Search results for "Immunologic"
showing 10 items of 1115 documents
Smoking, health and ageing.
2008
Abstract On March 19, 2008 a Symposium on Pathophysiology of Ageing and Age-Related diseases was held in Palermo, Italy. Here, the lecture of V. Nicita-Mauro on Smoking, health and ageing is summarized. Smoking represents an important ageing accelerator, both directly by triggering ana inflammatory responses, and indirectly by favoring the occurrence of several diseases where smoking is a recognized risk factor. Hence, non-smokers can delay the appearance of diseases and of ageing process, so attaining longevity.
Phenotypic and Immunometabolic Aspects on Stem Cell Memory and Resident Memory CD8+ T Cells
2022
The immune system, smartly and surprisingly, saves the exposure of a particular pathogen in its memory and reacts to the pathogen very rapidly, preventing serious diseases.Immunologists have long been fascinated by understanding the ability to recall and respond faster and more vigorously to a pathogen, known as “memory”.T-cell populations can be better described by using more sophisticated techniques to define phenotype, transcriptional and epigenetic signatures and metabolic pathways (single-cell resolution), which uncovered the heterogeneity of the memory T-compartment. Phenotype, effector functions, maintenance, and metabolic pathways help identify these different subsets. Here, we exam…
Searching for wheat plants with low toxicity in celiac disease: Between direct toxicity and immunologic activation.
2009
Abstract Background Natural or induced variations in the noxiousness of gluten proteins for celiac disease (CD) patients are currently being investigated for their potential in breeding wheat crops with reduced toxicity. Aims We evaluated the bread wheat line C173 for its effects on the in vitro -grown duodenal mucosa of CD patients. Methods In vitro -grown duodenal mucosa biopsies of 19 CD patients on a gluten-free diet were exposed to peptic/tryptic-digested prolamins from bread wheat line C173 lacking gliadin–glutenin subunits, analyzed for morphology, cytokine and anti-tTG antibody production, and compared with mucosa biopsies exposed to prolamins from wild-type cv. San Pastore. Results…
Beliefs and preferences regarding biological treatments for severe asthma
2020
Background: Severe asthma is a serious condition with a significant burden on patients' morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. Some biological therapies targeting the IgE and interleukin-5 (IL5) mediated pathways are now available. Due to the lack of direct comparison studies, the choice of which medication to use varies. We aimed to explore the beliefs and practices in the use of biological therapies in severe asthma, hypothesizing that differences will occur depending on the prescribers’ specialty and experience. Methods: We conducted an online survey composed of 35 questions in English. The survey was circulated via the INterasma Scientific Network (INESNET) platform as well as throu…
Side effect management during immune checkpoint blockade using CTLA-4 and PD-1 antibodies for metastatic melanoma – an update
2020
CTLA-4 and PD-1 play a key role in tumor-induced downregulation of lymphocytic immune responses. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been shown to alter the immune response to various cancer types. Anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 antibodies affect the interaction between tumor, antigen-presenting cells and T lymphocytes. Clinical studies of the anti-CTLA-4 antibody ipilimumab and the anti-PD-1 antibodies nivolumab and pembrolizumab have provided evidence of their positive effects on overall survival in melanoma patients. Combined treatment using ipilimumab and nivolumab has been shown to achieve five-year survival rates of 52 %. Such enhancement of the immune response is inevitably associated with …
Dendritic cell-based immunotherapy of malignant melanoma: success and limitations.
2007
Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells in the immune system which are able to induce primary T-cell responses. Because of their central role in the initiation of immune responses, DC are an important tool for tumor-antigen-specific immunotherapy of cancer. DC vaccination using tumor-antigen-loaded DC has led to tumor regression in individual advanced-stage cancer patients. However, there is a discrepancy between strong and antigen-specific T cell responses in vaccinated cancer patients detectable ex vivo and only weak clinical responses. In most cases the immune system of advanced stage IV cancer patients allows only a temporary anti-tumor response and increasing evi…
UV Exposure Boosts Transcutaneous Immunization and Improves Tumor Immunity: Cytotoxic T-Cell Priming through the Skin
2010
Immunologic approaches to combat cancer aim at the induction of tumor-reactive immune responses to achieve long-term protection. In this context, we recently developed a transcutaneous immunization (TCI) method using the Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 agonist imiquimod and a peptide epitope. Application onto intact skin induces potent cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and protection against transplanted tumors. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of UV irradiation on imiquimod-based TCI. Here we show that skin exposure to low-dose UV light before TCI with imiquimod strongly boosts specific CTL responses leading to memory formation and enhanced tumor protection. Toward the …
Alhydrogel® adjuvant, ultrasonic dispersion and protein binding: A TEM and analytical study
2011
Aluminium-based vaccine adjuvants have been in use since the 1920s. Aluminium hydroxide (alum) that is the chemical basis of Alhydrogel, a widely used adjuvant, is a colloid that binds proteins to the particular surface for efficient presentation to the immune system during the vaccination process. Using conventional TEM and cryo-TEM we have shown that Alhydrogel can be finely dispersed by ultrasonication of the aqueous suspension. Clusters of ultrasonicated aluminium hydroxide micro-fibre crystals have been produced (∼ 10-100 nm), that are significantly smaller than those present the untreated Alhydrogel (∼ 2-12 μm). However, even prolonged ultrasonication did not produce a homogenous susp…
Nimrod, a Putative Phagocytosis Receptor with EGF Repeats in Drosophila Plasmatocytes
2007
SummaryThe hemocytes, the blood cells of Drosophila, participate in the humoral and cellular immune defense reactions against microbes and parasites [1–8]. The plasmatocytes, one class of hemocytes, are phagocytically active and play an important role in immunity and development by removing microorganisms as well as apoptotic cells. On the surface of circulating and sessile plasmatocytes, we have now identified a protein, Nimrod C1 (NimC1), which is involved in the phagocytosis of bacteria. Suppression of NimC1 expression in plasmatocytes inhibited the phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus. Conversely, overexpression of NimC1 in S2 cells stimulated the phagocytosis of both S. aureus and Esc…
Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) inhibits granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) expression at the post-transcriptional level in murin…
1995
Recently it has been shown that IFN-alpha inhibits expression of GM-CSF in adherent cells of human long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC) stimulated with interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) or endotoxin. The murine bone marrow stromal cell line +/+(-1).LDA11 was used to further define regulatory mechanisms of IFN-alpha inhibition on GM-CSF expression. This cell line originated from a murine Dexter type culture and exhibits a preadipocytic phenotype. As in human LTBMC, we could demonstrate a inhibitory effect of IFN-alpha co-incubation on GM-CSF activity in serum-free supernatants of +/+(-1).LDA11 stromal cell cultures stimulated with IL-1 or TNF-alpha or the combi…