BACKGROUND Costimulation of T cells via costimulatory molecules such as B7 is important for eliciting cell-mediated antitumor immunity. Presenting costimulation molecules by immobilizing recombinant B7 on the surface of nanovectors is a novel strategy for complementary therapy. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a family of biodegradable, non-toxic, biocompatible polyesters, which can be used as ...

Activation of resting human CD4+ "naive" (CD45RA+CD45RO-) and "memory" (CD45RA-CD45RO+) T cells requires costimulatory signals in addition to engagement of the T cell receptor/CD3 complex (TCR/CD3). The adhesion pathways mediated by lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1/intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (LFA-1/ICAM-1) and CD2/LFA-3 are capable of providing such costimulatory signals. Our wor...

Costimulatory molecules play a central role in the development of cellular immunity. Understanding how costimulatory pathways can be directed to positively influence the immune response may be critical for the generation of an effective HIV vaccine. Here, we evaluated the ability of intravenous administration of a blocking monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against the negative costimulatory mo...

Cancer immunosurveillance failure is largely attributed to the insufficient activation of tumor-specific class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule (MHC-I)-restricted CD8⁺ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). DEC-205⁺ dendritic cells (DCs), having the ability to cross-present, can present captured tumor antigens on MHC-I alongside costimulatory molecules, inducing the priming and activa...

Butyrophilin-like 2 (BTNL2) is a butyrophilin family member with homology to the B7 costimulatory molecules, polymorphisms of which have been recently associated through genetic analyses to sporadic inclusion body myositis and sarcoidosis. We have characterized the full structure, expression, and function of BTNL2. Structural analysis of BTNL2 shows a molecule with an extracellular region conta...

BACKGROUND Suboptimal activation of T lymphocytes by melanoma cells is often due to the defective expression of class I major histocompatibility antigens (MHC-I) and costimulatory molecules. We have previously shown that geranylgeranyl transferase inhibition (done with GGTI-298) stimulates anti-melanoma immune response through MHC-I and costimulatory molecule expression in the B16F10 murine mod...

The activation of a T cell has been shown to require two signals via molecules present on professional antigen presenting cells: signal 1, via a peptide/MHC complex, and signal 2, via a costimulatory molecule. Here, the role of three costimulatory molecules in the activation of T cells was examined. Poxvirus (vaccinia and avipox) vectors were employed because of their ability to efficiently exp...