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Topic Review
Autoimmune Gut Diseases and COVID-19 Vaccines
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic raised many challenges for all patients with chronic conditions and those with autoimmune diseases, both adults and children. Autoimmune diseases are characterized by hyperreactivity of the immune system and loss of immune tolerance, which damage and destroy healthy tissues, cells, and organs.
  • 631
  • 26 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Mast Cells in Unconventional Immunotherapy
Mast cells are long-lived, granular, myeloid-derived leukocytes that have significant protective and repair functions in tissues. Mast cells sense disruptions in the local microenvironment and are first responders to physical, chemical and biological insults. When activated, mast cells release growth factors, proteases, chemotactic proteins and cytokines thereby mobilizing and amplifying the reactions of the innate and adaptive immune system. Mast cells are therefore significant regulators of homeostatic functions and may be essential in microenvironmental changes during pathogen invasion and disease. During infection by helminths, bacteria and viruses, mast cells release antimicrobial factors to facilitate pathogen expulsion and eradication. Mast cell-derived proteases and growth factors protect tissues from insect/snake bites and exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Finally, mast cells release mediators that promote wound healing in the inflammatory, proliferative and remodelling stages. Since mast cells have such a powerful repertoire of functions, targeting mast cells may be an effective new strategy for immunotherapy of disease and design of novel vaccine adjuvants.
  • 630
  • 22 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Nanotherapy: Potential Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the Central Nervous System, characterized by an inflammatory process leading to the destruction of myelin with neuronal death and neurodegeneration. In MS, lymphocytes cross the blood-brain barrier, creating inflammatory demyelinated plaques located primarily in the white matter. MS potential treatments involve various mechanisms of action on immune cells, immunosuppression, inhibition of the passage through the blood-brain barrier, and immunotolerance.
  • 630
  • 13 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Cytokines and Chemokines in Cancer Cachexia
Cancer cachexia, a muscle-wasting syndrome, remains a serious public health concern worldwide, particularly as cancer rates rise. Treatment is endangered, and survival is reduced because this illness is commonly misdiagnosed and undertreated. Although weight loss is the most evident sign of cachexia, there are other early metabolic and inflammatory changes that occur before the most obvious symptoms appear. Cachexia-related inflammation is induced by a combination of factors, one of which is the release of inflammation-promoting chemicals by the tumor. Today, more scientists are beginning to believe that the development of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) related cachexia is similar to cancer-related cachexia. 
  • 630
  • 21 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Vitamin K and SARS-CoV-2
Prevalent coagulopathy and thromboembolism are observed in severe COVID-19 patients with 40% of COVID-19 mortality being associated with cardiovascular complications. Abnormal coagulation parameters are related to poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients. Victims also displayed presence of extensive thrombosis in infected lungs. Vitamin K is well-known to play an essential role in the coagulation system. Latest study revealed an existing correlation between vitamin K deficiency and COVID-19 severity, highlighting a role of vitamin K, probably via coagulation modulation.
  • 629
  • 06 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Liver Resident Memory T Cells
Immunological memory is fundamental to maintain immunity against re-invading pathogens. It is the basis for prolonged protection induced by vaccines and can be mediated by humoral or cellular responses - the latter largely mediated by T cells. Memory T cells belong to different subsets with specialized functions and distributions within the body. They can be broadly separated into circulating memory cells, which pace the entire body through the lymphatics and blood, and tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells, which are constrained to peripheral tissues. Retained in the tissues where they form, TRM cells provide a frontline defense against reinfection. Here, we review this population of cells with specific attention to the liver, where TRM cells have been found to protect against infections, in particular those by Plasmodium species that cause malaria.
  • 625
  • 13 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Natural Killer Cells and Radiotherapy
Natural Killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells with the unique ability to recognize and kill virus-infected and cancer cells without prior immune sensitization. Radiotherapy is an anti-cancer strategy based on the administration of ionizing radiation, which induces DNA damage and cell death, and that is currently included in more than 50% of all anti-cancer treatments. Radiotherapy was found to directly impair NK cell viability and activity in a dose-dependent manner while modulating tumor cell sensitivity to NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity and the TME, potentially both promoting and impairing NK cell function, depending on dose and tumor heterogeneity, suggesting that combining radiotherapy with strategies to maintain NK cell viability and activity could be beneficial.
