免疫学技术

The use of cytometry has become very important in different fields of modern biology and medicine (1-4). In addition to the simple measurement of cell surface marker expression to define certain cellular subsets in basic research as well as in clinical settings, more complex assays have been dev ...

Since its introduction over 25 years ago, flow cytometry has evolved to be one of the most important methods in cellular diagnostics and research. Within recent years, new technology has dramatically expanded the range of parameters that can be analyzed by this technology. These include, for e ...

With the completion of the first map of the entire human genome, it is estimated that there are approx 35,000 genes, which encode for translated RNA and protein products (1,2). The difference between any two human genomes is estimated to be less than 0.1% (3-5). However, in light of the magnitude of the genome (a ...

In 1995, the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) was identified on the basis of sequence homology to the other members of the TNF family (1). Like TNF and CD95 ligand (CD95L/FasL/ APO-1L), TRAIL (APO-2L) has been been shown to be a potent inducer of apoptosis in various ...

Following the recognition that angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and metastasis formation (1,2), evidence has accumulated that angiogenesis is a component of many pathologies. Numerous angiogenic factors that regulate this complex process alone or in synergy have been id ...

Suicide gene therapy systems are characterized by the transfer of therapeutic transgenes, which encode for enzymes of various origins. These enzymes are able to convert nontoxic prodrugs into highly cytotoxic metabolites. Thus, all cells that are transduced by suicide genes will be des ...

Cytokine therapy can influence the outcome of autoimmune diseases by altering either T-helper 1 (Th1) vs T-helper 2 (Th2) balance or antigen-presenting cell (APC) function, or by shifting the balance between inflammatory and regulatory cytokines (1). However, cytokine and soluble cyto ...

Interferons were originally described as antiviral agents by Isaacs and Lindenmann (1). From its subtypes, fibroblast interferon (IFN-β) (2) was also found to have important cytostatic (3,4) as well as immunomodulatory functions (5) that have been advantageous for its clinical use both in ...

Mast cell development, function, and survival are likely to be regulated by a complex interplay of cellular signaling. Usually, these signals derive from the cellular milieu associated with the specific mast cell environment in health or disease conditions. A major methodological iss ...

We observed that mast cells, as other cells expressing the CD40 ligand CD154, can trigger IgE synthesis in B cells in the presence of interleukin (IL)-4. Numerous complementary techniques can be used to follow the succession of molecular events leading to IgE synthesis. This chapter will illust ...

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a potent and specific method of inducing gene silencing through induction of RNA interference. siRNAs can be allowed for in vitro and in vivo applications. siRNAs have been successfully studied in vitro, but little is known about its efficacy in vivo. We have succe ...

Mental or emotional stress has been shown to cause mast cell degranulation in several different tissues. Several lines of experimental evidence indicate that stress, working through the sympathetic nervous system, or the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, stimulates peri ...

Mast cells are activated by a number of agents that act independently from immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated hypersensitivity. One of these agents is oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL). OxLDL has been implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and has been shown to induce m ...

Mast cells are a critical component of host defense against bacterial infections. Activation of these cells during infection induces both innate and adaptive aspects of protective immunity needed for the elimination of the bacteria and survival of the host. These functional roles for the ...

Mast cells often are found in a perivascular location but especially in mucosae, where they may response to various stimuli. They typically associate with immediate hypersensitive responses and are likely to play a critical role in host defense. In this chapter, a common airway pathogen, Mor ...

This chapter provides protocols to measure the reversible permeabilization of mast cells by streptolysin O (SLO) and to follow SLO-induced activation of mast cells by monitoring degranulation, activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, and production of tumor necrosis f ...

Apoptosis is a physiological form of cell death. Cells undergoing apoptosis execute a genetically controlled program that leads to organized breakdown of cellular structures and ends in phagocytosis of their remains. In mast cells, several mechanisms regulating apoptosis have be ...

Heat-shock proteins (HSPs), highly conserved across species, are generally considered as intracellular proteins that have protective functions in situations of cellular stress. A wide variety of stressful stimuli like heat shock, ultraviolet radiation, and viral or bacterial i ...

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is a cytokine (CK) that possesses a wide variety of biological activities, including potent antitumor activities (1) and immunomodulatory properties mediated through its binding to two TNF receptors (p55 and p75) (2). Signaling through the p55 receptor is ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are one of the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs). They migrate as precursors from the bone marrow into various organs, where they usually reside in an inactive state (1). However, during this regional residency, these cells can efficiently endocytose and pro ...