P140 Peptide Leads to Clearance of Autoreactive Lymphocytes and Normalizes Immune Response in Lupus-Prone Mice.

In systemic lupus erythematosus, T cells display multiple abnormalities. They are abnormally activated, secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines, help B cells to generate pathogenic autoantibodies, and provoke the accumulation of autoreactive memory T cells. P140, a synthetic peptide evaluated in phase-III clinical trials for lupus, binds HSPA8/HSC70 chaperone protein.

Tuning the Immunostimulation Properties of Cationic Lipid Nanocarriers for Nucleic Acid Delivery.

Nonviral systems, such as lipid nanoparticles, have emerged as reliable methods to enable nucleic acid intracellular delivery. The use of cationic lipids in various formulations of lipid nanoparticles enables the formation of complexes with nucleic acid cargo and facilitates their uptake by target cells. However, due to their small size and highly charged nature, these nanocarrier systems can interact with antigen-presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages.

Sex Differences in Spontaneous Degranulation Activity of Intrahepatic Natural Killer Cells during Chronic Hepatitis B: Association with Estradiol Levels.

Major sex differences are observed in the prevalence, intensity, and severity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Here, we investigated degranulation activity of circulating and intrahepatic natural killer (NK) cells from HBV and HCV chronically infected patients before any treatment ( = 125). The frequency of CD107 NK cells in the female liver was significantly higher compared to that in males during chronic HBV infection ( = 0.