Objectives: Tetanus is a vaccine-preventable disease. Booster immunization is required in order to induce long-lived tetanus-toxoid (TT) specific antibody response. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors of TT seronegativity in a cohort of people living with HIV (PWH) in Belgium along with the respective performance of vaccine history and a rapid dipstick test (Tetanus Quick Stick ® or TQS) compared to ELISA testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigated the influence of the site of administration of DNA vaccine on the induced immune response. DNA vaccines were administered by electroporation at three different sites: tibial cranial muscle, abdominal skin and ear pinna. Aiming to draw general conclusions about DNA vaccine delivery, we successively used several plasmids encoding either luciferase and ovalbumin as models or gp160 and P1A as vaccines against HIV and P815 mastocytoma, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV 3) is causing severe economic losses worldwide in common and koi carp industries, and a safe and efficacious attenuated vaccine compatible with mass vaccination is needed. We produced single deleted recombinants using prokaryotic mutagenesis. When producing a recombinant lacking open reading frame 134 (ORF134), we unexpectedly obtained a clone with additional deletion of ORF56 and ORF57.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirus-like particles (VLPs) of human papillomavirus (HPV) are used as a vaccine against HPV-induced cancer, and recently we have shown that these VLPs are able to activate natural killer (NK) cells. Since NK cells collaborate with dendritic cells (DCs) to induce an immune response against viral infections and tumors, we studied the impact of this crosstalk in the context of HPV vaccination. NK cells in the presence of HPV-VLPs enhanced DC-maturation as shown by an upregulation of CD86 and HLA-DR and an increased production of IL-12p70, but not of the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The JAK/STAT (Janus Tyrosine Kinase, Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription) pathway is associated with cytokine or growth factor receptors and it is critical for growth control, developmental regulation and homeostasis. The use of porcine ocular cells as putative xenotransplants appears theoretically possible. The aim of this study was to investigate the response of various porcine ocular cells in vitro to human cytokines in regard to the activation of JAK-STAT signaling pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe appearance of new viruses and the cost of developing certain vaccines require that new vaccination strategies now have to be developed. DNA vaccination seems to be a particularly promising method. For this application, plasmid DNA is injected into the subject (man or animal).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the use of a new biocompatible block copolymer poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-N-(morpholino)ethyl methacrylate (PDMAEMA-b-PMEMA) for the delivery of a particular antisense oligonucleotide targeting E6 gene from human papilloma virus. This antisense oligonucleotide was derivatized with a polyazaaromatic Ru(II) complex which, under visible illumination, is able to produce an irreversible crosslink with the complementary targeted sequence. The purpose of this study is to determine whether by the use of a suitable transfection agent, it is possible to increase the efficiency of the antisense oligonucleotide targeting E6 gene, named Ru-P-4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWildebeests carry asymptomatically alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1), a γ-herpesvirus inducing malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) to several ruminant species (including cattle). This acute and lethal lymphoproliferative disease occurs after a prolonged asymptomatic incubation period after transmission. Our recent findings with the rabbit model indicated that AlHV-1 infection is not productive during MCF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTP63 is a p53-related gene that contains two alternative promoters, which give rise to transcripts that encode proteins with (TAp63) or without (DeltaNp63) an amino-transactivating domain. Whereas the expression of p63 is required for proper development of epithelial structures, the role of p63 in tumorigenesis remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of Snail and Slug transcription factors, known to promote epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions during development and cancer, in the regulation of p63 isoforms in human squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Quant Cytol Histol
April 2009
Objective: To investigate the expression of immunomodulating genes in prostate cancer and benign prostatic tissue.
Study Design: We investigated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction the expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, arginase 1, arginase 2, inducible form of nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), programmed death ligand 1 and interleukin 10 in 36 matched pairs of samples from prostate cancer and benign prostatic tissue.
Results: Among the genes analyzed, arginase 2 and COX-2 showed statistically significant up-regulation and down-regulation, respectively, in malignant compared to benign prostate tissue.
Experimental models indicate that tumor cells in suspension, unlike solid tumor fragments, might be unable to produce life-threatening cancer outgrowth when transferred to animal models, irrespective of the number of cells transferred, although they induce specific immune responses. Human tumor cells cultured in three dimensions display increased pro-angiogenic capacities and resistance to interferons, chemotherapeutic agents or irradiation, as compared with cells cultured in two-dimensional (2D) monolayers. Tumor cells cultured in three dimensions were also shown to be characterized by defective immune recognition by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and by a capacity to inhibit CTL proliferation and dendritic cell (DC) functions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProduction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) by tumor cells, leading to tryptophan depletion and production of immunosuppressive metabolites, may facilitate immune tolerance of cancer. IDO gene is also expressed in dendritic cells (DC) upon maturation induced by lipopolysaccarides or IFN. We investigated IDO gene expression in melanoma cell lines and clinical specimens as compared to mature DC (mDC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To assess the effects of the culture of melanoma cells in 3-dimensional (3D) architectures on their immunorecognition by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for tumor-associated antigens.
Summary Background Data: Growth in 3D architectures has been shown to promote the resistance of cancers to treatment with drugs, cytokines, or irradiation, thereby potentially playing an important role in tumor expansion. We investigated the effects of 3D culture on the recognition of melanoma cells by antigen-specific HLA class I-restricted CTLs.
Modern vaccines aim at conferring immune protection, independently of the nature of the etiological agent causing the disease. These new therapeutics are based on highly purified antigenic moieties that offer potential advantages over traditional vaccines, including a high degree of safety and the capacity of eliciting highly specific immune responses. In spite of these advantages however, subunit vaccines tend to be poorly immunogenic in vivo, and require the coadministration of adjuvants that indirectly enhance cellular immunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrowth in three-dimensional (3D) architectures has been suggested to play an important role in tumor expansion and in the resistance of cancers to treatment with drugs or cytokines or irradiation. To obtain an insight into underlying molecular mechanisms, we addressed gene expression profiles of NA8 melanoma cells cultured in bidimensional monolayers (2D) or in 3D multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS). MCTS containing 10-30,000 cells were generated upon overnight culture in poly-Hydroxyethylmethacrylate (polyHEMA) coated plates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have comparatively evaluated the proliferative response of CTL induced in metastatic melanoma patients upon immunization against Melan-A/MART-1(27-35) tumor associated antigen (TAA) to IL-2, IL-7 or IL-15 cytokines, sharing a receptor common gamma-chain (c gamma-c cytokines). Twenty-eight CTL clones were generated from CD8+ T cells obtained from 3 patients during the contraction phase of immune response following a successful vaccine mediated expansion of specific effectors. All clones were able to kill tumor cell lines expressing HLA-A0201 and Melan-A/MART-1, and displayed phenotypic characteristics of effector/memory (CD45RA-/CCR7-) or CD45RA+/CCR7- effector cells in intermediate to late developmental stage (CD28-/CD276+/-) CTL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecularly defined adjuvants are urgently required to implement immunization protocols by which CD8+ T cells induction is envisaged. We show here that the synthetic lipopeptide Pam3CysSerLys4 (P3CSK4) strongly enhances the expansion of antigen-specific IFN-gamma+CD8+ cells in vitro. These effects critically depend on the presence of two ester-bonded palmitoylated side chains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe immunobiology of tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells (DCs) can be strongly influenced by the cytokine environment present in the malignant tissue. We have previously identified discrete melanoma lines, inducing E-cadherin expression on monocyte-derived DCs in vitro. We demonstrate here that this effect, independent of cell contact, is not inducible in the presence of tumor lysates and requires the constitutive expression of IFN stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) by malignant cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF