Immune Regulation News Volume 4.17 | May 11 2012

Divergent Transcriptional Programming of Class-Specific B Cell Memory by T-bet and RORα
Scientists demonstrated that memory B cell subsets unexpectedly diverged across antibody class through differences in the effects of major transcriptional regulators. [Nat Immunol] Abstract | Press Release

Cell Receptor Signal Transduction in the GC Is Short-Circuited by High Phosphatase Activity
Researchers showed that, surprisingly, most proliferating germinal center (GC) B cells did not demonstrate active B cell receptor signaling. Rather, spontaneous and induced signaling was limited by increased phosphatase activity. [Science] Abstract

Interleukin-25 Induces Type 2 Cytokine Production in a Steroid-Resistant Interleukin-17RB⁺ Myeloid Population that Exacerbates Asthmatic Pathology
Researchers established interleukin (IL) 25 and its receptor IL-17RB as targets for innate and adaptive immune responses in chronic allergic airway disease and identified type 2 myeloid cells as a new steroid-resistant cell population. [Nat Med] Abstract | Press Release

An N-Terminal Mutation of the Foxp3 Transcription Factor Alleviates Arthritis but Exacerbates Diabetes
Scientists report that specific subfunctions of regulatory T cells and the immune diseases they regulate can be influenced by FoxP3’s molecular interactions, which result in divergent immunoregulation. [Immunity] Abstract

IL-15 Protects NKT Cells from Inhibition by Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Enhances Antimetastatic Activity
Scientists report that a subset of cells in neuroblastoma cell lines and primary tumors expresses membrane-bound TNF-α. These proinflammatory tumor cells induced production of the chemokine CCL20 from tumor-associated macrophages via activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway, an effect that was amplified in hypoxia. [J Clin Invest] Full Article | Press Release

Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes and Induction of ß-Cell Proliferation in NOD Mice by Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Researchers determined that hyperbaric oxygen therapy reduces autoimmune diabetes incidence in nonobese diabetic mice via increased resting T cells and reduced activation of dendritic cells with preservation of ß-cell mass resulting from decreased apoptosis and increased proliferation. [Diabetes] Abstract

Breast Cancer Cell Uptake of the Inflammatory Mediator Neutrophil Elastase Triggers an Anti-Cancer Adaptive Immune Response
Scientists revealed a previously unknown mechanism of antitumor adaptive immunity that links cancer cell uptake of an inflammatory mediator to an effective cytolytic response against an important breast cancer antigen. [Cancer Res] Abstract

Epstein-Barr Virus Infection of Naïve B Cells In Vitro Frequently Selects Clones with Mutated Immunoglobulin Genotypes: Implications for Virus Biology
Researchers revealed that Epstein-Barr virus infection can drive at least some naïve B cells to acquire Ig memory genotypes; furthermore, such cells are often favored during a lymphoblastoid cells lines’s evolution to monoclonality. [PLoS One] Full Article

Macrophage-Stimulated Cardiac Fibroblast Production of IL-6 Is Essential for TGF β/Smad Activation and Cardiac Fibrosis Induced by Angiotensin II
The results of this study indicate that macrophages stimulate cardiac fibroblasts to produce Interleukin-6 (IL-6), which leads to transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) production and Smad3 phosphorylation in cardiac fibroblasts, and thus stimulates cardiac fibrosis. [PLoS One] Full Article

The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Announces Launch of iTeos Therapeutics SA
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research announced the launch of a private biotechnology enterprise, iTeos Therapeutics SA, to develop a novel pre-clinical pipeline of immunomodulators to stimulate the immune system’s ability to attack cancer. [Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Ltd.] Press Release

CPRIT Awards Pulmotect $7.1 Million to Develop Novel Immune System Stimulant
Pulmotect, Inc. has been awarded $7.1 million by the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to advance its novel product, PUL-042, which offers the promise of better protecting patients receiving chemotherapy from infection, allowing for significantly higher treatment success. [Pulmotect, Inc.] Press Release

FDA Advisory Committee Supports Approval of Gilead’s Truvada^® for Reducing the Risk of Acquiring HIV
Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced that the Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has voted to support approval of once-daily oral Truvada^® (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) to reduce the risk of HIV-1 infection among uninfected adults, an HIV prevention strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis. [Gilead Sciences, Inc.] Press Release

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)

Have we missed an important article or publication in Immune Regulation News? Click here to submit!

Comments or Suggestions? Email info@connexoncreative.com with your feedback.