Immunoregulatory Properties (immunoregulatory + property)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Myeloid-derived suppressor cells in inflammation: Uncovering cell subsets with enhanced immunosuppressive functions

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 10 2009
Vincenzo Bronte
Abstract Although originally described in tumor-bearing hosts, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) have been detected under numerous pathological situations that cause enhanced demand of myeloid cells. Thus, MDSC might be part of a conserved response to different endogenous and exogenous stress signals, including inflammation. Two processes are fundamental for MDSC biology: differentiation from myeloid progenitors and full activation of their immune regulatory program by factors released from activated T cells or present in the microenvironment conditioned by either tumor growth or inflammation. How these two processes are controlled and linked is still an open question. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, a paper demonstrates that a combination of the known inflammatory molecules, IFN-, and LPS, sustains MDSC expansion and activation while suppressing differentiation of DC from bone marrow precursors. Moreover, this paper contributes to defining the cell subsets that possess immunoregulatory properties within the broad population of CD11b+Gr-1+ cells, often altogether referred to as MDSC. [source]


Interleukin-10-secreting T cells define a suppressive subset within the HIV-1-specific T-cell population

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
Eirik A. Torheim
Abstract Recent studies have indicated that Treg contribute to the HIV type 1 (HIV-1)-related immune pathogenesis. However, it is not clear whether T cells with suppressive properties reside within the HIV-1-specific T-cell population. Here, PBMC from HIV-1-infected individuals were stimulated with a 15-mer Gag peptide pool, and HIV-1-specific T cells were enriched by virtue of their secretion of IL-10 or IFN-, using immunomagnetic cell-sorting. Neither the IL-10-secreting cells nor the IFN-,-secreting cells expressed the Treg marker FOXP3, yet the IL-10-secreting cells potently suppressed anti-CD3/CD28-induced CD4+ as well as CD8+ T-cell proliferative responses. As shown by intracellular cytokine staining, IL-10- and IFN-,-producing T cells represent distinct subsets of the HIV-1-specific T cells. Our data collectively suggest that functionally defined HIV-1-specific T-cell subsets harbor potent immunoregulatory properties that may contribute to HIV-1-associated T-cell dysfunction. [source]


CD56bright natural killer (NK) cells: an important NK cell subset

IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Aurélie Poli
Summary Human natural killer (NK) cells can be subdivided into different populations based on the relative expression of the surface markers CD16 and CD56. The two major subsets are CD56bright CD16dim/, and CD56dim CD16+, respectively. In this review, we will focus on the CD56bright NK cell subset. These cells are numerically in the minority in peripheral blood but constitute the majority of NK cells in secondary lymphoid tissues. They are abundant cytokine producers but are only weakly cytotoxic before activation. Recent data suggest that under certain conditions, they have immunoregulatory properties, and that they are probably immediate precursors of CD56dim NK cells. CD56bright NK cell percentages are expanded or reduced in a certain number of diseases, but the significance of these variations is not yet clear. [source]


Association of vitamin D receptor genotypes with early onset rheumatoid arthritis

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 1 2001
J. R. Garcia-Lozano
The presence of certain vitamin D receptor (VDR) genotypes has been associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly populations as well as with accelerated bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In the present study, VDR genotypes from 120 Spanish patients with RA were investigated. Three VDR gene polymorphisms (BsmI, ApaI and TaqI) were investigated using polymerase chain reaction followed by enzymatic digestion. The distributions of VDR allelic frequencies were similar in patients and controls and therefore no influence of VDR polymorphisms on rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility could be demonstrated. However, in an analysis of the clinical features of the different VDR-related genetic subgroups, the BB/tt genotype, defined by the BsmI and TaqI restriction site polymorphisms, was identified to be weakly associated with an early onset RA in female patients. This VDR genotype has been associated with a low BMD level in various studies. When patients were stratified according to the presence of the shared HLA epitope SE, it was found that SE + female patients bearing the BB/tt genotype showed the earliest disease onset. The mechanisms by which the VDR polymorphism is associated with RA is unknown, but they could be related to the immunoregulatory properties of vitamin D. [source]


Inhibitory effect of pooled human immunoglobulin on cytokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
Kuan-Hsun Wu
Human intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) are widely used as immunomodulators because of their ability to modify the course of various immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the mechanisms responsible for the regulatory effects of IVIG on in vitro human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cytokine production. Pre-incubation of PBMCs with IVIG inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)/ionomycin stimulated cytokine secretion. Pre-incubation of PBMCs with IVIG induced a significant inhibition of LPS-stimulated (IL-6) secretion (p = 0.045); the effect on tumor necrosis factor- , (TNF- ,) secretion was not significant (p = 0.234). Pre-incubation of PBMCs with IVIG inhibited IL-6 secretion (p = 0.033) stimulated with anti-CD14 antibody cross-linking but had no significant effect on TNF- , secretion (p = 0.125). PBMC pre-incubation with anti-CD14-blocking antibody induced a significant reduction (p = 0.042) in LPS-stimulated TNF- , secretion in comparison with a non-significant reduction (p =0.256) noted with IVIG pre-treatment. In contrast, pre-incubation of PBMCs with anti-CD14 antibody did not induce a significant reduction in LPS-stimulated IL-6 secretion (p = 0.166) in comparison with a significant reduction (p = 0.001) induced with IVIG pre-treatment. Our data suggest that the immunoregulatory properties of IVIG may rely on several mechanisms, some of which may be independent of CD14. Our data also showed that cross-linking cell membrane-bound IVIG with anti-human kappa- and lambda-chain antibodies resulted in cytokine secretion levels similar to those elicited by LPS. In addition, intracellular DNA staining results did not support the involvement of apoptosis in the regulatory mechanisms of IVIG. This data may further our understanding of the immunoregulatory effects exerted by IVIG on the production of inflammatory-response mediators. [source]


Cellular immune responses in autoimmune thyroid disease

CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 4 2004
A. P. Weetman
Summary Recent research in autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) has largely focused on delineation of the autoantigens and their epitopes, but there is now renewed interest in the immunoregulatory properties of T cells, an understanding of which may explain the emergence of AITD in experimental settings. T cell recognition of autoantigens has shown considerable intra- and interindividual heterogeneity, and a mixed pattern of cytokine production indicates that both the Th1 and Th2 limbs of the helper T cell response are involved in all types of AITD. It is now clear that secretion of chemokines and cytokines within the thyroid accounts for the accumulation and expansion of the intrathyroidal lymphocyte pool, and that the thyroid cells themselves contribute to this secretion. The thyroid cells also produce a number of proinflammatory molecules which will tend to exacerbate the autoimmune process. Thyroid cell destruction in autoimmune hypothyroidism is dependent on T cell-mediated cytotoxicity with the likely additional effect of death receptor-mediated apoptosis. [source]