heilmannii antigen-specific immune responses mediated by PP is dispensable for the formation of gastric lymphoid follicles. This work was supported, in part, by grants for the Global COE

Program (F031), for Scientific Research in Priority Areas ‘Genome’ (T.A. and M.Y.), for the Education Program for Specialized Clinicians in the Support Program (K.N.) from the Ministry of Education, selleckchem Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan, and for the COE research support program from Hyogo prefecture (T.A.). “
“Due to clinical efficacy and safety profile, extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) is a commonly used cell treatment for patients with cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The capacity of ECP to induce dendritic antigen-presenting cell (DC)-mediated selective immunization or immunosuppression suggests a novel mechanism involving pivotal cell signalling processes that have yet to be clearly identified as related to this procedure. In this study we employ two model systems

of ECP to dissect the role of integrin signalling and adsorbed plasma proteins in monocyte-to-DC differentiation. We demonstrate that monocytes that were passed through protein-modified ECP plates adhered transiently to plasma proteins, including fibronectin, adsorbed to the plastic ECP plate and activated signalling pathways Apoptosis antagonist that initiate monocyte-to-DC conversion. Plasma protein adsorption facilitated 54·2 ± 4·7% differentiation, while fibronectin supported 29·8 ± 7·2% differentiation, as detected by DC phenotypic expression of membrane CD80 and CD86, as well as CD36, human leucocyte antigen D-related Dynein (HLA-DR) and cytoplasmic CD83. Further, we demonstrate the ability of fibronectin and other plasma proteins to act through cell adhesion via the ubiquitous arginine–glycine–aspartic (RGD) motif to drive monocyte-to-DC differentiation, with high-density RGD substrates supporting 54·1 ± 5·8% differentiation via αVβ3 and α5β1integrin signalling. Our results demonstrate that plasma protein binding integrins and plasma proteins operate through specific binding domains to induce monocyte-to-DC

differentiation in ECP, providing a mechanism that can be harnessed to enhance ECP efficacy. “
“Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, UK Signal regulatory protein α (SIRPα) and its cognate ligand CD47 have been documented to have a broad range of cellular functions in development and immunity. Here, we investigated the role of SIRPα–CD47 signalling in invariant NKT (iNKT) cell responses. We found that CD47 was required for the optimal production of IFN-γ from splenic iNKT cells following exposure to the αGalCer analogue PBS-57 and in vivo infection of mice with Leishmania donovani.