Immune system cell

TNF. Tumor necrosis factor. TNFs are among the important cytokines playing a key role in activation and induction of some immune system cells and cellular immunity processes responsible for proinflammatory and inflammatory response reactions as well. 

Pastor-Anglada, M., et al. Complex regulation of nucleoside transporter expression in epithelial and immune system cells. Mol. Membr. Biol. 2001, 18, 81-85. 

Hicks DJ, Johnson L, Mitchell SM, et al. Evaluation of zinc salt based fixatives for preserving antigenic determinants for immunohistochemical demonstration of murine immune system cell markers. Biotech. Histochem. 2006 81 23-30. 

The receptor for RANKL is RANK, also known as ODAR (Anderson et al. 1997 Hsu et al. 1999). RANK is expressed in osteoclast precursors, mature osteoclasts, condrocytes, fibroblasts, and immune system cells (Anderson et al. 1997 Hsu et al. 1999). The binding of RANKL with RANK on preosteoclasts initiates the OCS and the activation of osteoclasts (Anderson et al. 1997 Hsu et al. 1999 Nakagawa et al. 1998). RANK-deficient mice display a phenotype characterized by osteopetrosis and several defects in the immune system similar to that observed in RANKL-deficient mice (Dougall et al. 1999). Consistent with this hypothesis, RANK-deficient mice are resistant to bone resorption induced by TNF-a, IL-l/J, or vitamin D3 (Li et al. 2000). In agreement with this, mice deficient in molecules implied in the transduction pathway from RANK like TRAF-6 or NF-/c Bl/NK-/c B2 also show an osteopetrotic phenotype,... 

Inflammation and autoimmunity often are associated with the destruction of bone, but the molecular link between these two processes had long been unclear. The role of bone in the generation of immune system cells is evident since they are formed in the marrow housed within the bone however, the role of these cells on bone is not so clear. RANKL and RANK were described initially in activated T-cells and in dendritic cells, respectively, where they have functions in the regulation of cellular lifespan and immunomodulation (Anderson et al. 1997 Wong et al. 1997). Recently the term osteoimmunology has been coined to describe the link between the immune system and bone (Arron et a. 2000). Several data support this idea ... 

Recently, it has been possible to grow cells of the human immune system in special mice. These mice carry a genetic defect called severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which leaves them with crippled immune systems, much like those in AIDS patients. Because SCID mice lack functional cellular immunity, it is possible to implant them with human cells without tissue rejection taking place. Researchers have recently developed techniques to implant human fetal tissues containing stem cells for the blood into SCID mice. It is then possible to reconstitute these mice with functional human immune system cells, including T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes. They have also found that if these SCID mice are infected by HIV, the virus will establish infection in the human tissue and destroy the T helper lymphocytes, just as it does in humans. Thus, it may be possible to study some of the mechanisms by which HIV attacks the immune system in these mice. In addition, they may be very useful for testing potential antiviral drugs. 

Macrophage A type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills microorganisms, removes dead cells, and stimulates the action of other immune system cells. [NIH]... 

Fig. 10.1 Comparative sizes of one carbon atom, one molecule of Cm fulletene, a typically sized aggregate of C60 fullerene, a red blood cell, and a large immune system cell, a monocyte (See Color Plates)...

Very long nanotubes may not be able to be removed from the body by immune system cells like macrophages and hence may linger in the body for a long time. There is some data that radioactive-labeled water-soluble fullerenes are cleared... 

The interaction between immune system cells and their targets often involves a specific and as yet incompletely understood surface reaction. This... 

Immune system cells provide both general responses to infections and responses precisely targeted to the specific infecting virus or bacteria. The infection-specific cells, called lymphocytes, work to attack and remove infecting pathogens. 

One example is an enzyme replacement drug used to treat a form of Gaucher disease, which is caused by an inherited error in the gene coding for the enzyme that breaks down the fatty substance cerebroside. In Gaucher disease, certain immune system cells... 

In 2000, French researchers announced the first gene therapy cure in nine children with X-linked severe combined immune deficiency (X-SCID). This rare condition is caused by the inherited loss of a protein that is part of the docking site for critical immune system signal proteins. Because of this defect, children with X-SCID have no mature, working lymphocytes—critical immune system cells. 

As a result, they are so susceptible to viral and bacterial infections that they rarely survive infancy. In the French scientists research, blood stem cells were removed from an affected child, treated with a retroviral vector carrying a normal docking protein gene, and returned to the child. Nine out of ten children treated in this way developed functional, mature immune system cells, which provided them with protection against infections. News articles proclaimed that a cure had been found. 

Hematopoietic stem cells are used to treat people whose own blood-forming cells fail because of a rare condition called aplastic anemia, or to help people who have been accidentally exposed to very high doses of irradiation. Hematopoietic stem cells are most often used as part of the treatment for certain forms of cancer. Sometimes cancer patients are given very high doses of irradiation and/or chemotherapy drugs that destroy the blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow. Transplants with the patient s own blood stem cells that were removed before the treatment, or stem cells from a healthy donor, allow the patient to recover. The transplant process is very simple The cells in a salt solution are slowly injected into a vein just like a blood transfusion. If the blood stem cells come from a donor, then the donor and the patient must share certain inherited proteins to make sure that the donor s immune system cells will not attack the treated patient. 

Hospital and commercial diagnostic testing laboratories rely on monoclonal antibody tests to measure the amounts of specific proteins, hormones, or drugs in blood. Monoclonal antibodies tagged to fluorescent dyes are also used with lasers to determine the kind of tumor a patient has, to track the number of tumor cells, and to monitor the level of immune system cells. The CD4 count test, important to patients with HIV infection, uses monoclonal antibodies and a laser-driven device that checks cell by cell for the CD4 protein, the marker for the critical immune system cell. The same technology and a set of antibodies to immune system cell proteins are used to diagnose children suspected of having inherited an immune system deficiency. 

Graft versus host disease—Condition caused in a transplant blood cell, when a donor s immune system cells attack the new organ. The condition can severely damage the intestines, liver, and other organs, and may be fatal. 

Rheumatoid arthritis—Disease in which immune system cells attack tissues in the joints, triggering inflammation, pain, swelling, and, if left unchecked, crippling damage to the joints of the hands, arms, and legs. RA is treated with nonprescription anti-inflammatory drugs, but some recombinant proteins that target inflammation are used to treat RA. 

Compounds that inhibit HIV by binding to the specific receptor sites used by the virus to enter into the cells on the immune system cells, such as maraviroc (Chapter 8),... 

The first drug to be approved for clinical use was AZT, a structural analog of deoxythymidine. AZT was first synthesized in 1964 by Jerome P. Horwitz. It failed as an anticancer drug (the purpose for which it was made), but in 1985 it was found to be a useful treatment for AIDS. AZT is taken up by T lymphocytes, immune system cells that are particularly vulnerable... 

Antibody A protein that binds to a specific target molecule called an antigen. Antibodies bind to foreign cells that infect your body to initiate their destruction or identify them for attack by immune system cells. 

Nitric oxide and carbon monoxide. The gaseous molecules NO and CO have both been found in the brain, and neuronal NO synthase (nNOS or NOS I) has been studied intensively.844-847 NO synthases and the functions of NO and CO are discussed in Section A7 and in Chapter 18. Complexity in understanding the role of NO in the brain arises from the fact that different isoenzyme forms of NO synthase occur in three different types of cell nNOS in neurons, iNOS from microglial immune system cells, and eNOS from endothelial cells of capillary blood vessels.846 All three types of cells are so tightly intermingled in the brain that it is hard to interpret observed experimental... 

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