Enzyme's Key Role in Regulating Immune System
Mice lacking an enzyme known as deoxycytidine kinase have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response. [University of California, Los Angeles]

Inflammatory Mediator Regulates Diarrhea in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The activation of NF-kappaB, an inflammatory mediator, results in diarrhea in inflammatory bowel disease. [Northwestern University, Chicago]

What Is The Function Of The Protein CD20?
A team of researchers from The Netherlands, has determined that CD20 has a nonredundant role in generating optimal B cell immune responses by analyzing a patient lacking the protein. [Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam]

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

CTLA-4 Suppresses the Pathogenicity of Self Antigen-Specific T Cells by Cell-Intrinsic and Cell-Extrinsic Mechanisms
Results demonstrate that both cell-intrinsic and non-cell-autonomous actions of CTLA-4 operate to maintain T cell tolerance to a self antigen. [Nat Immunol]

TLR4 Signaling in Effector CD4+ T Cells Regulates TCR Activation and Experimental Colitis in Mice
Researchers show that TLR4 triggering on CD4+ T cells affects their phenotype and their ability to provoke intestinal inflammation. [J Clin Invest]

Expansion of FOXP3+ CD8 T cells with Suppressive Potential in Colorectal Mucosa Following a Pathogenic Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Correlates with Diminished Antiviral T Cell Response and Viral Control
This study suggests an important but previously unappreciated role for CD8 regulatory T cells in suppressing antiviral immunity during immunodeficiency virus infections. [J Immunol]

CD137 Promotes Proliferation and Survival of Human B Cells
CD137 (4-1BB)-mediated costimulation plays an important role in directing the fate of antigen-stimulated T cells and natural killer cells, yet the role of CD137 in mediating B cell function is unknown. This study suggests that CD137 costimulation may play a role in defining the fate of antigen-stimulated human B cells. [J Immunol]

CTLA4Ig Alters the Course of Autoimmune Disease Development in Lyn-/- Mice
Results suggest that when self-reactive B cell clones are unimpeded in acquiring T cell help, they secrete pathogenic IgG autoantibodies that trigger the fulminant autoimmunity normally observed in Lyn-/- mice. [J Immunol]

Ins2 Deficiency Augments Spontaneous HLA-A*0201-Restricted T Cell Responses to Insulin
In humans, the non-MHC locus conferring the strongest Type 1 diabetes disease susceptibility is the insulin gene, and alleles yielding lower thymic insulin expression are predisposing.  Researchers sought to incorporate this characteristic into an HLA-transgenic model of the disease and to determine the influence of reduced thymic insulin expression on CD8+ T cell responses to preproinsulin. [J Immunol]

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