Under Performance of Anti Tuberculosis Vaccine MVA85A in BCG-Primed Subjects: a Commentary
Developing an effective anti tuberculosis (TB) vaccine is a top priority for global control of TB. Since BCG has limited protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection, efforts are being made to improve its protective efficacy further. Prime-boost is a strategy whereby an individual is primed with BCG followed by boosting with a heterologous anti TB vaccine/antigen. In several instances, boosting involves up-modulation of CD4+ Th1 mediated cellular immunity by stimulation with the corresponding antigen(s) as well as by down modulating the immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. In a recent trial with such a bo...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Currently Available Methods of Bacterial Cell Detection
The bacterial surface is a complex combination of various immunogenic components of genus, species, and strain specificity. Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, used widely in the manufacture of diagnostic test systems, have traditionally served as biological components for the specific detection of bacterial cells. In molecular biology, bacterial cell detection is performed with the help of genetic engineering technologies for cloning recognizing fragments (hypervariable immunoglobulin domains (miniantibodies). These technologies are cheaper and can be competitive in selectivity with hybridoma technologies. At present, r...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Mechanisms of Inflammatory Atherosclerosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Cardiovascular disease dependent on inflammatory accelerated atherosclerosis leads to increased mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In addition to traditional, Framingham risk factors, several immuno-inflammatory cells, mediators and molecules may link atherosclerosis to arthritis. Among immune cells, primarily TH1 cells, as well as endothelial cells play a crucial role in synovial and vascular inflammation. Various cell surface molecules, such as adhesion receptors, CD40-CD40 ligand or members of the RANK-RANK ligand-osteoprotegerin system, as well as soluble pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, autoantibodies and ...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Inflammasomes – A Mini-Review
The cells of the innate immune system continually undergo surveillance of the extracellular milieu to serve as the first line of defense against invading microbial pathogens. As a result, these innate immune cells have evolved receptors to sense microbial motifs and danger signals. The inflammasome is an important component of the innate immune system’s “arsenal” against invading microbes such as viruses and bacteria and acts as a homeostatic checkpoint to regulate inflammation. Inflammasomes are cytosolic multi-protein complexes that activate caspase 1 and 11, which result in the production of pro-inflammatory inter...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Interleukin 10 in Antiviral Responses
The type of immune response a host can raise against an invading parasite may often be decisive between chronicity or clearance, and in the worst cases between host survival and death. Helper T cells are key to determining whether antibody-mediated, inflammatory or cytolytic responses will be predominant. Interleukin 10 (IL10) is widely recognized to be the most important cytokine for anti-inflammatory reactions and tends to be associated to chronicity in quite a few types of viral infections. On the other hand, it has also been associated to tissue preservation in chronic viral disease. This review summarizes the most rec...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Regulatory T cells: Biomarkers and Immunopathogenesis
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is a hematological malignancy and the most prevalent form of childhood leukemia. Development of ALL is related to the blockade of lymphocyte differentiation, which might affect B or T precursor cells, resulting in the accumulation of blasts in bone marrow. Moreover, immunopathogenesis of ALL involves T regulatory cells (Tregs), which have been investigated in leukemic patients, presenting more immunosuppressive ability than those from normal individuals. Tregs are critical for the maintenance of autoreactive cells, affecting both lineages CD4+ and CD8+, and immune vigilance. Evaluating th...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Crosstalk between Histamine and T cells in Allergic Diseases
Histamine, a prominent mediator of the symptoms and pathogenesis of allergic diseases, is produced not only by mast cells and basophils via the classical degranulation process but also by other immune cells including T cells via a neosynthesis process. Interestingly, T cells produce and are affected by histamine. Various T cell functions are also regulated by histamine via H1, H2, and H4 receptors. We recently demonstrated that T cells induce massive allergic inflammation without assistance from the immunoglobulin E (IgE)/mast cell-dependent pathway, and histamine may be involved in the development of allergic diseases via...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Editorial (Thematic Issue: Biomarkers of Impaired Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Health and Disease)
(Source: Current Immunology Reviews)
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Meet Our Editor
(Source: Current Immunology Reviews)
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - March 30, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Acknowledgements to the reviewers
(Source: Current Immunology Reviews)
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - November 27, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
The Role of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases in Asthma
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways with distinct features including nonspecific airway hyper-responsiveness, reversible bronchoconstriction, inflammation, and airway remodeling. The classical characteristics of asthma are the activation and recruitment of inflammatory cells, shedding of bronchial epithelium, subepithelial fibrosis, angiogenesis, mucus metaplasia and changes in the mass of airway smooth muscle cells. A complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors contributes to the disease and its heterogeneity. Various cell types, endogenous mediators including cytokines, chemokines, a...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - November 27, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Inflammatory Cyclooxygenase Activity and PGE2 Signaling in Models of Alzheimer’s Disease
The inflammatory response is a fundamental driving force in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In the setting of accumulating immunogenic Aß peptide assemblies, microglia, the innate immune cells of the brain, generate a non-resolving immune response and fail to adequately clear accumulating Aß peptides, accelerating neuronal and synaptic injury. Pathological, biomarker, and imaging studies point to a prominent role of the innate immune response in AD development, and the molecular components of this response are beginning to be unraveled. The inflammatory cyclooxygenase-PGE2 pathway is implicated in pre-cli...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - November 27, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Immunologic Modulations to Enhance Post-Stroke Recovery
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. The limited utility of current treatments, the increasing rates of stroke survivorship and subsequent long-term disability necessitate novel approaches to improve functional recovery after injury. The underlying immune mechanisms mediating inflammation and subsequent repair beyond the acute phase of injury remain understudied. The relative balance of injury and repair is dependent in part on the polarization state of microglia, the resident tissue macrophage of the central nervous system. Microglia can be classically activated to a pro-inflammatory phen...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - November 27, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Immunological Mechanisms of Neuropsychiatric Lupus
Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is a clinical syndrome characterized by various neurologic phenotypes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Mechanisms of NPSLE pathogenesis are not well understood although aberrant activation of both innate and adaptive immune pathways is thought to play a role. Animal models suggest a variety of factors that may instigate these neuropsychiatric events, including production of pathogenic autoantibodies, release of proinflammatory cytokines, disruption of the blood-brain barrier, and dysregulation of innate immune responses. (Source: Current Immunology Reviews)
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - November 27, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
Optic Neuritis: A Model for the Immuno-pathogenesis of Central Nervous System Inflammatory Demyelinating Diseases
Evidence for the tenuous regulation between the immune system and central nervous system (CNS) can be found with examples of interaction between these organ systems gone awry. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the prototypical inflammatory disease of the CNS and is characterized by widely distributed inflammatory demyelinating plaques that can involve the brain, spinal cord and/or optic nerves. Optic neuritis (ON), inflammatory injury of the optic nerve that frequently occurs in patients with MS, has been the focus of intense study in part given the readily accessible nature of clinical outcome measures. Exploring the clinical an...
Source: Current Immunology Reviews - November 27, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research
