Dynamics of Serum Thymidine Kinase 1 at the First Cycle of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Predicts Outcome of Disease in Estrogen-Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer.

Pathologic complete response (pCR) predicts the long-term outcome of neoadjuvantly treated (NAC) breast cancer (BC) but is reached in <10% of hormone-receptor-positive patients. Biomarkers enabling adjustment or interruption of an ineffective therapy are desired. Here, we evaluated whether changes in the serum concentration of thymidine kinase 1 (sTK1) during NAC could be utilized as a biomarker.

Branching crypts in inflammatory bowel disease revisited.

Histologic sections from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) usually exhibit crypts with architectural distortions and branching crypts. It has been postulated that crypt branching should be assessed only in well-oriented, upright crypts. However, those crypts are mostly found in sections from colectomy specimens and colon mucosectomies.

Maturation trajectories and transcriptional landscape of plasmablasts and autoreactive B cells in COVID-19.

In parasite and viral infections, aberrant B cell responses can suppress germinal center reactions thereby blunting long-lived memory and may provoke immunopathology including autoimmunity. Using COVID-19 as model, we set out to identify serological, cellular, and transcriptomic imprints of pathological responses linked to autoreactive B cells at single-cell resolution. We show that excessive plasmablast expansions are prognostically adverse and correlate with autoantibody production but do not hinder the formation of neutralizing antibodies.

Type 2 immunity in intestinal homeostasis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Type 2 immune responses commonly emerge during allergic reactions or infections with helminth parasites. Most of the cytokines associated with type 2 immune responses are IL-4, IL-5, and IL13, which are mainly produced by T helper 2 cells (TH2), eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s). Over the course of evolution, humans have developed type 2 immune responses to fight infections and to protect tissues from the potential collateral damage caused by inflammation.

Enterocytes in Food Hypersensitivity Reactions.

Food hypersensitivity reactions are adverse reactions to harmless dietary substances, whose causes are hidden within derangements of the complex immune machinery of humans and mammals. Until recently, enterocytes were considered as solely absorptive cells providing a physical barrier for unwanted lumen constituents. This review focuses on the enterocytes, which are the hub for innate and adaptive immune reactions.

Landscape of T-cell repertoires with public COVID-19-associated T-cell receptors in pre-pandemic risk cohorts.

Objectives: T cells have an essential role in the antiviral defence. Public T-cell receptor (TCR) clonotypes are expanded in a substantial proportion of COVID-19 patients. We set out to exploit their potential use as read-out for COVID-19 T-cell immune responses.

Crypts in Asymmetric Fission in Endoscopic Biopsies from German Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background/aim: We previously found in Swedish patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), crypts in symmetric fission (CSF) and in asymmetric fission (CAF). This study aimed to examine CSF and CAF in a cohort of German patients with IBD.

Patients And Methods: H&E-sections from 106 IBD-patients [59 ulcerative colitis (UC) and 47 Crohn colitis (CCs)] were analysed.

Efferocytosis fuels malignant pleural effusion through TIMP1.

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) results from the capacity of several human cancers to metastasize to the pleural cavity. No effective treatments are currently available, reflecting our insufficient understanding of the basic mechanisms leading to MPE progression. Here, we found that efferocytosis through the receptor tyrosine kinases AXL and MERTK led to the production of interleukin-10 (IL-10) by four distinct pleural cavity macrophage (Mφ) subpopulations characterized by different metabolic states and cell chemotaxis properties.

Prevalence of copy number variants (CNVs) and rhGH treatment efficacy in an Italian cohort of children born small for gestational age (SGA) with persistent short stature associated with a complex clinical phenotype.

Purpose: Multiple factors influence intrauterine growth and lead to low birth sizes. The impact of genetic alterations on both pre- and post-natal growth is still largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of CNVs in an Italian cohort of SGA children with persistent short stature and complex clinical phenotype.

Crypts in Asymmetric Fission in Endoscopic Biopsies from Swedish Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background/aim: We previously found crypts in symmetric fission (CSF) and in asymmetric fission (CAF) in colectomy-specimens with ulcerative colitis. We now analyzed CSF and CAF (CSAF) in biopsies from 80 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) without dysplasia or carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: One unselected double-biopsy from affected endoscopic areas was investigated in the 80 cases.

ILC damage, and I'll repair it.

In this issue of Immunity, Wang et al. report that the recognition of lysophosphatidyl serine via the receptor GPR43 confers type 3 innate lymphoid cells with the capacity to sense damage-induced cell death, which in turn triggers interleukin-22-dependent tissue repair.

