Immune Regulation News 9.32 August 25, 2017 | |
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TOP STORYAllergies? Exhausted Regulatory T Cells May Play a Role Researchers have evidence that the specialized T cells responsible for maintaining a balanced immune response are vulnerable to exhaustion that disrupts normal functioning and may even contribute to allergic reactions. The report is believed to be the first to suggest that regulatory T cells are subject to the functional exhaustion that also plagues conventional T cells that fight infectious agents and tumor cells. [Press release from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital discussing online prepublication in Nature] Press Release | Abstract | |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)CMTM6 Maintains the Expression of PD-L1 and Regulates Anti-Tumor Immunity Researchers identified the uncharacterized protein CMTM6 as a critical regulator of PD-L1 in a broad range of cancer cells, by using a genome-wide CRISPR–Cas9 screen. Using a quantitative approach to profile the entire plasma membrane proteome, they found that CMTM6 displayed specificity for PD-L1. Notably, CMTM6 depletion decreased PD-L1 without compromising cell surface expression of MHC class I. [Nature] Abstract | Press Release Regulatory Innate Lymphoid Cells Control Innate Intestinal Inflammation Scientists identified a regulatory subpopulation of innate lymphoid cells (called ILCregs) that exist in the gut and harbors a unique gene identity that is distinct from that of ILCs or Tregs. During inflammatory stimulation, ILCregs could be induced in the intestine and suppress the activation of ILC1s and ILC3s via secretion of IL-10, leading to protection against innate intestinal inflammation. [Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract Treg Depletion Potentiates Checkpoint Inhibition in Claudin-Low Breast Cancer The authors have shown that intrinsic and immune cell gene signatures distinguish the claudin-low subtype clinically as well as in mouse models of other breast cancer subtypes. Antitumor efficacy required stringent Treg depletion combined with checkpoint inhibition; delays in tumor growth were not observed using therapies that modestly diminished the number of Tregs in the tumor microenvironment. [J Clin Invest] Full Article | Press Release Activated Protein C Protects from GvHD via PAR2/PAR3 Signaling in Regulatory T-Cells Scientists showed that the protease-activated protein C (aPC), which is generated by thrombomodulin, ameliorates graft-vs.-host disease (GvHD) aPC restricts allogenic T-cell activation via the protease activated receptor (PAR)2/PAR3 heterodimer on Tregs. Preincubation of pan T-cells with aPC prior to transplantation increased the frequency of Tregs and protects from GvHD. [Nat Commun] Full Article JunB Promotes Th17 Cell Identity and Restrains Alternative CD4+ T-Cell Programs during Inflammation Investigators showed the activator protein-1 (AP-1) factor JunB is an essential regulator of T helper 17 (Th17) cell identity. JunB activated expression of Th17 lineage-specifying genes and coordinately repressed genes controlling Th1 and regulatory T-cell fate. JunB supported Th17 cell identity by regulating key AP-1 complex constituents. [Nat Commun] Full Article Foxp3-Independent Mechanism by Which TGF-β Controls Peripheral T Cell Tolerance Using a transgenic model of autoimmune diabetes, the authors showed that ablation of TGF-β receptor II in T cells, but not Foxp3 deficiency, resulted in early-onset diabetes with complete penetrance. The rampant autoimmune disease was associated with enhanced T cell priming and elevated T cell expression of the inflammatory cytokine GM-CSF, concomitant with pancreatic infiltration of inflammatory monocytes that triggered immunopathology. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract Researchers demonstrated that ectopic expression of insulin epitope B:9–23 (InsB9–23) by thymic APCs is insufficient to induce deletion of high- or low-affinity InsB9–23–reactive CD4+ T cells; however, they observed an increase in the proportion and number of thymic and peripheral Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. [J Immunol] Abstract The authors evaluated circulating levels of immunosuppressive Tregs and other lymphocyte subsets in patients with newly diagnosed medulloblastoma undergoing surgery compared to a control cohort of patients undergo craniectomy for correction of Chiari malformation and further determined the impact of standard irradiation and chemotherapy on this cell population. [Cancer Immunol Immunother] Abstract Transcriptional Repressor Blimp1 Regulates Follicular Regulatory T Cells Homeostasis and Function Investigators document the function for B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1 (Blimp1) in TFR cells in vitro and in vivo. Data presented demonstrated that TFR cells indirectly inhibit the activation and differentiation of B cells by negatively regulating TFR cells, thus lowering the secretion of antibody. Lack of Blimp1 made the immune suppression function of TFR cells impaired in vitro. [Immunology] Abstract Subscribe to our sister publications: Human Immunology News & Immunology of Infectious Disease News. | |
