Search results for "Immune system"
showing 10 items of 2885 documents
Models of Immune Aging
2018
Abstract Biochemical changes, impaired immune responses to new antigens, and inflammation-based disorders are commonly found in aged individuals. Thus, many studies have addressed the immune system of healthy elderly, including centenarians, since a well-preserved immune system appears to be a major factor of longevity. Longitudinal studies in humans are complicated, as most immune changes associated with aging develop slowly. Human models of accelerated immune aging in clinical conditions allow exploring the age-related changes in the human immune system and the mechanisms of accelerated aging in chronic infections and autoimmunity. Even if they do not perfectly mimic immune function and i…
Development of Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissues
2015
The intestinal mucosa is one of our largest and most exposed body surfaces, thus creating a vital need for efficient immune responses. In order to coordinate those, the mucosal immune system comprises several organized lymphoid structures; the best-studied ones are mesenteric lymph nodes, Peyer’s patches, cryptopatches, and isolated lymphoid follicles. Their developmental requirements and time frames overlap to a certain extent, but are greatly divergent in many aspects. Furthermore, they can be influenced by a number of environmental impacts, such as food or the intestinal microbiota. In the following chapter we will try to shed some light on the processes that occur during the development…
B and T cell immune responses elicited by the BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) COVID-19 vaccine in nursing home residents
2021
ABSTRACTObjectivesThe immunogenicity of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine is understudied in elderly people with comorbidities. We assessed SARS-CoV-2-S-targeted antibody and T cell responses following full vaccination in nursing home residents (NHR).MethodsWe recruited 60 NHR (44 female; median age, 87.5 years), of whom 10 had previously had COVID-19, and 18 healthy controls (15 female; median age, 48.5 years). Pre- and post-vaccination blood specimens were available for quantitation of total antibodies binding RBD and enumeration of SARS-CoV-2-S-reactive IFN-γ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells by flow cytometry.ResultsThe seroconversion rate in presumably SARS-CoV-2 naïve NHR (95.3%), either with or with…
Linking immune-mediated damage to neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis: could network-based MRI help?
2021
Abstract Inflammatory demyelination characterizes the initial stages of multiple sclerosis, while progressive axonal and neuronal loss are coexisting and significantly contribute to the long-term physical and cognitive impairment. There is an unmet need for a conceptual shift from a dualistic view of multiple sclerosis pathology, involving either inflammatory demyelination or neurodegeneration, to integrative dynamic models of brain reorganization, where, glia-neuron interactions, synaptic alterations and grey matter pathology are longitudinally envisaged at the whole-brain level. Functional and structural MRI can delineate network hallmarks for relapses, remissions or disease progression, …
Flow Cytometry in Cancer Immunotherapy: Applications, Quality Assurance, and Future
2014
Cancer immunotherapy seeks to elicit or augment the antitumor immune response in a patient in order to enlist the help of the patient’s own immune system for tumor control. In this context, immune monitoring provides evidence of immunogenicity, guides the choice and dosage of antigens, assesses the effects of immune modulators and therapy combinations, and has the potential to reveal early biomarkers of clinical efficacy. In view of their role in the anticancer immune response, the quantity and quality of tumor antigen-specific effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are of particular interest, and characterization of regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells is increasingly relevant. …
C1q-bearing immune complexes detected by a monoclonal antibody to human C1q in rheumatoid arthritis sera and synovial fluids
1991
Using a monoclonal antibody directed against the C-chain of human C1q, we detected C1q-bearing immune complexes (IC) in sera and synovial fluids of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In a sandwich-ELISA, C1q-bearing IC were captured by the solid-phase monoclonal antibody and then detected with peroxidase-labeled F(ab')2-antibodies to either human IgG or IgM. The results of this assay were compared to an ELISA-modification of the C1q-solid-phase binding assay (C1q-SPBA). C1q-bearing IC were detected in 81.1% of RA-sera and the 65.2% of RA-synovial fluids. IgG as well as IgM was present in 72.6% of the sera and 70% of the synovial fluids which were positive in both assays. Most RA sera that …
γδ cells involved in contact sensitivity preferentially rearrange the Vγ3 region and require interleukin-7
1997
Ptak and Askenase showed that both alphabeta and gammadelta cells are required for transfer of contact sensitivity (CS). This study confirms that day 4 immune cells depleted of gammadelta cells fail to transfer CS to trinitrochlorobenzene (TNP-Cl) systemically and demonstrates that administration of anti-gammadelta monoclonal antibodies (mAb) in vivo abolishes the CS reaction. Moreover, gammadelta cells accumulate at the antigen challenge site: these cells have the unusual phenotype CD8alpha+, CD8beta-, IL-4 R+ which we suggest is due to their state of activation. Following immunization with contact sensitizer on the skin, the absolute number of gammadelta cells increases in the regional ly…
Monoclonal antibodies to polysialic acid reveal epitope sharing between invasive pathogenic bacteria, differentiating cells and tumor cells
1987
Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) for rapid diagnosis and detection of invasive bacteria and identification of pathogenic factors in infectious disease are equally important in medical microbiology and clinical pathology and may even provide a breakthrough in basic medical and cell biology research. Such a situation evolved from the application of a unique mAb against the poorly immunogenic homopolymers of alpha 2,8-linked sialic acid of Escherichia coli K1 and meningococci group B capsules which could be derived from immune-hyperreactive NZB-autoimmune mice. The cross-reactivity of this mAb with identical polysialic acid (polySA) units of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) revealed antige…
Overview of the second international workshop to define swine cluster of differentiation (CD) antigens
1998
The aim of the Second International Swine Cluster of Differentiation (CD) Workshop, supported by the Veterinary Immunology Committee (VIC) of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), was to standardize the assignment of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) reactive with porcine leukocyte differentiation antigens and to define new antibody clusters. At the summary meeting of the workshop in July, 1995, revisions in the existing nomenclature for the Swine CD were approved, so that the rules are now in accord with those for human and ruminant CD. Swine CD numbers will now be given to clusters of mAb to swine orthologues of human CD molecules when homology is proven by (1) suitable tis…
Self-adjuvanting synthetic antitumor vaccines from MUC1 glycopeptides conjugated to T-cell epitopes from tetanus toxoid.
2013
The T-helper epitope peptide P30 (green in the scheme) from tetanus toxoid was used as the immunostimulant in MUC1 glycopeptide antitumor vaccines and apparently also acts as a built-in adjuvant. P30-conjugated glycopeptide vaccines containing three glycans in the immunodominant motifs PDTRP and GSTAP induced much stronger immune responses and complement dependent cytotoxicity mediated killing of tumor cells when applied in plain PBS solution without complete Freund's adjuvant.