Lymphocyte function in the blood of patients with untreated non-hodgkin lymphoma: Influence of stage and pathology

Lymphocytotoxicity of T, non-T and K cells was found to be diminished in a proprotion of 30 patients with untreated non-Hodgkin lymphoma; T cell number as enumerated by E sheep cell rosettes was also reduced. The reduction was greatest in patients with disease of unfavorable pathology; the effect of stage on these tests was not marked. Decreased skin reactivity was found in the same group of patients with unfavorable pathology. The reduction of direct and antibody dependent lymphocytotoxicity was not related to an obvious reduction in non-T cell numbers, as assessed by rosetting tests. There was, however, a decrease in phytohemagglutinin cytotoxicity in those groups with reduced T cell number. The influence of unfavorable pathology on lymphocyte effector function is emphasized by this study.     

C1q and MBL, components of the innate immune system, influence monocyte cytokine expression

It has recently been recognized that the innate immune response, the powerful first response to infection, has significant influence in determining the nature of the subsequent adaptive immune response. C1q, mannose-binding lectin (MBL), and other members of the defense collagen family of proteins are pattern recognition molecules, able to enhance the phagocytosis of pathogens, cellular debris, and apoptotic cells in vitro and in vivo. Humans deficient in C1q inevitably develop a lupus-like autoimmune disorder, and studies in C1q knockout mice demonstrate a deficiency in the clearance of apoptotic cells with a propensity for autoimmune responses. The data presented here show that under conditions in which phagocytosis is enhanced, C1q and MBL modulate cytokine production at the mRNA and protein levels. Specifically, these recognition molecules of the innate immune system contribute signals to human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, leading to the suppression of lipopolysaccharide-induced proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-1alpha and IL-1beta, and an increase in the secretion of cytokines IL-10, IL-1 receptor antagonist, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and IL-6. These data support the hypothesis that defense collagen-mediated suppression of a proinflammatory response may be an important step in the avoidance of autoimmunity during the clearance of apoptotic cells.     

A method to estimate cell cycle time and growth fraction using bromodeoxyuridine-flow cytometry data from a single sample

Background  

Presently available flow cytometric methods of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) labelling do not provide information on the cell cycle time (T_C) and the growth fraction (GF). In this paper, we describe a novel and simple method to estimate T_C and GF from flow cytometric analysis of a single tumour sample after BrdUrd labelling.     

Stable transformation of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, with the Hermes element from the housefly

The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the world’s most important vector of yellow fever and dengue viruses. Work is currently in progress to control the transmission of these viruses by genetically altering the capacity of wild Ae. aegypti populations to support virus replication. The germ-line transformation system reported here constitutes a major advance toward the implementation of this control strategy. A modified Hermes transposon carrying a 4.7-kb fragment of genomic DNA that includes a wild-type allele of the Drosophila melanogaster cinnabar (cn) gene was used to transform a white-eyed recipient strain of Ae. aegypti. Microinjection of preblastoderm mosquito embryos with this construct resulted in 50% of the emergent G₀ adults showing some color in their eyes. Three transformed families were recovered, each resulting from an independent insertion event of the cn⁺-carrying transposon. The cn⁺ gene functioned as a semidominant transgene and segregated in Mendelian ratios. Hermes shows great promise as a vector for efficient, heritable, and stable transformation of this important mosquito vector species.