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Peptide sharing between influenza A H1N1 hemagglutinin and human axon guidance proteins.
Lucchese, G, Capone, G, Kanduc, D
Schizophrenia bulletin. 2014;(2):362-75
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Abstract
Epidemiologic data suggest that maternal microbial infections may cause fetal neurodevelopmental disorders, potentially increasing susceptibility to heavy psychopathologies such as schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, autism, pervasive developmental disorders, bipolar disorders, psychosis, epilepsy, language and speech disorders, and cognitive impairment in adult offspring. However, the molecular pathomechanisms underlying such a relationship are not clear. Here we analyze the potential role of the maternal immune response to viral infection in determining fetal brain injuries that increase the risk of neurological disorders in the adult. We use influenza infection as a disease model and human axon guidance pathway, a key process in the formation of neural network during midgestation, as a potential fetal target of immune insults. Specifically, we examined influenza A H1N1 hemagglutinin (HA), an antigenic viral protein, for amino acid sequence similarity to a random library of 188 axon guidance proteins. We obtain the results that (1) contrary to any theoretical expectations, 45 viral pentapeptide matches are distributed throughout a subset of 36 guidance molecules; (2) in 24 guidance proteins, the peptide sharing with HA antigen involves already experimentally validated influenza HA epitopes; and (3) most of the axon guidance vs HA peptide overlap is conserved among influenza A viral strains and subsets. Taken together, our data indicate that immune cross-reactivity between influenza HA and axon guidance molecules is possible and may well represent a pathologic mechanism capable of determining neurodevelopmental disruption in the fetus.
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2.
TRPA1: A gatekeeper for inflammation.
Bautista, DM, Pellegrino, M, Tsunozaki, M
Annual review of physiology. 2013;:181-200
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Abstract
Tissue damage evokes an inflammatory response that promotes the removal of harmful stimuli, tissue repair, and protective behaviors to prevent further damage and encourage healing. However, inflammation may outlive its usefulness and become chronic. Chronic inflammation can lead to a host of diseases, including asthma, itch, rheumatoid arthritis, and colitis. Primary afferent sensory neurons that innervate target organs release inflammatory neuropeptides in the local area of tissue damage to promote vascular leakage, the recruitment of immune cells, and hypersensitivity to mechanical and thermal stimuli. TRPA1 channels are required for neuronal excitation, the release of inflammatory neuropeptides, and subsequent pain hypersensitivity. TRPA1 is also activated by the release of inflammatory agents from nonneuronal cells in the area of tissue injury or disease. This dual function of TRPA1 as a detector and instigator of inflammatory agents makes TRPA1 a gatekeeper of chronic inflammatory disorders of the skin, airways, and gastrointestinal tract.
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The growing recognition of immunotherapy-responsive seizure disorders with autoantibodies to specific neuronal proteins.
Vincent, A, Irani, SR, Lang, B
Current opinion in neurology. 2010;(2):144-50
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The concept of epilepsy and seizure disorders caused by autoantibodies to specific neuronal membrane proteins has developed significantly during the past few years. RECENT FINDINGS Antibodies to cell-surface membrane proteins such as voltage-gated potassium channels or N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, or to glutamic acid decarboxylase, are found in patients with different forms of limbic encephalitis, and in a few patients with epilepsy as their main or only condition. Many of these patients do not show a good response to conventional antiepileptic drugs, but respond to immunotherapies. By contrast, studies of other antibodies in idiopathic forms of epilepsy, or epilepsy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus or coeliac disease, have not in general disclosed consistent, clinically helpful results. SUMMARY There are a growing number of specific antibodies associated with new onset epilepsy. These patients are likely to have an immune-mediated disorder that may benefit from immunotherapies. In autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus or coeliac disease, antibodies to specific membrane targets may also prove to be important in the future.
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Dectin-1 is required for human dendritic cells to initiate immune response to Candida albicans through Syk activation.
Skrzypek, F, Cenci, E, Pietrella, D, Rachini, A, Bistoni, F, Vecchiarelli, A
Microbes and infection. 2009;(6-7):661-70
Abstract
Dectin-1 is a pattern recognition receptor found on monocytes and dendritic cells (DC) able to recognize beta-1,3 and beta-1,6 glucans. It is thought to act via the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) to initiate immune response against infectious agents such as Candida albicans, one of the leading causes of invasive fungal disease in immunocompromised individuals. This study addresses the importance of this receptor in the context of human DC response to C. albicans. Upon blockage of Dectin-1, immature DC are less able than untreated cells to bind, phagocytose, and kill C. albicans via oxidative burst. In fact, a consistent decrease in superoxide anion, but not nitric oxide production, was manifested when the Syk pathway was inhibited. C. albicans-induced cytokine production via Dectin-1 recognition is mediated by the Syk activation pathway. Indeed, specific Syk inhibition significantly suppressed the production of IL-12, IL-6, and TNF-alpha. Finally, we observed that Dectin-1 engagement was also involved in DC maturation and subsequent lymphocyte activation. Collectively, these findings identify Dectin-1 as a key receptor influencing critical biological functions of DC in response to C. albicans leading to T cells response alteration. These effects are largely, though not completely, mediated by Syk activation.
