Publications by authors named "Maria Pallin"

Combination antiretroviral therapies (cART)can lead to normal life expectancy in HIV-infected persons, and people aged >50 yrs represent the fastest growing HIV group. Although HIV and aging are independently associated with impaired humoral immunity, immune status in people aging with HIV is relatively unexplored. In this study influenza vaccination was used to probe age associated perturbations in the B cell compartment of HIV-negative "healthy controls" (HC) and virologically controlled HIV-infected participants on cART (HIV) (n=124), grouped by age as young (<40 yrs), middle-aged (40-59yrs) or old (60 yrs).

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CD62L governs the circulation of CD8(+) T cells between lymph nodes and peripheral tissues, whereby the expression of CD62L by CD8(+) T cells promotes their recirculation through lymph nodes. As such, CD62L participates in the fate of adoptively transferred CD8(+) T cells and may control their effectiveness for cancer immunotherapy, including settings in which host preconditioning results in the acute lymphopenia-induced proliferation of the transferred cells. Indeed, previous studies correlated CD62L expression by donor CD8(+) cells with the success rate of adoptive cell therapy (ACT).

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Adoptive T-cell therapy holds great promise for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. However, prohibitive costs associated with current technology required for culture and expansion of tumor-reactive T-cells, the need for intense preconditioning regimens to induce lymphopenia, and the unpredictable anti-tumor effect of adoptively transferred T-cells remain significant impediments for its clinical implementation. Here we report a simplified combinatorial approach that involves short activation of CD8(+) T cells in the presence of IL-12 followed by adoptive transfer into tumor bearing animals after a single injection of cyclophosphamide.

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Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 induces a progressive deterioration of the immune system that ultimately leads to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Murine models indicate that the common γ-chain (γ(c))-sharing cytokine interleukin (IL)-21 and its receptor (IL-21R) play a crucial role in maintaining polyfunctional T cell responses during chronic viral infections. Therefore, we analyzed the ability of this cytokine to modulate the properties of human CD8 T cells in comparison with other γ(c)-sharing cytokines (IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15).

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In humans, innate immune recognition of mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, involves toll-like receptor-2 (TLR-2), expressed on immature dendritic cells (DCs), and the T-cell gammadelta receptor expressed by a subpopulation of T cells that utilize Vdelta2 (Vdelta2 T cells). To investigate modulatory relationships between these host-cell populations in a microbial context, in vitro experiments were performed with human DCs and Vdelta2 T cells stimulated with model TLR-2 ligands and phosphoantigens, respectively. We observed that TLR-2-stimulated DCs enhanced interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production by Vdelta2 T cells; conversely, activated Vdelta2 T cells enhanced TLR-2-induced DC maturation via soluble factors including IFN-gamma, which costimulated interleukin-12 (IL-12) p70 secretion by DCs.

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