Schistosoma mansoni ATP diphosphohydrolase isoforms and potato apyrase share conserved epitopes. By enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, elevated levels of IgM, IgG2a and IgG1 antibody reactivity against potato apyrase were observed in S. mansoni-infected BALB/c mice during the acute phase of infection, while only IgM and IgG1 antibody reactivity levels maintained elevated during the chronic pha...

In the absence of T cells, B cells were found to respond to the type 2 T-independent (TI-2) antigen, trinitrophenyl (TNP)-Ficoll, with a characteristic hierarchy of IgM and IgG subclass Ab production which directly correlated with 5' to 3' Igh-C gene order, i.e., IgM greater tha IgG3 greater than IgG1 greater than IgG2b greater than IgG2a. This was evident when immune serum Ab titers were analy...

The lymphokines interleukin 4 and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) have been shown to play an important role in regulation of polyclonal immunoglobulin E (IgE) and IgG2a responses in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate here that treatment with chemically modified ovalbumin (OA) results in long-lived, 97-99% inhibition of allergen-specific murine IgE responses and 10(3)-10(4)-fold increases in anti-OA...

BACKGROUND Leishmaniasis is a protozoan disease, affecting 12 million people in different regions of the world with a wide spectrum of diseases. Although several chemotherapeutic agents have been used for treating the disease, long-term therapy, limited efficacy and the development of drug-resistant parasites remain the major limitations. METHODS To develop a new nanovaccine for leishmaniasis...

Using three different Fcgamma receptor (FcgammaR)-deficient mouse strains, we examined the induction of autoimmune hemolytic anemia by each of the four immunoglobulin (Ig)G isotype-switch variants of a 4C8 IgM antierythrocyte autoantibody and its relation to the contributions of the two FcgammaR, FcgammaRI, and FcgammaRIII, operative in the phagocytosis of opsonized particles. We found that the...

NK cells have been shown to play a role in the modulation of B cell differentiation and Ab production. Using a novel murine model of NK cell deficiency, we analyzed the in vivo role of NK cells in the regulation of Ag-specific Ab production. After immunization with OVA or keyhole limpet hemocyanin in CFA, NK cell-deficient (NK-T+) mice developed an efficient Th1 response and produced significan...

A careful analysis of the immune response to immunization of amyloid precursor protein/transgenic (APP/Tg) mice with beta-amyloid (Abeta) may provide insights into why a subset of the patients in a clinical trial receiving Abeta-immunotherapy developed encephalomyelitis. Characterization of isotypic immune responses have been reported in different APP/Tg models. In these studies the relative ra...

Although astaxanthin has a variety of biological activities such as anti-oxidant effects, inhibitory effects on skin deterioration and anti-inflammatory effects, its effect on asthma has not been studied. In this paper, the inhibitory effect of astaxanthin on airway inflammation in a mouse model of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma was investigated. We evaluated the number of total cells, Th1/2 me...

Susceptibility to experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) in inbred mice has been associated with a dominant Th1 response. Elevated anti-inter-photoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (anti-IRBP) IgG2a/IgG1 antibody ratios have been implicated as candidate markers to predict disease severity. In the present study, both the anti-IRBP antibody isotype and severity of EAU phenotypes were examined in 4...

Long-term antiviral antibody responses provide protection from re-infection and recurrence of persistent viruses. Using a polyomavirus (PyV) mouse model, our lab has shown that MyD88-deficient mice generate low levels of virus-specific IgG after the acute phase of infection and that these IgG responses have a skewed isotype distribution with low levels of IgG2a/c. MoreoverMyD88deficientmice hav...