Quantum Dot-labeled Tags Improve Minimal Detection Limit of CA125 in Ovarian Cancer Cells and Tissues.

In recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles as fluorescent sensors for sensitive and accurate detection of cancer biomarkers. Here, using a homemade specific monoclonal antibody against CA125 and QD525- or FITC-labeled probes, expression of this marker in an ovarian cancer cell line and cancer tissues were traced and optical properties of fluorophores were compared qualitatively and quantitatively. Our results clearly showed that besides lower background and exceptionally higher photobleaching resistance, QD525 exhibited higher fluorescent intensity for both ovarian cancer cell and tissues at different exposure times (p<0.

Mutual helper effect in copulsing of dendritic cells with 2 antigens: a novel approach for improvement of dendritic-based vaccine efficacy against tumors and infectious diseases simultaneously.

To develop an efficient dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy protocol, we examined whether simultaneous pulsing of DCs with a given antigen and a third-party antigen could enhance their antigen presentation capacity. Purified splenic DCs of Balb/c mice were pulsed separately with immunoglobulin G, ovalbumin, conalbumin, P15 peptide of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and prostate-specific antigen or double combinations of the aforementioned antigens. In some settings, DCs pulsed with 1 antigen were mixed equally with those pulsed with another antigen.

Immunosuppressive effect of pregnant mouse serum on allostimulatory activity of dendritic cells.

In normal pregnancy, the maternal immune system is directed towards tolerance or suppression in order to prevent rejection of the semi-allogenic fetus. Antigen-presenting cells, especially dendritic cells (DCs), are key cells in initiation and regulation of immune responses. The presence of potent immunostimulatory DCs in the decidual tissue of pregnancy has been demonstrated.

The efficient isolation of murine splenic dendritic cells and their cytochemical features.

Despite their importance in professional antigen presentation and their ubiquitous presence, dendritic cells (DCs) are usually found in such trace amounts in tissues that their isolation with high purity is a difficult task. Because of their scarcity, accurate determination of the purity of isolated dendritic cells is very important. In this study, we purified murine splenic dendritic cells by a three-step enrichment method and evaluated their morphological, cytochemical and functional characteristics.