Efficacy and Safety of IV Sildenafil in the Treatment of Newborn Infants with, or at Risk of, Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN): A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of sildenafil added to inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) for newborn infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of newborn (PPHN) or hypoxic respiratory failure (HRF) at risk of PPHN.

Study Design: Part A of a multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Infants ≤96 hours' old, >34 weeks of gestation, receiving iNO (10-20 ppm on ≥50% FiO) for PPHN or HRF at risk of PPHN, and oxygen index >15 to <60, were randomized (1:1) to intravenous (IV) sildenafil (loading: 0.

Hard wiring of normal tissue-specific chromosome-wide gene expression levels is an additional factor driving cancer type-specific aneuploidies.

Background: Many carcinomas have recurrent chromosomal aneuploidies specific to the tissue of tumor origin. The reason for this specificity is not completely understood.

Methods: In this study, we looked at the frequency of chromosomal arm gains and losses in different cancer types from the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and compared them to the mean gene expression of each chromosome arm in corresponding normal tissues of origin from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database, in addition to the distribution of tissue-specific oncogenes and tumor suppressors on different chromosome arms.

Nondysplastic Crypts in Fission in Nonpolypoid Adenomas and in the Adjacent Mucosa Support Field Cancerization in the Colon.

Background/aim: We recently noticed in nonpolypoid adenomas (NPA) and the adjacent normal mucosa, nondysplastic crypts in symmetric and asymmetric fission (NDCSAF).

Patients And Methods: All NDCSAF found in 80 small NPA and in the adjacent mucosa were registered.

Results: A total of 178 NDCSAF (mean, 2.

Validation of the 'Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Distribution, Chronicity, Activity [IBD-DCA] Score' for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn´s Disease.

Background And Aims: Histological scoring plays a key role in the assessment of disease activity in ulcerative colitis [UC] and is also important in Crohn´s disease [CD]. Currently, there is no common scoring available for UC and CD. We aimed to validate the Inflammatory Bowel Disease [IBD]-Distribution [D], Chronicity [C], Activity [A] score [IBD-DCA score] for histological disease activity assessment in IBD.

Skin-resident innate lymphoid cells converge on a pathogenic effector state.

Tissue-resident innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) help sustain barrier function and respond to local signals. ILCs are traditionally classified as ILC1, ILC2 or ILC3 on the basis of their expression of specific transcription factors and cytokines. In the skin, disease-specific production of ILC3-associated cytokines interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22 in response to IL-23 signalling contributes to dermal inflammation in psoriasis.

Innominate Grooves of the Colon: Histological Reappraisal.

Background: Innominate grooves (IGs) in the colon are ubiquitous structures limiting anthemic folds. The histology of the crypts in anthemic folds is well known but the histology of IGs has remained unattended. In this study, IG crypts in the normal mucosa and in ulcerative colitis (UC) were analyzed.

IL-17A/F enable cholangiocytes to restrict T cell-driven experimental cholangitis by upregulating PD-L1 expression.

Background & Aims: IL-17A-producing T cells are present in autoimmune cholestatic liver diseases; however, little is known about the contribution of IL-17 to periductal immune responses. Herein, we investigated the role of IL-17 produced by antigen-specific CD8 T cells in a mouse model of cholangitis and in vitro in human cholangiocyte organoids.

Methods: K14-OVAp mice express a major histocompatibility complex I-restricted ovalbumin (OVA) peptide sequence (SIINFEKL) on cholangiocytes.

Publisher Correction: TGF-β signaling in Th17 cells promotes IL-22 production and colitis-associated colon cancer.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Digestomics of Cow's Milk: Short Digestion-Resistant Peptides of Casein Form Functional Complexes by Aggregation.

The aim of this study was to identify short digestion-resistant peptides (SDRPs) released by pepsin digestion of the whole cow's milk and examine their IgE reactivity and allergenicity. Raw milk was subjected to simulated gastric digestion. SDRPs were fractionated from the digests and identified by MS.

Preliminary Report: Asymmetric Crypt Fission in Biopsies from Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Recently, we found crypts with asymmetric fission bordering ulcers in colectomy specimens from patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Here, we report crypts with asymmetric fission found in biopsies from patients with UC.

Patients And Methods: Sections from endoscopic biopsies from five patients with UC were reviewed.

IL-16 processing in sentinel node regulatory T cells is a factor in bladder cancer immunity.

In the effort of developing new immunotherapies, the sentinel node (SN) has proven a promising source from which to harness an effective antitumour T cell response. However, tumour immune escape, a process in which regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a central role, remains a major limiting factor. Therefore, there is a clear need to increase the knowledge of Treg function and signalling in sentinel nodes.