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Immune System Diseases

2014

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Articles 1 - 14 of 14

Full-Text Articles in Medical Sciences

Autoimmune Susceptibility Imposed By Public Tcrβ Chains, Yunqian Zhao Dec 2014

Autoimmune Susceptibility Imposed By Public Tcrβ Chains, Yunqian Zhao

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is the strongest genetic risk factor for autoimmunity. It acts together with a corresponding TCR repertoire, yet, considering the extent of the repertoire's diversity, how this imposes disease susceptibility on a population is not well understood. We address the hypothesis that shared or public TCR, those present in most individuals, modulate autoimmune risk. High resolution analyses of autoimmune encephalomyelitis-associated T-cell receptor β chain (TCRβ) showed preferential utilization of public TCR sequences, implicating them in pathogenesis. Disease-associated public TCRβ, when transgenically expressed in association with endogenously rearranged T-cell receptor α chain (TCRα), could further endow unprimed …


Elucidating Cellular Signaling Pathways That Contribute To The Immunopathogenesis Of Aplastic Anemia, Christina M. Kuksin Nov 2014

Elucidating Cellular Signaling Pathways That Contribute To The Immunopathogenesis Of Aplastic Anemia, Christina M. Kuksin

Doctoral Dissertations

Aplastic Anemia is a rare immune mediated bone marrow failure disease that is mediated by autoreactive T cells that cause destruction to the stem, progenitor, and stromal cells in the bone marrow. Because little is known about the etiology of the disease, our lab has developed a major MHC mismatch GVHD model to examine cellular pathways in autoreactive T cells that contribute to disease. We examined three pathways that are important in T cell activation and differentiation and asked if they were important in the development of Aplastic Anemia. First, we were able to show that expression of active PKCθ …


Progressive Ataxia In An Aids Patient On Antiretroviral Therapy, Misbahuddin Syed Md Oct 2014

Progressive Ataxia In An Aids Patient On Antiretroviral Therapy, Misbahuddin Syed Md

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.


Smarter Vaccine Design Will Circumvent Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Evasion In Chronic Hiv And Hcv Infection, Leonard Moise, Frances Terry, Andres H. Gutierrez, Ryan Tassone, Phyllis Losikoff, Stephen H. Gregory, Chris Bailey-Kellogg Oct 2014

Smarter Vaccine Design Will Circumvent Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Evasion In Chronic Hiv And Hcv Infection, Leonard Moise, Frances Terry, Andres H. Gutierrez, Ryan Tassone, Phyllis Losikoff, Stephen H. Gregory, Chris Bailey-Kellogg

Dartmouth Scholarship

Despite years of research, vaccines against HIV and HCV are not yet available, due largely to effective viral immunoevasive mechanisms. A novel escape mechanism observed in viruses that cause chronic infection is suppression of viral-specific effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells by stimulating regulatory T cells (Tregs) educated on host sequences during tolerance induction. Viral class II MHC epitopes that share a T cell receptor (TCR)-face with host epitopes may activate Tregs capable of suppressing protective responses. We designed an immunoinformatic algorithm, JanusMatrix, to identify such epitopes and discovered that among human-host viruses, chronic viruses appear more human-like than viruses …


Global Burden Of Tuberculosis, Diana Moses Oct 2014

Global Burden Of Tuberculosis, Diana Moses

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health concern not only in the United States, but in the entire world. TB is an airborne communicable infection which has affected human beings from immemorial times, evidenced by TB being found in the skeletal remains of ancient mummies (Gough & Kaufman, 2011). There are many patho physiological events in TB that concern the entire body, especially the respiratory and immunological systems. According to Knechel, TB prevalence is rising due to the increased number of patients infected with HIV, bacterial resistance to medications, increased international travel and immigration from countries with high prevalence of TB, …


Myasthenia Gravis: A Closer Look, Erin L. Ricker Oct 2014

Myasthenia Gravis: A Closer Look, Erin L. Ricker

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare, chronic autoimmune disease that affects the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and the acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction (Mestecky, 2013). MG causes fluctuating skeletal muscle weakness and fatigue. According to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) (2010), 20 per 100,000 patients are diagnosed with MG, although researchers believe several more patients are misdiagnosed or missed entirely. Several neurological disorders have similar clinical presentations to MG making it difficult for inexperienced practitioners to identify and properly diagnose patients. Patients are often misdiagnosed and delayed proper treatment for one to two years after initial presentation of symptoms …


Steven-Johnson’S Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, Lindsey Grant Oct 2014

Steven-Johnson’S Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, Lindsey Grant

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Steven-Johnson’s Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) are both diseases mediated by hypersensitive immune reactions resulting in “full thickness epidermal necrosis” characterized by skin detachment. However, in SJS, there is only 10% skin surface area involvement whereas in TEN, over 30% of the skin becomes detached. TENS has a 50% mortality rate. (East-Innis & Thompson, 2013, p. 590) Why Chosen: SJS/TEN is a rare but extremely fatal disease. Initially, it is often mistaken as a simple allergic reaction to a new medication or environmental exposure because both cause truncal rashes and fevers. However, simple allergic reactions occur within days …


Cell Death Regulates Injury And Inflammation During Renal Allograft Transplantation, Arthur Lau Sep 2014

