scholarly journals Immunosenescence in some but not all immune components in a free-living vertebrate, the tree swallow

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1612) ◽  
pp. 951-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria G Palacios ◽  
Joan E Cunnick ◽  
David W Winkler ◽  
Carol M Vleck

A wide diversity of free-living organisms show increases in mortality rates and/or decreases in reproductive success with advancing age. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying these demographic patterns of senescence are poorly understood. Immunosenescence, the age-related deterioration of immune function, is well documented in humans and laboratory models, and often leads to increased morbidity and mortality due to disease. However, we know very little about immunosenescence in free-living organisms. Here, we studied immunosenescence in a free-living population of tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor , assessing three components of the immune system and using both in vivo and in vitro immunological tests. Immune function in tree swallow females showed a complex pattern with age; acquired T-cell mediated immunity declined with age, but neither acquired nor innate humoral immunity did. In vitro lymphocyte proliferation stimulated by T-cell mitogens decreased with age, suggesting that reduced T-cell function might be one mechanism underlying the immunosenescence pattern of in vivo cell-mediated response recently described for this same population. Our results provide the most thorough description of immunosenescence patterns and mechanisms in a free-living vertebrate population to date. Future research should focus on the ecological implications of immunosenescence and the potential causes of variation in patterns among species.

1980 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 408-410
Author(s):  
R T Cursons ◽  
T J Brown ◽  
E A Keys ◽  
K M Moriarty ◽  
D Till

The role of cell-mediated immunity in defense against pathogenic free-living amoebae was examined. Both the in vitro macrophage inhibition test and the in vivo delayed hypersensitivity test showed responses to both heterologous and homologous antigens, although homologous systems were the most efficient. It is suggested that exposure to nonpathogenic species of free-living amoebae can stimulate the immune system to be effective against pathogenic species. The significance of cell-mediated immunity as a defense against invasion by pathogenic free-living amoebae is discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (21) ◽  
pp. 7984
Author(s):  
Alessia Mongelli ◽  
Sandra Atlante ◽  
Veronica Barbi ◽  
Tiziana Bachetti ◽  
Fabio Martelli ◽  
...  

The WHO estimated around 41 million deaths worldwide each year for age-related non-communicable chronic diseases. Hence, developing strategies to control the accumulation of cell senescence in living organisms and the overall aging process is an urgently needed problem of social relevance. During aging, many biological processes are altered, which globally induce the dysfunction of the whole organism. Cell senescence is one of the causes of this modification. Nowadays, several drugs approved for anticancer therapy have been repurposed to treat senescence, and others are under scrutiny in vitro and in vivo to establish their senomorphic or senolytic properties. In some cases, this research led to a significant increase in cell survival or to a prolonged lifespan in animal models, at least. Senomorphics can act to interfere with a specific pathway in order to restore the appropriate cellular function, preserve viability, and to prolong the lifespan. On the other hand, senolytics induce apoptosis in senescent cells allowing the remaining non–senescent population to preserve or restore tissue function. A large number of research articles and reviews recently addressed this topic. Herein, we would like to focus attention on those chemical agents with senomorphic or senolytic properties that perspectively, according to literature, suggest a potential application as senotherapeutics for chronic diseases.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 5184-5193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana M. Brainard ◽  
William G. Tharp ◽  
Elva Granado ◽  
Nicholas Miller ◽  
Alicja K. Trocha ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cell-mediated immunity depends in part on appropriate migration and localization of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), a process regulated by chemokines and adhesion molecules. Many viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), encode chemotactically active proteins, suggesting that dysregulation of immune cell trafficking may be a strategy for immune evasion. HIV-1 gp120, a retroviral envelope protein, has been shown to act as a T-cell chemoattractant via binding to the chemokine receptor and HIV-1 coreceptor CXCR4. We have previously shown that T cells move away from the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) in a concentration-dependent and CXCR4 receptor-mediated manner. Here, we demonstrate that CXCR4-binding HIV-1 X4 gp120 causes the movement of T cells, including HIV-specific CTL, away from high concentrations of the viral protein. This migratory response is CD4 independent and inhibited by anti-CXCR4 antibodies and pertussis toxin. Additionally, the expression of X4 gp120 by target cells reduces CTL efficacy in an in vitro system designed to account for the effect of cell migration on the ability of CTL to kill their target cells. Recombinant X4 gp120 also significantly reduced antigen-specific T-cell infiltration at a site of antigen challenge in vivo. The repellant activity of HIV-1 gp120 on immune cells in vitro and in vivo was shown to be dependent on the V2 and V3 loops of HIV-1 gp120. These data suggest that the active movement of T cells away from CXCR4-binding HIV-1 gp120, which we previously termed fugetaxis, may provide a novel mechanism by which HIV-1 evades challenge by immune effector cells in vivo.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 4666-4679 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Reeves ◽  
W. J. Leonard ◽  
M. S. Nissen

