| 1. |
- Abarenkov, Kessy, et al.
(författare)
-
Annotating public fungal ITS sequences from the built environment according to the MIxS-Built Environment standard – a report from a May 23-24, 2016 workshop (Gothenburg, Sweden)
- 2016
-
Ingår i: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; 16, s. 1-15
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent molecular studies have identified substantial fungal diversity in indoor environments. Fungi and fungal particles have been linked to a range of potentially unwanted effects in the built environment, including asthma, decay of building materials, and food spoilage. The study of the built mycobiome is hampered by a number of constraints, one of which is the poor state of the metadata annotation of fungal DNA sequences from the built environment in public databases. In order to enable precise interrogation of such data – for example, “retrieve all fungal sequences recovered from bathrooms” – a workshop was organized at the University of Gothenburg (May 23-24, 2016) to annotate public fungal barcode (ITS) sequences according to the MIxS-Built Environment annotation standard (http://gensc.org/mixs/). The 36 participants assembled a total of 45,488 data points from the published literature, including the addition of 8,430 instances of countries of collection from a total of 83 countries, 5,801 instances of building types, and 3,876 instances of surface-air contaminants. The results were implemented in the UNITE database for molecular identification of fungi (http://unite.ut.ee) and were shared with other online resources. Data obtained from human/animal pathogenic fungi will furthermore be verified on culture based metadata for subsequent inclusion in the ISHAM-ITS database (http://its.mycologylab.org).
|
|
| 2. |
- Svensson, Lena, 1973, et al.
(författare)
-
Allergen extracts directly mobilize and activate human eosinophils
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Eur J Immunol. ; 34:6, s. 1744-51
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Allergic diseases are characterized by the presence of eosinophils, which are recruited to the affected tissues by chemoattractants produced by T cells, mast cells and epithelium. Our objective was to evaluate if allergens can directly activate human eosinophils. The capacity of purified allergen extracts to elicit eosinophil chemotaxis, respiratory burst, degranulation and up-regulation of the adhesion molecule complement receptor 3 (CR3) was determined in eosinophils isolated from healthy blood donors. Eosinophils stimulated with an extract from house dust mite (HDM) released the granule protein major basic protein (MBP) and up-regulated the surface expression of CR3. Cat allergen extracts also induced the up-regulation of CR3, but not the release of MBP; instead cat, as well as birch and grass allergens, elicited the release of eosinophil peroxidase (EPO). In addition, grass pollen extract caused the secretion of MBP. None of the allergens stimulated eosinophilic cationic protein release, nor production of free oxygen radicals. Both HDM and birch extracts were chemotactic for eosinophils. These findings establish that common aeroallergens can directly activate eosinophils in vitro. We propose that eosinophil activation in vivo is not exclusively mediated by cytokines and chemokines of the allergic inflammatory reaction, but could partly be the result of direct interaction between allergens and eosinophils.
|
|
| 3. |
- Brundin, Peik M.A., et al.
(författare)
-
Blood hormones and torque teno virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Heliyon. - : Elsevier. - 2405-8440. ; 6:11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Men and women respond differently to infectious diseases. Women show less morbidity and mortality, partially due to the differences in sex hormone levels which can influence the immune response. Torque teno virus (TTV) is non-pathogenic and ubiquitously present in serum from a large proportion (up to 90%) of adult humans with virus levels correlating with the status of the host immune response. The source of TTV replication is unknown, but T-lymphocytes have been proposed. In this study we investigated the presence and levels of TTV in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in premenopausal (pre-MP) women, post-menopausal (post-MP) women, and men, and determined their serum sex hormone levels. Of the examined subjects (n = 27), we found presence of TTV in PMBC from 17.6% pre-MP (n = 17), 25.0% post-MP (n = 4) and 50.0% men (n = 6). The levels of TTV/μg DNA were lower among TTV-positive men and post-MP women compared to pre-MP women. All the positive pre-MP women were either anovulatory, hypothyroid, or both. In addition, the TTV-positive pre-MP women had significantly lower progesterone levels compared to TTV-negative pre-MP women. Although our study was performed on a limited number of subjects, the data suggests that TTV in PBMC is associated with an anovulatory menstrual cycle with low progesterone levels, and possibly with male sex.
|
|
| 4. |
- Nowroozalizadeh, Salma, et al.
