抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Background The HER2 gene, which encodes the growth factor receptor HER2, is amplified and HER2 is overexpressed in 25 to 30 percent of breast cancers, increasing the aggressiveness of the tumor. Methods We evaluated the efficacy and safety of trastuzumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody against HER2, in women with metastatic breast cancer that overexpressed HER2. We randomly assigned 234 patients to receive standard chemotherapy alone and 235 patients to receive standard chemotherapy plus trastuzumab. Patients who had not previously received adjuvant (postoperative) therapy with an anthracycline were treated with doxorubicin (or epirubicin in the case of 36 women) and cyclophosphamide with (143 women) or without trastuzumab (138 women). Patients who had previously received adjuvant anthracycline were treated with paclitaxel alone (96 women) or paclitaxel with trastuzumab (92 women). Results The addition of trastuzumab to chemotherapy was associated with a longer time to disease progression (median, 7.4 ...

Use of Chemotherapy plus a Monoclonal Antibody against HER2 for Metastatic Breast Cancer That Overexpresses HER2

At high concentrations, free radicals and radical-derived, nonradical reactive species are hazardous for living organisms and damage all major cellular constituents. At moderate concentrations, how...

/pdf/free-radicals-in-the-physiological-control-of-cell-function-g3w3iyr0ph.pdf

Free Radicals in the Physiological Control of Cell Function

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) has been shown to have certain catabolic effects on fat cells and whole animals. An induction of TNF-alpha messenger RNA expression was observed in adipose tissue from four different rodent models of obesity and diabetes. TNF-alpha protein was also elevated locally and systemically. Neutralization of TNF-alpha in obese fa/fa rats caused a significant increase in the peripheral uptake of glucose in response to insulin. These results indicate a role for TNF-alpha in obesity and particularly in the insulin resistance and diabetes that often accompany obesity.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/259/5091/87.full.pdf

Adipose expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha: direct role in obesity-linked insulin resistance

background Trastuzumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody against HER2, has clinical activity in advanced breast cancer that overexpresses HER2. We investigated its efficacy and safety after excision of early-stage breast cancer and completion of chemotherapy. methods This international, multicenter, randomized trial compared one or two years of trastuzumab given every three weeks with observation in patients with HER2-positive and either node-negative or node-positive breast cancer who had completed locoregional therapy and at least four cycles of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. results Data were available for 1694 women randomly assigned to two years of treatment with trastuzumab, 1694 women assigned to one year of trastuzumab, and 1693 women assigned to observation. We report here the results only of treatment with trastuzumab for one year or observation. At the first planned interim analysis (median follow-up of one year), 347 events (recurrence of breast cancer, contralateral breast cancer, second nonbreast malignant disease, or death) were observed: 127 events in the trastuzumab group and 220 in the observation group. The unadjusted hazard ratio for an event in the trastuzumab group, as compared with the observation group, was 0.54 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.43 to 0.67; P<0.0001 by the log-rank test, crossing the interim analysis boundary), representing an absolute benefit in terms of disease-free survival at two years of 8.4 percentage points. Overall survival in the two groups was not significantly different (29 deaths with trastuzumab vs. 37 with observation). Severe cardiotoxicity developed in 0.5 percent of the women who were treated with trastuzumab. conclusions One year of treatment with trastuzumab after adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improves disease-free survival among women with HER2-positive breast cancer. (clinicaltrials.gov number, NCT 00045032.)

/pdf/trastuzumab-after-adjuvant-chemotherapy-in-her2-positive-4t3ym1k39n.pdf

Trastuzumab after adjuvant chemotherapy in HER2-positive breast cancer

An overview of the history and biologic properties of tumor necrosis factors.

