BACKGROUND In the aftermath of the largest Q fever outbreak in the world, diagnosing the potentially lethal complication chronic Q fever remains challenging. PCR, Coxiella burnetii IgG phase I antibodies, CRP and 18F-FDG-PET/CT scan are used for diagnosis and monitoring in clinical practice. We aimed to identify and test biomarkers in order to improve discriminative power of the diagnostic test...

Intestinal myofibroblasts have been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's disease via interactions with an elaborate network of cytokines, growth factors, and other inflammatory mediators. CXCR3 is a Galpha(i) protein-coupled receptor that binds the proinflammatory chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11, which are released from the intestinal epithelium...

To gain a better understanding of biochemical mechanisms of conceptus adhesion to the maternal endometrium in ruminant ungulates, the present study was performed to clarify roles of chemokines and extracellular matrix (ECM) components in the regulation of ovine blastocyst attachment to the endometrium. In addition to the chemokine, interferon-gamma inducible protein 10 kDa (IP-10, CXCL10), the ...

BACKGROUND The authors previously reported that human ocular surface epithelium expressed TLR3 and that its ligand polyI:C stimulated the secretion of IL-6, IL-8 and IFN-β. In this study, to examine comprehensive effects of polyI:C stimulation of primary human conjunctival epithelial cells (PHCjECs), the authors performed a gene-expression analysis of the polyI:C-stimulated PHCjECs using oligon...

An oncolytic poxvirus such as vvDD-CXCL11 can generate potent systemic antitumor immunity as well as targeted oncolysis, yet the antitumor effect is limited probably due to limited homing to and suppressed activity of tumor-specific adaptive immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). We reasoned that a chemokine modulating (CKM) drug cocktail, consisting of IFN-α, poly I:C, and a COX-2 i...