Scandinavian Journal of Immunology最新文献

CD1d is an antigen-presenting molecule that presents lipid or glycolipid antigens to iNKT cells, a distinct subset of T lymphocytes characterised by their innate-like properties and restricted use of V_α, J_α and V_β segments. The CD1d-iNKT axis represents an interesting aspect of the immune system with significant potential for therapeutic interventions against infectious diseases. Upon recognition of lipid antigens, iNKT cells initiate rapid and potent immune responses, releasing a diverse array of cytokines such as IL-4, IL-13, IFN-γ etc. that profoundly influence immune reactions against various pathogens, including bacteria and parasites, bridging innate and adaptive immunity. We identify and describe the key features of lipidic antigens and their derivatives that determine the nature of their antigenicity. Furthermore, modulating CD1d-driven iNKT cell responses by an array of lipid and glycolipid antigens holds promise as adjunctive therapy to existing antimicrobial treatments. Understanding the complexities of the CD1d-iNKT axis and exploiting its therapeutic potential in the case of infectious diseases could lead to innovative immunotherapeutic strategies, ushering in a new era of immunotherapy against pathogenic insults.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and multiple sclerosis (MS) are complex autoimmune inflammatory diseases influenced by genetic, environmental and infectious agents like Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). EBV has been proposed to impact immune pathways through molecular mimicry, diverting antibody reactivity towards host tissues. This review explores the literature on EBV-specific similarities with human peptides and cytokines that might contribute to the onset of RA, SLE and MS. In conclusion, it is vital to conduct experimental computational analyses focusing on the homology between EBV and human proteins to unravel the complexities of autoimmune diseases and advance therapeutic approaches. These insights highlight the significance of collaborative efforts and diverse clinical studies for validation, linking the gap between research and practical applications in the complex field of autoimmunity.

Autoantibodies against tumour-associated antigens (TAA) are promising biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. This systematic review aims to evaluate the diagnostic values of tumour-associated autoantibodies (TAAbs) in patients with pancreatic cancer. A search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases to collect eligible studies. The primary outcomes included sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the test. We used QUADAS-2 to evaluate the risk of bias in the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using MetaDisc 1.4 and STATA 14.0 software to calculate the combined sensitivity and specificity. A total of 49 articles were included in the final analysis that reported over 100 different TAAbs that were studied for the detection of pancreatic cancer. p53, Ezrin, CLDN17, KCNN3, SLAMF7, SLC22A11 and OR51F2 were the most frequently investigated autoantibodies in these studies. Ezrin exhibited better diagnostic performance with the pooled sensitivity, specificity and summary area under the receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves being 56%, 88% and 0.90, respectively. Moreover, certain autoantibody combinations achieved substantially higher sensitivity at reasonably high levels of specificity. For example, the combination of Ezrin and ENOA1.2 autoantibodies with CA19.9 yielded sensitivity, specificity and area under the SROC curve of 100%, 92% and 0.96, respectively. TAAb is a promising diagnostic biomarker for early detection of PC, especially when combining TAAb with other markers. The promising candidate markers identified in this review deserve further validation in a broad screening population.

Septic shock is the most severe stage of sepsis. How immune dysregulation contributes to the pathogenesis of septic shock has not been thoroughly understood. In the current research, the phenotype and function of circulating natural killer (NK) cells of septic patients were characterised. The absolute number of NK cells was comparably reduced in septic shock survivors and non-survivors, probably owing to elevated NK cell apoptosis. Activating receptors including signalling lymphocytic activation molecule 4 (SLAMF4), natural killer cell p30-related protein (NKp30), natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D), and DNAX accessory molecule 1 (DNAM-1) were significantly downregulated on NK cell surface in septic shock patients, especially non-survivors. Furthermore, the patients' NK cells exhibited lower expression of granzyme B and perforin, weaker target cell-induced degranulation and cytokine expression, as well as incompetent cytolytic effect. These alterations were more profound in septic shock non-survivors. Importantly, serum interleukin-35 (IL-35), which is an immunosuppressive cytokine, was remarkably elevated in septic shock patients. Besides, serum interleukin-35 concentration was positively correlated with disease scores but negatively correlated with NK cell activating receptor expression. In vitro assays indicated IL-35-induced strong suppression of NK cell activity, as evidenced by concomitant downregulation of cytokines and activating receptors along with inhibition of cytolytic capacity. Therefore, we uncovered for the first time the contributing role of IL-35 in septic shock-related human NK cell dysfunction.

Vitronectin (Vn) is a complement regulatory component found in humans and a variety of animals. It can inhibit the formation of membrane attack complexes in the complement system. Studies have shown that a variety of pathogenic microorganisms, including Yersinia pestis, dengue viruses, Plasmodium and Candida albicans, may recruit Vn on the surface of pathogens and inhibit the killing effect of the complement system in the host. After entering the body, pathogenic microorganisms may attach to and infect target cells through multiple pathogenic mechanisms. Meanwhile, the body will attack the invading pathogenic microorganisms through its own immune system. However, the immune escape of pathogens will make the host's immune system difficult to respond effectively, thus causing the aggravation of the disease. Therefore, the study of immune escape is of great significance for the treatment, prevention and control of infectious diseases and tumours. In this paper, the mechanism of vitronectin (one of the complement regulatory factors)-mediated immune escape of pathogens is reviewed from multiple aspects.

