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Topic Review
Extracellular Traps in Disease/Protection
The first formal description of the microbicidal activity of extracellular traps (ETs) containing DNA occurred in neutrophils in 2004. Since then, ETs have been identified in different populations of cells involved in both innate and adaptive immune responses. Much of the knowledge has been obtained from in vitro or ex vivo studies; however, in vivo evaluations in experimental models and human biological materials have corroborated some of the results obtained. Two types of ETs have been described—suicidal and vital ETs, with or without the death of the producer cell. The studies showed that the same cell type may have more than one ETs formation mechanism and that different cells may have similar ETs formation mechanisms. ETs can act by controlling or promoting the mechanisms involved in the development and evolution of various infectious and non-infectious diseases, such as autoimmune, cardiovascular, thrombotic, and neoplastic diseases, among others.
  • 853
  • 09 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Imprinted Genes and Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that arises from interplay between non-genetic and genetic risk factors. The epigenetics - the study of heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve changes in the primary DNA sequence or genotype - functions as a link between these factors, affecting gene expression in response to external influence. Among others, the epigenetic mechanisms underlie the establishment of parent-of-origin effects that appear as phenotypic differences depending on whether the allele was inherited from the mother or father. The most well described manifestation of parent-of-origin effects is genomic imprinting that causes monoallelic gene expression. It becomes more obvious that disturbances in imprinted genes affecting their expression do occur in MS and may be involved in its pathogenesis. 
  • 852
  • 07 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Galectin-1 as a Context-Dependent Regulator in Infection
Galectin-1, a ubiquitously expressed 14-kDa protein with an evolutionarily conserved β-galactoside binding site, translates glycoconjugate recognition into function. That galectin-1 is demonstrated to induce T cell apoptosis has led to substantial attention to the immunosuppressive properties of this protein, such as inducing naive immune cells to suppressive phenotypes, promoting recruitment of immunosuppressing cells as well as impairing functions of cytotoxic leukocytes. 
  • 851
  • 21 Apr 2023
Topic Review
B-Lymphocytes in Progression to Osteoporosis
B-lymphocytes—typically appreciated for their canonical role in adaptive, humoral immunity—have emerged as critical regulators of bone remodeling. B-lymphocytes communicate with osteoclasts and osteoblasts through various cytokines, including IL-7, RANK, and OPG. In inflammatory conditions, B-lymphocytes promote osteoclast activation and differentiation. However, B-lymphocytes also possess immunomodulatory properties, with regulatory B-lymphocytes (Bregs) secreting TGF-β1 to restrain pathogenic osteoclastogenesis. 
  • 851
  • 07 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Autophagy in Virus Infection
Virus-infected cells trigger a robust innate immune response and facilitate virus replication. Autophagy is a cellular degradation pathway operated at the basal level to maintain homeostasis and is induced by external stimuli for specific functions. The degradative function of autophagy is considered a cellular anti-viral immune response. However, autophagy is a double-edged sword in viral infection; viruses often benefit from it, and the infected cells can also use it to inhibit viral replication. In addition to viral regulation, autophagy pathway proteins also function in autophagy-independent manners to regulate immune responses. Since viruses have co-evolved with hosts, they have developed ways to evade the anti-viral autophagic responses of the cells. 
  • 851
  • 17 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Exosomal ncRNAs
Exosomes, small extracellular vesicles mediate intercellular communication by transferring their cargo including DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids from cell to cell. ExVs contain varying amounts of RNAs concerning over a dozen different RNA forms , the majority of which are classified as ncRNAs (non-coding RNAs). 
  • 850
  • 08 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Oncolytic Virotherapy in Solid Tumors
Oncolytic virotherapy (OVT) is a promising approach in cancer immunotherapy. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) could be applied in cancer immunotherapy without in-depth knowledge of tumor antigens.
