Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2003

The innate immune system uses a series of pattern recognition receptors to detect the presence of pathogens thus allowing for rapid host defense responses to invading microbes. A key component of such receptors are the “toll-like receptors”(TLRs), which recognize a panel of microbial molecules that tend to be somewhat invariant, at least in select regions, thus permitting a relatively small number of receptors to recog Read More

DAP12 is a novel immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAM)- bearing transmembrane adapter molecule. This molecule, together with its partner receptor complex molecules including the killer cell activating receptors (KARs), myeloid DAP12 associating lectin-1 (MDL-1), triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 / 2 / 3 (TREM-1, TREM-2, TREM-3), and signal regulatory protein β1 (SIRPβ1), are expressed on the Read More

Mast cells have been most widely studied in the context of allergic disease but also play a critical role in host defence against bacterial infection, most elegantly demonstrated in studies using mast cell deficient w / w v mice. There is less data available concerning the role of mast cells in defence against viral pathogens, however, mast cells have been demonstrated to be a potential reservoir of infection for several pathog Read More

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality. The term is heterogenous and encompasses a number of distinct but often overlapping phenotypes including chronic bronchitis, small airways obstruction, emphysema and in some individuals, a systemic component. Although there have been significant advances in understanding the pathophysiology of COPD, understanding of t Read More

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic interstitial lung disease which results in end-stage fibrosis. The pathogenesis is believed to be related to a dysregulation in cross-talk between inflammatory and structural cells, mediated by various cytokines, chemokines and growth factors, which are responsible for the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and which coordinate the response to injury. The large number of mediators i Read More

Much progress has been made in understanding the relationship between cytokines, T cell development, and the maintenance of memory T cells by examining the immune response to respiratory viral infections. Most of these studies have examined the T cell response to viruses that cause acute infection of limited duration, and have focused on the interplay between cytokines and individual responses by T cell subsets. This Read More

Mycobacterium avium is a human pathogen that causes infection in immunocompetent as well as immunocompromised patients. Infection is acquired both by the respiratory and gastrointestinal routes, and bacterial invasion of mucosal epithelial cells is characteristic. M. avium crosses the mucosal barrier without triggering substantial inflammatory response. Once in the intestinal submucosa or in the alveolar space M. aviu Read More

Diseases caused by Chlamydia trachomatis infection and its sequelae represent major public health concerns worldwide. In order to rationally develop an effective vaccine to chlamydial infection, we need a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the protective and pathological immune responses to chlamydial antigens. Recent studies in chlamydial immunobiology have demonstrated a close link between cytokin Read More

Several clinical trials have attempted to treat sepsis by blocking certain aspects of the inflammatory response. Tumor necrosis factor and interleukin 1 have been specific targets for inhibition but none of the trials have been successful. These trials were started on the basis of preclinical trials that suggested these would be effective. There were three lines of evidence to support the idea of cytokine inhibition. Fi Read More

Autoimmune diseases frequently develop as a result of an abnormal activation of autoreactive T cells, excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines, particularly by CD4+ Th1 cells, and subsequent tissue destruction. Cytokine-dependent immunotherapy can be applied to alter the balance between Th1 and Th2 cell activity, or proinflammatory versus immunosuppressive cytokine profiles. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CT Read More