Enhancement of humoral immune response against human lung elastin peptides

Summary When guinea pigs instead of rabbits were used as the host animals, 8–16 times higher antibody titers against human lung elastin peptides were produced with only 1/20 the amount of antigen per unit body weight. This corresponds to a 200-fold enhancement of the immune response.Presented at the 6th Colloquium of the Federation of European Connective Tissue Clubs, Paris, August 28–30, 1978. The data form part of the Ph.D. thesis submitted by T.V. Darnule to the Department of Biology, New York University. Supported in part by NIH Program Project Grant HL15832 and by a Parker B. Francis Fellowship to T.V. Darnule.     

Deep temporal lobe projections to the nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca

Summary Electrophysiological studies with acutely prepared cats found that stimulation of deep temporal lobe structures (e.g., amygdala, prepyriform cortex) evoked responses in the nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca. An analysis of field, extra- and intracellular unitary responses points to the existence of a monosynaptic excitatory connection.This work was supported by NSF Grant No. GB 35532 and NIH Grants Nos. NS 00405 and RR 5384.     

Deep temporal lobe projections to the nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca.

Electrophysiological studies with acutely prepared cats found that stimulation of deep temporal lobe structures (e.g., amygdala, prepyriform cortex) evoked responses in the nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca. An analysis of field, extra- and intracellular unitary responses points to the existence of a monosynaptic excitatory connection.     

Vitamin C and the immune response

Summary The inclusion of vitamin C in the drinking water of BALB/c mice was without effect on the humoral antibody response to sheep red blood cells and bacterial lipopolysaccharide. However, there was a significantly increased cell-mediated immune response as determined by increased T-lymphocyte responses to concanavalin A. This might suggest a mechanism, along with interferon enhancement, for the possible protection by vitamin C against some viral infections.We thank Miss Wendy Treat for excellent technical assistance.     

Vitamin C and the immune response.

The inclusion of vitamin C in the drinking water of BALB/c mice was without effect on the humoral antibody response to sheep red blood cells and bacterial lipopolysaccharide. However, there was a significantly increased cell-mediated immune response as determined by increased T-lymphocyte responses to concanavalin A. This might suggest a mechanism, along with interferon enhancement, for the possible protection by vitamin C against some viral infections.     

Suppression of the primary immune response by antilymphocyte serum

Zusammenfassung Die immunosuppressive Wirkung des Antilymphozytenserums wird beschrieben.     

Generalized immunosuppression: how viruses undermine the immune response

Following infection, a virus must battle against the host's immune response. Viruses have developed many ways to escape immune surveillance and downregulate the host's immune response. Some viruses cause a generalized immunosuppression, thereby inhibiting or depressing the immune response towards themselves as well as towards unrelated pathogens. This review will focus on the mechanisms involved in the three main human viral infections causing immunosuppression: measles, human immunodeficiency virus and cytomegalovirus. We will also discuss what has been learned from the extensively studied mouse models of viral-induced immunosuppression: lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and Rauscher leukemia virus. All of these viruses that induce generalized immunosuppression appear to do so by very similar mechanisms. They hinder antigen presentation to T cells and/or hematopoiesis. We will highlight the similarities in the viral targets as well as present evidence for alternate mechanisms.     

Strain influence on the immune response of mice to the friend virus

Résumé La méthode d'Immunoélectroadsorption a permis de déceler la présence d'anticorps contre le virus de Friend, non seulement dans les souches de souris résistantes, mais aussi dans les souches sensibles à ce virus.     

Suppression of the immune response by drugs interfering with the metabolism of serotonin

The work was based on the assumption that neurohumoral control of the immune response, particularly in stressed animals, involves central serotoninergic mechanisms. Rats immunized with sheep erythrocytes were stressed by repeated restraints and/or treated with a precursor of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-HTP) or with an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis (parachlorophenylalanine, PCPA). As expected, repeated stresses reduced the plaque-forming cell (PFC) response. Treatment with 5-HTP also reduced the PFC response, and potentiated the immunosuppressive effect of stress. This was accompanied by increased metabolism of serotonin in the brain, as indicated by increased concentration of its metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), in cerebral tissue. Treatment with PCPA also suppressed the PFC response, but this suppression was accompanied by decreased levels of brain serotonin and of 5-HIAA. Plasma corticosterone levels were elevated in rats treated with PCPA. It seems that putative central effects of PCPA on serotoninergic regulation of the immune response were outweighed by its effects on corticosterone secretion and/or on lymphoid cells.     

