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Lyme borreliosis diagnostics using in vitro cellular immune response testing
Prokopová, Tereza ; Drbal, Karel (advisor) ; Melter, Oto (referee)
Lyme borreliosis is a multisystemic disease affecting skin, joints, heart and central nervous system. The disease is caused by spirochetes of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. These bacteria are spread by ticks of Ixodes genus. In 2016 there were almost 4,000 newly infected individuals reported in the Czech Republic. Contemporary serological diagnostics of Lyme borreliosis is not sensitive nor specific enough and does not even correlate with the pathology of the disease in the early or late phases. For the correct diagnosis of the disease it is necessary to detect the pathogen and its genotype. For this reason we had aimed at two goals. Through the digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) method we detected Borrelia-specific DNA and its genotype. The detection limit of borrelial DNA was set on gDNA samples isolated from the tick. Detection threshold for the initial amount of 1 ng of tick gDNA is at the range of 10-17 g of specific borrelial DNA. Borrelia spp. coinfection was detected in 5 out of 12 tested samples. The most frequent type was B. garinii which was detected in 5 samples. On the basis of published sequences for virulent factors we have designed specific primers in conserved regions of the genes flanking their variable segments to be PCR amplified. Gene variability will be monitored through...
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Lectin receptor-ligand interaction important in experimental tumor therapy
Grobárová, Valéria ; Černý, Jan (advisor) ; Filipp, Dominik (referee) ; Krulová, Magdaléna (referee)
Lectin-saccharide interactions are involved in many biological processes essential for the survival and proper function of multicellular organisms. C-type lectin-like receptors, predominantly expressed by cells of the innate immune system, recognize saccharide structures on microbes and also aberrant glycosylation pattern of cancer cells. The NKR-P1 receptor family was among the first natural killer (NK) receptor families that were identified, however ligands for some of members remain still elusive. Recently, publications describing N-acetylglucosamine-terminated oligosaccharide structures as possible ligands for NKR-P1 receptor have been subjects for correction/retractions after investigation of the Ethical Committee of the Institute of Microbiology, ASCR, v. v. i. and Charles University in Prague. Re-evaluation of glycodendrimer effect, particularly effect of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine octabranched dendrimer on polyamidoamine scaffold (GN8P), revealed mostly indirect role of NK cells on modulation of immune responses. Properly folded soluble recombinant rat NKR-P1A and mouse NKR-P1C lack binding activity to neoglycoproteins modified with GlcNAc-terminated structures. Moreover, new possible target cell populations (NKT cells and macrophages) for saccharide binding were identified.
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Immunotherapy of HPV16 - associated cancers and regulation of antitumour immune response
Štěpánek, Ivan ; Reiniš, Milan (advisor) ; Lipoldová, Marie (referee) ; Němečková, Šárka (referee)
The MHC class I status of tumour cells during immunotherapy is often underestimated. It represents one of important tumour escape mechanisms and thus can contribute to the failure of most of the cancer clinical trials that are usually based on the induction of cytotoxic T cell responses. Epigenetic changes in the promoters of genes involved in the MHC class I Ag presentation can result in decreased expression of the cell surface MHC molecules on tumour cells. Thus, epigenetic modifiers can restore an expression of the MHC class I molecules and make tumours visible to the CD8+ effector cells. Besides the epigenetic changes on the tumour cells, epigenetic modulators affect cells of the immune system such as dendritic cells (DC). Tumour cells can escape from the immune response not only by changes in the cancer cells, but also by influencing, expanding and/or activating immunoregulatory cell populations, such as regulatory T cells (Treg). This thesis focuses on the potential of the DC-based vaccines against HPV-16-associated tumours with a different MHC class I expression, on the combination of cancer immunotherapy with the treatment using epigenetic modifiers, with special attention paid to their effects on DC, and, finally, on the impacts of the anti-CD25 antibody (used for Treg elimination) on Treg and NKT...
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