Diverse Roles of Immune Cells in Transplant Rejection and Immune Tolerance

Organ transplant rejection(OTR)is a complex immune reaction involving multiple cells,and it determines graft survival and patient prognosis.At present,most transplant recipients are administered a combination of immunosuppressive and biological agents to protect them from OTR.However,immunosuppressive agents negatively impact the immune system of the patients,causing them to suffer from serious complications,such as chronic infection and malignant tumors.Therefore,a thorough understanding of the mechanisms involved in immune tolerance and immune rejection with regard to organ transplant(OT)is essential for developing better treatment options and improving patient outcomes.This article reviews the role of immune cells in OTR and organ transplant tolerance(OTT),including the novel cell therapies that are currently under clinical trials for transplant recipients.

ADAPTIVE LAYERED CARTESIAN CUT CELL METHOD FOR THE UNSTRUCTURED HEXAHEDRAL GRIDS GENERATION

Adaptive layered Cartesian cut cell method is presented to solve the difficulty of the tmstructured hexahedral anisotropic Cartesian grids generation from the complex CAD model. ＂Vertex merging algorithm based on relaxed AVL tree is investigated to construct topological structure for stereo lithography （STL） files, and a topology-based self-adaptive layered slicing algorithm with special features control strategy is brought forward. With the help of convex hull, a new points-in-polygon method is employed to improve the Cartesian cut cell method. By integrating the self-adaptive layered slicing algorithm and the improved Cartesian cut cell method, the adaptive layered Cartesian cut cell method gains the volume data of the complex CAD model in STL file and generates the unstructured hexahedral anisotropic Cartesian grids.

Immunopathology of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) results from a complex series of interactions between susceptibility genes, the environment, and the immune system. The host microbiome, as well as viruses and fungi, play important roles in the development of IBD either by causing inflammation directly or indirectly through an altered immune system. New technologies have allowed researchers to be able to quantify the various components of the microbiome, which will allow for future developments in the etiology of IBD. Various components of the mucosal immune system are implicated in the pathogenesis of IBD and include intestinal epithelial cells, innate lymphoid cells, cells of the innate (macrophages/monocytes, neutrophils, and dendritic cells) and adaptive (T-cells and B-cells) immune system, and their secreted mediators (cytokines and chemokines). Either a mucosal susceptibility or defect in sampling of gut luminal antigen, possibly through the process of autophagy, leads to activation of innate immune response that may be mediated by enhanced toll-like receptor activity. The antigen presenting cells then mediate the differentiation of naïve T-cells into effector T helper (Th) cells, including Th1, Th2, and Th17, which alter gut homeostasis and lead to IBD. In this review, the effects of these components in the immunopathogenesis of IBD will be discussed.

Adaptive immune response during hepatitis C virus infection

Hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection affects about 170 million people worldwide and it is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.HCV is a hepatotropic non-cytopathic virus able to persist in a great percentage of infected hosts due to its ability to escape from the immune control.Liver damage and disease progression during HCV infection are driven by both viral and host factors.Specifically,adaptive immune response carries out an essential task in controllingnon-cytopathic viruses because of its ability to recognize infected cells and to destroy them by cytopathic mechanisms and to eliminate the virus by non-cytolytic machinery.HCV is able to impair this response by several means such as developing escape mutations in neutralizing antibodies and in T cell receptor viral epitope recognition sites and inducing HCV-specific cytotoxic T cell anergy and deletion.To impair HCV-specific T cell reactivity,HCV affects effector T cell regulation by modulating T helper and Treg response and by impairing the balance between positive and negative co-stimulatory molecules and between pro-and antiapoptotic proteins.In this review,the role of adaptive immune response in controlling HCV infection and the HCV mechanisms to evade this response are reviewed.

Harnessing memory adaptive regulatory T cells to control autoimmunity in type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes(T1D)results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing b-cells in the pancreatic islets.There is an immediate need to restore both b-cell function and immune tolerance to control disease progression and ultimately cure T1D.Currently,there is no effective treatment strategy to restore glucose regulation in patients with T1D.FoxP3-expressing CD4^(+) regulatory T cells(Tregs)are potential candidates to control autoimmunity because they play a central role in maintaining self-tolerance.However,deficiencies in either naturally occurring Tregs(nTregs)themselves and/or their ability to control pathogenic effector T cells have been associated with T1D.Here,we hypothesize that nTregs can be replaced by FoxP3^(+) adaptive Tregs(aTregs),which are uniquely equipped to combat autoreactivity in T1D.Unlike nTregs,aTregs are stable and provide long-lived protection.In this review,we summarize the current understanding of aTregs and their potential for use as an immunological intervention to treat T1D.

Aneuploidy in pluripotent stem cells and implications for cancerous transformation

Owing to a unique set of attributes, human pluripotent stem cells （hPSCs） have emerged as a promising cell source for regenerative medicine, disease modeling and drug discovery. Assurance of genetic stability over long term maintenance of hPSCs is pivotal in this endeavor, but hPSCs can adapt to life in culture by acquiring non-random genetic changes that render them more robust and easier to grow. In separate studies between 12.5% and 34% of hPSC lines were found to acquire chromosome abnormalities over time, with the incidence increasing with passage number. The predominant genetic changes found in hPSC lines involve changes in chromosome number and structure （particularly of chromosomes 1, 12, 17 and 20）, remi- niscent of the changes observed in cancer cells. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on the causes and consequences of aneuploidy in hPSCs and highlight the potential links with genetic changes observed in human cancers and early embryos. We point to the need for comprehensive characterization of mechanisms underpinning both the acquisition of chromosomal abnormalities and selection pressures, which allow mutations to persist in hPSC cultures. Elucidation of these mechanisms will help to design culture conditions that minimize the appearance of aneuploid hPSCs. Moreover, aneuploidy in hPSCs may provide a unique platform to analyse the driving for- ces behind the genome evolution that may eventually lead to cancerous transformation.

Targeting tumor microenvironment for non-small cell lung cancer immunotherapy

The tumor microenvironment(TME)is composed of different cellular and non-cellular elements.Constant inter-actions between tumor cells and the TME are responsible for tumor initiation,tumor progression,and responses to therapies.Immune cells in the TME can be classified into two broad categories,namely adaptive and innate immunity.Targeting these immune cells has attracted substantial research and clinical interest.Current research focuses on identifying key molecular players and developing targeted therapies.These approaches may offer more efficient ways of treating different cancers.In this review,we explore the heterogeneity of the TME in non-small cell lung cancer,summarize progress made in targeting the TME in preclinical and clinical studies,discuss the potential predictive value of the TME in immunotherapy,and highlight the promising effects of bispecific antibodies in the era of immunotherapy.