The Role Of Il-22 Produced By Th17 Cells In Type 1 Diabetes, Stacey M. Bellemore

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is produced by T helper 17 (Th17) cells. Th17 cells have been shown to be pathogenic in autoimmune diseases, however their role in type 1 diabetes (T1D) remains controversial. We have shown that Th17-differentiation of naïve T cells can be driven by IL-23 + IL-6 to produce large amounts of IL-22 and induce T1D. Conversely, polarizing T cells using TGF-β + IL-6 led to nonpathogenic Th17 cells that produced lower IL-22 levels. We have shown that neutralizing IFN-γ during polarization leads to a drastic increase in IL-22. We have also found IL-22-producing cells in the pancreas of diabetic …

Role Of Inos In Septic Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cell Activation, Zahra Asad

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

Background. Neutrophils and nitric oxide (NO) derived from inducible NO synthase (iNOS) contributes importantly to the pathophysiology of acute lung injury (ALI) and pulmonary microvascular endothelial cell (PMVEC) injury. However, the mechanism of neutrophil and neutrophil iNOS dependent PMVEC injury has not been addressed. In our studies, we assessed PMVEC activation under septic conditions, and defined the role of PMVEC vs. bone-marrow polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) iNOS in this septic PMVEC activation.

Methods and Results. We isolated PMVEC from iNOS+/+ and iNOS-/- mice lungs magnetically by microbeads attached to anti-PECAM antibodies, sorted by flow cytometry (FACS) by DiI-acetylated low density …