Blimp

In many infectious diseases, the pathogen-induced inflammatory response could result in protective immunity that should be regulated to prevent tissue damage and death. In fact, in Trypanosoma cruzi infection, the innate immune and the inflammatory response should be perfectly controlled to avoid significant lesions and death. Here, we investigate the role of Blimp-1 expression in T cells in resistance to T. cruzi infection. Therefore, using mice with Blimp-1 deficiency in T cells (CKO) we determined its role in the controlling parasites growth and lesions during the acute phase of infection...

Cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania parasites exhibits a wide range of clinical manifestations. Although parasites influence disease severity, cytolytic CD8 T cell responses mediate disease. While these responses originate in the lymph node, we find that expression of the cytolytic effector molecule granzyme B is restricted to lesional CD8 T cells in Leishmania -infected mice, suggesting that local cues within inflamed skin induce cytolytic function. Expression of Blimp-1 ( Prdm1 ), a transcription factor necessary for cytolytic CD8 T cell differentiation, is driven by hypoxia within the inflamed skin...

At the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), a Research and Development (R&D) program studies robotic systems for inspection and maintenance of the next-generation of particle detectors. The design and operation of these systems are affected by the detector's cavern harsh environment consisting of high magnetic fields and radiations. This work presents a feasibility study for aerial inspection and mapping around a CERN particle detector using a robotic Lighter-than-Air (LtA) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), specifically a blimp...

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D3 (VitD3 ) is known to have immunomodulatory functions, and VitD3 deficiency is associated with more severe asthma. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the immunoregulatory effects of VitD3 food supplementation on asthma manifestation, with particular focus on T cells and type 2 innate lymphoid cells. METHODS: Preschool children and adult asthmatic cohorts were analyzed in the context of VitD3 supplementation and serum levels...

Aeroallergen sensitization, mainly mediated by lung epithelium and dendritic cells (DCs), is integral to allergic asthma pathogenesis and progression. IL-10 has a dual role in immune responses, as it inhibits myeloid cell activation but promotes B-cell responses and epithelial cell proliferation. Here, we report a proinflammatory function of B-cell-derived IL-10 modulated by Bcl-3 in allergic asthma. Specifically, Bcl-3-/- mice showed elevated IL-10 levels and were found to be highly vulnerable to allergic asthma induced by house dust mites (HDMs)...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a heterogeneous group of progenitor cells that play a multifunctional role including tissue regeneration, self-renewal properties, and differentiate into cells of mesodermal lineage such as adipocytes, osteoblasts, and chondrocytes. MSCs come into contact with tumor microenvironment (TME) and differentiate into tumor-associated MSCs (TA-MSCs). Various substances such as chemokines, cytokines, growth factors, and others are released by tumor cells to recruit MSCs. TA-MSCs induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program which mediates tumor growth progression, migration, and invasion...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by aberrant development of B cells and excess production of autoantibodies. Our team previously reported that absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) regulates B-cell differentiation via the Bcl-6-Blimp-1 axis. Notably, in keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH)-immunized CD19cre Aim2f/f mice, the frequency of CD19+ CD44+ B cells was decreased, accompanied by a weakened KLH response, indicating that AIM2 deficiency suppressed the antigen-induced B-cell immune response by downregulating the expression of CD44...

BACKGROUND: Common primary glomerulonephritis with aberrant mucosal immunity is IgA nephropathy (IgAN). T follicular helper (TFH) cells are essential in regulating B cell differentiation. Peyer's patches (PPs) are the main site where IgA+ plasmablasts differentiate. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to investigate the TFH cell's potential contribution to the etiology of IgA nephropathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In PPs from IgAN mouse models, the ratio of the TFH cell, B220+IgA+, B220+IgM+, and B220-IgA+ lymphocytes were assessed...

Analyzing whole-genome bisulfite and related sequencing datasets is a time-intensive process due to the complexity and size of the input raw sequencing files and lengthy read alignment step requiring correction for conversion of all unmethylated Cs to Ts genome-wide. The objective of this study was to modify the read alignment algorithm associated with the whole-genome bisulfite sequencing methylation analysis pipeline (wg-blimp) to shorten the time required to complete this phase while retaining overall read alignment accuracy...

INTRODUCTION: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease that damages the brain and spinal cord, inducing paralysis of the body. While MS has been known as a T-cell mediated disease, recent attention has been drawn to the involvement of B cells in its pathogenesis. Autoantibodies from B cells are closely related with the damage lesion of central nervous system and worse prognosis. Therefore, regulating the activity of antibody secreting cell could be related with the severity of the MS symptoms...