  • 625
  • 10 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Liver-Associated Injuries in COVID-19 Patients
The global outbreak of COVID-19 possesses serious challenges and adverse impacts for patients with progression of chronic liver disease and has become a major threat to public health. COVID-19 patients have a high risk of lung injury and multiorgan dysfunction that remains a major challenge to hepatology. COVID-19 patients and those with liver injury exhibit clinical manifestations, including elevation in ALT, AST, GGT, bilirubin, TNF-α, and IL-6 and reduction in the levels of CD4 and CD8. Liver injury in COVID-19 patients is induced through multiple factors, including a direct attack of SARS-CoV-2 on liver hepatocytes, hypoxia reperfusion dysfunction, cytokine release syndrome, drug-induced hepatotoxicity caused by lopinavir and ritonavir, immune-mediated inflammation, renin-angiotensin system, and coagulopathy. Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying liver dysfunction are not fully understood in severe COVID-19 attacks. High mortality and the development of chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma are also associated with patients with liver damage. COVID-19 patients with preexisting or developing liver disease should be managed. They often need hospitalization and medication, especially in conjunction with liver transplants. 
  • 625
  • 13 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Immunological Nudging
The constant activation and deactivation of immunological processes in harmony due to physiological processes is the basis of the immunological homeostasis. Activation may be chemical or physical such as by mechano-transduction. The immunological system in a healthy system can never be deactivated, i.e. silenced without increasing the risk for sudden and complete incapacitation and malfunction. The functionality of this system and it’s often vital reactivity  depends on the immediate “on demand” availability of all major components in the regulatory mechanisms involved.  This is only possible  by constant and subtle, subclinical  activation and deactivation of this system. This is in contrast  to the temporary or occasional nudging of immunological reactions that is intended to provoke specific immune responses.
  • 624
  • 22 Jul 2020
Topic Review
The Landscape and Forms of Autophagy
Autophagy, a lysosome-mediated cellular degradation pathway, recycles intracellular components to maintain metabolic balance and survival. Autophagy plays an important role in tumor immunotherapy as a “double-edged sword” that can both promote and inhibit tumor progression.
  • 624
  • 09 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Zinc Finger and BTB Domain-Containing 20 in Cancers
Zinc finger and BTB domain-containing 20 (ZBTB20), which was initially identified in human dendritic cells, belongs to a family of transcription factors (TFs) with an N-terminal BTB domain and one or more C-terminal DNA-binding zinc finger domains. Under physiological conditions, ZBTB20 acts as a transcriptional repressor in cellular development and differentiation, metabolism, and innate immunity. Interestingly, multiple lines of evidence from mice and human systems have revealed the importance of ZBTB20 in the pathogenesis and development of cancers. ZBTB20 is not only a hotspot of genetic variation or fusion in many types of human cancers, but also a key TF or intermediator involving in the dysregulation of cancer cells. 
  • 624
  • 23 Feb 2024
Topic Review
TLR7 Implication in Various Clinical Diseases
Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) is a class of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognizing the pathogen-associated elements and damage and as such is a major player in the innate immune system. TLR7 triggers the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines or type-I interferons (IFN), which is essential for immunoregulation. Increasing reports also highlight that the abnormal activation of endosomal TLR7 is implicated in various immune-related diseases, carcinogenesis as well as the proliferation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). 
  • 624
  • 30 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein
The development of new therapeutic approaches to diseases relies on the identification of key molecular targets involved in amplifying disease processes. One such molecule is thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), also designated thioredoxin-binding protein-2 (TBP-2), a member of the α-arrestin family of proteins and a central regulator of glucose and lipid metabolism, involved in diabetes-associated vascular endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. TXNIP sequesters reduced thioredoxin (TRX), inhibiting its function, resulting in increased oxidative stress. Many different cellular stress factors regulate TXNIP expression, including high glucose, endoplasmic reticulum stress, free radicals, hypoxia, nitric oxide, insulin, and adenosine-containing molecules. TXNIP is also directly involved in inflammatory activation through its interaction with the nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing family, and pyrin domain-containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome complex. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease have significant pathologies associated with increased oxidative stress, inflammation, and vascular dysfunctions.
