OBJECTIVES: Assessment of the analytical performance of the Total Proinsulin ELISA Kit (Millipore) and determination of reference values. DESIGN AND METHODS: Imprecision, specificity, antibodies interference and reference values in normoglycaemic non-obese adults were determined. RESULTS: The inter-assay CV is <6.9%, the limits of detection and quantification are 0.2 and 0.6 ...

Cutaneous contact sensitivity (CS) is a subtype of delayed-type sensitivity and is mediated by either CD4(+) or CD8(+) CS-effector T cells. CS can be induced by skin painting with haptens like trinitrophenyl chloride (TNP-Cl).We have previously shown that CS is under the negative regulation of T regulatory cells (Treg) induced ...

Recurrent immune-associated miscarriages in humans are thought to result from maternal immune responses to paternal alloantigens. We investigated the role of paternal alloantigens in a mouse model of immune-dependent abortion. Sib-crosses of C57Bl/6J (haplotype b/b) mice heterozygous for a targeted hypomorphic allele of the tbp gene (tbp(deltaN/+)) resulted in selective ...

FALVAC-1A is a second-generation multitarget, multiepitope synthetic candidate vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum, incorporating elements designed to yield a stable and immunogenic molecule. Characteristics of the immunogenicity of FALVAC-1A were evaluated in congenic (H-2(b), H-2(k), and H-2(d)) and outbred strains of mice. The influences of four adjuvants (aluminum phosphate, QS-21, Montanide ...

Multiple bacterial and protozoal pathogens utilize gene conversion to generate rapid intrahost antigenic variation. Both large- and small-genome pathogens expand the size of the variant pool via a combinatorial process in which oligonucleotide segments from distinct donor loci are recombined in various combinations into expression sites. Although the potential combinatorial ...

The immune system of a healthy individual responds vigorously to foreign microbial antigens. However, all potentially immunogenic regions (determinants) within an antigen are not functionally of equal relevance in mediating host immunity against the pathogen. Moreover, some of these antigenic determinants are well processed and presented (immunodominant), while others are ...

The possibility that Ia antigens are unique among H-2 antigens in their relationship to the Fc receptor was investigated in an EA rosette assay. Antibody specific for antigens in various regions of the H-2 complex was incubated with mouse cells, and the ability of the cells to form rosettes with ...

Antibodies against nuclear self-antigens are characteristic of systemic autoimmunity, although mechanisms promoting their generation and selection are unclear. Here, we report that B cells containing the Y-linked autoimmune accelerator (Yaa) locus are intrinsically biased toward nucleolar antigens because of increased expression of TLR7, a single-stranded RNA-binding innate immune receptor. The ...

In mammals, natural antibodies (Nabs) are mostly of the IgM isotype and can bind to a particular antigen or pathogen even if the host has never been exposed. Despite their early detection and abundance, the exact role and genetic control of Nabs remain unclear. We have used an indirect ELISA ...

F1 hybrids of SWR (H-2(q)) and SJL (H-2(s)) mice spontaneously develop a lupuslike condition in an age-dependent manner, and these two H-2 haplotypes also confer susceptibility to induction of systemic autoimmunity by heavy metals such as mercury, silver, and gold with anti-fibrillarin antibodies (AFA) as marker. The aim of this ...

Life-threatening meningitis and septicaemia caused by Neisseria meningitidis are a public health priority, and their prevention by vaccination is a major objective. Meningococcal capsular polysaccharide-based vaccines are effective against the major invasive serogroups, except for serogroup B, the capsule of which mimics human polysaccharides and is poorly immunogenic. An alternative ...

We have analyzed the antibody response against either AAV2 or canine F.IX (cF.IX) in parental C57BL/6 (B6) and DBA/2 (D2) and 18 strains of B6 x D2 (BXD) recombinant inbred (RI) strains of mice after iv administration of AAV2-(ApoE)4/hAAT-cF.IX. There was a higher anti-AAV2 capsid response in B6 compared to ...

