Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 polymorphism 49 (A>G) and migraine.

Migraine without aura (MO) and migraine with aura (MA) are disorders involving multiple environmental and genetic factors. The A/G polymorphism located within exon 1 of the gene encoding the cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is associated with several HLA-associated multifactorial diseases. The CTLA-4 family shows a negative control on T-cell proliferation and cytokine production (TNF-alpha and IL-10).

Heat shock response by EBV-immortalized B-lymphocytes from centenarians and control subjects: a model to study the relevance of stress response in longevity.

'Successful aging', i.e. the ability to attain old age in relatively good health, is believed to be related to the capability to cope with different environmental stresses.

Tumor necrosis factor gene polymorphism in migraine.

Objective: To better define the involvement of human leukocyte antigen region (HLA) genes in migraine via an association study of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) genes, located in the HLA class III region, with migraine with and without aura.

Background: Migraine without aura and migraine with aura are disorders involving multiple factors-environmental and genetic. In a previous study, we hypothesized a protective role for the HLA-DR2 antigen, providing additional basis for the proposed genetic heterogeneity between migraine without aura and migraine with aura.

TCR Vβ repertoire in an Italian longeval population including centenarians.

During the last years, the hypothesis that aging and diseases are two distinct phenomena, and that successful aging is possible for most humans, has been put forward. We studied the TCR Vβ repertoire of T lymphocytes of healthy longevals and centenarians as crossing point of genetic predisposition and environmental effects to longevity, using the Spectra-typing method. TCR Vβ1, Vβ8, and Vβ20 were found to be expanded in the longeval population, compared with the younger control population.