Search results for "epitope"
showing 10 items of 455 documents
Autoreactive Antibodies and Loss of Retinal Ganglion Cells in Rats Induced by Immunization with Ocular Antigens
2011
PURPOSE In an experimental autoimmune animal model, retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss was induced through immunization with glaucoma-related antigens. The target of this study was to investigate the pathomechanism behind this decline and the serum antibody reactivity against ocular and neuronal tissues after immunization with glaucoma- and non-glaucoma-associated antigens. METHODS Rats immunized with optic nerve antigen homogenate (ONA) or keratin (KER) were compared to control rats (CO). Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured, and the fundi were examined regularly. Four weeks afterward, cells were counted in retinal flat mounts. Retina, optic nerve, and brain sections from healthy animals …
Compensatory IgM to the Rescue: Patients with Selective IgA Deficiency Have Increased Natural IgM Antibodies to MAA-LDL and No Changes in Oral Microb…
2021
Abstract IgA is the most abundant Ab in the human body. However, most patients with selective IgA deficiency (SIgAD) are asymptomatic. IgM, and to lesser extent IgG Abs, are generally presumed to compensate for the lack of IgA in SIgAD by multiplying and adopting functions of IgA. We used data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 to investigate whether SIgAD patients have differences in levels of natural Abs to oxidized epitopes compared with 20 randomly selected healthy controls. First, we screened the saliva and serum samples from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 cohort (n = 1610) for IgA concentration. We detected five IgA-deficient subjects, yielding a prevalence of 0.3%, w…
Identification and quantification of a new family of peptide endocannabinoids (Pepcans) showing negative allosteric modulation at CB1 receptors.
2012
The α-hemoglobin-derived dodecapeptide RVD-hemopressin (RVDPVNFKLLSH) has been proposed to be an endogenous agonist for the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB(1)). To study this peptide, we have raised mAbs against its C-terminal part. Using an immunoaffinity mass spectrometry approach, a whole family of N-terminally extended peptides in addition to RVD-Hpα were identified in rodent brain extracts and human and mouse plasma. We designated these peptides Pepcan-12 (RVDPVNFKLLSH) to Pepcan-23 (SALSDLHAHKLRVDPVNFKLLSH), referring to peptide length. The most abundant Pepcans found in the brain were tested for CB(1) receptor binding. In the classical radioligand displacement assay, Pepcan-12 was th…
Epitope specificity and Ia restriction of T cell responses to insulin in a system of complementing Ir genes: analysis with primed lymph node T cells …
1983
The antibody response of (H-2b X H-2k)F1 mice to pig insulin (PI) has previously been shown to be under the control of H-2-linked, complementing Ir genes. In addition, this response was reported to depend on the genetic background of the parental strains (Keck, K., Eur. J. Immunol. 1977. 7: 811). Here it is demonstrated that the secondary in vitro response of proliferating T cells shows the same dependence on H-2-linked Ir genes yet an influence of the background genes could not be detected. The complementing genes were mapped to the Kb, I-Ab and Kk, I-Ak regions. For restimulation of F1 T cells by PI, the Ir genes of both parental chromosomes have to be expressed in the same antigen-presen…
Immunoproteasome LMP2 60HH Variant Alters MBP Epitope Generation and Reduces the Risk to Develop Multiple Sclerosis in Italian Female Population
2010
BackgroundAlbeit several studies pointed out the pivotal role that CD4+T cells have in Multiple Sclerosis, the CD8+ T cells involvement in the pathology is still in its early phases of investigation. Proteasome degradation is the key step in the production of MHC class I-restricted epitopes and therefore its activity could be an important element in the activation and regulation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells in Multiple Sclerosis.Methodology/principal findingsImmunoproteasomes and PA28-alphabeta regulator are present in MS affected brain area and accumulated in plaques. They are expressed in cell types supposed to be involved in MS development such as neurons, endothelial cells, oligodendroc…
Human CD8 T lymphocytes recognize Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens presented by HLA-E during active tuberculosis and express type 2 cytokines
2015
CD8 T cells contribute to protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In humans, M. tuberculosis reactive CD8 T cells typically recognize peptides associated to classical MHC class Ia molecules, but little information is available on CD8 T cells recognizing M. tuberculosis Ags presented by nonclassical MHC class Ib molecules. We show here that CD8 T cells from tuberculosis (TB) patients recognize HLA-E-binding M. tuberculosis peptides in a CD3/TCR αβ mediated and CD8-dependent manner, and represent an additional type of effector cells playing a role in immune response to M. tuberculosis during active infection. HLA-E-restricted recognition of M. tuberculosis peptides is detectab…
Eliminating Factor H-Binding Activity of Borrelia burgdorferi CspZ Combined with Virus-Like Particle Conjugation Enhances Its Efficacy as a Lyme Dise…
2018
The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the U.S and Europe. No potent human vaccine is currently available. The innate immune complement system is vital to host defense against pathogens, as complement activation on the surface of spirochetes results in bacterial killing. Complement system is inhibited by the complement regulator factor H. To escape killing, B. burgdorferi produces an outer surface protein CspZ that binds factor H to inhibit complement activation on the cell surface. Immunization with CspZ alone does not protect mice from infection, which we speculate is because factor H-binding cloaks potentially pro…
Induction of anamnestic T cell proliferation by antigen-pulsed, bone marrow-derived macrophages.
1981
Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM phi) were grown in a liquid culture system in the presence of L cell-conditioned medium as a source of colony-stimulating factor. After a 4-h pulse with antigen, cultured irradiated BMM phi were capable of presenting the antigen to primed T cells as assessed in a T cell proliferation assay. Proliferation was optimal when BMM phi were used between days 5 and 8 of bone marrow cell culture. T cells of Lyt1 and Lyt123 phenotype had to be present at the start of the culture period to yield an optimal response. Conventional antisera and monoclonal antibodies directed against the H-2 I region and the I-A subregion, respectively, proved inhibitory in this system…
Analysis of the immune response induced by a single xenoantigen in vivo
2004
Transgenic mice expressing human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules would provide a valuable model system for studying murine anti-human MHC immune response. We have previously shown that skin from HLA-DR1 transgenic mice was rejected by control littermates and spleen cells from rejecting mice were able to proliferate to donor cells. The aim of this paper is to analyze the mechanism of recognition of this xenoantigen and the possible involvement of antibody response in anti-HLA-DR1 immune response. Control littermates were immunized with spleen cells from HLA-DR1 transgenic (TG) mice; at indicated times, xenoantigen-specific proliferation and IFNgamma production was a…
Generation of monoclonal antibodies of desired specificity using chimeric polyomavirus-derived virus-like particles.
2005
Foreign protein sequences presented on hamster polyomavirus (HaPyV) major capsid protein VP1-derived virus-like particles (VLPs) have been demonstrated to be highly immunogenic. The current study was aimed to evaluate VP1-derived chimeric VLPs as tools for hybridoma technology to generate monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) of desired specificity. Chimeric VLPs containing inserts of different size and origin were used as immunogens. Chimeric VLPs carrying a 9 amino acid (aa)-long cytotoxic T-cell epitope (STAPPVHNV) of human mucin 1 (MUC1) elicited a strong epitope-specific humoral immune response in mice and promoted the production of MUC1-specific mAbs. From a total of seven mAbs of IgG isotype …