(författare)
-
Short-term HIV-1 treatment interruption is associated with dysregulated TLR-stimuli responsiveness.
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2164-5515 .- 2164-554X. ; 9:10, s. 2103-2110
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Viremia during human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection results in progressive impairment of several components of the immune system. Here a unique model of repeated treatment interruptions (TIs) was used with the aim to reveal the effect of controlled short-term viremia on innate stimuli responsiveness and circulating dendritic cells (DCs). Sequential peripheral blood samples from HIV-1-infected patients on combination antiretroviral therapy, subjected to repeated TI cycles as part of a therapeutic DNA vaccination study, were analyzed. In vitro responsiveness of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to toll-like receptor (TLR) stimuli was analyzed by cytokine secretion, and frequencies of plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and myeloid DCs (mDCs) were monitored by flow cytometry. These parameters were found not to be significantly different between the vaccinated and placebo groups. Instead, independent of vaccination altered in vitro TLR responsiveness was observed in parallel with TI cycles. TLR7/8-triggered secretion of IL-12 and IFN-α, as well as TLR9-triggered secretion of IL-12, was hyperactivated. In contrast, expression of IFN-α after TLR9 stimulation decreased during the initial cycle of TI. Reduced frequencies of pDCs and mDCs, compared with baseline, were noted before and during the second TI, respectively. Furthermore, spontaneous ex vivo release of IL-12 from PBMC was noted during cycles of TI. In conclusion, these results suggest that consequences of short-term TI include dysregulated TLR responses and fluctuations in the frequencies of circulating DCs. Knowledge of these immunological factors may influence the continuation of stringent treatment schedules during HIV infections.
|
|
| 5. |
- Grindebacke, Hanna, 1977, et al.
(författare)
-
Defective suppression of Th2 cytokines by CD4CD25 regulatory T cells in birch allergics during birch pollen season
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Clin Exp Allergy. ; 34:9, s. 1364-72
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: CD4(+)CD25+ regulatory T cells suppress proliferation and cytokine production by human T cells both to self-antigens and exogenous antigens. Absence of these cells in human newborns leads to multiple autoimmune and inflammatory disorders together with elevated IgE levels. However, their role in human allergic disease is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the capacity of CD4(+)CD25+ regulatory T cells to suppress proliferation and cytokine production outside and during birch-pollen season in birch-allergic patients relative to non-allergic controls. METHODS: CD4+ cells were obtained from blood of 13 birch-allergic patients and six non-allergic controls outside pollen season and from 10 birch-allergic patients and 10 non-allergic controls during birch-pollen season. CD25+ and CD25- fractions were purified with magnetic beads and cell fractions, alone or together in various ratios, were cultured with antigen-presenting cells and birch-pollen extract or anti-CD3 antibody. Proliferation and levels of IFN-gamma, IL-13, IL-5 and IL-10 were measured by thymidin incorporation and ELISA, respectively. Numbers of CD25+ cells were analysed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: CD4(+)CD25+ regulatory T cells from both allergics and non-allergics potently suppressed T cell proliferation to birch allergen both outside and during birch-pollen season. However, during season CD4(+)CD25+ regulatory T cells from allergic patients but not from non-allergic controls were defective in down-regulating birch pollen induced IL-13 and IL-5 production, while their capacity to suppress IFN-gamma production was retained. In contrast, outside pollen season the regulatory cells of both allergics and non-allergic controls were able to inhibit T-helper 2 cytokine production. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show differential suppression of Th1 and Th2 cytokines, with CD4(+)CD25+ regulatory T cells from birch-pollen-allergic patients being unable to down-regulate Th2, but not Th1 responses during birch-pollen season.
|
|
| 6. |
- Mamontov, Eugen, 1955, et al.
