Plasmodia species, unlike humans, can utilize p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) for the de novo generation of folate. Plasmodial enzymes for the synthesis of PABA via the shikimate pathway are being investigated as novel targets for malaria chemotherapy. We show that, despite the presence of biosynthetic machinery to synthesize PABA, Plasmodium yoelii, a rodent malaria species, requires exogenous diet...

To validate its efficacy in the context of the human immune system, a novel therapeutic vaccine of hGM-CSF/hTNFα surface-modified PC-3 cells against human prostate cancer was evaluated in the human peripheral blood lymphocytes-severe combined immunodeficiency (huPBL-SCID) chimeric mouse model. The hGM-CSF or/and hTNFα modified vaccines inhibited prostate cancer growth effectively so as to prolo...

The nature of the association of adenosine deaminase deficiency and severe combined immunodeficiency disease is reviewed . The basis for the molecular heterogeneity exhibited by adenosine deaminase in human tissue and the mechanisms whereby a deficiency of this activity results in the extreme perturbation of the immune system as observed in severe combined immunodeficiency are critically discus...

Early detection of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) followed by prompt treatment is critical for affected babies to live healthy lives. Newborn screening (NBS) for SCID using the T-cell receptor excision circle (TREC) test has been being performed in California for two years and around 1 million babies have been screened there. The test has demonstrated high specificity and sensitivity i...

We report that the spirochete B. burgdorferi induces progressive polyarthritis and carditis in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (scid) but not in normal C.B-17 mice. The onset and severity of the disease were dependent on (a) the viability; (b) the infectivity; and (c) the dose of inoculated B. burgdorferi organisms. Infective spirochetes were isolated from both blood and joi...

Doxorubicin (DOX) was conjugated to a monoclonal antibody (mAb 425) directed against the human epidermal growth factor receptor. The immunoreactivity of these conjugates, with an average of six to eight molecules of DOX per antibody, was largely conserved, and their in vitro cytotoxicity against metastatic human melanoma cells (M24 met) was improved over that of free DOX. An evaluation of the t...

Alloreactive T lymphocytes can respond to foreign MHC complexed with foreign peptides through the direct pathway of allorecognition and can additionally recognize allopeptides expressed in the context of recipient (self) MHC through the indirect pathway. To better elucidate how indirect pathway-responsive CD4(+) T cells mediate allograft rejection, we isolated and characterized a TH1 T cell lin...