TY - JOUR A1 - Wagner-Drouet, Eva A1 - Teschner, Daniel A1 - Wolschke, Christine A1 - Schäfer-Eckart, Kerstin A1 - Gärtner, Johannes A1 - Mielke, Stephan A1 - Schreder, Martin A1 - Kobbe, Guido A1 - Hilgendorf, Inken A1 - Klein, Stefan A1 - Verbeek, Mareike A1 - Ditschkowski, Markus A1 - Koch, Martina A1 - Lindemann, Monika A1 - Schmidt, Traudel A1 - Rascle, Anne A1 - Barabas, Sascha A1 - Deml, Ludwig A1 - Wagner, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Daniel T1 - Comparison of cytomegalovirus-specific immune cell response to proteins versus peptides using an IFN-γ ELISpot assay after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation JF - Diagnostics N2 - Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Measuring CMV-specific cellular immunity may improve the risk stratification and management of patients. IFN-γ ELISpot assays, based on the stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with CMV pp65 and IE-1 proteins or peptides, have been validated in clinical settings. However, it remains unclear to which extend the T-cell response to synthetic peptides reflect that mediated by full-length proteins processed by antigen-presenting cells. We compared the stimulating ability of pp65 and IE-1 proteins and corresponding overlapping peptides in 16 HSCT recipients using a standardized IFN-γ ELISpot assay. Paired qualitative test results showed an overall 74.4% concordance. Discordant results were mainly due to low-response tests, with one exception. One patient with early CMV reactivation and graft-versus-host disease, sustained CMV DNAemia and high CD8\(^+\) counts showed successive negative protein-based ELISpot results but a high and sustained response to IE-1 peptides. Our results suggest that the response to exogenous proteins, which involves their uptake and processing by antigen-presenting cells, more closely reflects the physiological response to CMV infection, while the response to exogenous peptides may lead to artificial in vitro T-cell responses, especially in strongly immunosuppressed patients. KW - CMV KW - CMV-specific cellular immunity KW - hematopoietic stem cell transplantation KW - recall antigen KW - peptide KW - immune monitoring KW - IFN-γ ELISpot KW - T cells KW - antigen processing and presentation KW - immunosuppression Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228843 SN - 2075-4418 VL - 11 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meyer zu Hörste, Gerd A1 - Cordes, Steffen A1 - Mausberg, Anne K. A1 - Zozulya, Alla L. A1 - Wessig, Carsten A1 - Sparwasser, Tim A1 - Mathys, Christian A1 - Wiendl, Heinz A1 - Hartung, Hans-Peter A1 - Kieseier, Bernd C. T1 - FoxP3+Regulatory T Cells Determine Disease Severity in Rodent Models of Inflammatory Neuropathies JF - PLOS ONE N2 - Inflammatory neuropathies represent disabling human autoimmune disorders with considerable disease variability. Animal models provide insights into defined aspects of their disease pathogenesis. Forkhead box P3 (FoxP3)+ regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg) are anti-inflammatory cells that maintain immune tolerance and counteract tissue damage in a variety of immune-mediated disorders. Dysfunction or a reduced frequency of Tregs have been associated with different human autoimmune disorders. We here analyzed the functional relevance of Tregs in determining disease manifestation and severity in murine models of autoimmune neuropathies. We took advantage of the DEREG mouse system allowing depletion of Treg with high specificity as well as anti-CD25 directed antibodies to deplete Tregs in mice in actively induced experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN). Furthermore antibody-depletion was performed in an adoptive transfer model of chronic neuritis. Early Treg depletion increased clinical EAN severity both in active and adoptive transfer chronic neuritis. This was accompanied by increased proliferation of myelin specific T cells and histological signs of peripheral nerve inflammation. Late stage Treg depletion after initial disease manifestation however did not exacerbate inflammatory neuropathy symptoms further. We conclude that Tregs determine disease severity in experimental autoimmune neuropathies during the initial priming phase, but have no major disease modifying function after disease manifestation. Potential future therapeutic approaches targeting Tregs should thus be performed early in inflammatory neuropathies. KW - Guillain-Barre-Syndrome KW - regulatory cells KW - C57BL/6 mice KW - demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy KW - cytokines KW - pathogenesis KW - polyneuropathy KW - enteropathy KW - peptide KW - experimental autoimmune neuritis Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-115239 VL - 9 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Azzami, Klara A1 - Ritter, Wolfgang A1 - Tautz, Jürgen A1 - Beier, Hildburg T1 - Infection of honey bees with acute bee paralysis virus does not trigger humoral or cellular immune responses JF - Archives of Virology N2 - We have studied the responses of honey bees at different life stages (Apis mellifera) to controlled infection with acute bee paralysis virus and have identified the haemolymph of infected larvae and adult worker bees as the compartment where massive propagation of ABPV occurs. Insects respond with a broad spectrum of induced innate immune reactions to bacterial infections, whereas defence mechanisms based on RNA interference play a major role in antiviral immunity. In this study, we have determined that honey bee larvae and adult workers do not produce a humoral immune reaction upon artificial infection with ABPV, in contrast to control individuals challenged with Escherichia coli. ABPV-infected bees produced neither elevated levels of specific antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), such as hymenoptaecin and defensin, nor any general antimicrobial activity, as revealed by inhibition-zone assays. Additionally, adult bees did not generate melanised nodules upon ABPV infection, an important cellular immune function activated by bacteria and viruses in some insects. Challenge of bees with both ABPV and E. coli showed that innate humoral and cellular immune reactions are induced in mixed infections, albeit at a reduced level. KW - chemosensory protein KW - bee larva KW - adult bee KW - honey bee KW - larva KW - work bee KW - infected bee KW - immune response KW - young work bee KW - capsid protein KW - abdominal KW - tergite KW - haemolymph KW - sample KW - Imd pathway KW - worker bee larva KW - antimicrobial KW - peptide Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126863 VL - 157 IS - 4 ER -