Publications by authors named "Alec L Plotkin"
Article Synopsis
- Early life adaptations in immune system function are crucial for infant health, with newborns facing environmental challenges that test their immune response.
- Adenosine deaminases (ADAs), specifically ADA-1 and ADA-2, play important roles in immune modulation, and infants typically show lower ADA activity, resulting in higher levels of plasma adenosine and an anti-inflammatory bias.
- A study comparing plasma ADA activity in infants from Papua New Guinea to those from The Gambia found that PNG infants had lower ADA levels at birth but these levels increased and converged by the one-month mark, highlighting the importance of genetic and environmental factors in immune development.
Background: The long-term immunologic effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in children with perinatally-acquired HIV (PHIV) have not been fully elucidated. Here, we investigated how the timing of ART initiation affects the long-term immune profile of children living with PHIV by measuring immunomodulatory plasma cytokines, chemokines, and adenosine deaminases (ADAs).
Methods: 40 PHIV participants initiated ART during infancy.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how the immune system of healthy full-term newborns develops in the first week of life, focusing on plasma concentrations of cytokines and chemokines.
- Researchers collected blood samples from a large cohort of newborns in The Gambia at birth and at various points during the first week to measure these immune markers.
- Findings show an increase in certain Th1 cytokines and a decrease in Th2 and anti-inflammatory cytokines over the week, indicating significant immune changes during this critical transition, unaffected by factors like gestational age.
Background: Human adenosine deaminases (ADAs) modulate the immune response: ADA1 metabolizing adenosine, a purine metabolite that inhibits pro-inflammatory and Th1 cytokine production, and the multi-functional ADA2, by enhancing T-cell proliferation and monocyte differentiation. Newborns are relatively deficient in ADA1 resulting in elevated plasma adenosine concentrations and a Th2/anti-inflammatory bias compared to adults. Despite the growing recognition of the role of ADAs in immune regulation, little is known about the ontogeny of ADA concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe receptor tyrosine kinase Mer (MERTK) is a promising drug target in cancer, where it can influence the metastasis-promoting signaling of both tumor cells and immune cells alike; however, no small molecule probes currently exist to selectively image Mer. In this work, we design and synthesize a selective near-infrared fluorescent molecular probe of Mer (MERi-SiR). Confocal microscopy of metastases in mice reveals predominant probe accumulation in Mer-expressing tumor-associated macrophages.
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