Inverted recruitment of autophagy proteins to the Plasmodium berghei parasitophorous vacuole membrane.

Selective autophagy and related mechanisms can act as variable defense mechanisms against pathogens and can therefore be considered as intracellular immune responses. When in hepatocytes, Plasmodium parasites reside in a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) and the PV membrane (PVM) is the main contact site between host cell and parasite. Early in infection, the PVM is directly labeled with host cell autophagy proteins LC3B and p62 (nucleoporin 62).

Keratinocyte transcriptional regulation of the human c-Myc promoter occurs via a novel Lef/Tcf binding element distinct from neoplastic cells.

The proto-oncogene c-Myc is involved in early neoplastic transformations. Two consensus Lef/Tcf binding elements (TBE) were found to be prerequisite for transcriptional transactivation by the armadillo proteins beta-catenin and plakoglobin (PG) together with Tcf4 in human neoplastic cells. In epidermal keratinocytes, c-Myc was reported to be repressed by Lef-1 and PG.

Is interleukin-4delta3 splice variant expression in bovine tuberculosis a marker of protective immunity?

Splice variants of the interleukin-4 (IL-4) cytokine gene have been described for humans, mice, and cattle. IL-4 splice variants have been shown to inhibit IL-4-mediated cellular responses and thus act as IL-4 antagonists. Recent work has highlighted the possibility of a correlation between IL-4 splice variants and protection against clinical tuberculosis.

Pemphigus vulgaris identifies plakoglobin as key suppressor of c-Myc in the skin.

The autoimmune disease pemphigus vulgaris (PV) manifests as loss of keratinocyte cohesion triggered by autoantibody binding to desmoglein (Dsg)3, an intercellular adhesion molecule of mucous membranes, epidermis, and epidermal stem cells. Here we describe a so far unknown signaling cascade activated by PV antibodies. It extends from a transient enhanced turn over of cell surface-exposed, nonkeratin-anchored Dsg3 and associated plakoglobin (PG), through to depletion of nuclear PG, and as one of the consequences, abrogation of PG-mediated c-Myc suppression.

Expression of interleukin 4, interleukin 4 splice variants and interferon gamma mRNA in calves experimentally infected with Fasciola hepatica.

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is expected to play a dominant role in the development of T helper (Th) 2 cells. Th2 immune responses with expression of relatively large amounts of interleukin 4 (IL-4) but little interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) are characteristic for chronic helminth infections. But no information is available about IL4 expression during early Fasciola hepatica (F.