Efficient Modification of CCR5 in Primary Human Hematopoietic Cells Using a megaTAL Nuclease and AAV Donor Template Scientists integrated sequences coding chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) into the CCR5 locus, and the resulting targeted CAR T cells exhibited antitumor or anti-HIV activity. [Sci Transl Med] Abstract miR-142-5p and miR-130a-3p Are Regulated by IL-4 and IL-13 and Control Profibrogenic Macrophage Program Investigators showed that IL-4 and IL-13 induce miR-142-5p and downregulate miR-130a-3p in macrophages; these changes sustain the profibrogenic effect of macrophages. In vitro, miR-142-5p mimic prolongs STAT6 phosphorylation by targeting its negative regulator, SOCS1. Blocking miR-130a relieves its inhibition of PPARγ, which coordinates STAT6 signaling. [Nat Commun] Full Article ‘Emergency Exit’ of Bone-Marrow-Resident CD34+CD226(DNAM-1)brightCXCR4+-Committed Lymphoid Precursors during Chronic Infection and Inflammation Flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in chronic inflammatory disorders, both infectious and non-infectious, revealed the presence of a CD34+CD226(DNAM-1)brightCXCR4+ cell population displaying transcriptional signatures typical of common lymphocyte precursors and giving rise to natural killer-cell progenies with high expression of activating receptors and mature function and even to α/β T lymphocytes. [Nat Commun] Full Article CD56dimCD57+NKG2C+ NK Cell Expansion Is Associated with Reduced Leukemia Relapse after Reduced Intensity HCT Investigators recently described a specialized subset of human natural killer (NK) cells with a CD56dimCD57+NKG2C+ phenotype that expand specifically in response to cytomegalovirus reactivation in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients and exhibit properties characteristic of adaptive immunity. In this study, they hypothesized that these cells mediate relapse protection and improve post-HCT outcomes. [Leukemia] Abstract Discarded Human Thymus Is a Novel Source of Stable and Long-Lived Therapeutic Regulatory T Cells Researchers showed that large numbers of FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) can be isolated and expanded from a single thymus. Expanded thymic Tregs had stable FOXP3 expression and long telomeres, and suppressed proliferation and cytokine production of activated allogeneic T cells in vitro. [Am J Transplant] Abstract IL-1β Promotes Th17 Differentiation by Inducing Alternative Splicing of FOXP3 Scientists showed that in human regulatory T (Treg) cells IL-1β promotes excision of FOXP3 exon 7. FOXP3 is not only expressed by Treg cells but is also transiently expressed when naïve T cells differentiate into Th17 cells. [Sci Rep] Full Article Identification of a FOXP3+CD3+CD56+ Population with Immunosuppressive Function in Cancer Tissues of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma In human hepatocellular carcinoma patients, natural T cells were found to be sharply decreased in tumor versus non-tumor tissues. More intriguingly, a substantial fraction of natural T cells assumed FOXP3 expression. [Sci Rep] Full Article The Regulation of the Treg/Th17 Balance by Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Human Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Researchers investigated the mechanism of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the regulation of peripheral regulatory T cells and T helper 17 cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. [Cell Mol Immunol] Abstract Elevated Circulating CD14lowCD16+ Monocyte Subset in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Correlates with Liver Injury and Promotes Th1 Polarization Scientists investigated the phenotype and function of circulating CD16+ monocyte subsets from primary biliary cirrhosis patients. The frequencies of circulating CD14highCD16+ and CD14lowCD16+ subpopulation were increased in disease compared with healthy controls. [Clin Exp Med] Abstract AAV Capsid CD8+ T-Cell Epitopes Are Highly Conserved across AAV Serotypes Researchers were able to identify immunodominant major histocompatibility complex class I epitopes for common human leukocyte antigen types by using spleens isolated from subjects undergoing splenectomy for non-malignant indications as a source of large numbers of lymphocytes and restimulating them with single adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid peptides in vitro. [Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev] Full Article Subscribe to our sister publications: Immunology of Infectious Disease News & Immune Regulation News! |