|
|
AIRE-expressing cells in immune tolerance in health and disease
Vobořil, Matouš ; Filipp, Dominik (advisor) ; Černý, Jan (referee) ; Ehrlich, Lauren Ilyse Richie (referee)
The process of self-nonself discrimination by the immune system is a fundamental attribute of healthy organisms. Since T-cell receptors (TCRs) are generated by the random process of somatic recombination without regard to its targets, the newly developed T-cell clones could recognize either self or nonself antigens. The mechanisms of central tolerance robustly limit the self-reactive repertoire within the T-cell population via deletion of clones that express self-reactive TCRs or their deviation into the regulatory T-cells (Tregs). These processes occur mainly in the thymic medulla where the TCR reactivity to self-antigens is tested by various types of antigen-presenting cells, mainly medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs), dendritic cells (DCs), and B-cells. The cooperation between these cell-types has been shown to be essential for the establishment of thymic tolerance. A key molecule regulating the production of self-antigens is the autoimmune regulator (AIRE), which is thought to be expressed primarily by mTECs and its mutations are associated with the development of severe autoimmune disorders. In this context, the presented thesis describes the novel regulatory pathways important for the development of a functional and "harmless" repertoire of T-cells and for enforcement of tolerance....
|
|
|
Surface expression of Tim-3 inhibitory molecule on antigen-specific CD8+ T cells expanded in vitro using dendritic cells for cell-based cancer immunotherapy
Svobodová, Hana ; Smrž, Daniel (advisor) ; Funda, David (referee)
Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the world, and the number of people with the disease increases each year. The therapy of the disease currently stands on four pillars; surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. Through the past few years, immunotherapy has become the fastest developing treatment modality. However, despite its unprecedented efficacy in some patients, the majority of patients still does not respond to the therapy. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the mechanisms that make immunotherapy inefficient. Cell-based cancer immunotherapy is the treatment modality which uses live ex vivo-produced tumor-targeting immune cells to treat cancer. One of the mechanisms that may compromise its therapeutic efficacy is the expression of inhibitory molecules on the surface of the produced immune cells. Tim-3 is the inhibitory molecule which attracts attention in recent years. Tim-3 expression in the tumor cells and the tumor-infiltrating immune cells is often associated with worse prognosis and more aggressive forms of the disease. However, its role in the in vitro or ex vivo-produced immune cells is difficult to predict. In this work, an in vitro study model which is based on in vitro-produced antigen-specific CD8+ T cells with high expression of Tim-3 has been...
|
|
| |
|
|
Study of anti-tumor immune response in patients with lung cancer.
Myšíková, Dagmar ; Lischke, Robert (advisor) ; Bouček, Jan (referee) ; Palich Fučíková, Jitka (referee)
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Understanding biological processes of specific antitumor immune response remains of an eminent interest and represents necessity for designing successful antitumor immunotherapeutic strategies. The theoretical part of the thesis describes components of the immune system that are involved in antitumor response and discusses their role in the hitherto known and used lung cancer immunotherapy. In the practical part of the thesis, two studies studying different aspects of anticancer immune response are described. Both studies were conducted in cooperation with 3rd Surgical Department 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol and with the biotechnology company Sotio a.s. The first study is focused on the humoral component of the specific antitumor response and prospectively analyses serum frequency of antitumor antibodies against NY-ESO-1, Her2/neu and MAGE-A4 antigens in 121 patients with NSCLC. Here it was shown for the first time that tobacco smoking significantly increases the frequency of NY- ESO-1 antibodies in sera of smokers in comparison to ex-smokers and non-smokers. The second study is focused on the cellular component of the specific antitumor response investigating the activity of the dendritic...
|
|
|
Immune response of different subpopulations of dendritic cells to probiotic strain of E. coli O83:K24:H31
Gorelová, Miroslava ; Hrdý, Jiří (advisor) ; Černý, Jan (referee)
Allergy as one of the most frequent pathologies worldwide belongs to illnesses with constantly increasing incidence even amongst young children. It develops in genetically predisposed individuals whose dendritic cells (DC) are, after contact with allergen, able to polarize the immune response predominantly to Th2, while Th1 response is supressed. One of the possible preventive measures to avoid an allergic disease developement could be an early postnatal supplementation of chosen probiotic bacterial strains or their mixtures. One of them is a well characterized strain Escherichia coli O83:K24:H31 (E. coli O83). Administering of this probiotic vaccine called Colifant Newborn is showing to be an effective prophylaxis to decrese the incidence of allergies in children with predisposition to their developement. The aim of my diploma thesis was to experimentally confirm the capacity of E. coli O83 to support maturation of two main subpopulations of newborn DC available from cord blood: myeloid dentritic cells - mDC and plasmacytoid dentritic cells - pDC. This DC subpopulations were isolated from cord blood of children born to healthy (non-allergic) mothers who had a low risk of allergy development or from children of allergic mothers who had an increased risk of allergy development. Subsequently, after...