  • 849
  • 20 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Human Endogenous Retroviruses in a Clinical Setting
Human ERVs (HERVs) make up roughly 8.3% of the genome and over the course of evolution, HERV elements underwent positive selection and accrued mutations that rendered them non-infectious; thereby, the genome could co-opt them into constructive roles with important biological functions. 
  • 849
  • 10 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Oncolytic Viruses and ICI
Immuno-oncology (IO) has been an active area of oncology research. Following US FDA approval of the first immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), ipilimumab (human IgG1 k anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody), in 2011, and of the first oncolytic virus, Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec), in 2015, there has been renewed interest in IO. In the past decade, ICIs have changed the treatment paradigm for many cancers by enabling better therapeutic control, resuming immune surveillance, suppressing tumor immunosuppression, and restoring antitumor immune function. However, ICI therapies are effective only in a small subset of patients and show limited therapeutic potential due to their inability to demonstrate efficacy in "cold" or unresponsive tumor microenvironments (TMEs). Relatedly, oncolytic viruses (OVs) have been shown to induce antitumor immune responses, augment the efficacy of existing cancer treatments, and reform unresponsive TME to turn "cold" tumors "hot," increasing their susceptibility to checkpoint blockade immunotherapies. For this reason, OVs serve as ideal complements to ICIs, and multiple preclinical studies and clinical trials are demonstrating their combined therapeutic efficacy. 
  • 848
  • 26 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Immunotherapy of Pancreatic Cancer
Immunotherapy is a novel anti-cancer method which employs a different mechanism to conventional treatment. It has become a significant strategy because it provides a better or an alternative option for cancer patients. The development of immunotherapy should focus on the discovery of biomarkers to screen suitable patients, new targets on tumors, neoadjuvant immunotherapy and the combination of immunotherapy with conventional therapeutic methods. 
  • 847
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Antineoplastic Therapy Involved in Hypersensitivity Reactions
As widely accepted at present, in addition to their benefits, medicines can also be accompanied by side effects and adverse reactions, of which some can be detrimental to therapies or even life-threatening. In some cases, these effects are enabled or enhanced by certain individual-specific hypersensitivity. Among other manifestations, adverse reactions to drugs resulting from excessive sensitivity may include anaphylaxis. Given that regular toxicity studies are not relevant to point to possible delayed hypersensitivity reactions triggered by systemic products and from the perspective of mechanisms involved in the early and late stages phases of hypersensitivity events, in vitro and in vivo tests remain the means to reveal the cells activated and the mediators released in this process.
  • 846
  • 22 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Ocular and Oral Microbiome
The immune-privileged healthy eye has a small unique population of microbiota. Typically, ocular microflorae are commensals of low diversity that colonize the external and internal sites of the eye, without instigating any disorders. Any alteration in the symbiotic relationship culminates in the perturbation of ocular homeostasis and shifts the equilibrium toward local or systemic inflammation and, in turn, impaired visual function. A compositional variation in the ocular microbiota is associated with surface disorders such as keratitis, blepharitis, and conjunctivitis, however, studies now implicate non-ocular microbial dysbiosis in glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), uveitis, and diabetic retinopathy. A methodical understanding of the mechanisms of invasion and host-microbial interaction is of paramount importance for preventative and therapeutic interventions for vision-threatening conditions.
  • 845
  • 21 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Regulatory T Cells in Celiac Disease Treatment
Celiac disease (CeD) is a T-cell-mediated immune disease, in which gluten-derived peptides activate lamina propria effector CD4+ T cells. While this effector T cell subset produces proinflammatory cytokines, which cause substantial tissue injury in vivo, additional subsets of T cells exist with regulatory functions (Treg). These subsets include CD4+ type 1 regulatory T cells (Tr1) and CD4+ CD25+ T cells expressing the master transcription factor forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) that may have important implications in disease pathogenesis, as well as for the development of new therapeutic strategies for CeD patients.
