Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 9, Issue 23, 2003

The immune system protects organisms from pathogens. The immune cells, in particular T- and B-lymphocytes, develop and acquire effector functions in specialized tissues called the lymphoid organs. The lymphoid organs exhibit lower oxygen tensions than the blood or the atmosphere. Furthermore, inflammatory and tumor environments where lymphocytes execute effector functions also have very low oxygen tensions. Read More

The mechanisms that maintain a steady state pool of B cells that is adequately diverse yet devoid of autoreactivity remain poorly understood. B cells are generated throughout life from pluripotent stem cells and transit a series of phenotypically and functionally defined subsets prior to final maturation in the periphery. Kinetic analyses of these subsets have revealed that considerable cell losses occur during late stages of B c Read More

The role of complement in the development and regulation of antibody responses under both healthy and pathological conditions is known for long. Unraveling the elements involved and the molecular mechanisms underlying the events however is still in progress. This review focuses on the role of complement receptors CR1 (CD35) and CR2 (CD21) expressed on B lymphocytes, which interact with ligands generated upon activati Read More

Immune complexes are major pathogenic factors contributing to tissue injury in a number of autoimmune diseases. Immune complexes consist of autoantibodies to self-antigens, which initiate an inflammatory response through binding to immunoglobulin Fc receptors (FcRs) or via complement components. The significance of FcRs as regulators of inflammatory reactions was defined when mice with genetically engineered defici Read More

Natural autoantibodies are immunoglobulins of isotypes IgM, IgG and IgA that are present under physiological conditions and that are directed toward self-antigens. Repertoires of self-reactive antibodies have been analysed intensively during the last decade and have been shown to be altered in a variety of autoimmune disorders, immunodeficiency syndromes and lymphoproliferative diseases. Immunoglobulin interacti Read More

The dogmatic and at one time prevalent concept that intact antibody molecules were not able to enter into viable cells has now been modified due to the availability of a large amount of experimental findings and clinical observations that indicate otherwise. Penetration of mature autoantibodies into living cells might participate in the pathogenesis of diverse autoimmune diseases, through inducing apoptosis of healthy tissues and Read More

There is compelling evidence in murine model systems and from human clinical trials that immunotherapy approaches can induce immune responses against tumors. The idiotypic determinants (Id) of the rearranged immunoglobulin proteins of malignant B cells were the first tumor-specific antigens to be recognized and provide a target of an immune mediated response against malignant B cells. Id was thought of as Read More

To acquire a functional view of human autoimmunity, we compared differences in gene expression (≥4000 genes) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of normal individuals following immunization to those in individuals with four different autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, and multiple sclerosis). Each individual from all disease gro Read More