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Topic Review
Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis: Blood Macrophages and Kupffer Cells
Leishmania infantum is a parasite that causes zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis, a disease that affects humans, wild and domestic animals, mainly domestic dogs. Macrophages are cells of the immune system, existing in the peripheral blood and associated with different tissues in the mammal body, having the task to protect against microbiological threats. Interestingly, Leishmania can manipulate the macrophages into a non-active ghost-like state, allowing the parasite to stay in the host. The liver, which is a vital organ and a target for the parasite, has a resident population of macrophages designated as Kupfer cells. Therefore, a better understanding of the immune mechanisms exhibited by the macrophages when facing Leishmania parasite is needed to improve control strategies.
  • 874
  • 13 Jan 2022
Topic Review
HSP70-Mediated NLRP3 Inflammasome Suppression
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is the sudden loss of renal function, usually due to ischemia, nephrotoxic agents, or urinary tract obstructions. Although AKI is a relatively common condition, especially in hospitalized and chronically ill patients, treatments remain largely supportive, despite mortality associated with this condition being as high as 20%. Hence, there is growing interest in developing regenerative therapies for AKI that can repair renal injury as well as prevent its progression to chronic kidney disease. AKI is associated with both systemic and intrarenal inflammation, which is believed to be a key component underlying its pathophysiology. Although inflammation in the acute phase can facilitate tissue repair following injury, disruption of this process can lead to persistent inflammation, causing tissue damage and fibrosis. Many molecular mediators of inflammation have been identified in AKI, which include the NLRP3 inflammasome, toll-like receptors (TLRs), and various secreted cytokines that promote neutrophil- and monocyte-mediated inflammatory responses. Indeed, blockade of innate immune receptors seems to confer protection against AKI in several preclinical studies.   In a recent study conducted by Ullah et al., the authors demonstrated the effect of combination therapy with pulsed focused ultrasound (pFUS) and mesenchymal stem cell derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-derived EVs) in a mouse model of cisplatin-induced AKI.  Here we evaluated their ability to suppress AKI-related inflammation by downregulation of HSP70, which in turn reduced the formation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, resulting in the attenuation of the pro-inflammatory environment characteristic of AKI. The authors validated this effect using in vitro knockdown studies which also suggested that HSP70 is a positive regulator of the NLRP3 inflammasome.  
  • 873
  • 19 Jun 2020
Topic Review
Immunomodulatory Activity of Antimicrobial Peptides
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in humans are represented by three main families: defensins, cathelicidins, histatins. Defensins, depending on the type of disulfide bond arrangement, are divided into alpha- and beta-defensins. Alpha- and beta-defensins are constitutively produced by neutrophils, lymphocytes, and epithelial cells of the skin and mucous membranes.
  • 873
  • 18 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics
Omics technologies provide the tools required to investigate DNA, RNA, proteins, and other molecular determinants. These technologies include genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. However, proteomics is one of the main approaches to studying allergic disorders’ pathophysiology. Proteins are used to indicate normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention. Proteomics studies the complete set of proteins present in a live organism at a specific time or condition, including expression, structure, functions, interactions, and modifications, which are crucial for early disease diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of disease development.
  • 873
  • 26 May 2022
Topic Review
Immune Stimulation Mechanism of Aluminum Phosphate
Aluminum phosphate is a compound of hydroxy-aluminum phosphate, similar to aluminum hydroxide, and the hydroxyl group on its surface can also lose or gain protons under different pH conditions, thus changing the surface charge. Aluminum phosphate can reduce the effective dose for inducing protective immune response against Lactobacillus mexicana of plasmid DNA.
  • 872
  • 29 Jun 2023
Topic Review
New Frontier of Targeted Immunotherapy in Multiple Myeloma
The approval of monoclonal antibody (MoAb) against CD38 (daratumumab) and SLAMF7 (elotuzumab) in relapsed and refractory MM (RRMM) represents an important milestone in the development of targeted immunotherapy in MM. These MoAb-based agents significantly induce cytotoxicity of MM cells via multiple effector-dependent mechanisms and can further induce immunomodulation to repair a dysfunctional tumor immune microenvironment. 
