(Auto)antigen engagement by the B-cell receptor (BCR) and possibly the sites where this occurs influence the outcome of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). To test if selection for autoreactivity leads to increased aggressiveness and if this selection plays out equally in primary and secondary tissues, we used T-cell leukemia (TCL)1 cells reactive with the autoantigen phosphatidylcholine (PtC)....

Professor da Disciplina de Neurologia e Neurocirurgia do Curso de Medicina da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná UNIOESTE, Paraná, Brasil; Professor da Disciplina de Clínica Cirúrgica do Curso de Medicina da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná UNIOESTE, Paraná, Brasil; Chefe do Serviço de Coloproctologia do Hospital Universitário Cajuru PUCPR, Paraná, Brasil. Infliximab, eternecept a...

All tumor cell lines that have been tested are defective for Myc auto-repression, and have high levels of Myc produced from wild type loci and re-arranged loci. Like mammalian Myc auto-repression, Myc protein represses the expression of its gene, dmyc, in Drosophila. This activity requires Polycomb (Pc), since RNAi for Pc in the embryo eliminates Myc auto-repression. We have observed that upon ...

background: the aim of this study was to quantify the number of mast cells in focal reactive hyperplastic lesions of the oral cavity and to compare these two number of mast cells in normal gingival tissues and to correlate their presence with the state of connective tissue changes in reactive lesions and probably suggest a role for mast cells in these lesions. materials and methods: patient rec...

background: reactive lesions of the oral cavity are non-neoplastic proliferations with very similar clinical appearance to benign neoplastic proliferation. this similarity is troublesome in the differential diagnosis. the aim of this study was to determine the frequency and distribution of oral cavity reactive lesions. materials and methods: the study was a retrospective archive review. the med...

The role of infectious agents in autoimmune diseases genesis is still a matter of debate. Several observations have suggested that autoimmune diseases may be initiated or worsened by infections (review by Kivity et al., 2009). However, there is no clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms. In particular, autoantibody production during infections could be the result of the non specific ac...

Autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) occur because of an inappropriate immune-mediated attack against self-tissue. Analyses of genetically identical twins shows that besides genetics there are important environmental factors that contribute to MS and IBD development. Vitamin D availability due to sunshine exposure or diet may play a role in the d...

A major function of immunoglobulin A (IgA) is to maintain balanced bacterial communities in the gut. We have previously shown that diversification of IgA upon somatic hypermutation (SHM) is critical for IgA function yet the principles governing the selection of IgA in the gut have remained elusive. Here we discuss recent progress in understanding this process as revealed by our studies in mice ...

We report here two cases of vitiligo vulgaris successfully treated with the combination therapy of topical steroid and vitamin D3 compound and currently maintained by vitamin D3 analog without any adverse effects: skin atrophy, striae or telangiectasia on the exposed areas. The best-known mechanism of topical vitamin D3 analog is the enhancement of keratinocytes differentiation and anti-prolife...

programmed cell death is a highly regulated form of cell death, mostly distinguished by the activation of a family of cystein-aspartate proteases (caspases) that cleave various proteins resulting in morphological and biochemical changes characteristic of this form of cell death. several recent studies have addressed the role of programmed cell death in inflammatory and chronic pain states. casp...