3,094 research outputs found
The transcriptional repressor Bcl6 controls the stability of regulatory T cells by intrinsic and extrinsic pathways
Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells are essential to maintain immune homeostasis, yet controversy exists about the stability of this cell population. Bcl6-deficient (Bcl6(-/-) ) mice develop severe and spontaneous T helper type 2 (Th2) inflammation and Bcl6-deficient Treg cells are ineffective at controlling Th2 responses. We used a lineage tracing approach to analyse the fate of Treg cells in these mice. In the periphery of Bcl6(-/-) mice, increased numbers of Foxp3-negative 'exTreg' cells were found, particularly in the CD25(+) population. ExTreg cells from Bcl6(-/-) mice expressed increased interleukin-17 (IL-17) and extremely elevated levels of Th2 cytokines compared with wild-type exTreg cells. Although Treg cells normally express only low levels of cytokines, Treg cells from Bcl6(-/-) mice secreted higher levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and IL-17 than wild-type conventional T cells. Next, Treg-specific conditional Bcl6-deficient (Bcl6(Foxp3-/-) ) mice were analysed. Bcl6(Foxp3-/-) mice do not develop inflammatory disease, indicating a requirement for non-Treg cells for inflammation in Bcl6(-/-) mice, and have normal numbers of exTreg cells. We induced Th2-type allergic airway inflammation in Bcl6(Foxp3-/-) mice, and found that while exTreg cytokine expression was normal, Bcl6-deficient Treg cells expressed higher levels of the Th2-specific regulator Gata3 than Bcl6(+) Treg cells. Bcl6(Foxp3-/-) mice had increased numbers of Th2 cells after induction of airway inflammation and increased T cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. These data show both Treg-intrinsic and Treg-extrinsic roles for Bcl6 in controlling Treg cell stability and Th2 inflammation, and support the idea that Bcl6 expression in Treg cells is critical for controlling Th2 responses
Serum MicroRNA-21 as a Biomarker for Allergic Inflammatory Disease in Children
MicroRNAs (miRs) have emerged as useful biomarkers for different disease states, including allergic inflammatory diseases such as asthma and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Serum miRs are a possible non-invasive method for diagnosis of such diseases. We focused on microRNA-21 (miR-21) levels in serum, in order to assess the feasibility of using this gene as a non-invasive biomarker for these diseases in the clinic, as well as to better understand the expression pattern of miR-21 in allergic inflammation. We used quantitative PCR (QPCR) to assay miR-21 and other control miRs in esophageal biopsies from EoE patients and serum samples from EoE and asthma patients. Serum levels of miR-21 were significantly elevated in patients with asthma, whereas serum miR-21 levels were not associated with the presence of allergen-specific IgE (i.e. atopy). Esophageal biopsies showed a large elevation of miR-21 in EoE and an increase in miR-21 in EoE serum. Control U6 miR did not vary between asthma and control patients, however EoE serum had significantly decreased U6 microRNA compared to controls. The decreased U6 in EoE sera did not completely account for the relative increase in miR-21 in the sera of EoE patients. We report for the first time that miR-21 is elevated in the sera of both asthma and EoE patients. We find no relation between serum miR-21 levels and atopy. Our results thus suggest miR-21 is a novel biomarker for human allergic inflammatory diseases
MesonNet 2013 International Workshop. Mini-proceedings
The mini-proceedings of the MesonNet 2013 International Workshop held in
Prague from June 17th to 19th, 2013, are presented. MesonNet is a research
network within EU HadronPhysics3 project (1/2012 -- 12/2014). The web page of
the conference, which contains all talks, can be found at
http://ipnp.mff.cuni.cz/mesonnet13Comment: 106 pages, 53 contributions. Mini-proceedings of the MesonNet 2013
International Workshop. Editors: K. Kampf, A. Kupsc, and P. Masjua
Search for eta-mesic 4He in the dd->3He n pi0 and dd->3He p pi- reactions with the WASA-at-COSY facility
The search for 4He-eta bound states was performed with the WASA-at-COSY
facility via the measurement of the excitation function for the dd->3He n pi0
and dd->3He p pi- processes. The beam momentum was varied continuously between
2.127 GeV/c and 2.422 GeV/c, corresponding to the excess energy for the dd->4He
eta reaction ranging from Q=-70 MeV to Q=30 MeV. The luminosity was determined
based on the dd->3He n reaction and quasi-free proton-proton scattering via
dd->pp n_spectator n_spectator reactions. The excitation functions determined
independently for the measured reactions do not reveal a structure which could
be interpreted as a narrow mesic nucleus. Therefore, the upper limits of the