  • 870
  • 27 Dec 2021
Topic Review
DSS-Induced Colitis in Brief
Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-induced colitis is a widely used experimental model for studying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly ulcerative colitis (UC). This research delves into the intricacies of DSS-induced colitis, exploring its mechanisms, key features, and relevance in IBD research. 
  • 870
  • 08 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Respiratory Viral Infection and Epithelial Immunity in Asthma
Viral respiratory tract infections are associated with asthma development and exacerbation in children and adults. In the course of immune responses to viruses, airway epithelial cells are the initial platform of innate immunity against viral invasion. Patients with severe asthma are more vulnerable than those with mild to moderate asthma to viral infections.
  • 869
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Vaccines in Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer remains the deadliest of all gynecologic malignancies. Our expanding knowledge of ovarian cancer immunology has allowed the development of therapies that generate systemic anti-tumor immune responses. Current immunotherapeutic strategies include immune checkpoint blockade, cellular therapies, and cancer vaccines. Vaccine-based therapies are designed to induce both adaptive and innate immune responses directed against ovarian cancer associated antigens. Tumor-specific effector cells, in particular cytotoxic T cells, are activated to recognize and eliminate ovarian cancer cells. Vaccines for ovarian cancer have been studied in various clinical trials over the last three decades. Despite evidence of vaccine-induced humoral and cellular immune responses, the majority of vaccines have not shown significant anti-tumor efficacy. Recently, improved vaccine development using dendritic cells or synthetic platforms for antigen presentation have shown promising clinical benefits in patients with ovarian cancer. 
  • 868
  • 06 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Redox Biology and Immune Response in SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Reactive species and redox imbalance may dysregulate the immune response and account for disease progression in SARS-CoV-2 infection. This aspect suggests treatment options that could hinder disease progression and prevent multiple features of severe illness, which include clotting predisposition, cytokine storm and organ damage.
  • 866
  • 03 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Exercise and Its Effects
Physical exercise represents an effective preventive and therapeutic strategy beneficially modifying the course of multiple diseases. The protective mechanisms of exercise are manifold; primarily, they are elicited by alterations in metabolic and inflammatory pathways. Exercise intensity and duration strongly influence the provoked response. 
  • 866
  • 17 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Immunotherapy of Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is the most common brain malignant tumor in the adult population, and immuno-therapy is playing an increasingly central role in the treatment of many cancers. Nevertheless, the search for effective immunotherapeutic approaches for glioblastoma patients continues. The goal of immunotherapy is to promote tumor eradication, boost the patient’s innate and adaptive im-mune responses, and overcome tumor immune resistance. A range of new, promising immuno-therapeutic strategies has been applied for glioblastoma, including vaccines, oncolytic viruses, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and adoptive cell transfer. However, the main challenges of im-munotherapy for glioblastoma are the intracranial location and heterogeneity of the tumor as well as the unique, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.
  • 863
  • 05 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Treating the Retinal Diseases with Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Retinal diseases are major causes of irreversible vision loss and blindness. Despite extensive research into their pathophysiology and etiology, pharmacotherapy effectiveness and surgical outcomes remain poor. Based largely on numerous preclinical studies, administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a therapeutic strategy for retinal diseases holds great promise, and various approaches have been applied to the therapies. 
  • 863
  • 09 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Factors Modulate Polarization of Tumor-Associated Macrophages
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the earliest infiltrating cells in PanIN lesions and continue to rise throughout cancer progression. TAMs are the most abundant immune cells in the stroma and are the key drivers shaping the immunosuppressive landscape. There are various mechanisms employed to polarize macrophages to tumor-supporting subtypes which subsequently unleash the plethora of neoplastic characteristics, including promoting malignant cell proliferation, augmenting angiogenesis, metastasis, acquiring pleiotropic pancreatic cancer stem-like cells, supporting chemoresistance.
  • 863
  • 13 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Innate Immunity and COVID-19 Vaccines
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to almost seven million deaths worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 causes infection through respiratory transmission and can occur either without any symptoms or with clinical manifestations which can be mild, severe or, in some cases, even fatal. Innate immunity provides the initial defense against the virus by sensing pathogen-associated molecular patterns and triggering signaling pathways that activate the antiviral and inflammatory responses, which limit viral replication and help the identification and removal of infected cells. 
