Despite the importance of TEC to the immune system, fundamental questions regarding their differentiation, turnover, and function throughout life remain unanswered. This knowledge gap is largely due to technical difficulties in isolating, quantifying, and purifying this rare cell type. Here, we describe methods for the enzymatic digestion of the thymus to obtain single-cell suspensions of TEC, their analysis by flow cytometry, enrichment using

magnetic beads, and purification for a variety of downstream applications. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. “
“Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute vasculitis syndrome of unknown aetiology in children. The administration of Candida cell wall antigens induced KD-like coronary vasculitis in mice. However, the responses of KD patients to Candida cell wall antigen are unknown. In this study, we examined the response of KD patients to β-glucan (BG), one of the Selleck X-396 major fungal cell wall antigens, by measuring the anti-BG titre. In KD patients, the anti-C. albicans cell wall BG titre was higher than that in normal children. The anti-BG titre was also higher in KD patients compared to children who find more served as control subjects. The efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)

therapy in KD is well established. We categorized the KD patients into three groups according to the therapeutic efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and compared the anti-BG titre among these groups. Anti-BG titres were similar in the control group and the non-responsive group. In the fully responsive group, the anti-BG titre showed higher values

than those in the normal children. This study demonstrated clinically that KD patients have high antibody titres to Candida cell wall BG, and suggested the involvement of Candida cell wall BG in the pathogenesis of KD. The relationship between IVIG therapy and anti-BG titre was also Cediranib (AZD2171) shown. These results provide valuable insights into the therapy and diagnosis of KD. “
“Citation Rozner AE, Dambaeva SV, Drenzek JG, Durning M, Golos TG. Modulation of cytokine and chemokine secretions in rhesus monkey trophoblast co-culture with decidual but not peripheral blood monocyte–derived macrophages. Am J Reprod Immunol 2011; 66: 115–127 Problem  Decidual macrophages are thought to promote pregnancy success, in part through interactions with invading trophoblast cells in hemochorial placentation. However, the factors that constitute this regulatory cross talk are not well understood. Method of study  Rhesus monkey decidual and peripheral blood–derived macrophages were co-cultured with primary Rhesus trophoblasts. Macrophage functions including cell-surface marker expression, antigen uptake and processing, in vitro migration, and cytokine and chemokine secretions were evaluated.