Disziplinäre Kultur und Geschlecht: Annette Kar Baxter in den American Studies

Harders L. Disziplinäre Kultur und Geschlecht: Annette Kar Baxter in den American Studies. In: Paulitz T, Hey B, Kink S, Prietl B, eds. Akademische Wissenskulturen und soziale Praxis. Geschlechterforschung zu natur-, technik- und geisteswissenschaftlichen Fächern im Vergleich. Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot; 2015: 60-77

MathematikerInnen und PhysikerInnen an Hochschulen: Repairing or Redesigning the Leaky Pipeline?

Langfeld B, Mischau A. MathematikerInnen und PhysikerInnen an Hochschulen: Repairing or Redesigning the Leaky Pipeline? In: Hey B, Kink S, Paulitz T, Prietl B, eds. Akademische Wissenskulturen und soziale Praxis. Geschlechterforschung zu natur-, technik- und geisteswissenschaftlichen Fächern im Vergleich. Sektionsreihe Forum Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung. Vol 42. Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot; 2015: 37-59

Distribution of CD4(pos) -, CD8(pos) - and regulatory T cells in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract in healthy young subjects.

The gastrointestinal immune system is involved in the development of several autoimmune-mediated diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes mellitus. Alterations in T-cell populations, especially regulatory T cells (Tregs), are often evident in patients suffering from these diseases. To be able to detect changes in T-cell populations in diseased tissue, it is crucial to investigate T-cell populations in healthy individuals, and to characterize their variation among different regions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. While limited data exist, quantitative data on biopsies systematically drawn from various regions of the GI tract are lacking, particularly in healthy young humans. In this report, we present the first systematic assessment of how T cells--including Tregs--are distributed in the gastrointestinal mucosa throughout the GI tract of healthy young humans by means of multi-parameter FACS analysis. Gastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy were performed on 16 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 32. Biopsies were drawn from seven GI regions, and were used to determine the frequencies of CD8(+)-, CD4(+)- and Tregs in the gastrointestinal mucosa by means of multi-parameter FACS analysis. Our data show that there is significant variation in the baseline T-cell landscape along the healthy human gastrointestinal tract, and that mucosal T-cell analyses from a single region should not be taken as representative of the entire gastrointestinal tract. We show that certain T-cell subsets in the gastrointestinal mucosa vary significantly among regions; most notably, that Tregs are enriched in the appendiceal orifice region and the ascending colon, and that CD8(pos) T cells are enriched in the gastric mucosa

High GPR56 surface expression correlates with a leukemic stem cell gene signature in CD34‐positive AML

Abstract Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is driven by a minor fraction of leukemic stem cells (LSCs) whose persistence is considered being the primary cause of disease relapse. A detailed characterization of the surface immunophenotype of LSCs to discriminate them from bulk leukemic blasts may enable successful targeting of this population thereby improving patient outcomes in AML. To identify surface markers, which may reflect LSC activity at diagnosis, we performed a detailed analysis of 16 putative LSC markers in CD34/38 leukemic subcompartments of 150 diagnostic AML samples using multicolor flow cytometry. The most promising markers were then selected to determine a possible correlation of their expression with a recently published LSC gene signature. We found GPR56 and CLL‐1 to be the most prominently differently expressed surface markers in AML subcompartments. While GPR56 was highest expressed within the LSC‐enriched CD34+38− subcompartment as compared to CD34+38+ and CD34− leukemic bulk cells, CLL‐1 expression was lowest in CD34+38− leukemic cells and increased in CD34+38+ and CD34− blasts. Furthermore, high GPR56 surface expression in CD34+38− leukemic cells correlated with a recently published LSC gene expression signature and was associated with decreased overall survival in patients receiving intensive chemotherapy. In contrast, CLL‐1 expression correlated inversely with the LSC gene signature and was not informative on outcome. Our data strongly support GPR56 as a promising clinically relevant marker for identifying leukemic cells with LSC activity at diagnosis in CD34‐positive AML

Vitamin D and Immune Function

Vitamin D metabolizing enzymes and vitamin D receptors are present in many cell types including various immune cells such as antigen-presenting-cells, T cells, B cells and monocytes. In vitro data show that, in addition to modulating innate immune cells, vitamin D also promotes a more tolerogenic immunological status. In vivo data from animals and from human vitamin D supplementation studies have shown beneficial effects of vitamin D on immune function, in particular in the context of autoimmunity. In this review, currently available data are summarized to give an overview of the effects of vitamin D on the immune system in general and on the regulation of inflammatory responses, as well as regulatory mechanisms connected to autoimmune diseases particularly in type 1 diabetes mellitus