Interleukin-1 receptors are differentially expressed in normal and psoriatic T cells.

This study was carried out to examine the possible role of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the functional insufficiency of regulatory T cells in psoriasis, by comparing the expression of IL-1 receptors on healthy control and psoriatic T cells. Patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis and healthy volunteers, matched in age and sex, were selected for all experiments. CD4(+)CD25(-) effector and CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low) regulatory T cells were separated and used for the experiments.

Mechanism of tumor cell-induced T-cell apoptosis mediated by galectin-1.

Galectin-1 (Gal-1) has been implicated in tumor progression partly via the induction of T-cell apoptosis. However the mechanism of Gal-1 induced T-cell death was mostly studied using recombinant, soluble Gal-1 producing controversial results. To explore the true mechanism of Gal-1 and hence tumor cell-induced T-cell death, we applied co-cultures of tumor cells and T-cells thus avoiding artificial circumstances generated using recombinant protein.