Molecular Immunology

PURPOSE: Nitric oxide (NO) is an important messenger molecule widely present in the human body. However, the role of nasal NO (nNO) in eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (Eos CRSwNP) remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value and underlying mechanism of nNO in Eos CRSwNP. METHODS: The medical records of 84 non-Eos CRSwNP patients, 55 Eos CRSwNP patients, and 37 control subjects were retrospectively reviewed. The diagnostic value of nNO for Eos CRSwNP was assessed...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the differences in type I hypersensitivity-induced inflammatory response among children of different age groups with acute appendicitis. METHODS: We selected children diagnosed with "acute appendicitis" who underwent surgery in the Department of General Surgery of Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital from January 2022 to June 2022 and collected their basic data. We divided them into two groups according to age: the infant group (less than 3 years old) and the pediatric group (3-14 years old)...

B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is one of the most common malignancies in children. Despite advances in treatment, the role of the tumor microenvironment in B-ALL remains poorly understood. Among the key components of the immune microenvironment, macrophages play a critical role in the progression of the disease. However, recent research has suggested that abnormal metabolites may influence the function of macrophages, altering the immune microenvironment and promoting tumor growth. Our previous non-targeted metabolomic detection revealed that the metabolite 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) level in the peripheral blood of children newly diagnosed with B-ALL was significantly elevated...

BACKGROUND: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a ferroptosis sensitive tumor type with high mortality rate. However, it remains largely unknown whether ferroptosis influences the tumor cell in HNSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To investigate how ferroptosis regulators were differentially expressed between normal and tumor tissue, data related to HNSCC was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The expression levels of key factors in HNSCC and the relationship between key factors and ferroptosis in HNSCC were conducted in vitro, and then analyzed to correlate with the differences in prognosis and survival...

The immune system plays a crucial role in controlling colorectal cancer (CRC) development. Natural killer (NK) cells are tumoricidal but undergo exhaustion in CRC patients. The current research aims to understand the role of sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) in CRC-associated NK cell exhaustion in a murine inflammatory colorectal cancer model. To this end, inflammatory CRC was induced by treating mice with azoxymethane plus dextran sulfate sodium. The expression of SIRT6 in NK cells in murine mesenteric lymph nodes (mLNs) and the CRC tissue was characterized by Immunoblotting...

House dust mite (HDM) allergy belongs to the most important allergies and affects approximately 65-130 million people worldwide. Additionally, untreated HDM allergy may lead to the development of severe disease manifestations such as atopic dermatitis or asthma. Diagnosis and immunotherapy of HDM allergic patients are well established but are often hampered by the use of mite extracts that are of bad quality and lack important allergens. The use of individual allergens seems to be a promising alternative to natural allergen extracts, since they represent well-defined components that can easily be produced and quantified...

Human CD1a is a non-polymorphic glycoprotein that presents lipid antigens to T cells. The most obvious role of CD1a is associated with its expression on Langerhans cells in epidermis, where it is involved in responses to pathogens. Antigen-specific T cells are believed to co-recognise CD1a presenting bacterial antigens such as species of lipopeptides from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Further, human skin contains large amount of endogenous lipids that can activate distinct subsets of CD1a-restricted autoreactive T cells, mostly belonging to the αβ lineage, which are abundant in human blood and skin and are important for skin homeostasis in healthy individuals...

PURPOSE: Here, we explored the protective effects of resolvin D1 (RvD1) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) keratitis. METHODS: C57BL/6 (B6) mice were used as an animal model of PA keratitis. Plate counting and clinical scores were used to assess the severity of the infection and the therapeutic effects of RvD1 in the model. Myeloperoxidase assay was used to detect neutrophil infiltration and activity. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to examine the expression of proflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators...

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OBJECTIVE: Increased proliferation of airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) is a key feature of airway remodeling in asthma. This study aims to determine whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) regulates ASMC proliferation and airway remodeling via the transient receptor potential channels (TRPCs)/autophagy axis. METHODS: Human ASMCs were isolated and passively sensitized with human asthmatic serum. Protein levels of BDNF and its receptor TrkB, TRPC1/3/6, autophagy markers, intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+ ]i), LC3 immunofluorescence, cell proliferation, cell cycle population were examined...

Human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) have attracted considerable attention as a promising regenerative therapy. Many studies reported that the conditioned medium of hAMSCs (AM-CM) exerted anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory functions, while its underlying mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, we first confirmed that AM-CM (25%, 50%, 100%) was optimal for anti-inflammation at 24 h. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced alteration of cell morphology, the decrease of cell proliferation, and the upregulation of cell apoptosis were significantly reversed in AM-CM-treated THP-1 cells...

