抗独特型抗体研究的新进展

独特型是存在于抗体分子某些部位上的一种特殊基因。该基因具有抗原性,能在自体或异体内诱导出针对该基因的特异性抗体——抗独特型抗体。近年大量的动物实验证明,抗独特型抗体可以作为新一代免疫制剂,用以弥补现有疫苗的不足。同时,它还可用于癌症和自身免疫性疾病的治疗。     

细胞因子网络调控与免疫性血小板减少性紫癜相关性研究

细胞因子是由免疫细胞和某些非免疫细胞经刺激而合成分泌的一类具有广泛生物学活性的小分子蛋白,它在机体正常和异常的生命活动过程中均具有重要而复杂的生物学作用,它们之间通过合成和分泌的相互调节.受体表达的相互调节、生物学效应的相互影响等组成一个复杂的细胞因子网络.免疫性血小板减少性紫癜(ITP)是一种以血小板减少和皮肤粘膜出血为特征的自身免疫性疾病,研究表明细胞因子水平的异常导致的细胞因子网络失衡在ITP发病中具有重要作用.细胞因子疗法已被用于自身免疫性疾病,随着细胞因子网络与ITP研究的不断深入和基因工程技术、细胞分子生物技术的日趋成熟,细胞因子疗法将成为治疗ITP的有效措施.     

胰岛素依赖型糖尿病疫苗研究进展

胰岛素依赖型糖尿病是一种以机体对胰脏β细胞自身抗体耐受的丧失为标志的自身免疫性疾病,发病者会出现胰岛损伤、血糖失控、并往往有严重的长期并发症。导致这种自身反应性疾病的一个原因就是自身抗原与免疫系统的相互作用。这些自身抗原本身的性质决定了其是否会促进自身免疫或者参与免疫保护,一旦发生自身免疫性疾病,目前尚无能安全而有效的根治这些疾病的方法。因此,与完全依赖于广泛的免疫抑制的其它疗法相比,在发生自身免疫性疾病之前采用疫苗预防措施,或者利用机体免疫调节的疗法就显得尤为重要并具有极大的吸引力。这里,我们综述了近年来胰岛素依赖型糖尿病疫苗的发展,并探讨了基于自身抗原的疫苗疗法以及联合免疫疫苗在胰岛素依赖型糖尿病防治中的作用和运用前景。     

增强DNA疫苗免疫应答的新进展

DNA疫苗为编码抗原蛋白的真核表达载体,注入体内后在原位表达所编码的抗原并诱导免疫应答,在预防感染、治疗自身免疫性疾病、过敏性疾病和肿瘤等疫病中有着很好的应用前景。但与灭活疫苗相比,其免疫效价还比较低。有多种策略能够增强或调节DNA疫苗诱导的免疫应答,其中,作为外源基因载体的质粒的组成及插入的有关基因均可直接或间接地影响免疫反应的效果,在构建DNA疫苗质粒时,加入细胞因子、融合信号、泛素等基因以及ISS序列,另外还可以通过设计一些对抗原提成细胞有影响的分子共注射,以及加入转移分子,都可以明显增强DNA疫苗的免疫效果,从而有利于研制更有效的DNA疫苗。     

IL-27：介导免疫相关疾病的新因子

白细胞介素27 (interleukin 27, IL-27)是一种多效性的细胞因子,能参与调节机体的先天性和适应性免疫。以往研究显示它能介导体内多种炎症反应,随着动物模型和技术手段的发展,多项研究表明它与自身免疫性疾病及其他免疫相关疾病密切相关,并被认为是治疗病毒性疾病、自身免疫性疾病、肿瘤及肥胖的一个重要候选因子。因此本文就IL-27在艾滋病、类风湿关节炎、肿瘤及肥胖中的作用展开综述,旨在为免疫相关疾病的治疗提供新的思路。     

自身免疫性疾病治疗性疫苗研究进展

自身免疫性疾病的发生与体内自身反应性T／B细胞的异常活化有关。病理性自身免疫应答是多发性硬化、重症肌无力等自身免疫性疾病的主要致病原因。针对已感染致病原的无症状携带者或发病的患者的自身免疫性疾病治疗性疫苗能特异性地调节异常的免疫应答,具有重要的理论价值和应用前景。     

Th17细胞在肺部感染免疫中的作用

Th17细胞是近年来发现的一种新的效应T细胞亚群,在自身免疫性疾病和感染中发挥重要的作用,其分泌产生几种致炎细胞因子,包括新发现的细胞因子白细胞介素17。Th17产生的细胞因子与Th1、Th2不同并且与其相互对抗。Th17细胞很可能对防御胞外病原菌的感染及自身免疫性疾病产生影响。综述了Th17细胞产生的细胞因子及其在肺部感染免疫中的作用相关方面的进展。     

