Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a T cell mediated autoimmune disease targeting the insulin-producing β cells within pancreatic islets. Autoimmune diseases may develop as a consequence of altered balance between regulatory (Tregs) and autoreactive T cells. Objectives: To evaluate Treg cells frequency and suppressive function in the peripheral blood of newly diagnosed T1D patients in compari...

Homeostatic proliferation of naive T cells in the spleen and cutaneous lymph nodes supplies memory-phenotype T cells. The "systemic" proliferative responses divide distinctly into fast or slow cell division rates. The fast proliferation is critical for generation of effector memory T cells. Because effector memory T cells are abundant in the lamina propria of the intestinal tissue, "gut-specifi...

OBJECTIVE CD200/CD200R1 signalling has an immunoregulatory effect on the activation threshold of the inflammatory immune response and maintains immune homeostasis. In this study we evaluated the status of CD200/CD200R1 interaction in patients with RA. METHODS The expression of CD200 and CD200R1 was examined by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry and was compared between RA patients and he...

The loss of numbers and functionality of CD4 T cells is observed in sepsis; however, the mechanism remains elusive. Gene related to anergy in lymphocytes (GRAIL) is critical for the impairment of CD4 T cell proliferation. We therefore sought to examine the role of GRAIL in CD4 T cell proliferation during sepsis. Sepsis was induced in 10-wk-old male C57BL/6 mice by cecal ligation and puncture. S...

Hsp70 plays several roles in the adaptive immune response. Based on the ability to interact with diverse peptides, extracellular Hsp70:peptide complexes exert profound effects both in autoimmunity and in tumor rejection by evoking potent T cell responses to the chaperoned peptide. The interaction with receptors on APC represents the basis for the immunological functions of Hsp70 and a critical ...

In this study, we investigated the development of T cell responses in mice after administration of a mannosylated ovalbumin peptide (M-OVA(323-339)). Immunization with M-OVA(323-339) in complete adjuvant resulted in enhanced antigen presentation in draining lymph nodes. Monitoring the fate of CFSE-labeled ovalbumin peptide-specific TCR transgenic CD4(+) T cells revealed that immunization with M...

The memory T cell response is polyclonal, with the magnitude and specificity of the response controlled in part by the burst size of T cells expanded from effector/memory precursors. Sensitive assays using HLA class II multimers were used to detect low-frequency Ag-specific T cells directed against influenza viral Ags in subjects immunized with the influenza vaccine. Direct ex vivo tetramer sta...

Islet cell transplantation as a therapy for type 1 diabetes has been limited by progressive graft loss. Significant immunosuppression including T-cell ablation has been used in an attempt to limit islet rejection. Here, we show that CD3(+) lymphocytes depleted of alloreactive T cells selected from a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR), where responder BALB/c splenocytes stained with carboxyfluoresc...