Monday, November 12, 2007

Nov. 14th (Wed)

On Wednesday, Nov. 14th, starting at Noon in CCSR 4205, Shannon D. (Steinman Lab) will present:

Stimulation of the Intracellular Bacterial Sensor NOD2 Programs Dendritic Cells to Promote Interleukin-17 Production in Human Memory T Cells


Astrid J. van Beelen, Zuzana Zelinkova, Esther W. Taanman-Kueter, Femke J. Muller, Daniel W. Hommes, Sebastian A.J. Zaat, Martien L. Kapsenberg, and Esther C. de Jong

Immunity. Volume 27, Issue 4, 26 October 2007, Pages 660-669

Link to article: click here

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Shannon's teaser:

This paper by van Beelen and colleagues describes how bacteria can drive the generation human Th17 cells. The authors show that microbial products bind to and work via TLRs and NOD2 in dendritic cells to induce expression of IL-1 and IL-23, which are requisite for IL-17 production by human CD4+ T cells.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Oct. 31st (Wed)

On Wednesday, Oct. 31st, starting at Noon in CCSR 4205, Emily S. (Robinson Lab) will present:

Communicable ulcerative colitis induced by T-bet deficiency in the innate immune system


Wendy S. Garrett, Graham M. Lord, Shivesh Punit, Geanncarlo Lugo-Villarino, Sarkis K. Mazmanian, Susumu Ito, Jonathan N. Glickman, and Laurie H. Glimcher

Cell, Vol 131, 33-45, 05 October 2007

Link to article: click here

Monday, October 22, 2007

Oct. 24th (Wed)

On Wednesday, Oct. 24th, starting at Noon in CCSR 4205, Tin M. (Chen Lab) will present:

Regulation of the germinal center response by microRNA-155

Thai TH, Calado DP, Casola S, Ansel KM, Xiao C, Xue Y, Murphy A, Frendewey D, Valenzuela D, Kutok JL, Schmidt-Supprian M, Rajewsky N, Yancopoulos G, Rao A, Rajewsky K.

Science. 2007 Apr 27;316(5824):604-8.

Link to article: click here

and

Requirement of bic/microRNA-155 for normal immune function

Rodriguez A, Vigorito E, Clare S, Warren MV, Couttet P, Soond DR, van Dongen S, Grocock RJ, Das PP, Miska EA, Vetrie D, Okkenhaug K, Enright AJ, Dougan G, Turner M, Bradley A.

Science. 2007 Apr 27;316(5824):608-11.

Link to article: click here

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Tin's teaser:

MicroRNAs represent a fundamental layer of gene regulation that mediate posttranscriptional gene repression by binding to complementary mRNA transcripts of target genes. While small in stature, their impressions can be felt across various biological processes as computational prediction suggests that at least one-third of all protein-coding genes are regulated by miRNAs. Their role on the immune system was recently appreciated as two independent groups knocked out the gene that encodes for microRNA-155. T cells, B cells, and dendritic cells were all found to function improperly in these mutant mice and contributed to their immunodeficiency. Mir-155-deficient mice were unable to generate normal germinal center reactions, thereby impairing T cell-dependent antibody responses. These mutant mice also displayed significant lung airway remodeling that was consistent asthma pathology. Moreover, when vaccinated with an attenuated form of Samonella, the animals failed to develop protective immunity with the majority of mice succumbing to the virulent strain within a month. These observations suggest that miR-155 plays an important role in the homeostasis and function of the immune system. These studies also underscores the broad impact one particular microRNA can have by controlling multiple genes.