BACKGROUND: The Rhesus antigen Ew (ISBT designation 004 011) was first described in 1955. It is defined by a specific antibody, but its molecular genetic basis has not yet been resolved. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Two individuals serologically characterized to express the rare Rhesus antigen Ew were analyzed by sequencing ...

Despite its well characterised biochemistry, the physiological role of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase D (GPI-PLD) is unknown. Most of the previous studies investigating the distribution of GPI-PLD have focused on the human and bovine forms of the enzyme. Studies on mouse GPI-PLD are rare, partly due to the lack of a specific ...

Forty-one isolates of rabies virus from insectivorous bats and one from a domestic cat in Chile, were characterized using eight anti-nucleoprotein monoclonal antibodies (N-Mabs) and by nucleotide sequence analysis. Thirty-two isolates were identified as antigenic variant 4 associated with Tadarida brasiliensis bats, twenty-eight were genetically associated with variant Tadarida brasiliensis ...

We have previously reported that the immunization of pregnant mice with T-dependent antigens successfully induced suppression of the antigen-specific plaque-forming cell (PFC) response to the relevant antigens in the offspring. This suppression was not caused by the administered antigens, the antibodies produced by the pregnant mother, or lactational transfer, but ...

To prevent bystander destruction of healthy host tissues, cytotoxic CD8(+) T lymphocytes are fitted with specific receptors that direct their destructive forces specifically against chosen targets. We show here, however, that anti-H-Y monospecific, H-2(b-restricted MataHari CD8(+) T cells reject H-2(k) male skin grafts, with which they cannot directly interact. Such ...

Antibody that possesses two identical paratopes (bivalent) is aggregated by antigen to trigger effector function. Antibody that possesses two different paratopes behaves as functionally monovalent. If these two antibodies interact with a given epitope, the monovalent antibody will block the aggregation of the bivalent antibody thereby inhibiting effector activation. We ...

Congenic BioBreeding (BB) rats, homozygous for the autosomal lymphopenia (Lyp) gene (Lyp/Lyp), heterozygous (Lyp/+), or wild-type (+/+), were immunized with the T cell-dependent bacteriophage PhiX174 to determine effects of Lyp on primary and secondary antibody responses. The primary PhiX174 antibody response did not differ between the three different genotypes. In ...

Tetanus toxin has been a valuable model antigen to study the MHC class II-restricted antigen processing pathway and is also frequently used to provide T helper determinants in vaccine formulations. To date most basic studies on the processing of this antigen have utilized human T and B cell clones. As ...

Fusions of autologous tumor cells with allogeneic dendritic cells (DC) represent an approach for the induction of antitumor immunity. In the present studies, we investigated the antitumor effects of vaccinating MUC1-transgenic (MUC1.Tg) mice with MC38/MUC1 carcinoma cells fused to allogeneic DC from BALB/c mice (allo-DC, H-2(d)) or syngeneic DC from ...

I-A(g7) is a unique class II MHC molecule that is clearly associated with autoimmune diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. To determine if I-A(g7) is defective in its ability to deliver tolerogenic signals in vivo, H-2(g7) mice were nasally pretreated with antigen, prior to immunization, to induce antigen-specific regulation. Nasally ...

The mouse preimplantation period can be prolonged experimentally by a delayed implantation, and this will keep the blastocyst in an inactive state. The dormancy can be interrupted by an oestrogen injection, which will make the blastocyst invasive. Thus the blastocyst mimics both dormant and invasive micrometastasis. Considering the similarities between ...

Active immunization of fertile female mice, rats and sub-human primates with linearized chicken riboflavin carrier protein (RCP) curtailed pregnancy suggesting that sequence-specific RCP antibodies interfere with fertilization/early embryo development. To investigate the genetic basis of variations in immunogenecity, antibody response to reduced and carboxymethylated RCP (RCM-RCP) was studied in different ...

We previously reported that CA074, a specific inhibitor of cathepsin B, significantly deviated immune responses from the disease-promoting Th2 type to the protective Th1 type in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major. Herein, we found that pepstatin A-sensitive aspartic proteases (PSAP) in lysosomes seem to play a different role from ...

