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.     

In vivo comparison of two through-plane MR velocity mapping methods: Fast fourier encoding and phase mapping

Magnetic resonance imaging maps of velocity were acquired with a 1.5-T system in 10 subjects in a plane perpendicular to the main pulmonary artery. Velocity images were successively acquired with a method developed from Fourier-encoding velocity imaging (FEVI) principles with eight gradient steps and one excitation, and with two-point phase-subtraction mapping. Reconstruction in FEVI was implemented by zero-filling interpolation around the eight gradient steps and then around the four central steps. The methods were compared by using estimates of noise in velocity measurements based on the difference between the experimental map and a smooth fitted map. For the same acquisition time, FEVI with four encoding steps was more precise in velocity measurements than phase mapping. Precision was further increased by the use of eight encoding steps, but acquisition time was doubled.     

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

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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