Measles virus (MV) propagates mainly in lymphoid organs throughout the body and produces syncytia by using signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) as a receptor. MV also spreads in SLAM-negative epithelial tissues by unknown mechanisms. Ubiquitously expressed CD46 functions as another receptor for vaccine strains of MV but not for wild-type strains. We here show that MV grows and produc...

Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that targets B-cell–specific antigen CD20 and an effective treatment for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Although it is readily used in clinical practice, the exact mechanism of its antitumor effect is unclear. One potential mechanism involves complement-mediated cytotoxicity. It has been shown that rituximab induces complement-mediated cytotoxicity in f...

UNLABELLED ESSENTIALS: Molecular diagnostics has improved the differentiation of acute thrombotic microangiopathys (TMAs). Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome may have features mimicking thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. We identified novel complement mutations and a high incidence of CD46, with favorable long term outcomes. Complement mutation analysis in TMA where the diagnosis is unclear a...

A major source of inflammatory cytokines in the measles virus (MV)-infected brain are astrocytes, which produce a variety of soluble mediators including interferons-alpha/beta (IFN-alpha/beta), interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Using the MV-strain Edmonston (ED) and the recombinant MV-strain MGV in which the MV-envelope proteins H and F hav...

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema develops in 15% of ex-smokers despite sustained quitting, while 10% are free of emphysema or severe lung obstruction. The cause of the incapacity of the immune system to clear the inflammation in the first group remains unclear. METHODS AND FINDINGS We searched genes that were protecting ex-smokers without emphysema, using microar...

The hemagglutinin (H) protein of measles virus (MeV) interacts with a cellular receptor which constitutes the initial stage of infection. Binding of H to this host cell receptor subsequently triggers the F protein to activate fusion between virus and host plasma membranes. The search for MeV receptors began with vaccine/laboratory virus strains and evolved to more relevant receptors used by wil...

Engineering cancer cells to express heterologous antigen α-gal and induce the destruction of tumor cells depending on the complement cascade may be a promising strategy of tumor therapy. However, the feasibility and effect of using α-gal to induce colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line cytolysis is not yet known. In this study, we evaluated α-gal expression's ability to sensitize human colorectal ...

Lack of IFN-b and MHC class I expression in measles virus (MV) infected neurons could impair the host antiviral defense mechanism and result in virus escape from recognition by cytotoxic T-cells. Induction of IFN-b and MHC class I gene expression requires NF-jB activation which depends on degradation of IjBa, an inhibitory protein of NF-jB. In earlier studies we demonstrated that in contrast to...

ii Cover illustration: H&E staining picture of murine lungs infected with Mycobacterium.bovis BCG and fluorescence microscopic picture of macrophage fusion are integrated into a swedish dala horse. SUMMARY Macrophages are dynamic, plastic, and heterogeneous immune cells that play an important role in host immune defense against bacterial infection. Various bacterial pathogens, such as Neisseria...