  • 845
  • 23 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Single Domain Antibody in Medicine
The camelid-derived single chain antibody (sdAb), also termed VHH or nanobody, is a unique, functional heavy (H)-chain antibody (HCAb). In contrast to conventional antibodies, sdAb is a unique antibody fragment consisting of a heavy-chain variable domain. It lacks light chains and a first constant domain (CH1). With a small molecular weight of only 12~15 kDa, sdAb has a similar antigen-binding affinity to conventional Abs but a higher solubility, which exerts unique advantages for the recognition and binding of functional, versatile, target-specific antigen fragments. 
  • 843
  • 03 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Burn Injuries
In burn injuries, risk factors and limitations to treatment success are difficult to assess clinically. However, local cellular responses are characterized by specific gene-expression patterns. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded, non-coding RNAs that regulate mRNA expression on a posttranscriptional level.
  • 838
  • 13 Sep 2021
Topic Review
The Tumor Heterogeneity in Sézary Syndrome
Sézary syndrome (SS) is an aggressive variant of cutaneous t-cell lymphoma characterized by the accumulation of neoplastic CD4+ lymphocytes—the SS cells—mainly in blood, lymph nodes, and skin. The tumor spread pattern of SS makes this lymphoma a unique model of disease that allows a concurrent blood and skin sampling for analysis.
  • 838
  • 28 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Peripheral Helper T Cells
T-helper (Th)1 and Th17 cells are hypothesized to be pathogenic T cells in RA joints; however, lines of evidence do not fully support this hypothesis, showing polyfunctionality of the T cells. Recent progress in single-cell analysis technology has led to the discovery of a novel helper T-cell subset, peripheral helper T cells, and attracted attention to the previously unappreciated T-cell subsets, such as cytotoxic CD4 and CD8 T cells, in RA joints.
  • 837
  • 24 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Galectin-9 and Osteopontin Reflect COVID-19
Numbers of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have increased rapidly worldwide. Plasma levels of full-length galectin-9 (FL-Gal9) and osteopontin (FL-OPN) as well as their truncated forms (Tr-Gal9, Ud-OPN, respectively), are representative inflammatory biomarkers. Here, we measured FL-Gal9, FL-OPN, Tr-Gal9, and Ud-OPN in 94 plasma samples obtained from 23 COVID-19-infected patients with mild clinical symptoms (CV), 25 COVID-19 patients associated with pneumonia (CP), and 14 patients with bacterial infection (ID). The four proteins were significantly elevated in the CP group when compared with healthy individuals. ROC analysis between the CV and CP groups showed that C-reactive protein had the highest ability to differentiate, followed by Tr-Gal9 and ferritin. Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that Tr-Gal9 and Ud-OPN but not FL-Gal9 and FL-OPN, had a significant association with laboratory markers for lung function, inflammation, coagulopathy, and kidney function in CP patients. CP patients treated with tocilizumab had reduced levels of FL-Gal9, Tr-Gal9, and Ud-OPN.
  • 836
  • 24 May 2021
Topic Review
Indomethacin-Induced Inflammation in Brief
Indomethacin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has long been employed to induce inflammation in experimental models. This research explores the utility of indomethacin-induced inflammation as a research tool for studying inflammatory processes and evaluating potential anti-inflammatory agents. 
  • 836
  • 08 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Biomarkers in urothelial cancer
The prognosis and responsiveness to chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors differs substantially among patients with bladder cancer (BC). There is an unmet need for biomarkers that can accurately predict prognosis and treatment outcome. Here, we describe the available literature on the prognostic and predictive value of tumor-infiltrating immune cells in BC. Current evidence indicates that a high density of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells is a favorable prognostic factor, whereas PD-L1 expression and tumor-associated macrophages are unfavorable prognostic features. While PD-L1 expression appears unsuccessful as biomarker for response to checkpoint inhibitors, there are some indications that high CD8+ T cell infiltration, low transforming growth factor-beta signaling and low densities of myeloid-derived suppressor cells are associated with response. Future studies should focus on combinations of biomarkers to accurately predict survival and response to treatment.
  • 835
  • 12 Oct 2020
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