MUC1 Mucin: A Putative Regulatory (Checkpoint) Molecule of T Cells.

T lymphocytes are at the center of inducing an effective adaptive immune response and maintaining homeostasis. T cell responses are initiated through interactions between antigen presenting cells (APCs) and T cells. The type and strength of signals delivered through the T cell receptor (TCR) may modulate how the cells respond.

Triennial Growth Symposium--Novel roles for vitamin D in animal immunity and health.

Recent years have seen significant advances in the generation, validation, and implementation of nutritional supplements for food production animals. Examination of their impact on animal performance and health requires collaboration among animal scientists, nutritionists, biochemists, immunologists, veterinarians, and others. Each provides a unique perspective on the mechanisms of action, short and long-term impacts, and most effective strategies for implementation into continuously evolving industrial practices.

Modulation of weanling pig cellular immunity in response to diet supplementation with 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3).

There is still significant debate over the effects that vitamin D3 has on the immune system, as both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cellular responses have been described. The objective of this study was to use a weanling pig model of nutritional supplementation to provide a broad functional look at the immune cellular changes that occur as a result of vitamin D3 nutritional supplementation. We identified a significant impact on cellular immune parameters, particularly in pigs supplemented with a commercial hydroxylated version of vitamin D3, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3; Hy·D].

A soluble form of the CSF-1 receptor contributes to the inhibition of inflammation in a teleost fish.

We previously reported on the identification of a novel soluble form of the CSF-1 receptor (sCSF-1R) in goldfish that induced dose-dependent down-regulation of macrophage proliferation. Herein, we report that sCSF-1R has a role beyond macrophage development, which extends into the control of cellular antimicrobial inflammatory responses in this lower vertebrate. Using an in vivo model of self-resolving peritonitis coupled to in vitro characterization of sCSF-1R activity, we show that sCSF-1R plays a role in the inhibition of inflammation which follows an initial acute phase of innate antimicrobial responses within an inflammatory site.

Fish and mammalian phagocytes differentially regulate pro-inflammatory and homeostatic responses in vivo.

Phagocytosis is a cellular mechanism that is important to the early induction of antimicrobial responses and the regulation of adaptive immunity. At an inflammatory site, phagocytes serve as central regulators for both pro-inflammatory and homeostatic anti-inflammatory processes. However, it remains unclear if this is a recent evolutionary development or whether the capacity to balance between these two seemingly contradictory processes is a feature already displayed in lower vertebrates.