Publications by authors named "Anastasia Nika"
Article Synopsis
- Identifying new adjuvants to make vaccines more effective is crucial, with one promising method being the use of TLR9 agonists like CpG ODNs to boost dendritic cell function.
- D-15800, a specific D-peptide isomer, has been found to better stimulate the production of the immune response mediator IL-12p70 and promote differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells compared to its L-isomer counterpart.
- When combined with TLR9 agonists, D-15800 not only activates immune cells like CD4 T and natural killer cells but also enhances interferon-alpha production, indicating it could significantly improve vaccine outcomes.
Article Synopsis
- Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (ICI) can worsen autoimmune diseases, but a new lipidic peptide, IK14004, shows promise in promoting immunosuppressive T regulatory cells while activating CD8+ T cells.
- IK14004 effectively inhibits Lewis lung cancer growth and revitalizes exhausted CD4+ T cells, along with modulating immune responses in human cells.
- This peptide could help balance the benefits of ICI immunotherapy by minimizing autoimmune reactions without allowing tumors to escape immune detection.
Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) induces immunosuppression and DNA damage, both of which contribute to the rising global incidence of skin cancer including melanoma. Nucleotide excision repair, which is activated upon UVR-induced DNA damage, is linked to expression of interleukin-12 (IL-12) which serves to limit immunosuppression and augment the DNA repair process. Herein, we report an immunomodulating peptide, designated IK14800, that not only elicits secretion of IL-12, interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) but also reduces DNA damage in the skin following exposure to UVR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFluorinated polymers have unique wettability and protein adsorption properties. The site-specific alteration of these properties could expand their application to different research areas. In this work, a fluorinated homopolymer and two of its copolymers with 4-vinylbenzyl glycidyl ether (VBGE) are synthesized by free radical polymerization.
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