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REVIEWSEnhancing Human Regulatory T Cells In Vitro for Cell Therapy Applications With a particular focus on Tregs, the authors survey the diverse strategies that are being employed to enhance the efficacy of cell therapy via in vitro manipulation of cells, and highlight some emerging technologies that may propel this endeavor in the future. [Immunol Lett] Abstract Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the immune regulation research field. | |
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INDUSTRY NEWSCPRIT Awards $13M for Prevention, Research, Recruitment Researchers in the NCI-designated Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center have received $13,107,956 from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) for six new grants focused on evidence-based cancer prevention services, the recruitment of an established investigator, individual investigator and early translational research and core facility support. [Baylor College of Medicine] Press Release Grid Therapeutics Signs Exclusive License Agreement to Develop a Novel Immuno-Oncology Antibody Grid Therapeutics, LLC. announced the execution of an exclusive license agreement with Duke University to develop the first human derived antibody as a targeted immunotherapy for cancer. [Grid Therapeutics, LLC. (Business Wire, Inc.)] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWSBiomedical Ph.D. Program at Major Research University Drops GRE Requirement for Admission The University of Michigan’s biomedical sciences graduate program announced that it will no longer require GRE scores for its Ph.D. admissions. Following a review of the available evidence and a public discussion involving the program’s faculty, staff, and trainees, the exam’s ability to predict student performance seems “weak at best” while it significantly disadvantages women, minorities, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, writes Scott Barolo, director of the Program in Biomedical Sciences, in the announcement. [Science Careers] Editorial Leaked Documents Expose Long-Standing Gender Tensions at Salk Institute Senior female faculty at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies raise more than twice as much in National Institutes of Health funding for scientists working in their labs as their male counterparts, according to a 2016 internal report on “faculty issues” requested by leaders of the San Diego, California institution. Yet Salk leaders favored male scientists by granting them greater access to internal funds and other resources, the report implies, echoing gender discrimination lawsuits filed last month against the research center. [ScienceInsider] Editorial A Bold Open-Access Push in Germany Could Change the Future of Academic Publishing Over the past two years, more than 150 German libraries, universities, and research institutes have formed a united front trying to force academic publishers into a new way of doing business. Instead of buying subscriptions to specific journals, consortium members want to pay publishers an annual lump sum that covers publication costs of all papers whose first authors are at German institutions. Those papers would be freely available around the world; meanwhile, German institutions would receive access to all the publishers’ online content. [ScienceInsider] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW Cell-Weizmann Institute of Science Symposium: Next Gen Immunology Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Postdoctoral Training Fellows – Cell Death & Inflammation (Institute of Cancer Research) Postdoctoral Fellowship – Immunology (University of Georgia) Postdoctoral Research Fellows – Systems Immunology (University of Oslo) Postdoctoral Scholar – Regulation of Immune Responses (University of Iowa) Postdoctoral Fellowships – Immune Signaling and Metabolism (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital) Postdoctoral Position – Mucosal Immunology (Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center) Research Fellow Position – Immunology Research (ShanghaiTech University) Mouse Scientist – T Cell-Based Therapy (Tessa Therapeutics Pte Ltd.) Postdoctoral Fellow – Allergy and Immunology (New York University Medical Center) Postdoctoral Fellow – Neuroimmunology (Duke University) Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Cancer Immunotherapy (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Principal Senior Scientist – Human Disease Immune Profiling/Precision Immunology (Sanofi) Assistant Associate or Full Member – Cancer Immunology (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.
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Home Immune Regulation News Volume 9.32 | Aug 25 2017