103,004 research outputs found
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor protects from nonmelanoma epidermal tumors by regulating the number of antigen-presenting cells in skin
No full textThe response of the skin to harmful environmental agents is shaped decisively by the status of the immune system. Keratinocytes constitutively express and secrete the chemokine-like mediator, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), more strongly than dermal fibroblasts, thereby creating a MIF gradient in skin. By using global and epidermis-restricted Mif-knockout (Mif(-1-) and K14-Cre(+ltg) ;Mif(fllft)) mice, we found that MIF both recruits and maintains antigen-presenting cells in the dermis/epidermis. The reduced presence of antigen-presenting cells in the absence of MIF was associated with accelerated and increased formation of nonmelanoma skin tumors during chemical carcinogenesis. Our results demonstrate that MIF is essential for maintaining innate immunity in skin. Loss of keratinocyte-derived MIF leads to a loss of control of epithelial skin tumor formation in chemical skin carcinogenesis, which highlights an unexpected tumor-suppressive activity of MIF in murine skin.- Brocks, T., Fedorchenko, O., Schliermann, N., Stein, A., Moll, U. M., Seegobin, S., Dewor, M., Hallek, M., Marquardt, Y., Fietkau, K., Heise, R., Huth, S., Pfister, H., Bernhagen, J., Bucala, R., Baron, J. M., Fingerle-Rowson, G. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor protects from nonmelanoma epidermal tumors by regulating the number of antigen-presenting cells in skin
Dadagulella rondoensis Rowson & Tattersfield 2013, comb. nov.
No full textDadagulella rondoensis (Verdcourt, 1994) comb. nov. Figs 41, 84; Table 1 Gulella rondoensis Verdcourt, 1994: 137-139, fig. 1. Gulella rondoensis – Verdcourt 2006: 48. Type material examined TANZANIA: holotype SMF.310150: 1 ad., Rondo Forest Reserve, Rondo Plateau, Lindi District (10.12°S, 39.22°E), evergreen forest with Milicia Sim, Albizia Durazz., Dialium L., etc. in small gully and amphitheatre around a well on escarpment, 650 m alt., leg. Bidgood, Abdallah & Vollesen, 10 Feb. 1991 (examined digital photograph only). Other material examined None. Description SHELL (Fig. 41). Large (4.10 mm high x 2.20 mm wide), of 6.25 whorls. Subconical (maximum width being in bottom third of the shell, at body whorl). Spire narrowly acuminate, almost cyrtoconoid (convex) rather than coeloconoid (spire angle 52°). Apex sharply pointed. Embryonic whorls punctate or malleate, rather than merely granulate. Later whorls with relatively fine ribs (about 14 per mm on penultimate whorl). Sutures of intermediate depth. Umbilicus narrowly open. Peristome incomplete parietally. Dentition weak, 3-fold (although could be interpreted as 2-fold), consisting of: one lamellalike parietal tooth, with a swelling above it that recalls the one in D. conoidea; one weak palatal tooth, not forming a parieto-palatal sinus; and one very weak, shallow columellar swelling. Further minute swellings just perceptible in the holotype (Fig. 41) were not noted by Verdcourt (1994) who interpreted the dentition as 2-fold. Shells and anatomy of juveniles unknown. Range and habitat Forest at the type locality, southeastern Tanzania. Remarks This species differs from D. conoidea comb. nov. in its weaker dentition, smaller size, and in having punctate apical whorls. Along with D. conoidea comb. nov. and D. delta sp. nov. it has weaker dentition than other Dadagulella gen. nov. However, both D. rondoensis comb. nov. and D. conoidea comb. nov. are distinctively more conical, i.e. less ovate than other Dadagulella gen. nov. These two are attributed to the genus somewhat speculatively, on the basis of their acuminate spire and pointed apex. These features mean they do not obviously fit into Gulella or any of its named subgenera, or indeed other plausible streptaxid genera. No anatomical or juvenile shell data are available for either species, both being known from single specimens. The punctuate apex of D. rondoensis comb. nov., unique in