Exploiting the diversity of time scales in the immune system: A B-cell antibody model

Using the continuous shape space formalism, we develop an immune system model involving both B lymphocytes and antibody molecules. The binding and cross-linking of receptors on B cells stimulates the cells to divide and, with a lag, to secrete antibody. Using the method of multiple scales, we show how to correctly formulate long-time-scale equations for the population dynamics of B cells, the total antibody concentration, and rate of antibody secretion. We compare our model with previous phenomenological formulations.     

唾液特异性抗体检测在旋毛虫病免疫诊断中的应用研究

目的:研究唾液特异性抗体检测在旋毛虫病诊断中的应用价值。方法:旋毛虫感染后1～6周日本大耳兔唾液和血清各120份,采用ELISA,同步检测旋毛虫感染不同时间段内,唾液和血清中特异性抗体并进行比较。结果:感染后1～6周,唾液抗体阳性率分别为0%～70.0%,血清抗体阳性率分别为5.0%～95.0%,经χ2检验两者间无显著性差异(P>0.05)(感染后第1～2周除外)。结论:采集简便、无创伤性的唾液可作为旋毛虫病免疫诊断的检测标本。     

基于免疫算法的组合预测方法

利用免疫算法搜索全局最优解能力,提出了一种其于免疫算法的组合预测权系数确定的新方法,并给出了具体算法.仿真实验结果表明了免疫算法在组合预测方面具有很好的可行性和有效性.     

孕激素相关子宫内膜蛋白在胃癌早期诊断、预后中的作用

为使用生物信息学系统分析孕激素相关子宫内膜蛋白(Progestagen-associated endometrial protein, PAEP)在胃癌中的早期诊断和预后预测性能及免疫浸润相关性,该研究构建预测模型ROC曲线和偏差校正曲线检验其性能准确性,并通过细胞实验进一步验证分析结果.生信分析结果显示,与正常组织相比,胃癌组织中PAEP的表达较高,在早期（T1期、N0期、M0期）即有统计学意义（P＜0.001）,且诊断胃癌的准确性较高（ROC曲线下面积为0.889）;PAEP高表达的胃癌患者预后较差（P≤0.001）;TNM分期越晚,年龄越大,PAEP表达越高,胃癌患者生存概率越低,偏差校正曲线接近理想曲线（45°线）,显示预测结果良好;PAEP的表达与胃癌中的中性粒细胞、巨噬细胞的浸润水平呈正相关趋势,与B细胞、中央记忆型T细胞、T细胞呈显著的负相关趋势.qRT-PCR和Western blot结果显示,HGC-27、BGC-823、MKN-45、SGC-7901和AGS细胞中PAEP基因转录水平和蛋白表达水平均显著高于GES-1. 结果表明了PAEP 蛋白可用于胃癌诊断和预后的生物标志物,并进行了实验验证,其机制与免疫有关.     

Methods for research on immune complement activation on modified sensor surfaces

We have developed a methodological system consisting of a new surface sensitive quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) sensor surfaces together with different surface modification methods for the investigation of surface associated complement activation in human sera. The QCM-D surface, 10 mm in diameter, was modified by spin-coating of poly(urethane urea) (PUUR) and polystyrene (PS). Some sensor surfaces were also sputtered with titanium (Ti) or modified by hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of an 18-carbon alkane thiol with a ---CH₃ end group. The amount of surface deposited complement protein was investigated by incubation of the modified sensor surfaces in human sera, followed by incubation with antibodies directed against complement factor 3c (C3c). The amounts of bound anti-C3c were then used as an arbitrary measure of surface induced complement activation. The order of complement activation of the different surfaces, as judged by three separate measurements per surface modification, was PUUR>PS=SAM>Ti. The Ti surface had a similar low degree of anti-C3c binding as the negative controls (heat inactivated sera). The novel QCM-D methodology was found to be very simple, accurate, sensitive and well suited as a screening method for complement activation and protein adsorption on different materials. We also compared the sensitivity of QCM-D method with surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for the quantification of protein adsorption and complement activation on gold sensor surfaces. The QCM-D method was equally sensitive as the SPR for the detection of protein adsorption from a solution independently if low flow rate (5 μl/min) was used. A slight increase in sensitivity was found at higher flow rate (30 μl/min). However, we found it difficult to use the SPR method on the Ti, PS and PUUR surfaces due to decreased light penetration of the modified SPR sensor chip.     