Cell Death Regulates Injury And Inflammation During Renal Allograft Transplantation, Arthur Lau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Renal transplantation invariably results in tissue injury resulting from ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI), inflammation, drug toxicity, and rejection. Tubular epithelial cells (TEC) comprise the majority of renal parenchyma and are susceptible to cell death and injury during diverse forms of inflammation, which has direct and indirect effects on long term allograft function. Renal TEC have the unique ability to attenuate inflammation and alloimmune injury through the expression of various mediators of cell death and inflammatory molecules. Inhibition of cell death pathways in renal allografts may influence outcomes of alloimmune responses and graft survival. In this body of investigation, alteration of …


The Mucosal Expression Pattern Of Interferon-Ε In Rhesus Macaques, Andrew Demers, Guobin Kang, Fangrui Ma, Wuxun Lu, Zhe Yuan, Yue Li, Mark Lewis, Edmundo N. Kraiselburd, Luis Montaner, Qingsheng Li Aug 2014

The Mucosal Expression Pattern Of Interferon-Ε In Rhesus Macaques, Andrew Demers, Guobin Kang, Fangrui Ma, Wuxun Lu, Zhe Yuan, Yue Li, Mark Lewis, Edmundo N. Kraiselburd, Luis Montaner, Qingsheng Li

Qingsheng Li Publications

Type I IFNs play an important role in innate and adaptive immunity against viral infections. A novel type I IFN, namely IFN-ε, which can protect against vaginal transmission of HSV2 and Chlamydia muridarum bacterial infection, has been described in mice and humans. Nevertheless, the principle cell type and the expression pattern of IFN-ε in tissues remain uncertain. In addition, the expression of IFN-ε in Indian rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) has not been reported. Here, we analyzed IFN-ε expression in multiple mucosal sites of uninfected or SIV-infected Indian rhesus macaques using IHCS. We report for the first time the …


Fty720 (Fingolimod) Provides Insight Into The Molecular Mechanisms Of Multiple Sclerosis, Madelyn Elizabeth Crawford Jun 2014

Fty720 (Fingolimod) Provides Insight Into The Molecular Mechanisms Of Multiple Sclerosis, Madelyn Elizabeth Crawford

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a prolonged immune- mediated inflammatory response that targets myelin. Nearly all of the drugs approved for the treatment of MS are general immunosuppressants or only function in symptom management. The oral medication fingolimod, however, is reported to have direct therapeutic effects on cells of the central nervous system in addition to immunomodulatory functions. Fingolimod is known to interact with sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptors, and the most widely- accepted theory for its mechanism of action is functional antagonism of the receptor. This review examines significant neuromodulatory effects achieved by functional antagonism of the …


Control Of Inflammation In Pancreatic Β-Cells: Role Of Arylpyrazole Compounds, Whitney Lyn Powell Apr 2014

Control Of Inflammation In Pancreatic Β-Cells: Role Of Arylpyrazole Compounds, Whitney Lyn Powell

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

No abstract provided.


The Role Of Tnfaip8l1 In The Antiviral Innate Immune System, Campbell Miller Apr 2014

The Role Of Tnfaip8l1 In The Antiviral Innate Immune System, Campbell Miller

Honors College

The TNFAIP8 gene family is a recently discovered family of immune-related genes that have been implicated in both innate immunity and immune homeostasis. This gene family consists of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8), TNFAIP8L1 (TIPE1), TNFAIP8L2 (TIPE2), and TNFAIP8L3 (TIPE3), of which only two, TNFAIP8 and TIPE2, have been characterized. Previous studies have revealed high sequence homology among family members, as is evident in the collective involvement of TNFIAP8 and TIPE2 in critical immune-related diseases, including cancer and inflammatory disease, respectively. However, TIPE1 has been left relatively uncharacterized, and its role in the context of antiviral innate …


Caspase-12 And Rheumatoid Arthritis In African-Americans, Laura Marshall, Mohammad Obaidullah, Trista Fuchs, Naomi S. Fineberg, Garland Brinkley, Ted R. Mikuls, Evan Hermel Jan 2014

Caspase-12 And Rheumatoid Arthritis In African-Americans, Laura Marshall, Mohammad Obaidullah, Trista Fuchs, Naomi S. Fineberg, Garland Brinkley, Ted R. Mikuls, Evan Hermel

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Osteopathic Medicine

CASPASE-12 (CASP12) has a downregulatory function during infection and thus may protect against inflammatory disease. We investigated the distribution of CASP12 alleles (#rs497116) in African-Americans (AA) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). CASP12 alleles were genotyped in 953 RA patients and 342 controls. Statistical analyses comparing genotype groups were performed using Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric ANOVA with Mann–Whitney U tests and chi-square tests. There was no significant difference in the overall distribution of CASP12 genotypes within AA with RA, but CASP12 homozygous patients had lower baseline joint-narrowing scores. CASP12 homozygosity appears to be a subtle protective factor for some aspects of RA in AA …


Analysis Of The Role Of Astrocyte Elevated Gene-1 In Normal Liver Physiology And In The Onset And Progression Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Chadia L. Robertson Jan 2014

Analysis Of The Role Of Astrocyte Elevated Gene-1 In Normal Liver Physiology And In The Onset And Progression Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Chadia L. Robertson

Theses and Dissertations

First identified over a decade ago, Astrocyte Elevated Gene-1 (AEG-1) has been studied extensively due to early reports of its overexpression in various cancer cell lines. Research groups all over the globe including our own have since identified AEG-1 overexpression in cancers of diverse lineages including cancers of the liver, colon, skin, prostate, breast, lung, esophagus, neurons and neuronal glia as compared to matched normal tissue. A comprehensive and convincing body of data currently points to AEG-1 as an essential component, critical to the progression and perhaps onset of cancer. AEG-1 is a potent activator of multiple pro-tumorigenic signal transduction …