Dadagulella gen. nov., may not be significant in this respect (see Rowson 2007b for a discussion on the value of apical sculpture in distinguishing African streptaxid genera). The apex of D. conoidea comb. nov. is less obviously punctuate, although it may have been worn smooth (Verdcourt 1996). In the description of D. rondoensis comb. nov., Verdcourt (1994) discussed a resemblance only to Gulella galactochila (Crosse, 1885), a much larger and more broadly acuminate Tanzanian species that we consider to lack the characteristic features of Dadagulella gen. nov. Although G. galactochila has not been dissected, the anatomy of another species very similar to it (G. udzungwensis van Bruggen, 2003) lacks the anatomical features of Dadagulella gen. nov. (Rowson unpublished). In his discussion of D. conoidea comb. nov., Verdcourt (1996) made no reference to either D. rondoensis comb. nov. or G. galactochila, but only to two species that we here treat in Dadagulella gen. nov. (D. r. radius comb. nov. and D. cuspidata comb. nov.). We contend firstly that D. rondoensis comb. nov. and D. conoidea comb. nov. are more similar to one another than either is to G. galactochila, and secondly that the resemblance between D. conoidea comb. nov., D. r. radius comb. nov. and D. cuspidata comb. nov. extends also to D. rondoensis comb. nov.. Our attribution of them to Dadagulella gen. nov. reflects this point of view.Published as part of Rowson, Ben & Tattersfield, Peter, 2013, Revision of Dadagulella gen. nov., the " Gulella radius group " (Gastropoda: Streptaxidae) of the eastern Afrotropics, including six new species and three new subspecies, pp. 1-46 in European Journal of Taxonomy 37 on pages 30-31, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2013.37, http://zenodo.org/record/380677
MIF is a noncognate ligand of CXC chemokine receptors in inflammatory and atherogenic cell recruitment
No full text© 2007 Nature Publishing GroupThe cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) plays a critical role in inflammatory diseases and atherogenesis. We identify the chemokine receptors CXCR2 and CXCR4 as functional receptors for MIF. MIF triggered G(alphai)- and integrin-dependent arrest and chemotaxis of monocytes and T cells, rapid integrin activation and calcium influx through CXCR2 or CXCR4. MIF competed with cognate ligands for CXCR4 and CXCR2 binding, and directly bound to CXCR2. CXCR2 and CD74 formed a receptor complex, and monocyte arrest elicited by MIF in inflamed or atherosclerotic arteries involved both CXCR2 and CD74. In vivo, Mif deficiency impaired monocyte adhesion to the arterial wall in atherosclerosis-prone mice, and MIF-induced leukocyte recruitment required Il8rb (which encodes Cxcr2). Blockade of Mif but not of canonical ligands of Cxcr2 or Cxcr4 in mice with advanced atherosclerosis led to plaque regression and reduced monocyte and T-cell content in plaques. By activating both CXCR2 and CXCR4, MIF displays chemokine-like functions and acts as a major regulator of inflammatory cell recruitment and atherogenesis. Targeting MIF in individuals with manifest atherosclerosis can potentially be used to treat this condition.Jürgen Bernhagen, Regina Krohn, Hongqi Lue, Julia L Gregory, Alma Zernecke, Rory R Koenen, Manfred Dewor, Ivan Georgiev, Andreas Schober, Lin Leng, Teake Kooistra, Günter Fingerle-Rowson, Pietro Ghezzi, Robert Kleemann, Shaun R McColl, Richard Bucala, Michael J Hickey & Christian Webe
Developing standards for autonomonous internet queries between remotely distributed travellers, journey planner services and scheduling dataservices
No full textPupa menkeana Pfeiffer, 1853, type species of the speciose land snail genus Gulella Pfeiffer, 1856: correction of longstanding PLVLGHQWL¿FDWLRQ DQG GHVLJQDWLRQ RI QHRW\SH (Mollusca: Eupulmonata: Streptaxidae)
No full textHerbert, D. G., Rowson, B. (2011): Pupa menkeana Pfeiffer, 1853, type species of the speciose land snail genus Gulella Pfeiffer, 1856: correction of longstanding PLVLGHQWL¿FDWLRQ DQG GHVLJQDWLRQ RI QHRW\SH (Mollusca: Eupulmonata: Streptaxidae). African Invertebrates 52 (2): 233, DOI: 10.5733/afin.052.0201, URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.5733/afin.052.020
