Interest in manipulating the immunosuppressive powers of Foxp3-expressing T regulatory cells as an immunotherapy has been tempered by their reported ability to produce proinflammatory cytokines when manipulated in vitro, or in vivo. Understanding processes that can limit this potentially deleterious effect of Treg cells in a therapeutic setting is therefore important. Here, we have studied this...

BACKGROUND Interferon (IFN)-α has been commonly used as an antiviral drug worldwide; however, its short half-life in circulation due to its low molecular weight and sensitivity to proteases impacts its efficacy and patient compliance. RESULTS In this study, we present an IgG1 Fc fusion strategy to improve the circulation half-life of IFN-α. Three different forms of IgG1 Fc fragments, includin...

BACKGROUND Fecal calprotectin (FC) determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test has been proposed as a promising biomarker of endoscopic activity in ulcerative colitis (UC). However, data on its accuracy in predicting endoscopic activity is scarce. Besides, FC determined by the quantitative-point-of-care test (FC-QPOCT) that provides rapid and individual results could optimi...

Engagement of Fc gamma receptors (Fc gamma Rs) with the Fc region of IgG elicits immune responses by leukocytes. The recent crystal structure of Fc gamma RIII in complex with IgG-Fc has provided details of molecular interactions between these components (Sondermann, P., Huber, R., Oosthuizen, V., and Jacob, U. (2000) Nature 406, 267-273). One of the most intriguing issues is that glycosylation ...

BACKGROUND The alpha and beta subunits of FSH were fused to the Fc domain of IgG1 either in a single chain or a heterodimer format. These molecules were absorbed through the epithelium in lung and intestine by neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)-mediated transcytosis. METHODS AND RESULTS Single chain and heterodimer FSH-Fc were made recombinantly in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Treatment of rats with...

A cohort of 92 children with an initial febrile convulsion (FC), prospectively identified in a community-based study 1985-1987, was compared with a cohort of 185 age- and sex-matched referents from the same study area. The median time of follow-up was 6.7 years (range: 5.7-7.7) and the median age at follow-up was 8.3 years (range 6.5-14). The cases had their first FC at a median age of 18 month...

Fc receptors for IgE (Fc epsilon R) on human peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes and cultured lymphoblastoid and macrophage-like cell lines were compared with respect to: 1) binding affinity for radiolabeled IgE, 2) inhibition of IgE-specific rosette formation and inhibition of binding of radiolabeled IgE by an antiserum raised against Fc epsilon R isolated from a lymphoblastoid cell lin...

The Fc region of immunoglobulin E (IgE) comprising the C epsilon 3 and C epsilon 4 domains (residues 329-547) is sufficient for binding to the high-affinity IgE Fc receptor (Fc epsilon RI alpha). Three potential N-linked glycosylation sites are present within the C epsilon 3 domain. To determine the effect of the glycosylation sites on IgE Fc synthesis and on Fc epsilon RI alpha binding, site-d...

Various studies have demonstrated that Fc engineering to enhance neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) binding is effective for elongating half-life or increasing cellular uptake of IgG. A previous study has shown that a N434H mutation to enhance FcRn binding resulted in increased binding to rheumatoid factor (RF) autoantibody, which is not desirable for therapeutic use in autoimmune disease. In this stu...