We investigated the heterogeneity of the humoral immune responses to whole cells and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotype b and production of cytokines in inbred strains of mice. Nine such strains were tested: A/J (H-2(a)), C57BL/6 (H-2(b)), BALB/c (H-2(d)), DBA/2 (H-2(d)), B10.BR (H-2(k)), C3H/He (H-2(k)), C3H/HeJ (H-2(k)), DBA/1 (H-2(q)) ...

The degree of protection against Plasmodium yoelii asexual blood stages induced by immunization of mice with the 19-kDa region of merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1(19)) is H-2 dependent. As a strategy to improve the protection, mouse strains with disparate H-2 haplotypes were immunized with glutathione S-transferase (GST)-MSP1(19) proteins including either ...

Common antigenicity among two purified Japanese cedar pollen allergens (Cry j 1 and Cry j 2) and one Japanese cypress pollen allergen (Cha o 1) was explored at the T-cell and B-cell level in mice of different H-2 haplotypes. Cry j 2 did not show any common antigenicity with Cry ...

The human AC133 antigen and mouse prominin are structurally related plasma membrane proteins. However, their tissue distribution is distinct, with the AC133 antigen being found on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and prominin on various epithelial cells. To determine whether the human AC133 antigen and mouse prominin are orthologues or ...

Transcutaneous immunization is a novel strategy for immunization employing topical application of antigen and adjuvant to the skin surface and resulting in detectable antigen/adjuvant specific IgG in plasma and mucosal secretions. In this study we show that transcutaneous immunization with cholera toxin (CT) as an adjuvant can be used in ...

The present paper describes cloning and sequencing of the mouse cDNA encoding dihydroxyacetonephosphate acyltransferase (DAPAT), the peroxisomal key enzyme of plasmalogen (PM) biosynthesis. Using monospecific antibodies, we localized DAPAT and alkyl dihydroxyacetonephosphate synthase to peroxisomes of mouse lens epithelial cells (LECs) and determined their enzymatic activity. By electrospray ionization mass ...

Female SJL/N, A.SW, B10.S (H-2s), BALB/C, DBA/2 (H-2d), A.TL and B10. TL (H-2t1) mice were treated with sc injections of 1.0 mg CH3HgCl/kg body weight every third day for 4 weeks. Controls were given sterile, isotonic NaCl. CH3HgCl (MeHg) induced in SJL, A.SW and B10.S mice antinucleolar antibodies (ANoA) targeting ...

Recovery from infection with the Friend murine leukemia retrovirus complex (FV) requires T-helper cells and cytotoxic T cells as well as neutralizing antibodies. Several host genes, including genes of the major histocompatibility complex (H-2) and an H-2-unlinked gene, Rfv-3, influence these FV-specific immune responses. (B10.A x A/Wy)F1 mice, which have ...

Adhesion molecules appear to play important roles in vascularized organ allograft rejection, because antibodies directed against them are effective in prolonging survival of vascularized organ allografts in rodents. However, the efficacy of these agents for cellular allografts is unknown. The current studies were undertaken to determine the role of intercellular ...

Several different antibodies to mouse and/or rat osteopontin have been developed, and some antisera raised against human osteopontin have been shown to react with mouse osteopontin. We have taken advantage of the lack of osteopontin protein in mice with a targeted disruption of the osteopontin gene to characterize the reactivity ...

CD38 is a membrane-associated ecto-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) glycohydrolase that is expressed on multiple hematopoietic cells. The extracellular domain of CD38 can mediate the catalysis of NAD+ to cyclic adenosine diphosphoribose (cADPR), a Ca2+-mobilizing second messenger, adenosine diphosphoribose (ADPR), and nicotinamide. In addition to its enzymatic properties, murine CD38 has ...

HIV infection elicits a strong immune response to viral proteins, including broadly cross-reactive antibodies to envelope glycoprotein 120 (gp120). However, vaccination with recombinant gp120 generally produces lower titered antibodies with narrow specificity. We have examined host genes that may control the strength and breadth of the response to gp120 vaccines. ...