Gulella : Pfeiffer 1856
No full textGenus Gulella Pfeiffer, 1856 Gulella: Pfeiffer 1856 a: 173. Type species Pupa menkeana Pfeiffer, 1853 [S.D. Martens 1860: 298].Published as part of Herbert, D. G. & Rowson, B., 2011, Pupa menkeana Pfeiffer, 1853, type species of the speciose land snail genus Gulella Pfeiffer, 1856: correction of longstanding PLVLGHQWL ¿ FDWLRQ DQG GHVLJQDWLRQ RI QHRW \ SH (Mollusca: Eupulmonata: Streptaxidae), pp. 233 in African Invertebrates 52 (2) on page 234, DOI: 10.5733/afin.052.0201, http://zenodo.org/record/791721
Journey Web:an Internet Protocol for mutual interrogation between local journeys planners providing a national public transport information system
No full textPractical Issues in prototyping a national, public transport journey-planning system using the JourneyWeb protocol
No full textThis research examined the requirements for multiple travelers to request a local, medium-distance, national, or international itinerary plan from any node of a public transport journey planner system using timetable or schedule data from numerous public transport companies and modes. It was resolved that a four-tier, client-server architecture and a distributed data service would best meet these requirements, using the Internet to exchange trip schedule data according to an agreed JourneyWeb protocol based on extended markup language. The JourneyWeb protocol is explained, and the field characteristics and attributes used in mutual data interrogation between itinerary planning services, allowing the web of services to expand, are defined. Successive iterations of a prototype system, first between two counties and then expanded to include a larger geographic area, demonstrate progress to date using real schedule data
Figs 1–7 in Two new species of Gulella (Mollusca Pulmonata: Streptaxidae) from the Taita Hills Kenya
No full textFigs 1–7. New Gulella species from Kenya: (1–3) G. ndiwenyiensis sp. n., holotype shell, length 4.9 mm; (4–7) G. nictitans sp. n.: (4–6) holotype shell (length 3.8 mm), (7) aperture of paratype 1.Published as part of B, Rowson, C, N & Lange, 2007, Two new species of Gulella (Mollusca Pulmonata: Streptaxidae) from the Taita Hills Kenya, pp. 21-32 in African Invertebrates 48 (2) on page 23, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.766804
Immunoblot analysis of the seroreactivity to recombinant Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato antigens, including VlsE, in the long-term course of treated patients with Erythema migrans
No full textObjective: We evaluated whether immunoblotting is capable of substantiating the posttreatment clinical assessment of patients with erythema migrans ( EM), the hallmark of early Lyme borreliosis. Methods: In 50 patients, seroreactivity to different antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was analyzed by a recombinant immunoblot test (IB) in consecutive serum samples from a minimum follow-up period of 1 year. Antigens in the IgG test were decorin- binding protein A, internal fragment of p41 (p41i), outer surface protein C (OspC), p39, variable major protein-like sequence expressed (VlsE), p58 and p100; those in the IgM test were p41i, OspC and p39. Immune responses were correlated with clinical and treatment-related parameters. Results: Positive IB results were found in 50% before, in 57% directly after therapy and in 44% by the end of the follow-up for the IgG class, and in 36, 43 and 12% for the IgM class. In acute and convalescence phase sera, VlsE was most immunogenic on IgG testing 60 and 70%), and p41i (46 and 57%) and OspC (40 and 57%) for the IgM class. By the end of the follow-up, only the anti-p41i lgM response was significantly decreased to 24%. Conclusions: No correlation was found between IB results and treatment-related parameters. Thus, immunoblotting does not add to the clinical assessment of EM patients after treatment. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel
- …
