Regulatory T-cell dysfunctions are associated with increase in tumor necrosis factor α in autoimmune hemolytic anemia and participate in Th17 polarization.

Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (wAIHA) is a rare acquired autoimmune disease mediated by antibodies targeting red blood cells. The involvement of CD4 T-helper cells has been scarcely explored, with most findings extrapolated from animal models. Here, we performed quantification of both effector T lymphocytes (Teff) and regulatory T cells (Treg), associated with functional and transcriptomic analyses of Treg in human wAIHA.

Improvement of Treg immune response after treatment with tocilizumab in giant cell arteritis.

Objectives: To study the percentage, suppressive function and plasticity of Treg in giant cell arteritis (GCA), and the effects of glucocorticoids and tocilizumab.

Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 40 controls and 43 GCA patients at baseline and after treatment with glucocorticoids + IV tocilizumab ( = 20) or glucocorticoids ( = 23). Treg percentage and phenotype were assessed by flow cytometry.

Mucosal-associated invariant T cells in Giant Cell Arteritis.

This study aimed to assess the implication of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in GCA. Blood samples were obtained from 34 GCA patients (before and after 3 months of treatment with glucocorticoids (GC) alone) and compared with 20 controls aged >50 years. MAIT cells, defined by a CD3CD4TCRγδTCRVα7.

Efficiency of human monocyte-derived suppressor cell-based treatment in graft-versus-host disease prevention while preserving graft-versus-leukemia effect.

Background: Immunosuppressive cell-based therapy is a recent strategy for controlling Graft--Host Disease (GvHD). Such cells ought to maintain their suppressive function in inflammatory conditions and in the presence of immunosuppressive agents currently used in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Moreover, these therapies should not diminish the benefits of allo-HCT, the Graft--Leukemia (GvL) effect.

The Buffer Effect of Different Wood Species and the Influence of Oak on Panel Composites Binders.

The buffer action of certain wood species can intensely affect the curing and hardening of some thermosetting wood adhesives. The present article presents a quantification of such buffering effects, determined under controlled conditions, in various wood species. The buffer capacity of oak has been found to be rather extreme and is likely to affect quite heavily the ability of urea-formaldehyde (UF) and melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) wood panel adhesives in industrial operations.

Properties data of phenolic resins synthetized for the impregnation of saturating Kraft paper.

The quality of decorative laminates boards depends on the impregnation process of Kraft papers with a phenolic resin, which constitute the raw materials for the manufacture of the cores of such boards. In the laminates industries, the properties of resins are adapted via their syntheses, usually by mixing phenol and formaldehyde in a batch, where additives, temperature and stirring parameters can be controlled. Therefore, many possibilities of preparation of phenolic resins exist, that leads to different combinations of physico-chemical properties.

31P nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of phosphate metabolites and intracellular pH in turbot Psetta maxima red blood cells using a novel flow method.

A method for oxygenating and mixing suspensions of turbot Psetta maxima red blood cells (RBC) was tested in (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In normoxia, the levels of inorganic phosphate (Pi) and nucleoside triphosphates (NTP) were stable up to 140 min and intracellular pH (pHi) was maintained and decreased oxygen partial pressure (P(O ( 2) )) from 30 to 15 and 600 Pa produced a significant fall in the intensity of NTP resonance, balanced by an increase in the Pi signal. Treatment of RBC with 0.

Partial characterization of the gene encoding myoadenylate deaminase from the teleost fish Platichthys flesus.

AMP-deaminase (AMPD, EC 3.5.4.

Sex-, gametogenesis, and tidal height-related differences in levels of HSP70 and metallothioneins in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas.

Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas, living at a range of tidal heights, routinely encounter large fluctuations in temperature. We demonstrate that levels of heat shock proteins (HSP) and other stress proteins (metallothioneins, MTs) quantified by ELISA, remained similar in gills, mantle and digestive gland between oysters inhabiting low and high tidal heights. In contrast, endogenous HSPs and MTs levels in gonad changed significantly during gametogenesis.

Identification of differentially expressed genes of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas exposed to prolonged thermal stress.

Groups of oysters (Crassostrea gigas) were exposed to 25 degrees C for 24 days (controls to 13 degrees C) to explore the biochemical and molecular pathways affected by prolonged thermal stress. This temperature is 4 degrees C above the summer seawater temperature encountered in western Brittany, France where the animals were collected. Suppression subtractive hybridization was used to identify specific up- and downregulated genes in gill and mantle tissues after 7-10 and 24 days of exposure.

AMP-deaminase in elasmobranch fish: a comparative histochemical and enzymatic study.

AMP-deaminase activity was measured in white muscle from a wide range of fish, including one cyclostome, 13 chondrosteans, and one teleost to elucidate the pattern of the AMP-deaminase activity in white muscle of fish. Compared to a mammalian (rat) muscle extract, low enzyme activities are found in the cyclostome and two elasmobranchs from two families (Scyliorhinidae, Hexanchidae). In contrast, higher AMP-deaminase activities, similar to mammals, are expressed in Squalidae, all families of skates, Chimaeridae and in the teleostean fish.

Molecular characterization and expression of the gene encoding aspartate aminotransferase from the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas exposed to environmental stressors.

A partial cDNA encoding cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (EC 2.6.1.

Distribution and potential role of cytosolic water-soluble phosphodiesters in fish.