Solid phase immune reactions as monitored by sedimentation field-flow fractionation

Summary Sedimentation field-flow fractionation was shown to permit the precise evaluation of surface concentrations of human IgG, adsorbed to polystyrene latex spheres of different sizes. Unlike conventional techniques for measuring protein uptake by colloidal substrates, this method allowed a direct evaluation of mass adsorbed per unit area, without the need for potentially destructive labelling reactions. Thus, a four hour adsorption of IgG from a 3–10 fold excess of protein in solution yielded surface concentrations which were 1.4±0.1 mg/m² on a 272 nm latex and 1.9±0.1 mg/m² on a latex with a diameter of 142 nm. The lower value coincided with the estimated monolayer surface coverage. The IgG-PS 272 nm adsorption complex was shown to take up negligible amounts of HSA from a 10 mg/mL solution, while its specific uptake of a polyclonal rabbit anti-human IgG was 2.6 molecules per molecule of adsorbed antigen. The same ratio was found for the smaller particles. The surface concentration of adsorbed second antibody, often crucial in immunodiagnostic quantifications, was therefore found to be significantly enhanced by the increased substrate curvature presented by the smaller particles.Dedicated to Professor Leslie S. Ettre on the occasion of his 70th birthday.     

河北省海岛动力地貌分析

】分析了河北省海岛的现代沉积和动力地貌特征以及动力地貌成因。     

Revisiting the structural basis and energetic landscape of susceptibility difference between HLA isotypes to allergic rhinitis

The human leukocyte antigen class II (HLA II) molecules are implicated in the immunopathogenesis of allergic rhinitis (AR). The HLA II contains three allelic isotypes HLA-DR, -DQ, and -QP that exhibit considerably different susceptibility to AR. Here, we investigated the structural basis and energetic landscape of the susceptibility difference between the three HLA II isotypes to AR by combining computational analysis and experimental assay. Multiple sequence alignment revealed a low conservation among the three subtypes with sequence identity of ∼10% between them, suggesting that the peptide repertoires presented by HLA-DR, -DP and -DQ are not overlapped to each other, and they may be involved in different immune functions and dysfunctions. Structural analysis imparted that the antigenic peptides are rooted on the peptide-binding groove of HLA molecules and hold in a PPII-like helical conformation. Subsequently, the interaction behavior of 17 AR allergen-derived peptides with HLA-DR, −DP and −DQ was investigated using a statistics-based quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) predictor. It was found a significant difference between the binding capabilities of these antigenic peptides to HLA-DR and to HLA-DP/-DQ; the former showed a generally higher affinity than the latter with p-value of 0.02 obtained from 2-tailed Student’s t-test. The computational findings were then confirmed by HLA II–peptide stability assay, which demonstrated that the AR allergen-derived peptides have a high in vitro selectivity for HLA-DR over HLA-DP/-DQ. Thus, the HLA-DR isotype, rather than HLA-DP and −DQ, is expected to associate with the pathological process of AR.     

Fluorescent Probe ABM for Screening Gastrointestinal Patient’s Immune State

The fluorescent probe-aminoderivative of benzanthrone, ABM (developed at Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia) was used to characterize the membranes of lymphocytes of cancer patients: 46 patients with gastrointestinal diseases, 13 patients having different primary localizations with massive metastases and intoxication. Patients were divided into three groups: (1) with decreased fluorescence intensity, (2) normal fluorescence intensity, (3) increased fluorescence intensity. The lymphocytes distribution among subsets differed between groups, in correspondence to the level of florescence intensity. Surgical treatment affected the main immunological parameters and elevated the functional activity of lymphocytes. In the advanced tumors group, fluorescence intensity correlates with the survival rate. Results suggest that determination of lymphocytes functional activity by ABM can aid evaluation of the immune status in cancer patients.