Cytotoxic T-cells were derived from the peritoneal cavity of a C57BL/6 mouse immunized with BALB/c sarcoma Meth A and from the spleens of BALB/c × C57BL/6 F1 (hereafter called CB6F1) mice immunized with BALB/c leukemia RL♂1. The cells were cultured in interleukin 2 and cloned by limiting dilution, and their specificity was determined by direct tests and competitive inhibition assays. C57BL/6 anti-Meth A effector cells recognized H-2D d determinants. CB6F1 anti-RL♂1 effector cells recognized a unique cell surface antigen of leukemia RL♂1. The specificity was maintained in long-term culture. The cell surface phenotype of the cloned effector cell lines as determined by absorption analysis was Thy-1.2+, Lyt-1.2+, 2.2+, and 3.2+. Cytotoxicity was blocked at the target cell level by antisera against H-2D d , but not H-2D k or H-2 b , and at the effector cell level by antisera against Lyt-2.2 and 3.2, but not Lyt-1.2, Ly-5.1 or Thy-1.2.

https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/43/2/572.full.pdf

Characterization of interleukin 2-dependent cytotoxic T-cell clones: specificity, cell surface phenotype, and susceptibility to blocking by Lyt antisera.

Immunoprecipitation of [35S]methionine-labeled extracts of BALB/c thymocytes with mouse Lyt-2.2 monoclonal antibody yielded three components with subunit Mrs of 37,000, 32,000, and 28,000 on NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel in the presence of a reducing agent. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel analysis revealed that, in the absence of a reducing agent, the three polypeptide chains exist in the form of two heterodimers, each consisting of one molecule of a Mr 28,000 subunit covalently associated through disulfide bonds with either one Mr 37,000 subunit or one Mr 32,000 subunit. These two molecular structures are present in about equimolar ratios in the immunoprecipitate. Immunoautoradiographic analysis after electrophoretic transfer of proteins from a NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel to a nitrocellulose membrane indicated that the Lyt-2.2 determinant detected by the monoclonal antibody resides on the Mr 28,000 component, the common subunit of both heterodimeric structures. Lyt-2 precipitated from extracts of different T-cell growth factor-dependent cloned T-cell lines also showed similar structures, although the exact apparent Mrs of the respective components varied somewhat. The structure of the Lyt-2 antigen is of importance, particularly in the light of recent suggestions that it may be involved in the construction of one class of T-cell receptors.

Mouse Lyt-2 antigen: evidence for two heterodimers with a common subunit

Disclosed are methods of treating cancer, inflammatory conditions, and/or infectious disease in an animal comprising: administering to the animal, a therapeutically effective amount of a heterocyclic compound. The animal is a mammal, preferably a human or a rodent.

Methods of using [3.2.0] heterocyclic compounds and analogs thereof

OBJECTIVE: The in vivo neutralizing activities of an anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibody HA-1A (Centoxin [Centocor, Malvern, PA]), a human immunoglobulin M monoclonal antibody, and of bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), an endogenously produced human LPS-neutralizing protein, were studied in a primate model of lethal Escherichia coli bacteremia. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: HA-1A has been used with variable success against LPS activity in some animal models and in a recently reported clinical trial. However, no data assessing the efficacy of this agent in subhuman primates is available. Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein is a product of polymorphomononuclear cells (PMNs) that is stored in azurophilic granules and exhibits LPS-neutralizing activity in vitro and in some in vivo models. METHODS: Immediately after E. coli infusion and in a blinded fashion, three baboons were treated with BPI (5 mg/kg bolus infusion and 95 micrograms/kg/min infusion over 4 hr). Three animals received 3 mg/kg BW of HA-1A, whereas another three baboons received a placebo treatment. RESULTS: The BPI-treated animals demonstrated significantly (p < 0.03) lower circulating LPS-limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) activity compared with the control animals, but this reduction in LPS-LAL activity was not associated with improved survival. HA-1A treatment did not reduce LPS-LAL activity. However, both BPI and HA-1A treatment did attenuate the pro-inflammatory cytokine response. CONCLUSION: The current data suggests that incomplete neutralization of endotoxin activity does not alter mortality from severe bacteremia. Given the diversity of mediator production under such circumstances, a strategy of combination therapy in the form of anti-lipopolysaccharide and anticytokine treatment may be necessary to achieve optimal survival.

Michael A. Palladino

Papers

An overview of the history and biologic properties of tumor necrosis factors.

Characterization of interleukin 2-dependent cytotoxic T-cell clones: specificity, cell surface phenotype, and susceptibility to blocking by Lyt antisera.

Mouse Lyt-2 antigen: evidence for two heterodimers with a common subunit

Methods of using [3.2.0] heterocyclic compounds and analogs thereof

Anti-endotoxin therapy in primate bacteremia with HA-1A and BPI.