Global analysis of natural antibody repertoires has revealed a marked conservation of reactivity patterns within inbred mouse strains, and characteristic strain-specific differences. We have now analyzed the genetic control of reactivity repertoires, aiming at identifying the respective selection mechanisms. Multiparametric statistics of a large number of serum antibody reactivities scored ...

In order to evaluate the potential of TCR as vaccines for immunomodulation, the immunogenicity of soluble versions of D10 TCR has been investigated in mice. Soluble D10 TCR containing the extracellular domains were produced either as dual chain (dc) TCR lacking transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions or as a TCR-IgG1 chimeric ...

Transgene-encoded Cre recombinase can target alteration of loxP-tagged genes to specific cell types and developmental stages in mice, depending on the pattern of transgene expression. To facilitate determination of the latter, we have generated monoclonal anti-Cre antibodies which are specific for distinct epitopes on the recombinase and detect Cre both ...

Most of the gammadelta T cells in the intestinal epithelium of normal mice use the Vgamma1 or the Vgamma7 gene segments. However, the relative proportions of gammadelta intraepithelial lymphocytes expressing either the Vgamma1 or the Vgamma7 chain vary among different strains of mice whereas they are quite constant between different ...

To study the effect of expression of a single foreign antigen on the outcome of otherwise compatible mouse islet grafts, we have used transgenic mice expressing the human complement receptor 2 (CR2, CD21, C3d/EBV receptor) on their pancreatic beta-cells (RIP-CR2 mice). Donors were RIP-CR2 mice, typed at the major histocompatibility ...

The immune responses to immunostimulating complexes (iscoms) containing recombinant Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) gp340 envelope protein was evaluated in BALB/c (H-2(d)) and CBA (H-2(k)) mice. Gp340-iscoms were used either with a low content of Quillaja triterpenoid adjuvant (L-iscoms) or supplemented with additional Quillaja adjuvant in the form of iscomatrix (S-iscoms). Class ...

Following administration of certain chemicals (heavy metals or lupus-inducing drugs), H-2s mice produce autoantibodies reacting with various nuclear antigens such as fibrillarin in the nucleolus and histones in chromatin. In the present study, we have immunized A.SW (H-2s) mice and their congenic counterparts A.BY (H-2b) mice with bovine thymus nuclei ...

The immunogenicity and antigenicity of an enzymatically functional (ATPase/helicase) recombinant protein encompassing residues 1207-1612 of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural 3 (NS3) protein was characterized using B10 congenic mice. Previous studies have indicated a high frequency of NS3-specific antibodies in HCV-infected humans. Similarly, all six immunized murine haplotypes were ...

Genetic factors are major contributors in determining the susceptibility to systemic autoimmune diseases. We studied the influence of genotype on systemic autoimmunity by treating female mice of the H-2s strains SJL/N, SJL/J, A.SW, and B10.S with mercuric chloride (HgCl2) for 10 weeks and then following autoantibody and tissue immune deposits ...

We address the mechanism of hybrid resistance (HR) in vitro using NK effector cells and target lymphoblasts from H-2b, H-2d, and H-2b/d mice. The 5E6 (Ly49C)+ subset of F1 NK cells lyse BALB/c (H-2d) but not B6 (H-2b) targets unless either anti-5E6 or anti-H-2Kb MAbs are present. H-2Dd transgenic B6 ...

The specificity of the influenza nucleoprotein-induced T-cell proliferative response by mouse strains differing in either H-2- or non-H-2-linked background genes was compared by using a panel of synthetic peptides covering 90% of the nucleoprotein molecule. The results showed, as expected, that H-2 genes strongly influenced the major regions of the ...

An extensive analysis was made of receptor specificity and gene usage in the neutralising antibody (mAb) and Class II-restricted T cell responses to influenza haemagglutinin (HA) following natural infection of MHC (H-2(k) or H-2(d)) congenic mice with X31 virus (H3N2 subtype). Despite the diversity of available antigenic sites on the ...

A majority of immunodominant epitopes of mycobacterial antigens are known to be recognized by murine T cells in the context of several H-2 haplotypes. In this study, we established the frequency of T cells able to recognize these peptides promiscuously, i.e. in the context of allogeneic antigen-presenting cells, using hybridomas ...