total cross sections for the bound state production and decay in
dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He n pi0 and dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He p pi- processes
were determined taking into account the isospin relation between both the
channels considered. The results of the analysis depend on the assumptions of
the N* momentum distribution in the anticipated mesic-4He. Assuming as in the
previous works, that this is identical with the distribution of nucleons bound
with 20 MeV in 4He, we determined that (for the mesic bound state width in the
range from 5 MeV to 50 MeV) the upper limits at 90% confidence level are about
3 nb and about 6 nb for npi0 and ppi- channels, respectively. However, based on
the recent theoretical findings of the N*(1535) momentum distribution in the
N*-3He nucleus bound by 3.6 MeV, we find that the WASA-at-COSY detector
acceptance decreases and hence the corresponding upper limits are 5 nb and 10
nb for npi0 and ppi- channels respectively.Comment: This article will be submitted to JHE
Neutron-Proton Scattering in the Context of the (2380) Resonance
New data on quasifree polarized neutron-proton scattering, in the region of
the recently observed resonance structure, have been obtained by
exclusive and kinematically complete high-statistics measurements with WASA at
COSY. This paper details the determination of the beam polarization, checks of
the quasifree character of the scattering process, on all obtained
angular distributions and on the new partial-wave analysis, which includes the
new data producing a resonance pole in the - coupled partial
waves at () MeV -- in accordance with the dibaryon
resonance hypothesis. The effect of the new partial-wave solution on the
description of total and differential cross section data as well as specific
combinations of spin-correlation and spin-transfer observables available from
COSY-ANKE measurements at = 2.27 GeV is discussed
Charge Symmetry Breaking in dd->4He{\pi}0 with WASA-at-COSY
Charge symmetry breaking (CSB) observables are a suitable experimental tool
to examine effects induced by quark masses on the nuclear level. Previous high
precision data from TRIUMF and IUCF are currently used to develop a consistent
description of CSB within the framework of chiral perturbation theory. In this
work the experimental studies on the reaction dd->4He{\pi}0 have been extended
towards higher excess energies in order to provide information on the
contribution of p-waves in the final state. For this, an exclusive measurement
has been carried out at a beam momentum of p=1.2 GeV/c using the WASA-at-COSY
facility. The total cross section amounts to sigma(tot) = (118 +- 18(stat) +-
13(sys) +- 8(ext)) pb and first data on the differential cross section are
consistent with s-wave pion production.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
ABC Effect and Resonance Structure in the Double-Pionic Fusion to He
Exclusive and kinematically complete measurements of the double pionic fusion
to He have been performed in the energy region of the so-called ABC effect,
which denotes a pronounced low-mass enhancement in the -invariant mass
spectrum. The experiments were carried out with the WASA detector setup at
COSY. Similar to the observations in the basic reaction
and in the He reaction, the data reveal a correlation
between the ABC effect and a resonance-like energy dependence in the total
cross section. Differential cross sections are well described by the hypothesis
of resonance formation during the reaction process in addition to the
conventional -channel mechanism. The deduced resonance
width can be understood from collision broadening due to Fermi motion of the
nucleons in initial and final nuclei
Search for the eta-mesic 4He with WASA-at-COSY detector
An exclusive measurement of the excitation function for the dd->3Heppi-
reaction was performed at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-Juelich with the
WASA-at-COSY detection system. The data were taken during a slow acceleration
of the beam from 2.185 GeV/c to 2.400 GeV/c crossing the kinematic threshold
for the eta meson production in the dd->4He-eta reaction at 2.336 GeV/c. The
corresponding excess energy with respect to the 4He-eta system varied from
-51.4MeV to 22MeV. The integrated luminosity in the experiment was determined
using the dd->3Hen reaction. The shape of the excitation function for the
dd->3Heppi- was examined. No signal of the 4He-eta bound state was observed. An
upper limit for the cross-section for the bound state formation and decay in
the process dd->(4He-eta)bound->3Heppi- was determined on the 90% confidence
level and it varies from 20nb to 27nb for the bound state width ranging from
5MeV to 35MeV, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
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