Thymus and adoptive transfer of antibody formation

Zusammenfassung Bei Thymus- und Milzimplantation auf die chorioalantoide Membran von Kückenembryonen, die mit humanen O-Erythrozyten immunisiert wurden, wird O-Hämagglutinin erzeugt. Die Bursa ist nicht in der Lage, adoptive Antikörper zu bilden.

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This work was supported by grants from the Federal Scientific Fund, Belgrade.     

Thymus gland involution induced by lithium chloride

Summary Chronic treatment with lithium chloride produced significant involution of the thymus gland with histological evidence of reduced cellularity due to loss of thymic lymphocytes and a significant reduction in the weight of the gland in normal and adrenalectomized mice. Lithium also increased corticosterone levels in normal mice without changes in adrenal weights. The involution of the thymus gland is most likely due to an effect of lithium on the gland, and it is not mediated by adrenocortical mechanisms or stress.Acknowledgments. We wish to thank Mrs Carroll Masson and Mr W. Resetarits for technical assistance and to Dr B. E. P. Murphy for the radioimmunoassays of corticosterone levels. This work was supported by MRC of Canada, grant MA-5130, and the Department of Psychiatry, MIP, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri.     

Zur Phagozytose strahlengeschädigter Lymphocyten des Thymus

Summary Part of the lymphocytes of the thymus were phagocytized by epithelial and mesenchymal reticular cells in rats after X-ray irradiation of the whole body. The intracellular decomposition is obviously brought about by the two cellular forms in a different way. Pearl-string-like structures — probably nucleoproteids — were found in the cytoplasma in the case of the epithelial cells. On the other hand, numerous cytoplasma inclusions of different size, which are evidently reduced lymphocytic nuclei, could be observed in the case of the mesenchymal cells.     

The effects of stimulation of the olfactory bulbs on the serum proteins of the rat

Resumen La estimulación electroquímica bilateral de bulbos olfatorios con corriente directa de 1 mA durante 10 segundos en ratas, produce aumento de concentration de proteinas séricas totales, albúmina y globulina .     

Thymus,peripheral lymphoid tissues and immunological responsiveness of the pituitary dwarf mouse

Riassunto L'autore ha studiato la morfologia del sistema linforeticolare e lo stato di reattività immunitaria del topo Snell/Bagg con nanismo ereditario preipofisario. È stata riscontrata una notevole ipoplasia di tutto il sistema linforeticolare ed una severa diminuzione della capacità anticorpopoietica la cui causa viene fatta risalire con ogni probabilità al grave stato di deficit timico congenito. Si prospetta che il topo nano ipofisario sia portatore di una sindrome analoga a quella sperimentalmente indotta mediante timectomia neonatale.

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The author wishes to thank ProfessorCesare Cavallero and ProfessorMarco Fraccaro for their suggestions and criticism. The technical assistance of MissL. Forni and Mr.G. P. Tonda of the Cattedra di Immunologia of the University of Milan is also greatly appreciated.     

Heat shock proteins in immune response to cancer: The Fourth Paradigm

The involvement of heat shock proteins in immune response is categorized into four distinct paradigms. In the First Paradigm, HSP derived from foreign organisms act as classical foreign antigens, and they elicit immune response to the non-conserved HSP epitopes. The Second Paradigm refers to instances where the host responds to self HSP to which there is no central or peripheral tolerance. The Third Paradigm involves molecular mimicry, where cross-reactivity between an HSP and another protein leads to an immune response to the latter under conditions which elicit an immune response to the former, such as infection with a bacterium whose immunodominant antigen is an HSP. The Fourth Paradigm refers to situations where an HSP-antigen complex elicits an effective response to the antigen andnot to the HSP. Thus the HSP acts as a carrier for the antigenic peptide. The role of HSP in recognition by γδ T cells may also fall into this paradigm. In this article, the Fourth Paradigm is considered as a crucial element in the development of vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, and is analyzed through the prism of the observed association of hsp70 species with antigenic peptides.     

Plant ribosome-inactivating proteins type II induce the unfolded protein response in human cancer cells

Cytotoxic ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) of type II such as ricin were investigated as anti-cancer agents, but also pose a threat as biological weapons. The molecular mechanism leading to their toxic effects is, however, not yet clear. The current paradigm, which states that the irreversible depurination of 28S rRNA results in a general translational arrest eventually leading to cell death, has been questioned. Using micro-array, qRT-PCR and Western blot, we identified the unfolded protein response (UPR), a cellular mechanism activated in response to endoplasmic reticulum stress, that is induced in HCT116 and MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to the plant type II RIPs ricin, riproximin and volkensin. Apoptosis was induced by concentrations at which translation of UPR-related genes still occurred, despite concomitant ribosomal depurination. We conclude that UPR induction represents a model that better describes the cellular effects of RIP exposure at concentrations at which selected proteins are translated despite ribosomal depurination.     

Malaria prophylaxis in travellers: The current position

Summary Malaria prevention is a main challenge for physicians, nurses, health officers and tour operators. The attack rate of malaria in travellers is 1–10/10,000 departures, and the case fatality rate of imported malaria is around 0.5/100. Travellers should be informed about the risk they are going to take, how to protect against mosquito bites, about the antimalarials they will have to take and about what to do when a malaria breakthrough should occur.The 4-aminoquinolines (chloroquine, amodiaquine) remain the drug of choice for the prevention ofPlasmodium vivax and of sensitiveP. falciparum infections. The problem is to find an effective and safe drug combination for travellers to areas whereP. falciparum is either resistant to chloroquine, to Fansidar (the combination of pyrimethamine plus sulfadoxine) or to both. These travellers will probably best be protected by an individually tailored drug combination, which includes amodiaquine or mefloquine as baseline drugs, and a supplementation with Fansidar, Maloprim (the combination of pyrimethamine with dapsone), paludrine or an antibiotic.     

Permeability tracers and serum proteins

Zusammenfassung Es wird gezeigt, dass die Permeabilität der Gefässwand durch an Serumeiweissfraktionen gebundene Markierungssubstanzen geprüft werden kann.