The tumour microenvironment is programmed by cancer cells and substantially influences anti-tumour immune responses. Within the tumour microenvironment, CD8 T cells undergo full effector differentiation and acquire cytotoxic anti-tumour functions in specialized niches. Although interactions with type 1 conventional dendritic cells have been implicated in this process, the underlying cellular players and molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is important for diagnosing interstitial lung disease (ILD) in inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD) patients. However, visual ILD assessment via HRCT often has high inter-reader variability. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based techniques for quantitative image analysis promise more accurate diagnostic and prognostic information.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeople with single-sided deafness (SSD) or asymmetric hearing loss (AHL) have particular difficulty understanding speech in noisy listening situations and in sound localization. The objective of this multicenter study is to evaluate the effect of a cochlear implant (CI) in adults with single-sided deafness (SSD) or asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), particularly regarding sound localization and speech intelligibility with additional interest in electric-acoustic pitch matching. A prospective longitudinal study at 7 European tertiary referral centers was conducted including 19 SSD and 16 AHL subjects undergoing cochlear implantation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding physicians as actors who implemented the early modern ideal of collective empiricism into their practices within the local contexts of everyday life, the paper explores two cases from imperial cities in southern Germany in the 1720s and 1780s in which anatomical studies were contested. By analyzing the strategies and arguments that the two physicians used to justify and continue their anatomical dissections, it focuses on their references to different kinds of (local) community and relates these references to another type of collective: membership in a scientific academy. To examine references to community, it is proposed, offers an opportunity to better understand the spread and practice of the ideal of the study of nature as a collective project and how it was intertwined with concepts and structures of order and society in the Holy Roman Empire.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) are often associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). The aim of the present study was to establish a correlation between the findings on HRCT and the immunological bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL).
Methods: The study included 74 patients with newly diagnosed IRD and evidence of ILD on HRCT with the following pattern: ground-glass opacities (GGO), non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) and usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP).
The WWE domain is a relatively under-researched domain found in twelve human proteins and characterized by a conserved tryptophan-tryptophan-glutamate (WWE) sequence motif. Six of these WWE domain-containing proteins also contain domains with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. The general recognition of poly-ADP-ribosylated substrates by WWE domains suggests a potential avenue for development of Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpansion of antigen-experienced CD8 T cells is critical for the success of tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL)-adoptive cell therapy (ACT) in patients with cancer. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) acts as a key regulator of CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocyte functions by promoting expansion and cytotoxic capability. Therefore, it is essential to comprehend mechanistic barriers to IL-2 sensing in the tumour microenvironment to implement strategies to reinvigorate IL-2 responsiveness and T cell antitumour responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer-specific TCF1 stem-like CD8 T cells can drive protective anticancer immunity through expansion and effector cell differentiation; however, this response is dysfunctional in tumours. Current cancer immunotherapies can promote anticancer responses through TCF1 stem-like CD8 T cells in some but not all patients. This variation points towards currently ill-defined mechanisms that limit TCF1CD8 T cell-mediated anticancer immunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClinical Issue: Due to advances in diagnostics and therapy, the survival rate of patients with congenital heart defects is continuously increasing. The aim of this review is to compare various imaging modalities that are used in the diagnosis of congenital heart defects.
Methods: Transthoracic echocardiography is the imaging method of choice in the presence of a congenital heart defect because of its wide availability and non-invasiveness.
, a zoonotic bacterium, is prevalent in dairy farms. Some cows develop a persistent infection and shed into milk and occasionally by amniotic fluid at calving. Serological diagnosis of Q fever in humans is performed by phase (Ph)-specific antibody tests; PhII antibodies usually indicate an acute infection, while the development of a chronic infection is characterised by elevated PhI antibody titres.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Pharm (Weinheim)
June 2024
Transcription factors are generally considered challenging, if not "undruggable", targets but they promise new therapeutic options due to their fundamental involvement in many diseases. In this study, we aim to assess the ligandability of the C-terminal Rel-homology domain of nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFAT1), a TF implicated in T-cell regulation. Using a combination of experimental and computational approaches, we demonstrate that small molecule fragments can indeed bind to this protein domain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQ fever in humans is caused by Coxiella (C.) burnetii. In 2008 and 2012, cases of Q fever in humans were linked to an infected flock of approximately 650 ewes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuromyelitis optica is a paradigmatic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, in which the water-channel protein AQP4 is the target antigen. The immunopathology in neuromyelitis optica is largely driven by autoantibodies to AQP4. However, the T cell response that is required for the generation of these anti-AQP4 antibodies is not well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor the purpose of validation and identification of mechanical systems, measurements are indispensable. However, they require knowledge of the inherent uncertainty to provide valid information. This paper describes a method on how to evaluate uncertainties in strain measurement using electric strain gages for practical engineering applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe availability of high-resolution 3D structural information is crucial for investigating guest-host systems across a wide range of fields. In the context of drug discovery, the information is routinely used to establish and validate structure-activity relationships, grow initial hits from screening campaigns, and to guide molecular docking. For the generation of protein-ligand complex structural information, X-ray crystallography is the experimental method of choice, however, with limited information on protein flexibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 69-year-old male patient with seropositive erosive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presented to our clinic due to progressive dyspnea. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and immunological bronchioalveolar lavage revealed ground-glass opacities and a lymphocytic alveolitis caused by interstitial lung disease (ILD) in RA. Considering previous forms of treatment, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment was switched to tofacitinib.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFType 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1) can support T cell responses within tumors but whether this determines protective versus ineffective anti-cancer immunity is poorly understood. Here, we use imaging-based deep learning to identify intratumoral cDC1-CD8 T cell clustering as a unique feature of protective anti-cancer immunity. These clusters form selectively in stromal tumor regions and constitute niches in which cDC1 activate TCF1 stem-like CD8 T cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe origin of high-energy cosmic rays, atomic nuclei that continuously impact Earth's atmosphere, is unknown. Because of deflection by interstellar magnetic fields, cosmic rays produced within the Milky Way arrive at Earth from random directions. However, cosmic rays interact with matter near their sources and during propagation, which produces high-energy neutrinos.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTarget 2035, an international federation of biomedical scientists from the public and private sectors, is leveraging 'open' principles to develop a pharmacological tool for every human protein. These tools are important reagents for scientists studying human health and disease and will facilitate the development of new medicines. It is therefore not surprising that pharmaceutical companies are joining Target 2035, contributing both knowledge and reagents to study novel proteins.
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