人白介素6受体拮抗剂的构建及其在大肠杆菌中的表达

白介素6的过高表达往往与一些疾病的发生和发展有关,如一些自身免疫性疾病、增生性疾病和某些恶性肿瘤。这种情况下就有必要拮抗或抑制IL-6的作用以达到治疗的目的。一般来说,细胞因子的可溶性受体作为细胞因子结合蛋白(CBPs)可以拮抗相应因子的作用,但IL-6的可溶性受体(sIL-6R)却不同,它与IL-6形成的复合物仍然能与信号转导子gp130结合,介导IL-6的效应,起到IL-6激动剂的作用,因而有必要构建具拮抗效应sIL-6R的突变体分子,以用于IL-6相关疾病的治疗研究。     

细胞因子与类风湿关节炎的研究进展

类风湿关节炎(RA)是一种慢性、多系统的以关节的炎症损害为主要特点的自身免疫性疾病。其发病过程与多种细胞因子有关,包括TNF-α、IL-1、MMPS、IL-6、IL-17、IL-18等,这些细胞因子在RA的发病进程中起了很重要的作用,可作为治疗RA的新靶点。     

类风湿关节炎的T细胞疫苗研究现状

类风湿关节炎是一种可导致关节畸形并丧失功能的慢性自身免疫性疾病。大量研究证实T细胞介导的免疫异常在类风湿关节炎的发病过程中发挥重要作用。经研究证实T细胞疫苗对类风湿关节炎有一定疗效,但受主要组织相容性抗原(MHC)限制,难以应用于临床。最近的T细胞疫苗研究另辟途径,证明在没有发现致病自身抗原的情况下T细胞疫苗依然有可能应用与类风湿关节炎的治疗,为研究类风湿关节炎的发病机制及治疗提供了有益的思路及资料。     

DNA vaccines: a mini review

DNA vaccines are a major breakthrough in the field of vaccination with several advantages over traditional vaccines. Unlike traditional vaccines, DNA vaccines stimulate both arms of the immune system offering long lasting immunity. DNA vaccines not only have the potential to fight against infectious diseases such as influenza and hepatitis but they can also be used to prevent autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In general, this article is intended as a mini-review to discuss DNA vaccination, as well as patents on different types of DNA vaccines.     

DNA vaccines: progress and challenges

In the years following the publication of the initial in vivo demonstration of the ability of plasmid DNA to generate protective immune responses, DNA vaccines have entered into a variety of human clinical trials for vaccines against various infectious diseases and for therapies against cancer, and are in development for therapies against autoimmune diseases and allergy. They also have become a widely used laboratory tool for a variety of applications ranging from proteomics to understanding Ag presentation and cross-priming. Despite their rapid and widespread development and the commonplace usage of the term "DNA vaccines," however, the disappointing potency of the DNA vaccines in humans underscores the challenges encountered in the efforts to translate efficacy in preclinical models into clinical realities. This review will provide a brief background of DNA vaccines including the insights gained about the varied immunological mechanisms that play a role in their ability to generate immune responses.     

Active versus passive anti-cytokine antibody therapy against cytokine-associated chronic diseases

Current therapeutic vaccine trials in major chronic diseases including AIDS, cancer, allergy and autoimmunity, target antigenic pathogens but not the pathogenic stromal cytokines which can be major sources of histopathologic processes. Considering that the limited efficacy of these vaccines has been ascribed to local pathogen-induced cytokine dysfunction, we propose to antagonize pathogenic cytokine(s) by high affinity neutralizing auto-Abs triggered by specific anti-cytokine vaccines. As anticipated by theoretical considerations, animal experiments and initial clinical trials showed that anti-cytokine immunization was safe, well tolerated and triggered transient high titers Abs neutralizing pathogenic cytokines but, in contrast to conventional vaccines, no relevant cellular response was observed. Advantages of active versus passive anti-cytokine Ab therapy, particularly for long-term treatments, as those required in AIDS, cancer, allergy and autoimmunity include greater ease of maintaining high Ab titers, lack of anti-antibody responses and low cost.     

近年来出现的几类新概念动物疫苗

动物疫病流行广泛、传播迅速,严重危害养殖业的发展。疫苗接种是预防和控制动物传染病最有效的策略之一。目前,随着生物技术的发展和疫病防控的需要,安全、高效、广谱、用量少、具有标记特征的新型疫苗成为研发重点。文中就近年来出现的黏膜疫苗、长效与速效疫苗、嵌合疫苗、纳米颗粒疫苗等新概念动物疫苗的发展、应用及优缺点进行了评述,并提出了其发展方向,以期为动物疫苗的研发提供借鉴。     

Recombinant viruses as tools to induce protective cellular immunity against infectious diseases.

