No abstract available

No abstract available

[en] Transcriptionally active chromatin fibers were observed in chromosomes presenting the loops/scaffold configuration. The active fibers showed altered nucleosomes and presented multiforked aspects which led to the formation of ring complexes. The ribonucleoprotein transcripts (RNP) appeared as networks of 0.1 μm or multiples tandemly disposed along the fiber. It is suggested that the ring complexes belong to the human genome. The possibility that these circular structures come from a prokaryote is also considered. (author)

[en] Extracts from plants containing plumbagin (PLB) continue to be used as a treatment of a number of chronic immunologically-based diseases. However, most of these claims are supported only by anecdotal evidence with few scientific reports describing the mechanism of action or the efficacy of plumbagin in the suppression of the immune response. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that plumbagin-induced suppression of the immune response was mediated through the induction of apoptosis. Splenocytes from C57BL/6 mice cultured in the presence of 0.5 μM or greater concentrations of PLB significantly reduced proliferative responses to mitogens, including anti-CD3 mAbs, concanavalin A (Con A), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) in vitro. Exposure of naive and activated splenocytes to PLB led to a significant increase in the levels of apoptosis. In addition, PLB treatment led to a significant increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in naive and activated splenocytes. Furthermore, treatment with the ROS scavenger, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), prevented PLB-induced apoptosis, suggesting a role of ROS in PLB-induced apoptosis. PLB-induced apoptosis led to ROS-mediated activation of both the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways. In addition, plumbagin led to increased expression of Fas. Finally, treatment of mice with PLB (5 mg/kg) led to thymic and splenic atrophy as well as a significant suppression of the response to SEB and dinitroflourobenzene (DNFB) in vivo. Together, these results suggest that plumbagin has significant immunosuppressive properties which are mediated by generation of ROS, upregulation of Fas, and the induction of apoptosis.

[en] Radioiodines are often used for experimental purposes and for diagnosis and therapy in clinical practice. Human population might also be exposed to radioiodines in nuclear accidents. The ionizing energy of radioiodine affects not only the thyroid where it concentrates but also other tissues, especially the lymphocytes during their circulation through and around the gland containing the radioisotopes. Therefore, it seemed to be of interest to carry out investigations concerning the cytogenetic alterations in blood lymphocytes of patients treated with iodine-131. The method of choice was the relatively easily performable micronucleus assay in cytokinesis-blocked cultures of human peripheral lymphocytes. The test was performed on blood samples of 30 patients before the radioisotope treatment and one, two and four days after, one as well as 6 and - in a few cases - 12 weeks later. The amounts of iodine-131 injected were dependent on the clinical practices to reach the therapeutic radiation doses for hyperthyroidism and adenomas and were in the range of 220 and 5180 MBq. it was observed that the micronucleus frequency increased in the treated hyperthyroid patients while in patients with toxic adenomas the radioiodine did not result in an increase or even as compared to the pretreatment values in a few cases decreased values were seen. The results suggest individual differences in radiosensitivity as well as that the frequency of cytogenetic alterations depend on the physiological or pathological conditions of the thyroid. The significance of this observation will be discussed for dose assessments by cytogenetic techniques due to internal radioiodine. (author)

[en] Our aim was to investigate the prognostic significance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in operable tongue cancer patients. The presence of CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺, and forkhead box protein P3-positive (FOXP3⁺) TILs in tumor tissues obtained from 93 patients during surgery was examined using immunohistochemistry. The 3-year overall survival (OS) of patients with a low CD8/FOXP3 ratio was significantly lower than that of patients with a high CD8/FOXP3 ratio (63.8% vs. 87.3%, p = 0.001). Patients with high FOXP3 had a significantly lower 3-year regional recurrence-free survival (RRFS) than did patients with low FOXP3 (49.3% vs. 87.3%, univariate log rank p = 0.000). A low CD4/FOXP3 ratio (68.4% vs. 93.7%, univariate log rank p = 0.002) was significantly unfavorable prognostic factors for 3-year distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS). In addition to clinicopathological characteristics, TIL markers represent prognosticators for clinical outcomes.

