Immune Regulation News Volume 3.28 | Aug 5 2011

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    Immune Regulation News 3.28, August 5, 2011
         In this issue: Science News | Current Publications | Industry News | Policy News | Events
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    TOP STORY

    Natural Killer Cells Participate in Immune Response Against HIV
    A new study shows for the first time that natural killer cells can contribute to the immune response against HIV. [Press release from Massachusetts General Hospital discussing online prepublication in Nature]

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    SCIENCE NEWS

    Innate Cells Shown to Form Immunological ‘Memory’ and Protect Against Viral Infection
    Researchers have demonstrated that cells of the innate immune system are capable of “memory”, and of mounting rapid protection to an otherwise lethal dose of live vaccinia virus. [Press release from EurekAlert! discussing online prepublication in PLoS Pathogens]

    Down but Not Out: Rare Good Surviving Cells May Boost Immunity in Aging
    Aging brings about a selective decline in the number and function of T cells. But the few T cells that survive the longest may better protect against infections such as the flu, according to a study. [Press release from The University of Arizona College of Medicine discussing online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA]

    One Antibody to Bind Them All: An Antibody That Recognizes All Strains of Influenza A Could Be a Universal Vaccine Blueprint
    Scientists have found an antibody that inactivates all influenza A subtypes. The antibody binding site, tucked away in a stable region of the virus, might form the first lasting vaccine against flu. [Press release from NatureNews discussing online prepublication in Science]

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    CURRENT PUBLICATIONS (Ranked by Impact Factor of the Journal)

    HIV-1 Adaptation to NK-Cell-Mediated Immune Pressure
    The data demonstrates that killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR)-positive natural killer (NK) cells can place immunological pressure on HIV-1, and that the virus can evade such NK-cell-mediated immune pressure by selecting for sequence polymorphisms. [Nature]

    A Critical Role for TCF-1 in T-Lineage Specification and Differentiation
    Here researchers show that a transcription factor, T-cell factor 1 (TCF-1; also known as transcription factor 7, T-cell specific, TCF7), is a critical regulator in T-cell specification. [Nature]

    A Neutralizing Antibody Selected from Plasma Cells That Binds to Group 1 and Group 2 Influenza A Hemagglutinins
    Using a single-cell culture method for screening large numbers of human plasma cells, researchers isolated a neutralizing monoclonal antibody that recognized the hemagglutinin glycoprotein of all 16 subtypes and neutralized both group 1 and group 2 influenza A viruses. [Science]

    Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase Is a Signaling Protein in Long-Term Tolerance by Dendritic Cells
    Here investigators show that treatment of mouse plasmacytoid dendritic cells with transforming growth factor-β conferred regulatory effects on indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase that were mechanistically separable from its enzymic activity. [Nat Immunol]

    Autocrine IL-2 Is Required for Secondary Population Expansion of CD8+ Memory T Cells
    Researchers investigated the requirement for IL-2 by the relevant three cell types in vivo and found that CD8+ T cells, rather than CD4+ T cells or dendritic cells, produced the IL-2 necessary for CD8+ T cell memory. [Nat Immunol]

    Recognition of β-Linked Self Glycolipids Mediated by Natural Killer T Cell Antigen Receptors
    Here researchers provide the mechanism for the autoreactivity of T cell antigen receptors on natural killer T cells to the mono- and tri-glycosylated β-linked agonists β-galactosylceramide and isoglobotrihexosylceramide, respectively. [Nat Immunol]

    NIK Signaling in Dendritic Cells but Not in T Cells Is Required for the Development of Effector T Cells and Cell-Mediated Immune Responses
    Upon systematic analysis of NF-κB–inducing kinase (NIK) function in cell-mediated immunity, researchers found that NIK signaling is dispensable within CD4+ T cells but played a pivotal role in dendritic cells. [J Exp Med]

    Nonrandom Attrition of the Naive CD8+ T-Cell Pool with Aging Governed by T-Cell Receptor:pMHC Interactions
    T-cell receptor avidity for self-pMHC provides a proofreading mechanism to maintain some of the fittest T cells in the otherwise crumbling naive repertoire, providing a degree of compensation for numerical and diversity defects in old T cells. [Proc Nat Acad Sci USA]

    Thy1+ NK Cells from Vaccinia Virus-Primed Mice Confer Protection Against Vaccinia Virus Challenge in the Absence of Adaptive Lymphocytes
    The results demonstrate that a defined innate memory cell population alone can provide host protection against a lethal systemic infection through viral clearance. [PLoS Pathog]

    Human B Cells Differentiate into Granzyme B-Secreting Cytotoxic B Lymphocytes Upon Incomplete T-Cell Help
    In the present study researchers show, that in the absence of CD40L, CD4+ T cell-derived IL-21 induces differentiation of B cells into granzyme B (GzmB)-secreting cytotoxic cells. [Immunol Cell Biol]

    INDUSTRY NEWS

    AB Science Announces Recruitment of First Patient in Phase 2B/3 Study of Masitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis
    AB Science SA announced the recruitment of the first patient in the phase 2b/3 study of masitinib in rheumatoid arthritis. [BusinessWire]

    FDA Issues Complete Response Letter to Janssen Biotech, Inc. for SIMPONI® Supplemental Biologic License Application
    The application, filed in September 2010, seeks to expand the SIMPONI® physician label to include inhibiting the progression of structural damage, inducing major clinical response and maintenance of reduction of signs and symptoms and maintenance of improved physical function in the treatment of moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis. [Janssen Biotech, Inc. Press Release]

    Argos Therapeutics Files Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering
    Argos Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock. [Argos Therapeutics, Inc. Press Release]

    POLICY NEWS

    National Institutes of Health (United States)

    Food and Drug Administration (United States)

    Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

    European Medicines Agency (European Union)

    Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

    Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

    EVENTS

    NEW International Conference on Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences (ICBPS’2011)
    October 7-8, 2011
    Pattaya, Thailand

    Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the immune regulation community.

    JOB OPPORTUNITIES
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    Research and Development Technologist, hPSC Media (STEMCELL Technologies) 

    Scientist (iPSC) (STEMCELL Technologies)

    Proteomics, Vascular Biology/Angiogenesis, or Immunology (St.Michael’s Hospital/University of Toronto)

    PhD Scholarship (Tasmania University)

    Associate Director, Immune Cell Signaling (Genentech)

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