BACKGROUND: Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder with evidence of lichenification in later stages. There is mounting evidence supporting the role of TGF- β1 in mediating inflammation as well as subsequent tissue remodeling, often resulting in fibrosis. Given the role of genetic variants in the differential expression of TGF-β1 in various diseases, this study seeks to ascertain the role of TGF-β1 promoter variants (rs1800469 and rs1800468) in AD susceptibility, as well as their association with TGF- β1 mRNA expression, TGF- β1 serum levels and skin prick test positivity in Atopic Dermatitis patients...

Madelung disease (MD) was first described by Brodie in 1846 as a rare multiple lipoma. It is a benign tumor characterized by symmetrical diffuse adipose tissue deposition in the proximal extremities and neck. Until now, the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease have not been fully explained, resulting in difficulties in diagnosis and treatment; moreover, palliative treatment, such as surgical resection of adipose tissue or liposuction, is still the mainstream treatment for MD. However, the effectiveness of palliative surgery is limited, and most patients still relapse or metastasize after treatment...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease. This study aimed to investigate the role of SMAD specific E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (SMURF1) in the Th17 and Th17.1 differentiation and Treg/Th17 imbalance, which are major factors contributing to the pathogenesis of SLE. SLE patients and healthy individuals were recruited to detect the SMURF1 levels in naïve CD4+ cells from peripheral blood. Purified and expanded naïve CD4+ T cells were employed to evaluate the effects of SMURF1 on Th17 and Th17...

BACKGROUND: Cold exposure is a common factor to trigger asthma attacks. However, the underlying mechanism has not been thoroughly elucidated. We aimed to investigate the hypothesis that low temperature reduces occludin expression and compromises epithelial barrier function in airways, which in turn, results in asthma exacerbation. METHODS: We examined occludin expression in human bronchial epithelial cell line (Beas-2B) cells exposed to either 29 °C or 37 °C...

Conventionally T-cell receptors (TCRs) have so far been considered as a T-lymphocyte privilege. However, recent findings also place TCR expression in non-lymphoid cells, namely neutrophils, eosinophils and macrophages. In order to examine the ectopic expression of TCR, this study focused on RAW 264.7 cells, which have been broadly used for their macrophage properties. Immunofluorescence staining detected 70% and 40% of the cells to express TCRαβ and TCRγδ respectively, which was also verified by RT-PCR experiments and confocal microscopy analysis...

Bystander activation of T cells is defined as induction of effector responses by innate cytokines in the absence of cognate antigens and independent of T cell receptor (TCR) signaling. Here we show that C-reactive protein (CRP), a soluble pattern-recognition receptor assembled noncovalently by five identical subunits, can instead trigger bystander activation of CD4 + T cells by evoking allosteric activation and spontaneous signaling of TCR in the absence of cognate antigens. The actions of CRP depend on pattern ligand-binding induced conformational changes that result in the generation of monomeric CRP (mCRP)...

Interleukin (IL)- 33 is a tissue-derive proinflammatory cytokine that promotes fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc). microRNA (miR)- 214 expression has been elaborated to be downregulated in SSc patients and exert anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects. This study elucidates the role of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosome (BMSC-Exos)-delivered miR-214 in SSc and the relationship between this miR and IL-33/ST2 axis. SSc clinical samples were obtained to evaluate levels of miR-214, IL-33, and ST2...

Environmental estrogens (EEs) are associated with an increased prevalence of asthma. These epigenetic alterations of the immune cells may explain the multigenerational effects on asthma development. We hypothesized that exposure to immune cells enhances allergic sensitization by initiating signaling in these cells. Human T cell lines (TIB-152, CCL-119) were exposed to varying concentrations of estradiol, bisphenol A, bisphenol S, or bisphenol A + estradiol. H3K27me3, phosphorylations of EZH2 (pEZH2), AKT (pAKT), and phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (pPI3K) were assessed...

Following activation, CD4 T cells undergo metabolic and transcriptional changes as they respond to external cues and differentiate into T helper (Th) cells. T cells exhibit plasticity between Th phenotypes in highly inflammatory environments, such as colitis, in which high levels of IL-6 promote plasticity between regulatory T (Treg) cells and Th17 cells. Protein Kinase C theta (PKCθ) is a T cell-specific serine/threonine kinase that promotes Th17 differentiation while negatively regulating Treg differentiation...