[en] Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently been reported as a predictor of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its prognostic value in HCC still remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association between NLR and clinical outcome of HCC patients by performing meta-analysis. A comprehensive literature search for relevant studies published up to August 2013 was performed by using PubMed, Ovid, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases. Meta-analysis was performed using hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) as effect measures. A total of 15 studies encompassing 3094 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Our pooled results showed that high NLR was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) in HCC initially treated by liver transplantation (HR = 3.42, 95% CI:2.41-4.85,P = 0.000; HR = 5.90, 95% CI:3.99-8.70,P = 0.000, respectively) and surgical resection (HR = 3.33, 95% CI:2.23-4.98, P = 0.000; HR = 2.10, 95% CI: 2.06–2.14, respectively). High NLR was also associated with poor OS in HCC treated by radiofrequency-ablation (HR = 1.28, 95%CI: 1.10-1.48, P = 0.000), TACE (HR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.64-3.86, P = 0.000) and mixed treatment (HR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.40-2.44, P = 0.000), respectively. In addition, high NLR was significantly correlated with the presence of vascular invasion (OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 2.01–3.59, P = 0.000), tumor multifocality (OR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.30–2.34, P = 0.000) and higher incidence of AFP ≥ 400 ng/ml (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.01–2.09, P = 0.04). Elevated NLR indicates a poor prognosis for patients with HCC. NLR may be a convenient, easily-obtained, low cost and reliable biomarker with prognostic potential for HCC

[en] LAG3 is a surface molecule found on a subset of immune cells. The precise function of LAG3 appears to be context-dependent. In this study, we investigated the effect of LAG3 on CD4⁺CD25^- T cells from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We found that in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of NSCLC patients, LAG3 was significantly increased in CD4⁺ T cells directly ex vivo and primarily in the CD4⁺CD25^- fraction, which was regulated by prolonged TCR stimulation and the presence of IL-27. TCR stimulation also increased CD25 expression, but not Foxp3 expression, in LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- cells Compared to LAG3-nonexpressing CD4⁺CD25^- cells, LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- cells presented significantly higher levels of PD1 and TIM3, two inhibitory receptors best described in exhausted CD8⁺ T effector cells. LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- cells also presented impaired proliferation compared with LAG3-nonexpressing CD4⁺CD25^- cells but could be partially rescued by inhibiting both PD1 and TIM3. Interestingly, CD8⁺ T cells co-incubated with LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- cells at equal cell numbers demonstrated significantly lower proliferation than CD8⁺ T cells incubated alone. Co-culture with CD8⁺ T cell and LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- T cell also upregulated soluble IL-10 level in the supernatant, of which the concentration was positively correlated with the number of LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- T cells. In addition, we found that LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- T cells infiltrated the resected tumors and were present at higher frequencies of in metastases than in primary tumors. Taken together, these data suggest that LAG3-expressing CD4⁺CD25^- T cells represent another regulatory immune cell type with potential to interfere with anti-tumor immunity.

[en] Short communication

[en] Human lymphocytes exposed to low doses of X-rays become refractory to the subsequent induction of chromosomal damage by high doses of radiation. The current study was designed to test the effect of pre-treatment of human T-lymphocytes with a low dose of X-rays on the induction of mutations at the hprt locus by a subsequent challenge dose. When cells were exposed to 1 cGy X-rays 24 h after phytohemag-glutinin stimulation, the yield of mutations induced by a 300 cGy X-ray dose given 16 h later was reduced by approximately 70% from the control level of X-ray-induced mutations. This indicates that this previously described adaptive response to low dose X-rays also results in lymphocytes becoming refractory to the induction of gene mutations. (author). 22 refs.; 2 tabs