@article{BergfeldDasariWerneretal.2017,
  author    = {Bergfeld, Arne and Dasari, Prasad and Werner, Sandra and Hughes, Timothy R. and Song, Wen-Chao and Hortschansky, Peter and Brakhage, Axel A. and H{\"u}nig, Thomas and Zipfel, Peter F. and Beyersdorf, Niklas},
  title     = {Direct binding of the pH-regulated Protein 1 (Pra1) from Candida albicans inhibits cytokine secretion by mouse CD4\(^{+}\) T cells},
  series = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
  volume    = {8},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
  number    = {844},
  doi       = {10.3389/fmicb.2017.00844},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158274},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Opportunistic infections with the saprophytic yeast Candida albicans are a major cause of morbidity in immunocompromised patients. While the interaction of cells and molecules of innate immunity with C. albicans has been studied to great depth, comparatively little is known about the modulation of adaptive immunity by C. albicans. In particular, direct interaction of proteins secreted by C. albicans with CD4\(^{+}\) T cells has not been studied in detail. In a first screening approach, we identified the pH-regulated antigen 1 (Pra1) as a molecule capable of directly binding to mouse CD4\(^{+}\) T cells in vitro. Binding of Pra1 to the T cell surface was enhanced by extracellular Zn\(^{2+}\) ions which Pra1 is known to scavenge from the host in order to supply the fungus with Zn\(^{2+}\). In vitro stimulation assays using highly purified mouse CD4\(^{+}\) T cells showed that Pra1 increased proliferation of CD4\(^{+}\) T cells in the presence of plate-bound anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody. In contrast, secretion of effector cytokines such as IFNγ and TNF by CD4\(^{+}\) T cells upon anti-CD3/ anti-CD28 mAb as well as cognate antigen stimulation was reduced in the presence of Pra1. By secreting Pra1 C. albicans, thus, directly modulates and partially controls CD4\(^{+}\) T cell responses as shown in our in vitro assays.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{UriWernerLuehderetal.2017,
  author    = {Uri, Anna and Werner, Sandra and L{\"u}hder, Fred and H{\"u}nig, Thomas and Kerkau, Thomas and Beyersdorf, Niklas},
  title     = {Protection of mice from acute graft-versus-host disease requires CD28 co-stimulation on donor CD4\(^{+}\) Foxp3\(^{+}\) regulatory T Cells},
  series = {Frontiers in Immunology},
  volume    = {8},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Immunology},
  number    = {721},
  doi       = {10.3389/fimmu.2017.00721},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158469},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell plus T cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). In this study, we investigated the requirement for CD28 co-stimulation of donor CD4\(^{+}\) conventional (CD4\(^{+}\)CD25\(^{-}\)Foxp3\(^{-}\), Tconv) and regulatory (CD4\(^{+}\)CD25\(^{+}\)Foxp3\(^{+}\), Treg) T cells in aGvHD using tamoxifen-inducible CD28 knockout (iCD28KO) or wild-type (wt) littermates as donors of CD4\(^{+}\) Tconv and Treg. In the highly inflammatory C57BL/6 into BALB/c allo-HSCT transplantation model, CD28 depletion on donor CD4\(^{+}\) Tconv reduced clinical signs of aGvHD, but did not significantly prolong survival of the recipient mice. Selective depletion of CD28 on donor Treg did not abrogate protection of recipient mice from aGvHD until about day 20 after allo-HSCT. Later, however, the pool of CD28-depleted Treg drastically declined as compared to wt Treg. Consequently, only wt, but not CD28-deficient, Treg were able to continuously suppress aGvHD and induce long-term survival of the recipient mice. To our knowledge, this is the first study that specifically evaluates the impact of CD28 expression on donor Treg in aGvHD. Moreover, the delayed kinetics of aGvHD lethality after transplantation of iCD28KO Treg provides a novel animal model for similar disease courses found in patients after allo-HSCT.},
  language  = {en}
}