In vivo anti-melanoma activities of the Melan-A/MART-1101–115 T CD4+ cell peptide

Malignant melanoma causes significant health problems. The identification of tumour-associated antigens has led to novel approaches to increase T cell mediated anti-tumour immune response. Melan-A/MART-1 has been use as target antigen for several T cell based immunotherapeutic treatments. More recently, the critical role of CD4+ T cells in inducing and maintaining anti-tumour immunity has been increasingly recognized. In order to optimize tumour immunotherapy, greater efforts have been concentrated on the identification of tumour antigens presented by MHC class II molecules to CD4+ T cells. In a publication, Tiwari et al. (2004) [1] have identified by a computational approach the 15-mer amino-acid sequence 101–115 (PPAYEKLSAEQSPPP) of the Melan-A/MART-1 as a good target for a vigorous and safe immunotherapy. Therefore, we have investigated the in vivo anti-tumour activity of this peptide in a murine melanoma model. For the prophylactic treatment, 20 μg or 50 μg peptide was subcutaneously injected in mice once a week during 3 weeks before tumour induction. Treatment with 50 μg peptide significantly affected tumour development. Thus, our preliminary data demonstrate potential in vivo prophylactic activity of the 101–115 peptide-based vaccine to control melanoma growth.     

Breast milk donors in France: a portrait of the typical donor and the utility of milk banking in the French breastfeeding context.

Although information regarding attitudes and characteristics of human blood donors has been researched, little is known about the motivations and demographic and personality characteristics of women who choose to donate their breast milk. Eight milk banks in France participated in a study examining donor characteristics, providing data on 103 women. The results showed that the donors were women of average childbearing age with strong support at home. Almost half did not work outside of the home, compared to the national average of 80% of women in this age group; similarly, a large number (currently working or not) were from the health and social services fields. Reasons for donation were largely altruistic, and a general optimistic attitude prevailed within the participants. The results of this study provide useful information for the recruitment of potential donors as well as information on how to facilitate and provide optimal service through milk donation.     

Two-dimensional echocardiography in the diagnosis of intracardiac masses: A prospective study with anatomic validation

The accuracy of two-dimensional echocardiography in the detection of intracardiac masses was verified in 334 patients who underwent cardiac catheterization in our laboratory over 21 consecutive months. A complete two-dimensional echocardiographic (2DE) examination was performed a day before catheterization. The presence or absence of a mass was verified at surgery in 77 patients who successively underwent mitral or aortic valve replacement (51), left ventricular aneurysmectomy with or without myocardial revascularization (25), and resection of atrial myxoma (2). In 32 patients 2DE revealed the presence of a mass-left or right atrial thrombi in 12, left atrial myxoma in 2, left ventricular thrombi in 16, and endocardial vegetations in 2. The other 45 patients were free of intracardiac masses on 2DE. Anatomic verification at surgery revealed the presence of an intracardiac mass in 34 patients. In 30 (true positives) of these, 2DE revealed the mass as well, and in 4 (false negatives) the presence of a mass had not been identified by 2DE. In 2 patients (false positives) the predicted mass was not found at surgery. Absence of a mass was correctly predicted by 2DE in 41 patients (true negatives). Thus 2DE detected intracardiac masses with sensitivity of 88.2% and a specificity of 95.3%. We recommend that 2DE be performed in all patients prior to hemodynamic study and/or cardiac surgery to enable safer management of patients with intracardiac masses during cardiac catheterization and/or cardiac surgery.     

Home chaos: sociodemographic, parenting, interactional, and child correlates.

We conducted 2 studies to (a) establish the usefulness of the construct of home chaos, (b) investigate its correlates, and (c) determine the validity of the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS) used to measure the construct in each study. Study 1 relied on a sample of European American preschoolers and their mothers and Study 2 on a sample of African American school-age children and their caregivers. Home chaos was associated with less effective parental discipline; elevated behavior problems, limited attentional focusing, and reduced ability to understand and respond to social cues in children; and reduced accuracy and efficiency in a cooperative parent-child interactional task, after controlling for potential confounds. It is concluded that (a) home chaos is not a proxy for adverse social or psychological circumstances but a useful construct in its own right; (b) home chaos is associated with multiple detrimental correlates in parents and children; and (c) the CHAOS scale provides an adequate and economical measure of home confusion and disorganization that should prove useful in clinical research with diverse populations.     

Mast cell–derived IL-13 downregulates IL-12 production by skin dendritic cells to inhibit the TH1 cell response to cutaneous antigen exposure

1. Download : Download high-res image (242KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Nucleated erythrocytes in maternal blood: quantity and quality of fetal cells in enriched populations

The discovery of nucleated erythrocytes in maternal circulationprovides a potential source for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.We have evaluated the use of a three-stage procedure to determinethe number of cells that are of fetal rather than maternal origin.First, monoclonal antibodies specific for CD45 and CD14 wereused in conjunction with a magnetic (MACS) column to depleteunwanted leukocytes from maternal blood. This was followed bya positive MACS enrichment for nucleated erythrocytes, usingan anti-CD71 (transferrin receptor) monoclonal antibody. Todiscriminate between fetal nucleated erythrocytes and thoseof maternal origin, enriched fractions were simultaneously stainedwith an anti-fetal haemoglobin (HbF) antibody and hybridizedwith probes specific for X and Y chromosomes. Samples were thensubjected to blind analysis along with negative control samplesfrom non-pregnant volunteers. Using this dual analysis, we wereable to determine that less than one nucleated erythrocyte perml of maternal blood was of fetal origin. Small numbers of thesefetal cells were found in 87.5% of pregnancies, ranging from6 to 35 weeks gestational age. Comparison of HbF and X/Y probedata also suggests that the fetal cells are less suitable forfluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) analysis than similarpreparations from other sources. cell separation methods/fluorescence in-situ hybridization/hereditary diseases/polymerase chain reaction/pregnancy     

Microglial inflammation in the parkinsonian substantia nigra: relationship to alpha-synuclein deposition

Background  

The role of both microglial activation and alpha-synuclein deposition in Parkinson's disease remain unclear. We have tested the hypothesis that if microglia play a primary role in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis, the microglial "activated" phenotype should be associated with histopathological and/or clinical features of the disease.