ABSTRACT Transcriptional induction of the interleukin-2 receptor alpha-chain (IL-2Rα) gene is a key event regulating T-cell-mediated immunity in mammals. In vivo, the T-cell-restricted protein Elf-1 and the general architectural transcription factor HMG-I(Y) cooperate in transcriptional regulation of the human IL-2Rα gene by binding to a specific positive regulatory region (PRRII) in its proximal promoter. Employing chromatin reconstitution analyses, we demonstrate that the binding sites for both HMG-I(Y) and Elf-1 in the PRRII element are incorporated into a strongly positioned nucleosome in vitro. A variety of analytical techniques was used to determine that a stable core particle is positioned over most of the PRRII element and that this nucleosome exhibits only a limited amount of lateral translational mobility. Regardless of its translational setting, the in vitro position of the nucleosome is such that DNA recognition sequences for both HMG-I(Y) and Elf-1 are located on the surface of the core particle. Restriction nuclease accessibility analyses indicate that a similarly positioned nucleosome also exists on the PRRII element in unstimulated lymphocytes when the IL-2Rα gene is silent and suggest that this core particle is remodeled following transcriptional activation of the gene in vivo. In vitro experiments employing the chemical cleavage reagent 1,10-phenanthroline copper (II) covalently attached to its C-terminal end demonstrate that HMG-I(Y) protein binds to the positioned PRRII nucleosome in a direction-specific manner, thus imparting a distinct architectural configuration to the core particle. Together, these findings suggest a role for the HMG-I(Y) protein in assisting the remodeling of a critically positioned nucleosome on the PRRII promoter element during IL-2Rα transcriptional activation in lymphocytes in vivo.


1983 ◽  
Vol 157 (2) ◽  
pp. 642-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
J L Urban ◽  
H Schreiber

The ultraviolet radiation-induced fibrosarcoma 1591 is generally rejected by normal syngeneic mice, but occasionally the tumor succeeds in growing progressively. Analysis of these progressively growing tumors has regularly demonstrated the development of tumor variants that have acquired a heritable progressive growth potential. We have analyzed the phenotypic changes of these variants to determine which kind of selection pressure had occurred during the evolution of the variants, thus giving insight into the relative importance and hierarchy of the different immune defense mechanisms that may be operating in normal individuals as a defense against neoplastic cells. We discovered that all of the host-selected progressor variants had lost not only a strong T cell-recognized and tumor-specific antigen, but also their high sensitivity to cytotoxic macrophages. No selection for macrophage-resistance or loss of the tumor antigen was observed in 1591 tumors reisolated from idiotypically-suppressed mice or from other mice lacking tumor-specific T cell immunity. Analysis of other tumor variants selected in vitro showed that 1591 tumor cells have the potential to lose sensitivity to tumoricidal macrophages without losing the T cell-recognized tumor antigen. Thus the data suggest that T cells and macrophages act together to suppress the outgrowth of potentially malignant cells in vivo.


1985 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 464-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambros W. Huegin ◽  
Andreas Cerny ◽  
Hans Hengartner ◽  
Rolf M. Zinkernagel

2007 ◽  
Vol 204 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdijapar T. Shamshiev ◽  
Franziska Ampenberger ◽  
Bettina Ernst ◽  
Lucia Rohrer ◽  
Benjamin J. Marsland ◽  
...  

Environmental factors, including diet, play a central role in influencing the balance of normal immune homeostasis; however, many of the cellular mechanisms maintaining this balance remain to be elucidated. Using mouse models of genetic and high-fat/cholesterol diet–induced dyslipidemia, we examined the influence of dyslipidemia on T cell and dendritic cell (DC) responses in vivo and in vitro. We show that dyslipidemia inhibited Toll-like receptor (TLR)–induced production of proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-12, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, as well as up-regulation of costimulatory molecules by CD8α− DCs, but not by CD8α+ DCs, in vivo. Decreased DC activation profoundly influenced T helper (Th) cell responses, leading to impaired Th1 and enhanced Th2 responses. As a consequence of this immune modulation, host resistance to Leishmania major was compromised. We found that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) was the key active component responsible for this effect, as it could directly uncouple TLR-mediated signaling on CD8α− myeloid DCs and inhibit NF-κB nuclear translocation. These results show that a dyslipidemic microenvironment can directly interfere with DC responses to pathogen-derived signals and skew the development of T cell–mediated immunity.


2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 215-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. C. Neale ◽  
Judith A. Van de Water ◽  
James T. Harvey ◽  
Ronald S. Tjeerdema ◽  
M. Eric Gershwin

In recent years, population declines related to viral outbreaks in marine mammals have been associated with polluted coastal waters and high tissue concentrations of certain persistent, lipophilic contaminants. Such observations suggest a contributing role of contaminant-induced suppression of cell-mediated immunity leading to decreased host resistance. Here, we assessed the effects of the prototypic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), and two polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), CB-156 and CB-80, on the T-cell proliferative response to mitogen in harbor seal peripheral lymphocytes. Despite the variability associated with our samples from free-ranging harbor seals, we observed a clear suppressive effect of B[a]P (10 uM) exposure on T cell mitogenesis. Exposures to 10 uM CB-156 and CB-80, and 1.0 and 0.1 uM B[a]P, did not produce significant depression in lymphoproliferation. Exposure to the model PAH at 10 uM resulted in a 61% (range 34-97%) average reduction in lymphoproliferation. We were able to rule out a direct cytotoxic effect of B[a]P, indicating that observed effects were due to altered T cell function. Based on ourin vitroresults, we hypothesize that extensive accumulation of PAH by top-trophic-level marine mammals could alter T cell activationin vivoand impaired cell-mediated immunity against viral pathogens.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
H. Karlsson ◽  
S. Nava ◽  
M. Remberger ◽  
Z. Hassan ◽  
M. Hassan ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document