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[Limbic encephalitis: the new cell membrane antigens and a proposal of clinical-immunological classification with therapeutic implications].
Dalmau, J, Bataller, L
Neurologia (Barcelona, Spain). 2007;(8):526-37
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Most studies of patients with limbic encephalitis, paraneoplastic or not, use rigid clinical-radiological entry criteria or select patients previously known to have cancer or to harbor well characterized paraneoplastic antibodies. In practice this selection excludes a significant number of patients with autoimmune encephalitides, some of which may represent new disorders. METHODS Review of the literature and our clinical experience with patients with limbic encephalitis. Description of the studies that led to the identification of new antibodies and antigens related to several types of autoimmune encephalitis. RESULTS 82 % of prospectively identified patients with non-viral limbic encephalitis at our institution had 526 antibodies against proteins of the CNS. These antibodies were directed against two category of antigens: a) intracellular or classical paraneoplastic antigens (Hu, Ma2, among other), and b) cell membrane antigens including the voltage-gated potassium channels and the newly identified antigens of the neuropil of hippocampus. Each category of antigens included several subgroups with distinctive clinical-immunological associations. While the encephalitides related to intracellular antigens are predominantly mediated by cytotoxic T-cell mechanisms and are poorly responsive to treatment, those related to cell membrane antigens appear to be mediated by antibodies and often respond to treatment. Among the newly identified antigens, the NR1/NR2B heteromers of the NMDA receptor are of great interest due to their critical role in synaptic plasticity and memory. Patients with antibodies against these receptors are young women with benign-appearing cystic tumors of the ovary (mature or immature teratomas), who develop a severe and characteristic encephalitis that we report in detail. Despite the severity of the disorder, patients often recover after treatment of the tumor and immunotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Approximately 40 % of patients with classical or atypical limbic encephalitis develop relevant immune responses that are not identified by currently available commercial tests. Different from the previously known paraneoplastic antigens, which location is intracellular and associate with syndromes that are poorly responsive to treatment, the newly identified antigens of the neuropil of hippocampus are in the neuronal cell membrane and the related syndromes, although severe and potentially lethal, often respond to treatment.
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[Contribution of dectin-1 to the recognition of fungal cell wall products and the activation of innate immune response].
Adachi, Y, Ohno, N
Nihon Ishinkin Gakkai zasshi = Japanese journal of medical mycology. 2006;(3):185-94
Abstract
1,3-Beta-glucans is a major cell wall component in fungi. Receptor molecules relating to innate immunity may recognize such cell wall products, and affect host defense systems. A beta-glucan receptor, dectin-1, is a C-type lectin and may contribute to the innate immune responses. To examine the role of dectin-1 in recognition of 1,3-beta-glucans and subsequent activation of intracellular signaling, the molecular characteristics of a carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) of dectin-1 were investigated. The binding ability to beta-glucans was abolished by mutating two amino acid residues, Trp221 and His223, on the CRD. Dectin-1 increased TLR2-mediated NF-kappaB activation in response to zymosan. However, dectin-1 alone could not affect the activation pathway for NF-kappaB, nor did co-expression of dectin-1 mutant and TLR2 increase the NF-kappaB activation. These results suggest that dectin-1 may have a co-stimulatory effect on leukocyte activation in response to fungal infection.
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A phase II trial comparing five dose levels of BEC2 anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody vaccine that mimics GD3 ganglioside.
Chapman, PB, Williams, L, Salibi, N, Hwu, WJ, Krown, SE, Livingston, PO
Vaccine. 2004;(21-22):2904-9
Abstract
In previous studies, we showed that immunization with 2.5 mg of BEC2, an anti-idiotypic MAb that mimics GD3 ganglioside, can induce antibodies against GD3 in approximately 25% of patients. In this trial, 50 melanoma patients at high risk for recurrence were randomly assigned to one of the five BEC2 dose levels (2.5 microg-10mg) to determine if lower or higher BEC2 doses are more immunogenic. We also tested whether prolonged booster immunizations can enhance the anti-GD3 antibody response. All patients developed detectable IgG against BEC2 except for one patient at the lowest BEC2 dose level. Six patients developed detectable antibody responses to GD3, all of them at the lower three dose levels of BEC2. We conclude that high doses of BEC2 are not necessary to induce anti-GD3 antibody responses and that lower doses may be more immunogenic than the 2.5 mg dose used in previous BEC2 trials. Prolonged booster immunizations did not induce or maintain antibody responses.