We aimed to investigate the effects of Salvianolic acid A (SA), an active ingredient of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, on the proliferation, metastasis and CD40-AKT-NF-κB signalling pathway in endometrial carcinoma (EC). Human EC cell lines (Ishikawa and HEC-1A) were treated with varying concentrations of SA, CD40 soluble ligand (sCD40L) or a combination of both. Cell viability, proliferation, invasion and migration were assessed using MTT, colony formation and transwell assays. Flow cytometry was used to analyse apoptosis and cell cycle progression. qRT-PCR evaluated the mRNA level of CD40. The protein expression of CD40, p-AKT, p-mTOR, p-p65, and p52 was evaluated via Western blot and immunofluorescence. A subcutaneous tumour model was used to examine the impact of SA on tumour growth, followed by immunohistochemical analysis of Ki-67, CD40, p-AKT and p-mTOR. SA treatment reduced EC cell viability, proliferation, invasion and migration, while also triggering apoptosis and inducing cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase in a dose-dependent way. These effects correlated with marked downregulation of CD40, p-AKT, p-mTOR, p-p65 and p52 expression. Conversely, activation of CD40 signalling with sCD40L promoted EC cell malignancy and overturned the anti-tumour effects of SA on EC cells. Additionally, SA treatment suppressed tumour growth in xenograft mouse models, along with reduced levels of Ki67, CD40, p-AKT, p-mTOR, p-p65 and p52 in mouse tumour tissues, which were counteracted by sCD40L co-treatment. SA effectively suppresses endometrial carcinoma progression by targeting the CD40-AKT-NF-κB pathway.

Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome Type-1 (APS-1) is a rare, but severe organ-specific autoimmune disease caused by mutations in the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene. Lack of AIRE causes autoreactive T cells to escape negative selection and alters the T regulatory cell subset. However, little is known about how the immune cell subsets vary across the lifespan in APS-1. Here we analysed the peripheral distribution of 13 immune cell subsets along the lifespan using epigenetic quantification. We found the largest discrepancy in immune cells to appear early in APS-1 patients' lives, coinciding with the time point they obtained most of their clinical symptoms. We further revealed longitudinal changes in cell compositions both within the adaptive and the innate arms of the immune system. We found that cell frequencies of B cells, T-cell subgroups, nonclassical monocytes, and Natural Killer cells to be reduced in young APS-1 patients. We also found B-cell frequencies to decrease with ageing in both patients and healthy controls. Our results suggest that Tregs, follicular helper T, and natural killer cells have opposing trends of cell frequencies during life, indicating the importance of considering the age profiles of cohorts which could otherwise lead to conflicting conclusions.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-system autoimmune disease characterised by aberrant activation and differentiation of autoreactive T and B cells, as well as the overproduction of autoantibodies. CD6, a cell-surface glycoprotein, regulates lymphocyte activation, differentiation and survival, and is implicated in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune disorders. In SLE, the CD6/activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) pathway promotes renal T-cell immune responses. However, the distribution, expression, and function of CD6 in lupus B cells remain poorly understood. In this work, we employed flow cytometry and multi-colour immunohistochemical staining to analyse the expression and distribution of CD6 on peripheral B cells. Correlation analysis was performed to assess the associations of CD6 and clinical indicators of disease severity. We found that SLE patients exhibited significantly reduced CD6 expression on peripheral CD19⁺ B, CD19⁺CD27^- B, CD19⁺CD27⁺ B, naïve B, CD19⁺CD27^-IgD^- double-negative B (DNB) and CD19⁺CD27⁺IgD⁺ B cells. Moreover, CD6 expression was negatively correlated with serum levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and the degree of white blood cell (WBC) depletion. Notably, SLE patients positive for antinuclear antibody (ANA) or anti-SSA antibody displayed lower CD6 expression on circulating B cells. Additionally, CD6 expression in B cells was predominantly localised in the extrafollicular (EF) region of human tonsils, suggesting a potential regulatory role of CD6 in EF B-cell responses. In conclusion, dysregulated CD6 expression on peripheral B cells might be related to liver/kidney injury and ANA/anti-SSA antibody production in SLE patients.

To determine leptin's effect on the thymus, we gathered data on leptin levels, ghrelin, cortisol and cytokine levels. The aim of the study was to map leptin's effect on the thymus when malnourished. Pubmed and Embase were searched for articles by the search terms 'malnutrition' and 'leptin'. The risk of bias was assessed by using JBI critical appraisal tools. Results were presented in tables and forest plots generated using STATA. A total of 16 articles were included. All articles included in the study are researching leptin, cortisol, or ghrelin, as well as cytokines. Forest plots were created for leptin, ghrelin, cortisol, Interleukin 10 (IL-10) and Interferon gamma (IFN-γ). Leptin had an overall effect size of 3.01 (95% CI 0.51; 5.51), ghrelin had an overall effect size of -1.71 (-2.97, -0.45), cortisol had an overall effect size of -1.16 (-1.49, -0.83), IL-10 had an overall effect size of -0.34 (95% CI -0.54; -0.14) and IFN-γ had an overall effect size of -0.02 (95% CI -0.25; 0.22), respectively. Our data revealed a decrease in leptin levels and an increase in cortisol, ghrelin and IL-10 when compared with control. This review displayed a relationship between leptin, cortisol, ghrelin and thymus atrophy. The change in T-helper cells contributes to the increased thymocyte depletion seen when severely malnourished. Leptin cannot explain all the changes observed, but may give insight into how it is a contributing factor in the changes the thymus undergoes.