|
|
|
Immune response of different subpopulations of dendritic cells to probiotic strain of E. coli O83:K24:H31
Gorelová, Miroslava ; Hrdý, Jiří (advisor) ; Grobárová, Valéria (referee)
Allergy, as one of the worldwide most frequent pathologies, belongs to illnesses with constantly growing incidence among young children. In genetically predisposed individuals, dendritic cells are able to polarize the immune response of Th2 in contact with the allergen. Postnatal probiotic supplementation could be one the preventive measure to prevent the development of allergic diseases. It has been shown that introduction of selected probiotic strains or mixtures can prevent development of allergy. In this diploma thesis, the capacity of probiotic strain Escherichia coli O83:K24:H31 (E. coli O83) to support maturation of dendritic cells (DC) and polarization of immune responses was tested. Introduction of this probiotic vaccine called Colinfant Newborn appears to be suitable preventive measure, lowering allergy incidence in children with predisposition to development of allergy. The aim of this diploma thesis was to observe capacity of E. coli O83 to support maturation of the two main subpopulations of dendritic cells (myeloid dendritic cells - mDC and plasmacytoid dendritic cells - pDC) in cord blood of newborns of healthy mothers (children with relatively low risk for allergy development) and allergic mothers (children with relatively high risk for allergy development). To achieve this goal,...
|
|
|
Immune response of different subpopulations of dendritic cells to probiotic strain of E. coli O83:K24:H31
Gorelová, Miroslava ; Hrdý, Jiří (advisor) ; Grobárová, Valéria (referee)
Allergy, as one of the worldwide most frequent pathologies, belongs to illnesses with constantly growing incidence among young children. Identification of prognostic markers pointing to increased risk of allergy development, allows introduction of early preventive measures. Probiotic supplementation could be one the preventive measure. It has been shown that introduction of selected probiotic strains or mixtures can prevent development of allergy. In this diploma thesis, the capacity of probiotic strain Escherichia coli O83:K24:H31 (E. coli O83) to support maturation of dendritic cells and polarization of immune responses was tested. Introduction of this probiotic vaccine called Colinfant Newborn appears to be suitable preventive measure, lowering allergy incidence in children with predisposition to development of allergy. The capacity of E. coli O83 to support maturation of the two main subpopulations of dendritic cells (myeloid dendritic cells - mDC and plasmacytoid dendritic cells - pDC) in cord blood of newborns of healthy mothers (children with relatively low risk for allergy development) and allergic mothers (children with relatively high risk for allergy development) was measured by flow cytometry. The presence of cytokines and transcription factors characteristic for particular...
|
|
|
Measurement of signalling pathway activation in mouse macrophage line IC-21 and primery dendritic cells after infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus.
Kožantová, Jana ; Lieskovská, Jaroslava (advisor) ; Drbal, Karel (referee)
Tick-borne encephalitis is a serious disease of the central nervous system. It is caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus, which is transmitted by ticks. The Czech Republic is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of this disease. Tick-borne encephalitis virus is able to replicate in several cell types. In this work we focused on macrophage line IC-21 and dendritic cells, because these cells are the first, which encounter the virus and support its spreading in the host at early stage of infection. So far there is not known any specific receptor for virus entry into cells or which signaling pathways activates. Therefore, we decided to investigate the activation of selected signaling pathways after infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus and influence of tick saliva on this activation. We employed methods of dual luciferase reporter assay, immunosandwich assay and western blot. The obtained results showed that in virus infected IC-21 cells are activated phosphatidyl-inositol pathway, NF-κB pathway, signaling molecule Erk1/2 and others. Testing of tick saliva effect revealed significantly decreased activity of NF-κB, AP-1 and CREB.
|
|
|
The role of myeloid dendritic cells in allergic diseases
Navrátilová, Adéla ; Hrdý, Jiří (advisor) ; Hájková, Michaela (referee)
Dendritic cells (DC) of hematopoietic origin can be distinguished into cells originating from the myeloid (mDC) or lymphoid lineage. DCs of both branches are able to uptake the antigens, present their samples to T-lymphocytes and polarize the immune response. Lymphoid line DCs are specialized in fighting viruses and they are an important source of interferon alpha. MDCs, which engage antigens as one of the first cells, play an important role in allergies, which are a current problem. Allergy is defined as an inadequate immune response to environmentally nonharmful antigens, and asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and food allergy are among the most common allergic diseases. This work focuses on the role of mDC in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and their possible use in treatment. Furthermore, this paper describes the differences between healthy and allergic individuals in terms of functional changes of mDC and differences between mature and immature immune system. Key words: dendritic cells, allergic diseases, cytokines, newborn immune system
|
|
|
Progesterone influence on the maternal immune system in pregnancy
Škvorová, Anna ; Koucký, Michal (advisor) ; Černý, Jan (referee)
Pregnancy represents a major challenge to the maternal immune system. From an immunological point of view, a fetus is a semi-allograft. The mechanisms providing immunological paradox of fetal tolerance are still not well known and require further research. A complex network of immuno-endocrine interactions ensures fetal growth and development within the maternal uterus. The hormone playing an indispensable role in pregnancy is progesterone. The aim of this thesis is to summarize current knowledge of the effects of progesterone on the immune system in pregnancy and its mechanisms. Progesterone can affect target cells via the classical nuclear progesterone receptors, which act as transcription factors, or it can act using a variety of other ways, including non-genomic rapid signaling. Progesterone optimizes conditions for successful establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, changes the amount, localization and characteristics of immune cells and production of cytokines. It reduces the antigen-presenting capacity of dendritic cells, monocytes, and macrophages, suppresses NK cell cytotoxicity, supports the proliferation of uterine NK and dendritic cells, affects B cells and induces the formation of T regulatory cells and their recruitment into the fetal-maternal interface. The wide range of...
|
guest ::