  • 623
  • 22 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Neuropeptide Y and Peptide YY
A description of immunomodulatory properties of neuropeptides NPY and PYY on macrophages in the context of cancer.
  • 623
  • 09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Central Nervous System Delivery of Antibodies
Antibodies, otherwise known as immunoglobulins (Igs), are glycoprotein molecules produced by plasma cells and are mostly found in blood and lymphoid tissues. The primary function of antibodies in vivo is to recognize and neutralize infectious agents, such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Antibodies are directed against various antigens and play a pivotal role in the defense mechanism of higher vertebrates and are also involved in autoimmune diseases and allergies.
  • 623
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Exosomes for Regulation of Immune Responses and Immunotherapy
Exosomes are membrane-enveloped nanosized (30–150 nm) extracellular vesicles of endosomal origin produced by almost all cell types and encompass a multitude of functioning biomolecules. Exosomes have been considered crucial players of cell-to-cell communication in physiological and pathological conditions. Accumulating evidence suggests that exosomes can modulate the immune system by delivering a plethora of signals that can either stimulate or suppress immune responses, which have potential applications as immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
  • 621
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
T Cell Immunotherapy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease associated with various alterations in T cell phenotype and function leading to an abnormal cell population, ultimately leading to immune exhaustion. However, restoration of T cell function allows for the execution of cytotoxic mechanisms against leukemic cells in AML patients. Therefore, long-term disease control, which requires multiple therapeutic approaches, includes those aimed at the re-establishment of cytotoxic T cell activity. AML treatments that harness the power of T lymphocytes against tumor cells have rapidly evolved over the last 3 to 5 years through various stages of preclinical and clinical development. These include tissue-infiltrated lymphocytes (TILs), bispecific antibodies, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, and tumor-specific T cell receptor gene-transduced T (TCR-T) cells.
  • 620
  • 24 Dec 2021
Topic Review
The Eclectic Nature of Glioma-Infiltrating Macrophages and Microglia
Glioblastomas (GBMs) are complex ecosystems composed of highly multifaceted tumor and myeloid cells capable of responding to different environmental pressures, including therapies. Recent studies have uncovered the diverse phenotypical identities of brain-populating myeloid cells. Differences in the immune proportions and phenotypes within tumors seem to be dictated by molecular features of glioma cells. Furthermore, increasing evidence underscores the significance of interactions between myeloid cells and glioma cells that allow them to evolve in a synergistic fashion to sustain tumor growth.
  • 617
  • 21 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Mucosal Immune Responses to Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a single-stranded, negative-sense RNA virus with a genome comprising 10 genes encoding 11 proteins. While RSV triggers common cold symptoms in healthy adults, it poses a much greater threat to infants and the elderly. A fresh focus on studies of RSV pathogenesis in the airway mucosa is set to revolutionise our understanding of this common and important infection.
  • 617
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Functional Foods in the Context of Viral Infection
The concept of functional foods is thought to have first arisen in Japan less than 40 years ago, with the Japanese initiating the concept of functional food science based on the words of the ancient Chinese, in which they stated that “Medicine and food are isogenic”. Here we discuss the immunomodulatory mechanisms of key functional foods, including dairy proteins and hydrolysates, plant-based functional foods, fermentates, and foods enriched with vitamin D, zinc, and selenium. Our findings reveal four key immunity boosting mechanisms by functional foods, including inhibition of viral proliferation and binding to host cells, modulation of the innate immune response in macrophages and dendritic cells, enhancement of specific immune responses in T cells and B cells, and promotion of the intestinal barrier function. Overall, this entry demonstrates that diet-derived nutrients and functional foods show immense potential to boost viral immunity in high-risk individuals and can be an important approach to improving overall immune health.
  • 616
  • 10 Aug 2023
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