To investigate differences among brain-derived microglia and other classes of immune cells, we compared the morphologies and growth properties of mononuclear phagocytes isolated from tissues of the newborn rat. Scanning EM shows that microglia from postnatal rat brain are covered with spines (typically > 20 per cell body) in a distinctive manner which contrasts the smooth surfaces of bone marro...

Cytokines are important regulators of the immune system, and identifying fish cytokines has potential applications for the development of vaccines and/or immunostimulants application in fisheries. In order to understand the immune-related genes triggered by immunostimulants derived from pathogens, we investigated the effects of agonists (lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Poly I:C, and imiquimod) of thr...

Antimicrobial peptides constitute an important component of the mammalian innate immune response. Several types of antimicrobial peptides, including the beta-defensins, are produced at epithelial surfaces in response to infectious threats. Here we show that a class of small molecules, including l-isoleucine and several of its analogs, can specifically induce epithelial beta-defensin expression....

We have studied the interaction of Corynebacterium parvum and a variety of cell cycle-specific and cell cycle-nonspecific chemotherapeutic agents on granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells [colony-forming units culture (CFU-c)] in C57BL/6 mice. In vitro tritiated thymidine suicide studies showed an increased rate of proliferation of bone marrow CFU-c 24 hr after C. parvum injection. In vivo tox...