Published in The Journal of experimental medicine
Venoms frequently co-opt host immune responses, so study of their mode of action can provide insight into novel inflammatory pathways. Using bee and wasp venom responses as a model system, we investigated whether venoms contain CD1-presented antigens. Here, we show that venoms activate human T cells via CD1a proteins. Whereas CD1 proteins typically...
Published in Journal of Experimental Medicine
Published in The 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]) ...
Published in Trends in Immunology
T cell development requires recognition of self-peptides in the thymus. Two recent studies by Allen and colleagues shed new light into the connection between self-recognition during positive selection and recognition of foreign antigen in the periphery.
Published in Oncology
Objective: The clinical significance of microRNA-21 (miR-21) and miR-155 in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients remains elusive. In this study, we established the prognostic value of miR-21 and miR-155 using clinical samples from CRC patients. Furthermore, relationships between these microRNAs and target genes (PDCD4 and TP53INP1 mRNAs) were examined....
Published in The Journal of experimental medicine
Nitric oxide (NO) generated by inducible NO synthase 2 (NOS2) affects cellular iron homeostasis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms and implications for NOS2-dependent pathogen control are incompletely understood. In this study, we found that NO up-regulated the expression of ferroportin-1 (Fpn1), the major cellular iron exporter, in mouse and...
Published in The Journal of experimental medicine
Microbial infection of the amniotic fluid is a significant cause of fetal injury, preterm birth, and newborn infections. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is an important human bacterial pathogen associated with preterm birth, fetal injury, and neonatal mortality. Although GBS has been isolated from amniotic fluid of women in preterm labor, mechanisms of...
Published in The Journal of experimental medicine
Replicative stress (RS) is a type of endogenous DNA damage that cells suffer every time they duplicate their genomes, and which is further boosted by oncogenes. In mammals, the RS response (RSR) is coordinated by ATR and Chk1 kinases. We sought to develop a mammalian organism that is selectively protected from RS. To this end, mice carrying an extr...
Published in Seminars in Immunopathology
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite of medical and veterinary significance that is able to infect any warm-blooded vertebrate host. In addition to its importance to public health, several inherent features of the biology of T. gondii have made it an important model organism to study host–pathogen interactions. One factor is the genetic tracta...
Published in The Journal of experimental medicine
Notch plays critical roles in both cell fate decisions and tumorigenesis. Notch receptor engagement initiates signaling cascades that include a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway. Mammalian TOR (mTOR) participates in two distinct biochemical complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, and the relationship between mTORC2 and physiolog...
