Publications by authors named "Kyle Seaver"

Article Synopsis
  • A report studied how a special imaging test called 18 F-PBR06-PET can help find signs of brain cell problems in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
  • The study looked at 30 scans from 22 MS patients and compared their results with 8 healthy people to see how effective different treatments were.
  • Results showed MS patients had higher brain activity scores than healthy people, and even though stronger treatments helped reduce this activity, it still wasn't completely normal, linking it to their symptoms and brain changes.
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The protocol used to induce cell death for generating vaccines from whole tumor cells is a critical consideration that impacts vaccine efficacy. Here we compared how different protocols used to induce cell death impacted protection provided by a prophylactic whole tumor cell vaccine in a mouse melanoma model. We found that melanoma cells exposed to γ-irradiation or lysis combined with UV-irradiation (LyUV) provided better protection against tumor challenge than lysis only or cells exposed to UV-irradiation.

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Granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and macrophage CSF (M-CSF) modulate differentiation and immune functions of macrophages (MΦ). Our aim was to evaluate how different MΦ differentiation conditions influence the MΦ response to virus infection. To address this, we differentiated bone marrow-derived MΦ in either GM-CSF or M-CSF and measured the cytokine responses to two different strains of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) (clone 13; Cl13 or Armstrong; ARM).

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The role of the immune system in anti-tumor immunity cannot be overstated, as it holds the potential to promote tumor eradication or prevent tumor cell escape. Cytokines are critical to influencing the immune responses and interactions with non-immune cells. Recently, the IL-12 and IL-6 family of cytokines have accumulated newly defined members each with specific immune functions related to various cancers and tumorigenesis.

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Interleukin (IL)-27 is a promising anti-cancer cytokine with therapeutic potential. Exhibiting overlapping properties with type I and II interferons (IFNs), IL-27 impacts cancer cell viability and immune cell activity. Known to modulate toll-like receptor (TLR) expression, we investigated whether IL-27 affected TLR-mediated death in cancer cells.

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Dendritic cells produce IL-12 and IL-23 in response to viral and bacterial infection and these cytokines are responsible for successful pathogen clearance. How sequential viral and bacterial infections affect the production of IL-12 and IL-23 is currently not known. Our study demonstrates that in dendritic cells infected with Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), TLR activation with bacterial PAMPs resulted in reduced IL-12 and IL-23 expression compared to non-infected cells.

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Nearly a decade ago, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) adaptor protein called stimulator of interferon genes (STING) was found to be critical in the induction of type I IFN production in response to DNA virus infection. STING functions by sensing cytoplasmic DNA and activates key transcription factors, including IFN regulatory factor (IRF)-3 and IRF7, to initiate type I IFN expression. Type I IFNs are vital in immunity against viral infections and can influence cancer cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis.

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CD8 cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses are necessary for the lysis of virally infected cells and control of infection. CTLs are activated when their TCRs bind a major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I/peptide complex on the surface of antigen presenting cells such as macrophages (MΦ). It is now apparent that MΦ display remarkable plasticity in response to environmental signals to polarize into classically activated M(LPS + IFN-γ) or alternatively activated M(IL-4).

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