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Autoimmune Attack (autoimmune + attack)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%
Life Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Preserving , Cells in Type 1 Diabetes mellitus: the role of immunological tolerance

DRUG DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008
Stanley R. Pillemer
Abstract Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is characterized by an autoimmune attack on beta cells of the islets of Langerhans. This immunological attack is mediated by effector T-lymphocytes and results in the destruction of the , cells. One approach to abrogating the immunological attack is to use immunosuppressive treatments. Such treatments tend to broadly suppress the immune system. A better approach is to develop treatments that induce tolerance. Autoimmune diseases are associated with the presence of inadequate numbers of functionally active regulatory T cells (Tregs). Tregs can induce a state of immunological tolerance and suppress the inflammation and destruction of target tissues. Teplizumab, also known as hOKT3,1 (Ala-Ala), is a humanized monoclonal antibody that induces Tregs. In clinical trials, treatment with this antibody preserved insulin production and improved metabolic control during the first year of T1DM. A pivotal multinational trial is in progress to determine the efficacy and safety of teplizumab in the treatment of new onset T1DM. Drug Dev Res 69:153,157, 2008. ©2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Partial and transient modulation of the CD3,T-cell receptor complex, elicited by low-dose regimens of monoclonal anti-CD3, is sufficient to induce disease remission in non-obese diabetic mice

IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Devangi S. Mehta
Summary It has been established that a total of 250 ,g of monoclonal anti-mouse CD3 F(ab,)2 fragments, administered daily (50 ,g per dose), induces remission of diabetes in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse model of autoimmune diabetes by preventing , cells from undergoing further autoimmune attack. We evaluated lower-dose regimens of monoclonal anti-CD3 F(ab,)2 in diabetic NOD mice for their efficacy and associated pharmacodynamic (PD) effects, including CD3,T-cell receptor (TCR) complex modulation, complete blood counts and proportions of circulating CD4+, CD8+ and CD4+ FoxP3+ T cells. Four doses of 2 ,g (total dose 8 ,g) induced 53% remission of diabetes, similarly to the 250 ,g dose regimen, whereas four doses of 1 ,g induced only 16% remission. While the 250 ,g dose regimen produced nearly complete and sustained modulation of the CD3 ,TCR complex, lower doses, spaced 3 days apart, which induced similar remission rates, elicited patterns of transient and partial modulation. In treated mice, the proportions of circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells decreased, whereas the proportions of CD4+ FoxP3+ T cells increased; these effects were transient. Mice with greater residual ,-cell function, estimated using blood glucose and C-peptide levels at the initiation of treatment, were more likely to enter remission than mice with more advanced disease. Thus, lower doses of monoclonal anti-CD3 that produced only partial and transient modulation of the CD3,TCR complex induced remission rates comparable to higher doses of monoclonal anti-CD3. Accordingly, in a clinical setting, lower-dose regimens may be efficacious and may also improve the safety profile of therapy with monoclonal anti-CD3, potentially including reductions in cytokine release-related syndromes and maintenance of pathogen-specific immunosurveillance during treatment. [source]

Immunization with a cannabinoid receptor type 1 peptide results in experimental allergic meningocerebellitis in the Lewis rat: A model for cell-mediated autoimmune neuropathology,

JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 2 2002
Margit G. Proescholdt
Abstract Neuronal elements are increasingly suggested as primary targets of an autoimmune attack in certain neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. Type 1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1) were selected as autoimmune targets because they are predominantly expressed on neuronal surfaces in brain and display strikingly high protein levels in striatum, hippocampus, and cerebellum. Female Lewis rats were immunized with N-terminally acetylated peptides (50 or 400 ,g per rat) of the extracellular domains of the rat CB1 and killed at various time points. Subsequent evaluation using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization showed dense infiltration of immune cells exclusively within the cerebellum, peaking 12,16 days after immunization with the CB1 peptide containing amino acids 9,25. The infiltrates clustered in meninges and perivascular locations in molecular and granular cell layers and were also scattered throughout the CB1-rich neuropil. They consisted primarily of CD4+ and ED1+ cells, suggestive of cell-mediated autoimmune pathology. There were no inflammatory infiltrates elsewhere in the brain or spinal cord. The results show that neuronal elements, such as neuronal cell-surface receptors, may be recognized as antigenic targets in a cell-mediated autoimmune attack and, therefore, support the hypothesis of cell-mediated antineuronal autoimmune pathology in certain brain disorders. Published 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

DNA Damage, Apoptosis and Langerhans Cells,Activators of UV-induced Immune Tolerance,

PHOTOCHEMISTRY & PHOTOBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2008
Laura Timares
Solar UVR is highly mutagenic but is only partially absorbed by the outer stratum corneum of the epidermis. UVR can penetrate into the deeper layers of the epidermis, depending on melanin content, where it induces DNA damage and apoptosis in epidermal cells, including those in the germinative basal layer. The cellular decision to initiate either cellular repair or undergo apoptosis has evolved to balance the acute need to maintain skin barrier function with the long-term risk of retaining precancerous cells. Langerhans cells (LCs) are positioned suprabasally, where they may sense UV damage directly, or indirectly through recognition of apoptotic vesicles and soluble mediators derived from surrounding keratinocytes. Apoptotic vesicles will contain UV-induced altered proteins that may be presented to the immune system as foreign. The observation that UVR induces immune tolerance to skin-associated antigens suggests that this photodamage response has evolved to preserve the skin barrier by protecting it from autoimmune attack. LC involvement in this process is not clear and controversial. We will highlight some basic concepts of photobiology and review recent advances pertaining to UV-induced DNA damage, apoptosis regulation, novel immunomodulatory mechanisms and the role of LCs in generating antigen-specific regulatory T cells. [source]

Identification of immunodominant autoantigens in rat autoimmune orchitis

THE JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2005
Monika Fijak
Abstract Infection and inflammation of the genital tract are amongst the leading causes of male infertility. Experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) in the rat serves as a model for the investigation of inflammatory testicular impairment. In this study, experiments were conducted to identify the molecules that are responsible for eliciting the autoimmune attack on the testis. EAO was induced in in-bred Wistar rats by active immunization with testis homogenates (EAO group I). Development of disease was observed using histological techniques and a new non-invasive three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology for in vivo monitoring, termed flat-panel volumetric computed tomography (fpvCT). Examination of control and EAO testes demonstrated the superior image quality of high-resolution fpvCT. A proteomics approach using 2D SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting analysis with EAO sera identified 12 spots. Seven were subsequently identified by mass spectrometry as heat shock proteins 60 (Hsp60) and 70 (Hsp70), disulphide isomerase ER-60, alpha-1-anti-trypsin, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H1 (hnRNP H1), sperm outer dense fibre major protein 2 (ODF-2), and phosphoglycerate kinase 1. Hsp70, ODF-2, hnRNP H1, and ER-60 were identified by all EAO sera studied. To test the capacity of the identified proteins to elicit testicular autoimmune disease, recombinant proteins were used either individually or in combination to immunize rats (EAO group II). In all groups, the incidence of EAO was 25%. Inflammatory-type (ED1+) and resident (ED2+) macrophages, lymphocytes (CD45RA+), and dendritic cells (Ox-62+) were strongly increased in EAO group II animals, comparable to the testes of EAO I rats. Pre-immunization with a low dose of recombinant Hsp 70, hnRNP H1 or ODF-2 before induction of EAO with testis homogenate significantly delayed the onset of EAO but could not prevent disease. The identification of testicular autoantigens will allow a better understanding of disease pathogenesis and could provide a basis for the development of novel therapies for inflammation-based male infertility. Copyright © 2005 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]