(författare)
-
The minimal, phase-transition model for the cell-number maintenance by the hyperplasia-extended homeorhesis
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Acta Biotheoretica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-5342 .- 1572-8358. ; 54:2, s. 61-101
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oncogenic hyperplasia is the first and inevitable stage of formation of a (solid) tumor. This stage is also the core of many other proliferative diseases. The present work proposes the first minimal model that combines homeorhesis with oncogenic hyperplasia where the latter is regarded as a genotoxically activated homeorhetic dysfunction. This dysfunction is specified as the transitions of the fluid of cells from a fluid, homeorhetic state to a solid, hyperplastic-tumor state, and back. The key part of the model is a nonlinear reaction-diffusion equation (RDE) where the biochemical-reaction rate is generalized to the one in the well-known Schlögl physical theory of the non-equilibrium phase transitions. A rigorous analysis of the stability and qualitative aspects of the model, where possible, are presented in detail. This is related to the spatially homogeneous case, i.e. when the above RDE is reduced to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. The mentioned genotoxic activation is treated as a prevention of the quiescent G0-stage of the cell cycle implemented with the threshold mechanism that employs the critical concentration of the cellular fluid and the nonquiescent-cell-duplication time. The continuous tumor morphogeny is described by a time-space-dependent cellular-fluid concentration. There are no sharp boundaries (i.e. no concentration jumps exist) between the domains of the homeorhesis- and tumor-cell populations. No presumption on the shape of a tumor is used. To estimate a tumor in specific quantities, the model provides the time-dependent tumor locus, volume, and boundary that also points out the tumor shape and size. The above features are indispensable in the quantitative development of antiproliferative drugs or therapies and strategies to prevent oncogenic hyperplasia in cancer and other proliferative diseases. The work proposes an analytical-numerical method for solving the aforementioned RDE. A few topics for future research are suggested.
|
|
| 7. |
- Fransén, Karin, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
-
CRP levels are significantly associated with CRP genotype and estrogen use in The Lifestyle, Biomarker and Atherosclerosis (LBA) study
- 2022
-
Ingår i: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2261 .- 1471-2261. ; 22:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The C‑reactive protein (CRP) is an important biomarker for atherosclerosis and single nucleotide poly‑morphisms (SNPs) in the CRP locus have been associated with altered CRP levels and associated with risk for cardio‑vascular disease. However, the association between genetic variations in the CRP gene, estrogen use and CRP levels orearly signs of atherosclerosis in young healthy individuals is not fully characterized. We aimed to evaluate the influ‑ence of five genetic variants on both plasma CRP levels and carotid intima‑media thickness (cIMT) values, includingaspects on estrogen containing contraceptive use in females.Methods: Genotyping was performed with TaqMan real time PCR and compared with high sensitivity CRP serumlevels in 780 Swedish young, self‑reported healthy individuals. Haplotypes of the SNPs were estimated with the PHASEv 2.1. The cIMT was measured by 12 MHz ultrasound. The contraceptive use was self‑reported.Results: Strong associations between CRP and genotype were observed for rs3091244, rs1800947, rs1130864, andrs1205 in women (all p < 0.001). In men, only rs1800947 was associated with CRP (p = 0.029). The independent effectof genotypes on CRP remained significant also after adjustment for established risk factors. Female carriers of the H1/ATGTG haplotype had higher CRP than non‑carriers. This was specifically pronounced in the estrogen‑using group(p < 0.001), and they had also higher cIMT (p = 0.002) than non‑carriers but with a small cIMT difference between thehaplotype groups (0.02 mm). In parallel, a significant correlation between CRP and cIMT in the estrogen using groupwas observed (r = 0.194; p = 0.026).Conclusions: Estrogen use, genotypes and haplotypes in the CRP locus are significantly associated with CRP levels.Based on an observed interaction effect between sex/estrogen use and the H1/ATGTG haplotype on CRP, and amarginally thicker cIMT in the estrogen using group, our data suggest that both genotypes and estrogen usage couldbe involved in arterial wall structural differences. The causality between CRP levels and cIMT remains unclear, and theobserved difference in cIMT is not clinically relevant in the present state. Future larger and longitudinal studies mayshed further light on the role of more long‑term estrogen use and early atherosclerosis.
|
|
| 8. |
- Gustafsson, Lars, et al.
