Background: Conventional treatments for breast cancer involve surgery followed by radiation and hormonal therapy and/or chemotherapy. Some of these treatments have toxic side effects. Because drugs used in chemotherapy affect both cancer and normal cells to varying degrees, researchers are currently developing targeted drugs that only attack cancer cells without affecting normal cells. One appr...

Background: NK cells act as one of the most important immunosurveillance mechanisms eliminating cancer cells. recognize Fc portions antibodies binding to surface antigens and release cytotoxic granules cytokines. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) is major NK-dependent killing mechanisms, activated for example by therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, such anti-CD20 antibody ritux...

one of the mechanisms involved in the regulation of the immune system by steroid hormones could be the monocytic-macrophage system. in this study the effect of the male hormone 5a-dht on cytokine release by peritoneal macrophages (mφ) of male and female nzb/balbc mice was investigated. macrophages from male mice activated with lps produced a greater amount of il-1β (21.8%) (p<0.05) and il-6 (19...

Buruli Ulcer is a neglected tropical disease leading to extensive disabilities and morbidity in West Africa. In this paper we sought to characterize various strains of Mycobacterium ulcerans (M.ulcerans) with different origins and laboratory passage records while refining a mouse model for Buruli ulcer. We described, compared and followed the kinetics of the histo-pathological outcome of infect...

Enormous advances have occurred in the understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for both collateral development (collaterogenesis*) and atherogenesis. This advancement has been accompanied by parallel advances in therapies designed to enhance collaterals and to inhibit the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Our laboratory has been interested in both areas,...

Periodontal disease affects a large percentage of the human population. Resorption of the alveolar bone of the jaw is a pivotal sequela of periodontal disease, because this bone is the attachment site for the periodontal ligaments that anchor the teeth. Using a murine model in which alveolar bone loss is induced by oral infection with Porphyromonas gingivalis, a gram-negative bacterium associat...

The human pneumovirus respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common pathogen causing lower respiratory tract disease in young children worldwide. A hallmark of severe human RSV infection is the strong neutrophil recruitment to the airways and lungs. Massive neutrophil activation has been proven detrimental in numerous diseases, yet in RSV the contribution of neutrophils to disease severi...