Association between Increased Inducible Costimulator/Inducible Costimulator Ligand Expression with Bone Destruction in Apical Periodontitis

IntroductionThe aim was to assess the association of inducible costimulator (ICOS) and ICOS ligand with bone destruction in apical periodontitis (AP).MethodsSpecimens from patients presenting with AP were obtained during apicoectomy and subjected to histopathologic analysis and molecular assessment of ICOS/ICOS ligand. In addition, the experimental AP was induced by exposing the pulp of first mandibular molars of rats. Histologic and radiographic examinations were performed to validate the periapical lesions. The immunolocalization and messenger RNA expression of ICOS/ICOS ligand were evaluated by immunofluorescence staining and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The osteoclastic activities in periapical lesions, including the lesion size and the expression of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase and the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand, were recorded and followed by correlation analysis with ICOS/ICOS ligand expression.ResultsIn excisional specimens from AP patients, a significantly increased expression of ICOS/ICOS ligand was found compared with the healthy control. In the experimental AP samples, the expression of ICOS/ICOS ligand, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand was significantly elevated in inflamed periapical tissues (AP group) when compared with the healthy control. The number of ICOS⁺/ICOS ligand⁺ cells was highly correlated with the periapical lesion size (r = 0.892, P < .01 and r = 0.930, P < .01, respectively).ConclusionsThe increased expression of ICOS/ICOS ligand in periapical lesions was associated with the inflammatory infiltration and alveolar bone destruction of AP.     

Isolation and characterization of new human carrier peptides from two important vaccine immunogens

In the preparation of glycoconjugate vaccines in clinical practice, two highly immunogenic carrier proteins, CRM₁₉₇ and tetanus toxoid (TT), are predominantly conjugated with the capsular polysaccharides (CPSs) of bacterial pathogens. In addition, TT has long been used as an effective vaccine to prevent tetanus. While these carrier proteins play an important role in immunogenicity and vaccine design alike, their defined human major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) T cell epitopes are inadequately characterized. In this current work, we use mass spectrometry to identify the peptides from these carrier proteins that are naturally processed and presented by human B cells via MHCII pathway. The MHCII-presented peptides are screened for their T cell stimulation using primary CD4+ T cells from four healthy adult donors. These combined methods reveal a subset of eleven CD4+ T cell epitopes that proliferate and stimulate human T cells with diverse MHCII allelic repertoire. Six of these peptides stand out as potential immunodominant epitopes by responding in three or more donors. Additionally, we provide evidence of these natural epitopes eliciting more significant T cell responses in donors than previously published TT peptides selected from T cell epitope screening. This study serves toward understanding carrier protein immune responses and thus enables the use of these peptides in developing novel knowledge-based vaccines to combat persisting problems in glycoconjugate vaccine design.     

Review/overview of pain in sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a highly complex inherited disorder of hemoglobin structure. Although the molecular lesion is a single-point mutation, the sickle gene is pleiotropic in nature causing multiple phenotypic expressions that constitute the various complications of the disease. Its manifestations could be acute, chronic, nociceptive, neuropathic that could occur singly or in various combinations. Pain continues to be the major factor of SCD phenotypic complications and the most common cause of admissions to the Emergency Department and/or the hospital. Although progress has been made in understanding the pathophysiology of SCD as well as in developing curative therapies such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy, effective pain management continues to lag behind. Palliative therapies continue to be the major approach to the management of SCD and its complications. The advent of hydroxyurea made partial success in preventing the frequency of vaso-occlusive crises and l-glutamine awaits post-trial confirmation of benefits. The search for additional pharmacotherapeutic agents that could be used singly or in combination with hydroxyurea and/or l-glutamine awaits their dawn hopefully in the near future. The purpose of this review is to describe the various manifestations of SCD, their pathophysiology and their current management. Recent impressive advances in understanding the pathophysiology of pain promise the determination of agents that could replace or minimize the use of opioids.     

miR-21对视网膜母细胞瘤细胞增殖的影响及作用机制

目的　探讨MicroRNA-21（miR-21）对视网膜母细胞瘤(RB)细胞增殖的影响及作用机制。方法　采用Real-time PCR技术检测miR-21在正常视网膜组织和确诊RB组织中的表达情况；然后在转染的基础上运用MTT检查RB细胞存活率、流式细胞仪检测细胞凋亡率。Western blot法检测与细胞凋亡相关蛋白PDCD4、Bax、Bcl-2的表达。结果　与正常视网膜组织miR-21表达 （0.703±0.071）相比，RB组织miR-21为高表达（2.214±0.162），差异有统计学意义（P<0.01）。在Weri-Rb-1细胞中，与NC组(2.245±0.213)相比，miR-21抑制剂转染后明显降低了miR-21的表达水平，miR-21 inhibitor组为0.683±0.075,差异有统计学意义 （P<0.01）。两组细胞转染后24 h、48 h、72 h、96 h，MTT测定法检测细胞活力结果显示:两组24 h的A值比较，差异无统计学意义 （P>0.05），miR-21 inhibitor 组在 48 h、72 h、 96 h的A值均低于 NC 组，差异均有统计学意义 （均为P<0.01）。流式细胞术检测结果显示:NC组凋亡细胞在总细胞中百分比为（3.045±0.301）%和（4.832±0.493）%，miR-21 inhibitor组凋亡细胞在总细胞中百分比为（2.593±0.257）%和（40.167±4.014）%，miR-21 inhibitor组Weri-Rb-1细胞的凋亡率明显高于miR-21 NC组(P<0.01)。Western blot检测结果显示:NC组PDCD4表达（0.192±0.045）相比miR-21 inhibitor组（0.683±0.091）表达明显减少，NC组Bax的蛋白表达水平（0.143±0.036）相比miR-21 inhibitor组（1.192±0.054）也明显减少，差异均有统计学意义（P<0.01)，NC组Bcl-2蛋白表达（0.864±0.038）相比miR-21 inhibitor组（0.257±0.026）明显增多，差异有统计学意义（P<0.05)。结论　miR-21是RB的促癌基因，miR-21抑制剂可以通过降低miR-21表达抑制肿瘤细胞的增殖、促进细胞凋亡，这一过程与PDCD4、Bax、Bcl-2等凋亡相关蛋白有关。