(författare)
-
Infectious disease, reproductive effort and the cost of reproduction in birds
- 1994
-
Ingår i: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London: Series B. ; :346, s. 1655-1658
-
Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Reproductive effort can have profound effects on subsequent performance. Field experiments on the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) have demonstrated a number of trade-offs between life-history traits at different ages. The mechanism by which reproductive effort is mediated into future reproductive performance remains obscure. Anti-parasite adaptations such as cell-mediated immunity may probably also be costly. Hence the possibility exists of a trade-off between reproductive effort and the ability to resist parasitic infection. Serological tests on unmanipulated collared flycatchers show that pre-breeding nutritional status correlates positively with reproductive success and negatively with susceptibility to parasitism (viruses, bacteria and protozoan parasites). Both immune response and several indicators of infectious disease correlate negatively with reproductive success. Similar relations are found between secondary sexual characters and infection parameters. For brood-size-manipulated birds there was a significant interaction between experimentally increased reproductive effort and parasitic infection rate with regard to both current and future fecundity. It seems possible that the interaction between parasitic infection, nutrition and reproductive effort can be an important mechanism in the ultimate shaping of life-history variation in avian populations.
|
|
| 9. |
- Almkvist, Jenny, 1971, et al.
(författare)
-
Newcastle disease virus neuraminidase primes neutrophils for stimulation by galectin-3 and formyl-Met-Leu-Phe
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Experimental cell research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0014-4827 .- 1090-2422. ; 298:1, s. 74-82
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human neutrophils are activated by the beta-galactoside-binding lectin galectin-3, provided that the cells are primed by in vivo extravasation or by in vitro preactivation with, for example, LPS. Removal of terminal sialic acid can change neutrophil functionality and responsiveness due to exposure of underlying glycoconjugate receptors or change in surface charge. Here, we investigated whether such alteration of the cell surface carbohydrate composition can alter the responsiveness of the cells to galectin-3. Neutrophils were treated with neuraminidases (NA) of different origins: Clostridium perfringens (CP), Salmonella typhimurium, Vibrio cholerae, and Newcastle disease virus (NDV). In the presence of NDV-NA, but no other NA, the otherwise non-responding neutrophils responded readily to galectin-3 by activation of the NADPH-oxidase. The galectin-3 priming effect was inhibited by the sialidase inhibitor 2,3-dehydro-2-deoxy-N-acetyl-neuraminic acid. Earlier studies have shown that priming of the neutrophil response to galectin-3 with, for example, LPS is paralleled by degranulation of intracellular vesicles and granules and upregulation of potential galectin-3 receptors. Also, NDV-NA (but not CP-NA) treatment induced degranulation, shown as an upregulation of complement receptor 3. Since not only the galectin response but also the response to the chemoattractant fMLF was primed, NDV-NA appears to induce a general priming phenomenon, possibly due to receptor upregulation by degranulation.
|
|
| 10. |
- Skovbjerg, Susann, 1973, et al.
(författare)
-
Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria induce different patterns of cytokine production in human mononuclear cells irrespective of taxonomic relatedness.
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Journal of interferon & cytokine research : the official journal of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research. - New York, USA : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1557-7465 .- 1079-9907. ; 30:1, s. 23-32
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Upon bacterial stimulation, tissue macrophages produce a variety of cytokines that orchestrate the immune response that clears the infection. We have shown that Gram-positives induce higher levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) than do Gram-negatives, which instead induce more of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10. Here, we study whether these patterns follows or crosses taxonomic borders. PBMCs from blood donors were incubated with UV-inactivated bacteria representing 37 species from five phyla. IL-12, TNF, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 were measured in the supernatants after 24 h and IFN-gamma after 5 days. Irrespective of phylogenetic position, Gram-positive bacteria induced much more IL-12 (nine times more on average) and IFN-gamma (seven times), more TNF (three times), and slightly more IL-1beta (1.5 times) than did Gram-negatives, which instead induced more IL-6 (1.5 times), IL-8 (1.9 times), and IL-10 (3.3 times) than did Gram-positives. A notable exception was the Gram-positive Listeria monocytogenes, which induced very little IL-12, IFN-gamma, and TNF. The results confirm the fundamental difference in innate immune responses to Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, which crosses taxonomic borders and probably reflects differences in cell wall structure.
|
|
