@article{Prelog2012, author = {Prelog, Martina}, title = {Differential Approaches for Vaccination from Childhood to Old Age}, series = {Gerontology}, volume = {59}, journal = {Gerontology}, number = {3}, issn = {0304-324X}, doi = {10.1159/000343475}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-196602}, pages = {230-239}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Primary prevention strategies, such as vaccinations at the age extremes, in neonates and elderly individuals, demonstrate a challenge to health professionals and public health specialists. The aspects of the differentiation and maturation of the adaptive immune system, the functional implications of immunological immaturity or immunosenescence and its impact on vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy will be highlighted in this review. Several approaches have been undertaken to promote Th1 responses in neonates and to enhance immune functions in elderly, such as conjugation to carrier proteins, addition of adjuvants, concomitant vaccination with other vaccines, change in antigen concentrations or dose intervals or use of different administration routes. Also, early protection by maternal vaccination seems to be beneficial in neonates. However, it also appears necessary to think of other end points than antibody concentrations to assess vaccine efficacy in neonates or elderly, as also the cellular immune response may be impaired by the mechanisms of immaturity, underlying health conditions, immunosuppressive treatments or immunosenescence. Thus, lifespan vaccine programs should be implemented to all individuals on a population level not only to improve herd protection and to maintain protective antibody levels and immune memory, but also to cover all age groups, to protect unvaccinated elderly persons and to provide indirect protection for neonates and small infants.}, language = {en} } @article{PorubskyPopovicBadveetal.2021, author = {Porubsky, Stefan and Popovic, Zoran V. and Badve, Sunil and Banz, Yara and Berezowska, Sabina and Borchert, Dietmar and Br{\"u}ggemann, Monika and Gaiser, Timo and Graeter, Thomas and Hollaus, Peter and Huettl, Katrin S. and Kotrova, Michaela and Kreft, Andreas and Kugler, Christian and L{\"o}tscher, Fabian and M{\"o}ller, Burkhard and Ott, German and Preissler, Gerhard and Roessner, Eric and Rosenwald, Andreas and Str{\"o}bel, Philipp and Marx, Alexander}, title = {Thymic hyperplasia with lymphoepithelial sialadenitis (LESA)-like features: strong association with lymphomas and non-myasthenic autoimmune diseases}, series = {Cancers}, volume = {13}, journal = {Cancers}, number = {2}, issn = {2072-6694}, doi = {10.3390/cancers13020315}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223049}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Thymic hyperplasia (TH) with lymphoepithelial sialadenitis (LESA)-like features (LESA-like TH) has been described as a tumor-like, benign proliferation of thymic epithelial cells and lymphoid follicles. We aimed to determine the frequency of lymphoma and autoimmunity in LESA-like TH and performed retrospective analysis of cases with LESA-like TH and/or thymic MALT-lymphoma. Among 36 patients (21 males) with LESA-like TH (age 52 years, 32-80; lesion diameter 7.0 cm, 1-14.5; median, range), five (14\%) showed associated lymphomas, including four (11\%) thymic MALT lymphomas and one (3\%) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. One additional case showed a clonal B-cell-receptor rearrangement without evidence of lymphoma. Twelve (33\%) patients (7 women) suffered from partially overlapping autoimmune diseases: systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 4, 11\%), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 3, 8\%), myasthenia gravis (n = 2, 6\%), asthma (n = 2, 6\%), scleroderma, Sj{\"o}gren syndrome, pure red cell aplasia, Grave's disease and anti-IgLON5 syndrome (each n = 1, 3\%). Among 11 primary thymic MALT lymphomas, remnants of LESA-like TH were found in two cases (18\%). In summary, LESA-like TH shows a striking association with autoimmunity and predisposes to lymphomas. Thus, a hematologic and rheumatologic workup should become standard in patients diagnosed with LESA-like TH. Radiologists and clinicians should be aware of LESA-like TH as a differential diagnosis for mediastinal mass lesions in patients with autoimmune diseases.}, language = {en} } @article{HuangBelharazemLietal.2013, author = {Huang, Bei and Belharazem, Djeda and Li, Li and Kneitz, Susanne and Schnabel, Philipp A. and Rieker, Ralf J. and K{\"o}rner, Daniel and Nix, Wilfried and Schalke, Berthold and M{\"u}ller-Hermelink, Hans Konrad and Ott, German and Rosenwald, Andreas and Str{\"o}bel, Philipp and Marx, Alexander}, title = {Anti-apoptotic signature in thymic squamous cell carcinomas - functional relevance of anti-apoptotic BIRC3 expression in the thymic carcinoma cell line 1889c}, series = {Frontiers in Oncology}, volume = {3}, journal = {Frontiers in Oncology}, number = {316}, doi = {10.3389/fonc.2013.00316}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132214}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The molecular pathogenesis of thymomas and thymic arcinomas (TCs) is poorly understood and results of adjuvant therapy are unsatisfactory in case of metastatic disease and tumor recurrence. For these clinical settings, novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Recently, limited sequencing efforts revealed that a broad spectrum of genes that play key roles in various common cancers are rarely affected in thymomas and TCs, suggesting that other oncogenic principles might be important.This made us re-analyze historic expression data obtained in a spectrumof thymomas and thymic squamous cell carcinomas (TSCCs) with a custom-made cDNA microarray. By cluster analysis, different anti-apoptotic signatures were detected in type B3 thymoma and TSCC, including overexpression of BIRC3 in TSCCs. This was confirmed by qRT-PCR in the original and an independent validation set of tumors. In contrast to several other cancer cell lines, the BIRC3-positive TSCC cell line, 1889c showed spontaneous apoptosis after BIRC3 knock-down. Targeting apoptosis genes is worth testing as therapeutic principle in TSCC.}, language = {en} }