Autoreactivity to Sulfatide by Human Invariant NKT Cells.

Invariant NKT (iNKT) cells are innate-like lymphocytes that recognize lipid Ags presented by CD1d. The prototypical Ag, α-galactosylceramide, strongly activates human and mouse iNKT cells, leading to the assumption that iNKT cell physiology in human and mouse is similar. In this article, we report the surprising finding that human, but not mouse, iNKT cells directly recognize myelin-derived sulfatide presented by CD1d.

Accelerated antibody-mediated graft loss of rodent pancreatic islets after pretreatment with dexamethasone-treated immature donor dendritic cells.

Background: Allogeneic islets of Langerhans transplantation is hampered in its success as a curative treatment of type 1 diabetes by the absence of potent, specific, and nontoxic immunosuppressive drugs. Here, we assessed whether donor bone marrow-derived dexamethasone-treated dendritic cells (dexDCs) could prolong islet allograft survival in a full major histocompatibility complex mismatch rat model.

Methods: Rodent allogeneic islet transplantation was performed from DA rats to Lewis rats and vice versa.

CD1d and CD1c expression in human B cells is regulated by activation and retinoic acid receptor signaling.

B cell activation and Ab production in response to protein Ags requires presentation of peptides for recruitment of T cell help. We and others have recently demonstrated that B cells can also acquire innate help by presenting lipid Ags via CD1d to NKT cells. Given the newfound contribution of NKT cells to humoral immunity, we sought to identify the pathways that regulate CD1 molecule expression in human B cells.

Induction of donor-specific T-cell hyporesponsiveness using dexamethasone-treated dendritic cells in two fully mismatched rat kidney transplantation models.

Background: Dendritic cells (DC) can exert powerful immune stimulatory as well as regulatory functions and are therefore important tools for therapeutic strategies. Dexamethasone (Dex) was previously shown to inhibit DC maturation and to induce regulatory properties both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we investigated the immunoregulatory role of DexDC in two different rat acute rejection models of kidney transplantation.

Generation and characterization of a novel anti-rat CD40L antibody with inhibitory activities in vitro and in vivo.

The CD40-CD40L interaction plays a critical role in cell-mediated immune responses. Blocking this interaction has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of various diseases studied in murine models. Although rats are widely used to test therapeutic strategies in several disease models, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) to block the CD40-CD40L interaction in rats is not broadly available.

CD40L stimulation of rat dendritic cells specifically favors the IL-12/IL-10 ratio resulting in a strong T cell stimulatory capacity.

Dendritic cells (DC) play an important role in immune responses and have been studied extensively in human and mouse models. CD40 triggering of DC has a pivotal role in their maturation process, obtaining the unique capacity to induce strong CD4 and CD8 T cell activation. Although rat models are frequently used for the understanding of the underlying mechanism of human diseases, relatively little is known about rat DC.