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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Effect Of Dendritic Cell Mobilization On Cd8+ T Cell Responses To Influenza A Virus, Adil N. Shivji Dec 2012

The Effect Of Dendritic Cell Mobilization On Cd8+ T Cell Responses To Influenza A Virus, Adil N. Shivji

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Influenza A viruses (IAV) cause respiratory infections with potentially catastrophic consequences. Neutralizing antibodies towards surface proteins of IAV prevent reinfection. However, mutations in these proteins allow the virus to evade these antibodies. Enhancing cytotoxic T cell-mediated immunity has been proposed as an attractive strategy to combat flu. Recombinant human FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FL) is known to mobilize dendritic cells (DCs) in mice. Given that DCs are the most potent antigen-presenting cells, I hypothesized that their mobilization by FL will improve the CD8+ T cell response to IAV. Quantification of CD8+ T cell responses to IAV epitopes by intracellular …


Involvement Of Interleukin-33/St2 In Myocardial Dysfunction In Murine Model Of Sepsis, Yoonmi Choe Dec 2012

Involvement Of Interleukin-33/St2 In Myocardial Dysfunction In Murine Model Of Sepsis, Yoonmi Choe

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The disruption of myocardial extracellular matrix (ECM) has been implicated in myocardial dysfunction during sepsis. However, the underlying mechanism(s) are not clear. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a cytokine which regulates collagen synthesis in various cardiac pathologies. The purpose of the present study is to test whether IL-33 contributes to sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction through regulation of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). The in vivo, feces-induced peritonitis (FIP) in mice and in vitro lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatments to isolated cardiomyocytes were used. In FIP mice, myocardial IL-33 and MMP-9 expression were increased and myocardial contractility was decreased. Myocardial function in FIP mice was improved when treated …


Role Of Il-10 In The Immune Response To Staphylococcus Aureus Nasal Carriage, Teresa Fernandez Plaza May 2012

Role Of Il-10 In The Immune Response To Staphylococcus Aureus Nasal Carriage, Teresa Fernandez Plaza

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen with the potential to cause life-threatening diseases, but it can also be found as a commensal in up to 50% of the population. Its main reservoir is located in the nostrils, where macrophages are the principal mucosal APC and elicit a predominantly IL-10 response. Induction of IL-10 requires phosohoinositide 3-kinase activity, upon stimulation with S. aureus ligands through toll-like receptor 2 binding. It is hypothesized that IL-10 production by macrophages in the nasal mucosa allows S. aureus to persist in this niche as a commensal. To test this hypothesis, a cohort of S. aureus …


Restriction Of Hiv-1 Replication By Unique Trim22 Isoforms., Clayton Hattlmann Mar 2012

Restriction Of Hiv-1 Replication By Unique Trim22 Isoforms., Clayton Hattlmann

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Understanding how the immune system reacts to HIV infection and why normal antiviral defenses are insufficient to fight infection is a key step towards creating better therapies. Several interferon-induced proteins, such as the tripartite motif protein TRIM22, are capable of restricting HIV-1 replication; however single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can dramatically impact the actions of these proteins. While the trim22 gene contains numerous SNPs, no study has addressed how these may affect TRIM22 functions. Here we provide the first direct comparison of two TRIM22 unique isoforms. Through confocal microscopy we observed these isoforms exhibit different patterns of localization. In vitro studies …