional heterogeneity fostering both pathogenic and nonpathogenic, tissue-protective functions. Still, the factors that control Th17 pathogenicity remain incompletely defined. Here, using experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an established mouse MS model, we report that therapeutic administration of activin-A ameliorates disease severity and alleviates CNS immunopathology and demyelination, associated with decreased activation of Th17 cells. In fact, activin-A signaling through activin-like kinase-4 receptor represses pathogenic t…
Activation and selective IL-17 response of human Vγ9Vδ2 T lymphocytes by TLR-activated plasmacytoid dendritic cells.
2016
// Elena Lo Presti 1,2 , Nadia Caccamo 1,2 , Valentina Orlando 1,2 , Francesco Dieli 1,2 and Serena Meraviglia 1,2 1 Central Laboratory of Advanced Diagnosis and Biomedical Research (CLADIBIOR), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy 2 Department of Biopathology and Medical Biotechnologies (DIBIMED), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy Correspondence to: Serena Meraviglia, email: // Keywords : γδ T cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, IL-17, TLR activation, proliferation, Immunology and Microbiology Section, Immune response, Immunity Received : July 20, 2016 Accepted : August 02, 2016 Published :August 31, 2016 Abstract Vγ9Vδ2 T cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are two distinc…