toll-like receptor (tlr) 7 and 8 mediate anti-virus immunity and are of particular relevance to asthma. however, very little information about genetic association on tlr7/8 and asthma are available. this study aimed to evaluate the effects of polymorphisms in tlr7 and 8 on asthma risk and asthma-related phenotypes in a chinese han population. we enrolled 462 unrelated adult asthmatic patients a...

Background Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGFb) is a highly pleiotropic cytokine that is involved in numerous signalling pathways, including immune homeostasis. It is secreted by all immune cell lineages and is classically viewed as an anti-inflammatory cytokine. TGFb is associated with regulatory T cell (Treg) induction, and Tregfunction. However, in combination with pro-inflammatory cytokin...

Whether thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) directly induces potent human CD4(+) T cell proliferation and Th2 differentiation is unknown. We report that resting and activated CD4(+) T cells expressed high levels of IL-7 receptor a chain but very low levels of TSLP receptor (TSLPR) when compared with levels expressed in myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs). This was confirmed by immunohistology and fl...

Expression of IL-7 receptor alpha (CD127) is associated with naive and memory (i.e. non-effector) CD8+ T cell phenotypes. Effector CD8+ T cells are predominantly CD127- and most die by apoptosis. Therefore, CD127 appears to be a marker for CD8+ T cell differentiation, yet its role in CD8+ T cell survival and memory development is unclear. To address this, we investigated the cell death and cell...

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy is a currently untreatable infection of the brain. Here, we demonstrate in 2 patients that treatment with interleukin 7, JC polyomavirus (JCV) capsid protein VP1, and a Toll-like receptor 7 agonist used as adjuvant, was well tolerated, and showed a very favorable safety profile and unexpected efficacy that warrant further investigation.

Inter leukinla and interleukin-ip are two polypeptides which share a significant number of inflammatory, immunological and pathological properties (for a review see [1]). Importantly, these dissimilar 17 kDa proteins bind to two classes of interleukin-1 receptors, resulting in the mediation of several immune and inflammatory responses and in the induction of a variety of biological changes in n...

T cell depletion is commonly used in organ transplantation for immunosuppression; however, a restoration of T cell homeostasis following depletion leads to increased memory T cells, which may promote transplant rejection. The cytokine IL-7 is important for controlling lymphopoiesis under both normal and lymphopenic conditions. Here, we investigated whether blocking IL-7 signaling with a mAb tha...

A monoclonal antibody, A7R34, that recognizes the high-affinity interleukin 7 receptor (IL-7Ra) and blocks the binding between IL-7 and IL-7Ra has been produced. Cell surface staining with A7R34 demonstrated that IL-7Ra is expressed in both B- and T-cell lineages. In the bone marrow, immature B-lineage cells that do not express surface IgM were IL-7Ra+. In the thymus, IL-7Ra was detected in CD4...