CD4 and CD8 T cell responses to tumour-associated Epstein–Barr virus antigens in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), an Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-associated tumour common in Southern Chinese populations, is a potentially important target for T cell-based immunotherapy. The tumour cells are HLA class I- and II-positive and express a limited subset of EBV latent proteins, namely the nuclear antigen EBNA1 and the latent membrane proteins LMP2 and (in some cases) LMP1. To ask whether the tumour develops in the presence of a potentially protective host response or in its absence, we set out to determine the prevailing levels of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell memory to these proteins in NPC patients at tumour diagnosis. We first screened healthy Chinese donors against Chinese strain EBNA1, LMP1 and LMP2 sequences in Elispot assays of interferon-γ release and identified the immunodominant CD4+ and CD8+ epitope peptides presented by common Chinese HLA alleles. Then, comparing 60 patients with >70 healthy controls on peptide epitope mini-panels, we found that T cell memory to CD4 epitopes in all three proteins was unimpaired in the blood of patients at diagnosis. In most cases NPC patients also showed detectable responses to CD8 epitopes relevant to their HLA type, the one consistent exception being the absence in patients of a B*4001-restricted response to LMP2. We infer that NPC arises in patients whose prevailing levels of T cell memory to tumour-associated EBV proteins is largely intact; the therapeutic goal must therefore be to re-direct the existing memory repertoire more effectively against antigen-expressing tumour cells. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Expression of the chaperonin 10 gene during zebrafish development

We have isolated a cDNA encoding chaperonin 10 (cpn10) from the zebrafish. Using northern, western, and in situ hybridization analysis, we observed that the cpn10 gene is expressed uniformly and ubiquitously throughout embryonic development of the zebrafish. Upregulation of cpn10 expression was observed following exposure of zebrafish embryos to a heat shock of 1 hour at 37 degrees C compared to control embryos raised at 27 degrees C. The extracellular form of Cpn10 called early pregnancy factor (EPF), found in the serum of pregnant mammals, was not detected in the serum of either male or female zebrafish. These expression studies suggest that Cpn10 plays a general role in zebrafish development as well as being consistent with the hypothesis that EPF is involved in the embryo implantation process in mammals.     

Influence of Previous Oral Contraception and Maternal Oxytocin Infusion on Neonatal Jaundice

A prospective study of serum bilirubin levels on the first and sixth days of life in a series of 181 infants has failed to provide evidence to suggest that previous maternal oral contraception, maternal oxytocin infusion, epidural anaesthesia, or breast-feeding are factors influencing neonatal jaundice.     

Opportunistic feeding by lions: non-preferred prey comprise an important part of lion diets in a habitat where preferred prey are abundant

Optimal foraging theory predicts less diverse predator diets with a greater availability of preferred prey. This narrow diet niche should then be dominated by preferred prey, with implications for predator–prey dynamics and prey population ecology. We investigated lion (Panthera leo) diets in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park (HiP), South Africa, to assess whether lions in a site with a high density of preferred prey (prey species weighing 92–632 kg as estimated from a published meta-analysis) have a narrow diet, consisting primarily of preferred prey. HiP is a useful study site to investigate this prediction because it is a productive landscape (with a high density of prey) where lion-preferred prey constitutes up to 33% of the prey available to lions. Furthermore, to investigate whether lions in HiP exhibit sex-specific diets as documented in other southern African populations, we estimated male and female lion diets separately. We were specifically interested in testing whether traditional approaches of estimating lion diets at the population level mask sex-specific predation patterns, with possible implications for management of lions in small to medium-sized fenced reserves. Lions in HiP preferred larger prey species (63–684 kg) and had diets with a larger proportion of preferred prey than reported in an African-wide meta-analysis. However, despite the high density of preferred prey species, 36% of lion diets still consisted of typically non-preferred species such as nyala (Tragelaphus angasii). This finding suggests that lions in HiP maintain a degree of opportunism even when preferred prey are abundant. Therefore, abundant, non-preferred prey are likely to be an important resource for lion populations. Sex-specific differences in lion diets were evident in HiP, suggesting that estimation of lion resource use and carrying capacity should consider opportunistic hunting and sex-specific differences in lion diets.