51 research outputs found
A team effort: natural killer cells on the first leg of the tumor immunity relay race
Recent work by Böttcher and colleagues defines a new role for Natural Killer cells in the anti-tumor immune response, arriving early into the tumor microenvironment before passing the baton to DC1 dendritic cells. DC1 dendritic cells subsequently activate CD8+ T cells resulting in effective anti-tumor immunity. This work highlights the cooperative nature of anti-tumor immunity set in motion by Natural Killer cells, and immune evasion by tumors through their exclusion.National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (R00CA204595
How Airbnb Conveys Social and Economic Value through User Representation
New platforms for renting and sharing among private individuals are emerging in todayâs e-commerce landscape. Airbnb can be regarded as a representative of many such platforms. Such accommodation rental commonly implies shared usage where both host and guest occupy a space at the same time, involving social interactions that can provide additional value. Drawing on social reward theory, this paper proposes a research model that links the guestâs intention to book to the hostâs user representa-tion via the pathways of social and economic value. We propose a design to evaluate our research model by means of a scenario-based online experiment, including the common elements of user repre-sentation (1) text reviews, (2) profile information (e.g., occupation, hobbies and interests), (3) star rating, and (4) the listing price. With this, we expect to contribute to a better understanding of the driving factors behind guestsâ booking decisions in accommodation sharing
A simple methodology to assess endolysosomal protease activity involved in antigen processing in human primary cells
Background: Endolysosomes play a key role in maintaining the homeostasis of the cell. They are made of a complex set of proteins that degrade lipids, proteins and sugars. Studies involving endolysosome contribution to cellular functions such as MHC class I and II epitope production have used recombinant endolysosomal proteins, knockout mice that lack one of the enzymes or purified organelles from human tissue. Each of these approaches has some caveats in analyzing endolysosomal enzyme functions. Results: In this study, we have developed a simple methodology to assess endolysosomal protease activity. By varying the pH in crude lysate from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), we documented increased endolysosomal cathepsin activity in acidic conditions. Using this new method, we showed that the degradation of HIV peptides in low pH extracts analyzed by mass spectrometry followed similar kinetics and degradation patterns as those performed with purified endolysosomes. Conclusion: By using crude lysate in the place of purified organelles this method will be a quick and useful tool to assess endolysosomal protease activities in primary cells of limited availability. This quick method will especially be useful to screen peptide susceptibility to degradation in endolysosomal compartments for antigen processing studies, following which detailed analysis using purified organelles may be used to study specific peptides
Exploring the feasibility of introducing triple artemisinin-based combination therapy in the malaria treatment policy in Vietnam
BACKGROUND: This study investigates the processes regarding changing malaria treatment policies in Vietnam. Moreover, it explores the feasibility of introducing triple artemisinin-based combination therapy (TACT) in Vietnam to support the national malaria control and elimination plan. METHODS: Data were collected via 12 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, combined with a review of policy documents. RESULTS: TACT is considered as a useful backup strategy in case future treatment failures with current artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) would occur. Moreover, TACT is also considered as a promising strategy to prevent the re-establishment of malaria. However, regulatory procedures and implementation timelines for TACT were expected to be lengthy. Therefore, strategies to engage national decision-makers, regulators, and suppliers should be initiated soon, stipulating the benefits of TACT deployment. In Vietnam, a procedure to apply for an import permit without registration that has previously been applied to the introduction of artesunate-pyronaridine was proposed to accelerate the introduction of TACT. Global-level support through the World Health Organization recommendations and prequalification were considered critical for supporting the introduction of TACT in Vietnam. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate approach strategies and early stakeholder engagement will be needed to accelerate the introduction of TACT in Vietnam
Characterization of soluble TLR2 and CD14 levels during acute dengue virus infection
Dengue virus infection results in a broad spectrum of diseases ranging from mild dengue fever (DF) to severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Hitherto, there is no consensus biomarker for the prediction of severe dengue disease in patients. Yet, early identification of patients who progress to severe dengue is pivotal for better clinical management. We have recently reported that an increased frequency of classical (CD14 ++CD16 -) monocytes with sustained high TLR2 expression in acutely infected dengue patients correlates with severe dengue development. Here, we hypothesized that the relatively lower TLR2 and CD14 expression in mild dengue patients is due to the shedding of their soluble forms (sTLR2 and sCD14) and that these could be used as indicators of disease progression. Therefore, using commercial sandwich ELISAs, we evaluated the release of sTLR2 and sCD14 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in response to in vitro dengue virus (DENV) infection and assessed their levels in acute-phase plasma of 109 dengue patients. We show that while both sTLR2 and sCD14 are released by PBMCs in response to DENV infection in vitro, their co-circulation in an acute phase of the disease is not always apparent. In fact, sTLR2 was found only in 20% of patients irrespective of disease status. In contrast, sCD14 levels were detected in all patients and were significantly elevated in DF patients when compared to DHF patients and age-matched healthy donors. Altogether, our results suggest that sCD14 may help in identifying patients at risk of severe dengue at hospital admittance. </p
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Variable Processing and Cross-presentation of HIV by Dendritic Cells and Macrophages Shapes CTL Immunodominance and Immune Escape
Dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages (MĂžs) internalize and process exogenous HIV-derived antigens for cross-presentation by MHC-I to cytotoxic CD8+ T cells (CTL). However, how degradation patterns of HIV antigens in the cross-presentation pathways affect immunodominance and immune escape is poorly defined. Here, we studied the processing and cross-presentation of dominant and subdominant HIV-1 Gag-derived epitopes and HLA-restricted mutants by monocyte-derived DCs and MĂžs. The cross-presentation of HIV proteins by both DCs and MĂžs led to higher CTL responses specific for immunodominant epitopes. The low CTL responses to subdominant epitopes were increased by pretreatment of target cells with peptidase inhibitors, suggestive of higher intracellular degradation of the corresponding peptides. Using DC and MĂž cell extracts as a source of cytosolic, endosomal or lysosomal proteases to degrade long HIV peptides, we identified by mass spectrometry cell-specific and compartment-specific degradation patterns, which favored the production of peptides containing immunodominant epitopes in all compartments. The intracellular stability of optimal HIV-1 epitopes prior to loading onto MHC was highly variable and sequence-dependent in all compartments, and followed CTL hierarchy with immunodominant epitopes presenting higher stability rates. Common HLA-associated mutations in a dominant epitope appearing during acute HIV infection modified the degradation patterns of long HIV peptides, reduced intracellular stability and epitope production in cross-presentation-competent cell compartments, showing that impaired epitope production in the cross-presentation pathway contributes to immune escape. These findings highlight the contribution of degradation patterns in the cross-presentation pathway to HIV immunodominance and provide the first demonstration of immune escape affecting epitope cross-presentation
New Insights into Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Functional Genetic Analysis of gyrA and gyrB Mutations
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are among the most potent second-line drugs used for treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB), and resistance to this class of antibiotics is one criterion for defining extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB). Fluoroquinolone resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been associated with modification of the quinolone resistance determining region (QRDR) of gyrA. Recent studies suggest that amino acid substitutions in gyrB may also play a crucial role in resistance, but functional genetic studies of these mutations in M. tuberculosis are lacking. In this study, we examined twenty six mutations in gyrase genes gyrA (seven) and gyrB (nineteen) to determine the clinical relevance and role of these mutations in fluoroquinolone resistance. Transductants or clinical isolates harboring T80A, T80A+A90G, A90G, G247S and A384V gyrA mutations were susceptible to all fluoroquinolones tested. The A74S mutation conferred low-level resistance to moxifloxacin but susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and ofloxacin, and the A74S+D94G double mutation conferred cross resistance to all the fluoroquinolones tested. Functional genetic analysis and structural modeling of gyrB suggest that M330I, V340L, R485C, D500A, D533A, A543T, A543V and T546M mutations are not sufficient to confer resistance as determined by agar proportion. Only three mutations, N538D, E540V and R485C+T539N, conferred resistance to all four fluoroquinolones in at least one genetic background. The D500H and D500N mutations conferred resistance only to levofloxacin and ofloxacin while N538K and E540D consistently conferred resistance to moxifloxacin only. Transductants and clinical isolates harboring T539N, T539P or N538T+T546M mutations exhibited low-level resistance to moxifloxacin only but not consistently. These findings indicate that certain mutations in gyrB confer fluoroquinolone resistance, but the level and pattern of resistance varies among the different mutations. The results from this study provide support for the inclusion of the QRDR of gyrB in molecular assays used to detect fluoroquinolone resistance in M. tuberculosis
NFATc1 affects mouse splenic B cell function by controlling the calcineurinâNFAT signaling network
Mouse B cells lacking NFATc1 exhibit defective proliferation, survival, isotype class switching, cytokine production, and T cell help
COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study
Background:
The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms.
Methods:
International, prospective observational study of 60â109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms.
Results:
âTypicalâ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (â€â18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (â„â70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each Pâ<â0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country.
Interpretation:
This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men
Elucidating the functional states of tumor-resident dendritic cells that drive productive anti-tumor immunity
While checkpoint blockade immunotherapy (CBT) has demonstrated remarkable clinical efficacy, its success is tempered by an inability to induce responses in the majority of cancer patients. Efforts to understand mechanisms of CBT resistance have unveiled a requirement for a subset of dendritic cells (DC) called Batf3-driven conventional DC1, given their superior ability to initiate tumor-reactive cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses. The exclusion or functional suppression of DC1 in tumors impedes CBT efficacy and enables tumor immune evasion and outgrowth. While the role of DC1 to anti-tumor immunity has been well-established, much less is known about the contribution of other DC subsets which can be found infiltrating tumors. Furthermore, under inflammation, DC subsets can exist in distinct functional states with differential impacts on their function. In this work, we sought to study DC states associated with productive or dysfunctional anti-tumor immune responses and dissect the signals that drive them.
To study DC states, we compared the DC infiltrate of a spontaneously regressing tumor (MC57-SIY; productive anti-tumor immunity) with a progressing tumor (MC38-SIY; dysfunctional anti-tumor immunity). We identified a novel activation state of CD11b+ conventional DC expressing an interferon-stimulated gene signature (ISG+ DC) that was enriched in regressor tumors. Like DC1, ISG+ DC was capable of driving anti-tumor CD8+ T cell immunity. However, unlike cross-presenting DC1, ISG+ DC activated T cells by crossdressing with pre-formed tumor-derived peptide-MHC complexes. We determined that constitutive tumor cell-derived type-I-interferon (IFN-I) production in regressor tumors was driving the ISG+ DC state. Ablation of tumor cell-derived IFN-I in regressor tumors led to complete loss of anti-tumor T-cell responses in mice lacking DC1. Conversely, addition of IFNÎČ to progressor tumors induced ISG+ DC and rescued anti-tumor T-cell responses in the absence of DC1.
Our study highlights the untapped stimulatory potential of the DC compartment that can be harnessed to drive anti-tumor CD8+ T cell responses. In ongoing work, we are dissecting the mechanistic signals driving dysfunctional DC in progressor tumors over time. Engaging the functional states of DC or rewiring dysfunctional DC towards these functional states has the potential to strengthen anti-tumor immunity and may improve CBT responses.Ph.D
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