The distribution of water-soluble phosphodiesters (WSPDEs) visible by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in some intact tissues of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss walbaum) and in perchloric extracts after partial purification was examined by (31)P NMR spectroscopy. The compounds of interest were serine ethanolamine phosphate (SEP), threonine ethanolamine phosphate (TEP), glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC), and glycerophosphorylethanolamine (GPE). TEP and SEP were mostly accumulated in the heart and less accumulated in the kidney of intact trout.

Coordinated changes of adenylate energy charge and ATP/ADP: use in ecotoxicological studies.

The coordinated variations of the adenylate energy charge and ATP/ADP ratio were modeled and a function that depends on the numerical value of the adenylate kinase-catalyzed reaction has been derived. The model allows sensitive detection of the effects of xenobiotics on adenylate kinase and its cellular environment and offers a robust estimation of the direct or indirect effects of pollutants on the adenylate kinase system: data obtained in laboratory studies on shrimp exposed to cadmium and in field studies on oysters either exposed to polychloro-biphenyl compounds or located in a heavily polluted area indicate that xenobiotics affect the adenylate kinase reaction directly or by changing its cellular environment. These results demonstrate that application of the model to the treatment of ecotoxicological data allows detection of energetic changes that would have been missed by simple analysis of the usual energetic parameters, and should overcome problems encountered in using energetic parameters during assessment of pollution monitoring.

A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study of the hydrothermal vent tube worm Riftia pachyptila.

31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to study the major phosphorylated compounds visible in perchloric extracts of three body regions of the vestimentiferan worm Riftia pachyptila: winged vestimentum, trunk and segmented posterior opisthosome. Two phosphagens (PGs) were present in vestimentum and opisthosome. The major resonance corresponded to those of phosphoarginine and phosphotaurocyamine, which cannot be discriminated on 31P NMR spectra.

Modelization of coordinated changes of adenylate energy charge and ATP/ADP ratio: application to energy metabolism in invertebrate and vertebrate skeletal muscle.

Regulation of the coordinated adenylate energy charge (AEC) and ATP/ADP ratio variations was studied with the aid of computer-made simulations. When the equilibrium state for the adenylate kinase-catalyzed reaction has been assumed, the function describing the coordinated AEC and ATP/ADP ratio variations can be simply derived from the formulas describing these 2 parameters. The model was used to analyze incidence of AMP deamination in the coordinated regulation of cellular energy metabolism.

Amplification of myoadenylate deaminase during evolution. A comparative study.

Myoadenylate deaminase activity was measured, by using a specific assay technique, in a wide range of animal species, including four invertebrates, one cyclostome, 13 chondrosteans, one teleost and one mammal. The results are discussed considering the known genetic events that have lead to the appearance of the higher vertebrates myoadenylate deaminase molecular form. It is proposed that, during the extensive gene duplication that occurred in the beginning of vertebrate evolution, genetic modification of the myoadenylate deaminase molecule took place in at least two different taxa: the one that evolved to rajiform elasmobranch fishes and the other to the land vertebrates.

Detection of phosphodiester resonances in the perfused heart from vertebrate ectotherms with nuclear magnetic resonance.

In vivo 31P NMR has been used to characterize the phosphorylated compounds present in the heart from vertebrate ectotherms. The perfused hearts from all animals experimented showed prominent resonances between the inorganic phosphate and phosphocreatine peaks. The pattern of these compounds was found to be different in the heart of the different species.

An in situ hybridization technique for the study of B19 human parvovirus replication in bone marrow cell cultures.

An in situ hybridization technique using digoxigenin labelling was developed to study B19 infection. By using appropriate DNA probes, transcription of structural and non-structural genes was detected in bone marrow cell cultures. Such a simple system is useful to the study of B19-cell interactions in non-permissive cell lines.

A specific AMP deaminase assay and its application to tissue homogenates.

1. A rapid method for the determination of AMP and IMP by HPLC is described. 2.

Comparative studies on heart and skeletal muscle AMP-deaminase from rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).

1. AMP-deaminases from fish heart and skeletal muscle have been isolated, and their kinetic and regulatory properties compared. 2.

AMP deaminase from equine muscle: purification and determination of regulatory properties.

1. AMP deaminase from thoroughbred horse muscle was purified to apparent homogeneity and its regulatory properties were determined at pH 6.5 and 7.

In vivo 31P NMR in crustacean muscles: fatigue and recovery in the tail musculature from the prawn Palaemon elegans.

31P NMR has been used to observe the in vivo phosphometabolite concentrations in the tail musculature from the prawn Palaemon elegans, at rest and after escape swimming and subsequent recovery. Muscular fatigue corresponds to a 60% breakdown of phosphoarginine, and a 45% increase of sugar phosphates. The pHi fell from 7.

In vitro activities of U-63366, a spectinomycin analog; roxithromycin (RU 28965), a new macrolide antibiotic; and five quinolone derivatives against Haemophilus ducreyi.

The in vitro activities of the new spectinomycin analog U-63366, the new macrolide roxithromycin (RU 28965), and five new quinolone derivatives (pefloxacin, rosoxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin) were studied against 23 multiresistant strains of Haemophilus ducreyi (beta-lactamase producers) isolated in Paris and were compared with the activities of tetracycline, minocycline, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, kanamycin, gentamicin, spectinomycin, erythromycin, and nalidixic acid. All strains were uniformly susceptible to the seven new antibiotics tested. Ciprofloxacin had the greatest inhibitory effect in vitro (the MIC for 90% of the strains tested [MIC90] was 0.