Suppression of the immune response by drugs interfering with the metabolism of serotonin

Summary The work was based on the assumption that neurohumoral control of the immune response, particularly in stressed animals, involves central serotoninergic mechanisms. Rats immunized with sheep erythrocytes were stressed by repeated restraints and/or treated with a precursor of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-HTP) or with an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis (parachlorophenylalanine, PCPA). As expected, repeated stresses reduced the plaque-forming cell (PFC) response. Treatment with 5-HTP also reduced the PFC response, and potentiated the immunosuppressive effect of stress. This was accompanied by increased metabolism of serotonin in the brain, as indicated by increased concentration of its metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), in cerebral tissue. Treatment with PCPA also suppressed the PFC response, but this suppression was accompanied by decreased levels of brain serotonin and of 5-HIAA. Plasma corticosterone levels were elevated in rats treated with PCPA. It seems that putative central effects of PCPA on serotoninergic regulation of the immune response were outweighed by its effects on corticosterone secretion and/or on lymphoid cells.     

Stimulation of immune response by polymannuronic-guluronic acid in mice

Zusammenfassung Bei Mäusen, die mit suboptimalen Antigendosen geimpft wurden, erhöhte Polymannuron-Guluronsäure (Alginsäure) die Anzahl der 19S-antikörperbildenden Zellen in der Milz bis auf das 44-fache.     

Effect of thymectomy on immune response in adult rats

Zusammenfassung Röntgenbestrahlung thymectomi-sierter Ratten ergab eine abgeschwachte Immunreaktion. Für eine Immunreaktion adulter Tiere scheint jedoch der Thymus nicht notwendig zu sein. In Abhängigkeit von Zeit und Alter der Tiere zeigten sich Unterschiede in der Stärke der Immunreaktion.     

Effect of splenectomy on the immune response in the lizard,Calotes versicolor

Zusammenfassung Nach Entfernung der Milz kann die EidechseCalotes versicolor nicht mehr gegen Immunizierung mit Schafserythrozyten reagieren. Wenn die Milz aber nur teilweise entfernt wird, ist noch eine völlig normale Reaktion vorhanden.     

The effects of sodium salicylate on the anamnestic immune response in vitro

Zusammenfassung Na-Salicylat bewirkt in vitro eine Hemmung der sekundären Immunreaktion von Hühnchenmilzzellen gegen Schaferythrozyten.

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Supported by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service and the Illinois Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.     

Deciphering the BAR code of membrane modulators

The BAR domain is the eponymous domain of the “BAR-domain protein superfamily”, a large and diverse set of mostly multi-domain proteins that play eminent roles at the membrane cytoskeleton interface. BAR domain homodimers are the functional units that peripherally associate with lipid membranes and are involved in membrane sculpting activities. Differences in their intrinsic curvatures and lipid-binding properties account for a large variety in membrane modulating properties. Membrane activities of BAR domains are further modified and regulated by intramolecular or inter-subunit domains, by intermolecular protein interactions, and by posttranslational modifications. Rather than providing detailed cell biological information on single members of this superfamily, this review focuses on biochemical, biophysical, and structural aspects and on recent findings that paradigmatically promote our understanding of processes driven and modulated by BAR domains.     

Transfer of genetic information from T to B human lymphocytes during an immune response to herpes simplex virus]

Human blood lymphocytes carrying different allotypes were divided into B and T subpopulations and cultured in presence or in absence of ultraviolet inactivated Herpes Simplex Virus. Isolated B or T cells did not produce any antiherpetic activity. The B lymphocytes cultured in presence of 1 or 50% of the supernatant collected from virus exposed T cells synthesized on antiherpetic antibody with some allotypic markers of the T cell donor.     

Effect of splenectomy on the humoral immune response in the lizard,Scincus scincus

Summary Adult splenectomy in the lizard,Scincus scincus, did not affect humoral immune response to rat erythrocytes until 30 days post-immunization, but severely depressed subsequent antibody production.This work was supported by United States Public Health Research, grant No. 03-015-N.