Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 10, Issue 2, 2004

Research regarding the interactions between the endothelium and immune cells has undergone a significant expansion during the past decade. Major shifts of emphasis have been the norm, from the production of a detail catalog of the cell surface receptors and counter-receptors acting at the interface between the vascular endothelium and circulating cells to a more mechanistic account of leukocyte / endothelium interacti Read More

The roles of B7-CD28 family molecules in the regulation of immune responses have been intensively studied over the past decade. The findings resulting from these studies not only broaden our understanding in the control of immune responses at the molecular level, but also lead to identification of molecular targets for future manipulation and potential treatment of human diseases. There is convincing evidence that Read More

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules are up-regulated on endothelial cells in human allografts, and are thought to be involved in graft rejection. The MHC class II subtypes HLA-DR, DQ and DP regulate T cell dependent immune responses, and aberrant expression could be important in autoimmunity. Increased endothelial MHC class II expression has been demonstrated in several autoimmune diseases, inclu Read More

Compelling evidence now exists supporting the involvement of chemokines in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Examples of chemokines and chemokine receptors being involved in mediating autoimmune disease exist for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, allograft rejection, systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, lichen planus, and graft-versus-host-disease. Expression of chemokines by e Read More

Regulation of B-cell development and activation is imperative to the myriad of activities that perpetuate humoral immunity. This T-cell dependent immune mechanism often relies upon the maintenance of T-cell tolerance, such that the maturity of the antigen-presentating cell, its function and molecular mimicry are contributing factors. Recent findings have implicated the involvement of the B-cell and their corresponding surfa Read More

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) interact with endothelial cells (EC) under normal and diseased conditions. Common mechanisms exist regulating PMN-EC interactions in the systemic and pulmonary circulations and adhesion molecules play significant roles in both circulations, however there are important differences. Alterations in PMN deformability appear to be important in the pulmonary circulation because Read More

Monocyte derived dendritic cells play a central role in controlling immunity by activating naïve T lymphocytes. Monocytes can leave the blood stream by endothelial cell transmigration and differentiation into dendritic cells. A fundamental aspect of dendritic cell biology is their capacity to engulf tissue antigens and revers-migrate into lymph nodes. In lymph nodes dendritic cells can traffic to T-cell areas where they activate Read More

Erythropoietin is a growth factor for endothelial cells as well as for erythroid cells. In contrast to their proliferative response to physiological levels of erythropoietin, endothelial cells may respond to decreased levels by triggering a process called neocytolysis. Neocytolysis is the selective destruction of the youngest circulating red cells, which may be prompted by endothelial cells communicating with macrophages to stim Read More

T cell homeostasis is largely controlled by a balance between cell death and survival and anomalies in either process account for a number of diseases linked to excessive or faulty T cell growth. Yet, the influence that cells outside the immunological system have on these processes has only recently received attention. Accumulated evidence indicate that homeostasis of the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell pools is highly dynamic and r Read More

By-products of complement activation and complement regulatory proteins are increasingly recognized to play an important pathogenic role in a variety of vascular diseases including atherosclerosis, ischemia and reperfusion injury, hyperacute graft rejection, vasculitis, and the vascular complications of human diabetes. “Self” damage by autologous complement is mediated by activation products of the complement cas Read More

Vascular disorders, resulting from endothelial cell dysfunction, may be caused by various stimuli, including infectious pathogens, cytotoxic reagents, and pathophysiological mechanisms mediated by immune responses. Endothelial cell dysfunction characterized by apoptosis and abnormal immune activation is, at least in part, induced by antiendothelial cell antibody (AECA) in some cases of autoimmune disease. However, t Read More