Mounting evidence suggests that gut microbial composition and its metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), have beneficial effects in regulating host immunogenicity to vaccines. However, it remains unknown whether and how SCFAs improve the immunogenicity of the rabies vaccine. In this study, we investigated the effect of SCFAs on the immune response to rabies vaccine in vancomycin (Vanco)-treated mice and found that oral gavage with butyrate-producing bacteria ( C. butyricum ) and butyrate supplementation elevated RABV-specific IgM, IgG, and virus-neutralizing antibodies (VNAs) in Vanco-treated mice...

INTRODUCTION: Depletion of mature B cells affords protection against experimental hypertension. However, whether B cell-mediated hypertension is dependent on differentiation into antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) remains unclear. Using the proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib, the present study tested the effect of ASC reduction on angiotensin II-induced hypertension. METHODS: Male C57BL6/J mice were infused with angiotensin II (0.7 mg/kg/day; s.c.) for 28 days via osmotic minipump to induce hypertension...

Plasma cells (PCs) are terminally differentiated antibody-secreting cells, derived from activated B-lymphocytes in response to either T-independent or T-dependent antigens. The plasma cell population is scarce in circulation in non-immunized individuals. It is established that neonates are incapable of mounting an efficient immune response due to the immaturity of the immune system. However, this disadvantage is well overcome through the antibodies neonates receive from breastmilk. This implies that neonates will be only protected against antigens the mother had previously encountered...

This study is to investigate the role of follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells/follicular helper T (Tfh) cells imbalance in adult patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Totally, 40 cases of primary ITP patients and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. Blood samples were collected from ITP patients (pre- and post-therapy) and controls. Flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of Tfr and Tfh cells in peripheral blood. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect the mRNA expression levels of FOXP3 , BCL-6 , and BLIMP-1 ...

BACKGROUNG: Oxymatrine (OMT) is one of the authentic Chinese herbal medicines which has rich and complex active ingredients. However, the relevant potential targets of oxymatrine on rheumatoid arthritis and the mechanism remains unreported. The aim of this study was to determine the regulation of oxymatrine on rheumatoid arthritis using a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat models and blood samples from RA patients. RESULTS: Our results indicated that Tfr cells in RA patients express low levels of Blimp-1 and CTLA-4...

REV7 is involved in various biological processes including DNA repair and mutagenesis, cell cycle regulation, gene transcription, and carcinogenesis. REV7 is highly expressed in adult testicular germ cells as well as several malignant tumors. REV7 expression levels are associated with prognosis in several human cancers, however, the mechanism of REV7 transcriptional regulation has not been elucidated. In this study, we characterized the promoter region of the REV7 gene. A luciferase reporter assay using the human germ cell tumor cell line NEC8 was utilized to examine the upstream genomic region of REV7 for transcriptional activity, and two transcriptional activation regions were identified...

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most lethal cancer in the world, and its incidence is steadily rising. In this study, we investigated the induction of humoral immunity by a phytogalactolipid enriched fraction (CRA) derived from the medicinal plant Crassocephalum rabens (Benth.) S. Moore to combat CRC. METHODS: Immunocompetent BALB/c mice were used to evaluate CRA's therapeutic effects in CRC. The phenotypes of B cell subsets in splenocytes and tumors from the CRA-treated mice were isolated and analyzed by flow cytometry...

During terminal differentiation of the mammalian retina, transcription factors control binary cell fate decisions that generate functionally distinct subtypes of photoreceptor neurons. For instance, Otx2 and RORβ activate the expression of the transcriptional repressor Blimp-1/PRDM1 that represses bipolar interneuron fate and promotes rod photoreceptor fate. Moreover, Otx2 and Crx promote expression of the nuclear receptor Nrl that promotes rod photoreceptor fate and represses cone photoreceptor fate...

Here, we report on a heterozygous interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) missense variant identified in three patients from a multigeneration family with hypogammaglobulinemia. Patients' low blood plasmablast/plasma cell and naïve CD4 and CD8 T cell counts contrasted with high terminal effector CD4 and CD8 T cell counts. Expression of the mutant IRF4 protein in control lymphoblastoid B cell lines reduced the expression of BLIMP-1 and XBP1 (key transcription factors in plasma cell differentiation). In B cell lines, the mutant IRF4 protein as wildtype was found to bind to known IRF4 binding motifs...

The PRDM family transcription repressor Blimp-1 is present in almost all multicellular organisms and plays important roles in various developmental processes. This factor has several conserved motifs among different species, but the function of each motif is unclear. Drosophila Blimp-1 plays an important role in determining pupation timing by acting as an unstable transcriptional repressor of the βftz-f1 gene. Thus, Drosophila provides a good system for analyzing the molecular and biological functions of each region in Blimp-1...