Emanual Maverakis

Management of recalcitrant hidradenitis suppurativa with ustekinumab.

Published in Acta Dermato Venereologica

Age-related disparities in use of completion lymphadenectomy for melanoma sentinel lymph node metastasis.

Published in Journal of Surgical Research

Limited clonality in autoimmunity: drivers and regulators.

Published in Autoimmunity Reviews

The available T cell repertoire directed against self is appreciable owing to the escape of many clones from negative selection, largely because many determinants on self proteins are cryptic and not presented adequately. In addition, the degeneracy of T cell receptor specificity permits each lymphocyte a broad recognitive potential. Within the ava...

Molecular mimics can induce a nonautoaggressive repertoire that preempts induction of autoimmunity.

Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

To determine the role that competition plays in a molecular mimic s capacity to induce autoimmunity, we studied the ability of naïve encephalitogenic T cells to expand in response to agonist altered peptide ligands (APLs), some capable of stimulating both self-directed and exclusively APL-specific T cells. Our results show that although the APLs ca...

Acrodermatitis enteropathica.

Published in Dermatology online journal

A 13-year-old girl presented with a history of red scaly plaques involving the chest, arms and legs beginning in infancy. Punch biopsy revealed psoriasiform hyperplasia and pallor of the epidermis. The patient s serum zinc level was 36 mug/dl [nl. 66-144 mug/dl]. A diagnosis of acrodermatitis enteropathica was established and the patient responded ...

A T cell-binding fragment of fibrinogen can prevent autoimmunity.

Published in Journal of Autoimmunity

The C-terminal domain of the fibrinogen gamma chain (gammaC) has been shown to bind to the integrins alphaIIbbeta3, alphaMbeta2 and alphaVbeta3. It has also been reported that a peptide derived from the alphaMbeta2-binding site of gammaC can suppress an animal model of multiple sclerosis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Here we hav...

Tuning microenvironment modulus and biochemical composition promotes human mesenchymal stem cell tenogenic differentiati...

Published in Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising for the regeneration of tendon and ligament tissues. Toward realizing this potential, microenvironment conditions are needed for promoting robust lineage-specific differentiation into tenocytes/ligament fibroblasts. Here, we utilized a statistical design of experiments approach to examine combinations of ...

A novel in vivo gene transfer technique and in vitro cell based assays for the study of bone loss in musculoskeletal dis...

Published in Journal of Visualized Experiments

Differentiation and activation of osteoclasts play a key role in the development of musculoskeletal diseases as these cells are primarily involved in bone resorption. Osteoclasts can be generated in vitro from monocyte/macrophage precursor cells in the presence of certain cytokines, which promote survival and differentiation. Here, both in vivo and...

Adiposity induces lethal cytokine storm after systemic administration of stimulatory immunotherapy regimens in aged mice...

Published in Journal of Experimental Medicine

Aging is a contributing factor in cancer occurrence. We recently demonstrated that systemic immunotherapy (IT) administration in aged, but not young, mice resulted in induction of rapid and lethal cytokine storm. We found that aging was accompanied by increases in visceral fat similar to that seen in young obese (ob/ob or diet-induced obese [DIO]) ...

Molecular characterization of the T cell repertoire using immunoscope analysis and its possible implementation in clinic...

Published in Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry

T lymphocytes play a central role in the pathogenesis of a large number of human conditions including autoimmunity and graft rejection. Although T cells are key players in mounting immune responses, the assessment of T cell repertoires has yet to find an important role in clinical decision making. In this review, we discuss the "immunoscope" techni...

Residual public repertoires to self.

Published in Journal of Neuroimmunology

The consensus view about the constitution of the T cell receptor repertoire has shifted greatly even during this decade. Although the discovery of autoimmunity in the fifties had clearly shown that a repertoire must exist directed against self antigens, the extent of this repertoire was not fully appreciated. In our work we have tried to elucidate ...

Thymoma-associated multiorgan autoimmunity: a graft-versus-host-like disease.

Published in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a T cell-mediated disease seen most commonly after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Rarely, a GVHD-like disease can be seen in patients with malignant thymoma. We describe a 50-year-old man with malignant thymoma who developed skin, liver, and intestinal manifestations similar to that seen in GVHD. We als...

Combination therapy with intralesional triamcinolone and oral dapsone for management of palisaded neutrophilic and granu...

Published in Dermatology online journal

Palisaded neutrophilic and granulomatous dermatitis (PNGD) is a rare granulomatous disease with limited therapeutic options. Herein we present a patient whose skin lesions recurred after surgery and oral steroids, but responded well to a combination of intralesional triamcinolone and oral dapsone.

Dietary supplementation with Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) in healthy breastfed infants: study pr...

Published in Trials

Effective strategies for the management of pyoderma gangrenosum: a comprehensive review.

Published in Acta Dermato Venereologica

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an inflammatory disease characterized by painful skin ulcerations with undermined and erythematous borders. The etiology of PG is not well understood, but it is generally considered to be an aberrant immune response characterized by a dermal neutrophilc infiltrate. Given the existence of only a few PG clinical trials, t...

A public T cell clonotype within a heterogeneous autoreactive repertoire is dominant in driving EAE.

Published in Journal of Clinical Investigation

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model of multiple sclerosis. Immunization of B10.PL mice with the Ac1-9 peptide, the immunodominant determinant of myelin basic protein (MBP), produced a single episode of EAE followed by recovery and resistance to reinduction of disease. Using the CDR3 length spectratyping technique, we ...

Treatment of melanoma in-transit metastases with combination intralesional interleukin-2, topical imiquimod, and tretino...

Published in JAAD Case Reports

Mhc-guided processing: binding of large antigen fragments.

Published in Nat Rev Immunol

Ever since the emergence of models for the processing and presentation of antigenic determinants by MHC class II molecules, the main view has been that proteins are unfolded, enzymatically cleaved into peptide lengths of about 12-25 amino acids and then loaded onto MHC class II molecules. There is, however, an alternative model stating that partial...

Patient-centered, direct-access online care for management of atopic dermatitis: a randomized clinical trial.

Published in JAMA Dermatology

Biological therapy of psoriasis.

Published in Indian Journal of Dermatology

The treatment of psoriasis has undergone a revolution with the advent of biologic therapies, including infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, efalizumab, and alefacept. These medications are designed to target specific components of the immune system and are a major technological advancement over traditional immunosuppressive medications. These usuall...