  • 863
  • 23 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Doublecortin-Like Kinase 1
Microtubule-associated doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) is an accepted marker of tuft cells (TCs) and several kinds of cancer stem cells (CSCs), and emerging evidence suggests that DCLK1-positive TCs participate in the initiation and formation of inflammation-associated cancer. DCLK1-expressing CSCs regulate multiple biological processes in cancer, enhance resistance to host anti-tumor immunity, promote resistance to therapy, and are associated with metastasis. 
  • 862
  • 05 Jan 2021
Topic Review
ILC3s and Intestinal Inflammatory Disorders
Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a population of lymphoid cells that do not express T cell or B cell antigen-specific receptors. ILC3s are RORγt-expressing cells and are capable of producing IL-22 and IL-17 to maintain intestinal homeostasis. ILCs, mainly ILC3s, are located at the small intestine lamina propria (siLP). They are the first line in the gut to fight against the pathogens; therefore, their dysfunction will result in intestinal disorders such as inflammation.
  • 861
  • 23 Feb 2022
Topic Review
T Cell Chemotaxis and Infiltration in Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is an immunologically ‘cold’ tumor, which are characterized by absent or minimal numbers of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). For those tumors that have been invaded by lymphocytes, they are profoundly exhausted and ineffective. While many immunotherapy approaches seek to reinvigorate immune cells at the tumor, this requires TILs to be present. 
  • 857
  • 04 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Clinical Phenotypes of AOSD
Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a non-familial, polygenic systemic autoinflammatory disorder. It is traditionally characterized by four cardinal manifestations—spiking fever, an evanescent salmon-pink maculopapular rash, arthralgia or arthritis and a white-blood-cell count (WBC) ≥ 10,000/mm3, mainly neutrophilic polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs)—but many other manifestations and complications can be associated, making clinical expression very heterogeneous and diagnosis sometimes difficult. The AOSD course can be diverse and is currently impossible to predict. Several clinical phenotypes have been described, either on the basis of the evolution of symptoms over time (monocyclic, polycyclic and chronic evolution) or according to dominant clinical evolution (systemic and arthritis subtypes). However, these patterns are mainly based on case series and not on robust epidemiological studies. Furthermore, they have mainly been established a long time ago, before the era of the biological treatments.
  • 856
  • 08 Jul 2021
Topic Review
From Stem Cells to Immune Cells Populations
Although stem cells have been considered promising for the treatment of degenerative diseases by ‘seeding’ them into damaged tissues, it has recently been observed that the regenerative capacity of stem cells is influenced and regulated by the local immune response and in particular by macrophages, which constitute a central component of the damage response and are the coordinators of tissue repair and regeneration. Among the panoply of immune cells involved in the response to both acute and chronic wounds, recent discoveries have highlighted novel and often unexpected roles for certain types of immune cells in promoting a permissive local environment for effective cell replacement and restoration of tissue integrity. Some studies have shown that the control of inflammation is crucial in regenerative therapies: To be effective, regenerative therapies must block and control inflammation to allow tissue regeneration by resident stem cells. Indeed, the presence of inflammation inhibits the regenerative action of tissue-resident mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Recent papers suggest that an innovative regenerative strategy could be to polarize macrophages from the M1 inflammatory state to the M2 anti-inflammatory state utilizing immune cells. These reviews conclude that next-generation regenerative therapies need an immune-centric approach instead of the use of stem cells. Thus, depending on the tissue or organ targeted, regenerative strategies could be developed to stimulate macrophage polarization or to recruit subpopulations of pro-healing macrophages. Already, it has been observed  that the regeneration of myocardial tissue after ischemia was induced by macrophages that regulate resident stem cells and promote regeneration, suggesting that targeting macrophages could be a new strategy to improve infarct healing and repair. The regenerative and stem-cell-controlling capacity of macrophages has also recently been demonstrated in bone tissue: mesenchymal stem cells act through a paracrine and immune-modulatory and non-differentiative mechanism and the microenvironment and immune system regulate the activity of MSCs regardless of the tissue from which they originate. Based on the role played by several types of macrophages and lymphocytes in the wound-healing response, it is tempting to hypothesize that interventions that reduce the M1 macrophage phenotype and promote M2 may represent a new therapy to induce tissue regeneration.
  • 855
  • 28 Feb 2022
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