Infections by intracellular pathogens such as viruses, some bacteria and many parasites, are cleared in most cases after activation of specific T cellular immune responses that recognize foreign antigens and eliminate infected cells. Vaccines against those infectious organisms have been traditionally developed by administration of whole live attenuated or inactivated microorganisms. Nowadays, research is focused on the development of subunit vaccines, containing the most immunogenic antigens from the particular pathogen. However, when purified subunit vaccines are administered using traditional immunization protocols, the levels of cellular immunity induced are mostly low and not capable of eliciting complete protection against diseases caused by intracellular microbes. In this review, we present a promising alternative to those traditional protocols, which is the use of recombinant viruses encoding subunit vaccines as immunization tools. Recombinant viruses have several interesting features that make them extremely efficient at inducing immune responses mediated by T-lymphocytes. This cellular immunity has recently been demonstrated to be of key importance for protection against malaria and AIDS, both of which are major targets of the World Health Organization for vaccine development. Thus, this review will focus in particular on the development of new vaccination protocols against these diseases.     

New insights in antigen processing and epitope selection: development of novel immunotherapeutic strategies for cancer, autoimmunity and infectious diseases

Current evidence suggests that MHC class II-restricted CD4+ T-cells play a crucial role in orchestrating host immune responses against cancer as well as autoimmune and infectious diseases. Antigens must be processed within endosomal and lysosomal compartments of antigen presenting cells (APC) before binding to MHC class II molecules for display to T-cells. Only a limited number of processed peptides termed immunodominant are selected for display by MHC class II molecules and prove capable of inducing strong T-cell responses. Thus processing reactions within APC are of central importance for the development of effective vaccines as they modulate the number of peptide: class II complexes by enhancing or disrupting epitope formation and display. Studies suggest that there are substantial gaps in our knowledge of how antigen processing and presentation by APC regulates epitope selection and immunodominance in disease situations. Here we describe new insights in antigen processing and epitope selection with relevance to immunotherapeutic strategies for cancer, autoimmunity and infectious diseases.     

Successful TCR-based immunotherapy for autoimmune myocarditis with DNA vaccines after rapid identification of pathogenic TCR

The identification of TCRs of autoimmune disease-inducing T cells within a short period of time is a key factor for designing TCR-based immunotherapy during the course of the disease. In this study, we show that experimental autoimmune carditis-associated TCRs, Vbeta8.2 and Vbeta10, were determined by complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3)-spectratyping analysis and subsequent sequencing of the CDR3 region of spectratype-derived TCR clones. Immunotherapy targeting both Vbeta8.2 and Vbeta10 TCRs using mAbs and DNA vaccines significantly reduced the histological severity of experimental autoimmune carditis and completely suppressed the inflammation in some animals. Since depletion or suppression of one of two types of effector cells does not improve the severity of the disease significantly, combined TCR-based immunotherapy should be considered as a primary therapy for T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. TCR-based immunotherapy after rapid identification of autoimmune disease-associated TCRs by CDR3 spectratyping can be applicable, not only to animal, but also to human autoimmune diseases whose pathomechanism is poorly understood.     

Mining the human autoantibody repertoire: Isolation of potent IL17A-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies from a patient with thymoma

Anti-cytokine autoantibodies have been widely reported to be present in human plasma, both in healthy subjects and in patients with underlying autoimmune conditions, such as autoimmune polyendocrinopathy candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) or thymic epithelial neoplasms. While often asymptomatic, they can cause or facilitate a wide range of diseases including opportunistic infections. The potential therapeutic value of specific neutralizing anti-cytokine autoantibodies has not been thoroughly investigated. Here we used mammalian cell display to isolate IL17A-specific antibodies from a thymoma patient with proven high-titer autoantibodies against the same. We identified 3 distinct clonotypes that efficiently neutralized IL17A in a cell-based in vitro assay. Their potencies were comparable to those of known neutralizing antibodies, including 2, AIN457 (secukinumab) and ixekizumab that are currently in clinical development for the treatment of various inflammatory disorders. These data clearly demonstrate that the human autoantibody repertoire can be mined for antibodies with high therapeutic potential for clinical development.     

Mining the human autoantibody repertoire: Isolation of potent IL17A-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies from a patient with thymoma

Anti-cytokine autoantibodies have been widely reported to be present in human plasma, both in healthy subjects and in patients with underlying autoimmune conditions, such as autoimmune polyendocrinopathy candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) or thymic epithelial neoplasms. While often asymptomatic, they can cause or facilitate a wide range of diseases including opportunistic infections. The potential therapeutic value of specific neutralizing anti-cytokine autoantibodies has not been thoroughly investigated. Here we used mammalian cell display to isolate IL17A-specific antibodies from a thymoma patient with proven high-titer autoantibodies against the same. We identified 3 distinct clonotypes that efficiently neutralized IL17A in a cell-based in vitro assay. Their potencies were comparable to those of known neutralizing antibodies, including 2, AIN457 (secukinumab) and ixekizumab that are currently in clinical development for the treatment of various inflammatory disorders. These data clearly demonstrate that the human autoantibody repertoire can be mined for antibodies with high therapeutic potential for clinical development.