Search results for "Micro"

Immune response to tick-borne hemoparasites: Host adaptive immune response mechanisms as potential targets for therapies and vaccines

2020

This article belongs to the Section Molecular Immunology.

2018

Easy-to-achieve interventions to promote healthy longevity are desired to diminish the incidence and severity of infections, as well as associated disability upon recovery. The dietary supplement palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) exerts anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. Here, we investigated the effect of prophylactic PEA on the early immune response, clinical course, and survival of old mice after intracerebral E. coli K1 infection. Nineteen-month-old wild type mice were treated intraperitoneally with two doses of either 0.1 mg PEA/kg in 250 μl vehicle solution (n = 19) or with 250 μl vehicle solution only as controls (n = 19), 12 h and 30 min prior to intracerebral E. coli K1 in…

CD14 is a key organizer of microglial responses to CNS infection and injury

2015

Microglia, innate immune cells of the CNS, sense infection and damage through overlapping receptor sets. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 recognizes bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and multiple injury-associated factors. We show that its co-receptor CD14 serves three non-redundant functions in microglia. First, it confers an up to 100-fold higher LPS sensitivity compared to peripheral macrophages to enable efficient proinflammatory cytokine induction. Second, CD14 prevents excessive responses to massive LPS challenges via an interferon β-mediated feedback. Third, CD14 is mandatory for microglial reactions to tissue damage-associated signals. In mice, these functions are essential for balanced …

Single-cell profiling reveals GPCR heterogeneity and functional patterning during neuroinflammation.

2017

GPCR expression was intensively studied in bulk cDNA of leukocyte populations, but limited data are available with respect to expression in individual cells. Here, we show a microfluidic-based single-cell GPCR expression analysis in primary T cells, myeloid cells, and endothelial cells under naive conditions and during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, the mouse model of multiple sclerosis. We found that neuroinflammation induces characteristic changes in GPCR heterogeneity and patterning, and we identify various functionally relevant subgroups with specific GPCR profiles among spinal cord-infiltrating CD4 T cells, macrophages, microglia, or endothelial cells. Using GPCRs CXCR4, S1…

2019

s2 integrin receptors consist of an alpha subunit (CD11a-CD11d) and CD18 as the common beta subunit, and are differentially expressed by leukocytes. s2 integrins are required for cell-cell interaction, transendothelial migration, uptake of opsonized pathogens, and cell signaling processes. Functional loss of CD18-termed leukocyte-adhesion deficiency type 1 (LAD1)-results in an immunocompromised state characterized by frequent occurrence of severe infections. In immunosuppressed individuals Aspergillus fumigatus is a frequent cause of invasive pulmonary fungal infection, and often occurs in patients suffering from LAD1. Here, we asked for the importance of CD11b/CD18 also termed MAC-1 which …

Self-adjuvanting C18 lipid vinil sulfone-PP2A vaccine: study of the induced immunomodulation against Trichuris muris infection

2017

Despite the importance of the adjuvant in the immunization process, very few adjuvants merge with the antigens in vaccines. A synthetic self-adjuvant oleic-vinyl sulfone (OVS) linked to the catalytic region of recombinant serine/threonine phosphatase 2A from the nematode Angiostrongylus costaricensis (rPP2A) was used for intranasal immunization in mice previously infected with Trichuris muris . The animal intranasal immunization with rPP2A-OVS showed a reduction of 99.01% in the number of the nematode eggs and 97.90% in adult. The immunohistochemical analysis of the intestinal sections showed that in immunized animals with lipopeptide the mucus was significantly higher than in the other ex…

2020

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPi) have shown their superiority over conventional therapies to treat some cancers. ICPi are effective against immunogenic tumors. However, patients with tumors poorly infiltrated with immune cells do not respond to ICPi. Combining ICPi with other anticancer therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation, or vaccines, which can stimulate the immune system and recruit antitumor T cells into the tumor bed, may be a relevant strategy to increase the proportion of responding patients. Such an approach still raises the following questions: What are the immunological features modulated by immunogenic therapies that can be critical to ensure not only immediate but also l…

A New Niche for Anoxygenic Phototrophs as Endoliths

2018

ABSTRACT Anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (APBs) occur in a wide range of aquatic habitats, from hot springs to freshwater lakes and intertidal microbial mats. Here, we report the discovery of a novel niche for APBs: endoliths within marine littoral carbonates. In a study of 40 locations around Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico, and Menorca, Spain, 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing of endolithic community DNA revealed the presence of abundant phylotypes potentially belonging to well-known APB clades. An ad hoc phylogenetic classification of these sequences enabled us to refine the assignments more stringently. Even then, all locations contained such putative APBs, often reaching a significant pro…

Proton Leakage Is Sensed by IM30 and Activates IM30-Triggered Membrane Fusion

2020

The inner membrane-associated protein of 30 kDa (IM30) is crucial for the development and maintenance of the thylakoid membrane system in chloroplasts and cyanobacteria. While its exact physiological function still is under debate, it has recently been suggested that IM30 has (at least) a dual function, and the protein is involved in stabilization of the thylakoid membrane as well as in Mg2+-dependent membrane fusion. IM30 binds to negatively charged membrane lipids, preferentially at stressed membrane regions where protons potentially leak out from the thylakoid lumen into the chloroplast stroma or the cyanobacterial cytoplasm, respectively. Here we show in vitro that IM30 membrane binding…

Establishing gene models from the Pinus pinaster genome using gene capture and BAC sequencing

2016

Background In the era of DNA throughput sequencing, assembling and understanding gymnosperm mega-genomes remains a challenge. Although drafts of three conifer genomes have recently been published, this number is too low to understand the full complexity of conifer genomes. Using techniques focused on specific genes, gene models can be established that can aid in the assembly of gene-rich regions, and this information can be used to compare genomes and understand functional evolution. Results In this study, gene capture technology combined with BAC isolation and sequencing was used as an experimental approach to establish de novo gene structures without a reference genome. Probes were design…