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Recent studies have revealed that following injuries, ligament tissues such as anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL), release large amounts of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). These enzymes have a devastating effect on the healing process of the injured ligaments. Although these enzymes are produced following ligament injuries, because of different healing capacities seen between the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and ACL, we were curious to find if the MMP activity was expressed and modulated differently in these tissues. For this purpose ACL and MCL fibroblasts were seeded on equi-biaxial stretch chambers and were stretched in different levels. The stretched cells were assayed using Zymography, Western Blot and global MMP activity assays. The results showed that within 72 h after injurious stretch, production of 72 kD pro-MMP-2 increased in both ACL and MCL. However, the ACL fibroblasts generated significantly more pro-MMP-2 than the MCL fibroblasts. Furthermore we found in ACL pro-MMP-2 was converted more into active form. With 4-aminophenyl mercuric acetate (APMA) treatment, large amounts of pro-MMP-2 were converted into active form in both. This indicates that there is no significant difference between ACL and MCL fibroblasts in post-translational modification of MMP-2. The fluorescent MMP activity assays revealed that the MMP family activities were higher in the injured ACL fibroblasts than the MCL. Since the MMPs are critically involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover, these findings may explain one of the reasons why the injured ACL hardly repairs. The higher levels of active MMP-2 seen in the ACL injuries may disrupt the delicate balance of ECM remodeling process. These results suggest that the generation and modulation of MMP-2 may be directly involved in the different responses seen in ACL and MCL injuries.

All raw data and information can be accessed from http://refdic.rcai.riken.jp/. The microarray data is also available at http://cibex.nig.ac.jp/ under CIBEX accession no. CBX19, and http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/ under PRIDE accession numbers 2354-2378 and 2414.

Background The status of the sentinel lymph node in melanoma is an important prognostic factor. The clinical predictors and implications of false-negative (FN) biopsy remain debatable. Methods We compared patients with positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) [true positive (TP)] and negative SNB with and without regional recurrence [FN, true negative (TN)] from our prospective institutional database. Results Among 2986 patients (84 FN, 494 TP, and 2408 TN; median follow-up 93 months), the incidence of FN-SNB was 2.8 %. While calculated FN rate was 14.5 % [84 FN/(494 TP + 84 FN) × 100], when we accounted for local/in-transit recurrence (LITR) this rate was 8.5 % [46 FN/(494 TP + 46 FN) × 100 %]. On multivariate analysis, male gender (OR 2.0, 95 % CI 1.1–3.6, p = 0.018), head/neck primaries (OR 2.5, 95 % CI 1.3–4.8, p < 0.006), and LITR (OR 3.5, 95 % CI 2.1–5.8, p < 0.001) were associated with FN-SNB. Melanoma-specific survival (MSS) for the FN group was similar to the TP group at 5 years (68 vs. 73 %, p = 0.539). However, MSS declined more for the FN group with a longer follow up and was significantly worse at 10 years (44 vs. 64 %, p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, FN-SNB was a significant predictor of worse MSS in melanomas <4 mm in Breslow thickness (HR 1.6; 95 % CI 1.1–2.5, p = 0.021). Conclusions Male gender, LITR, and head and neck tumors were associated with FN-SNB. FN-SNB was an independent predictor of worse MSS in melanomas <4 mm in thickness, but this survival difference did not become apparent until after 5 years of follow-up.

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We report here that the delivery of both alpha-galactosylceramide (alphaGalCer), a representative ligand for invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, and an antigenic polypeptide to marginal zone B cells induces the differentiation of regulatory cells in vivo, and suppresses the secondary antibody responses in mice. Splenic CD21+ CD23- B cells of mice treated with alphaGalCer-liposomes produce IL-10 when co-cultured with iNKT cells, whereas the cells treated with aqueous alphaGalCer fail to do so. Adoptive transfer of the B cells into syngenic mice leads to the expansion of splenic CD11c(low) CD45RB(high) cells, which convert naive CD4+ T cells from RAG2-deficient DO11.10 mice to CD4+ CD25(high) Foxp3+ T cells in the presence of OVA323-339 peptide. Administration of alphaGalCer-OVA-liposomes into OVA-primed mice causes the development of CD4+ CD25(high) Foxp3+ T cells that produce both IL-10 and IFN-gamma, and induced the antigen-specific suppression of the secondary antibody responses when boosted with OVA alone. These results indicate that antigen-containing alphaGalCer-liposomes can facilitate the development of tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells and inducible regulatory T cells that are involved in the suppression of immune responses to antigens.

There are racial and socioeconomic disparities in the treatment of stage II-III rectal cancer in AYAs, many of which impact OS. Interventions that can address and mitigate these differences may lead to improvements in OS for some patients.

Using an allergen-induced airway inflammation model, we show that an injection of α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), a ligand for invariant NK T (iNKT) cells, induced IL-27 and that this process is essential for the attenuation of the Th2 response. After the systemic administration of α-GalCer into the mice primed with OVA in alum, Th2 cytokine production of OVA-primed CD4+ T cells in their lymph nodes, IgG1 and IgE Ab formation, and infiltration of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage after the OVA challenge were suppressed. Systemic administration of rIFN-γ into OVA-primed mice could not reproduce these effects of α-GalCer. IL-27p28 was detected both in the culture supernatant of α-GalCer-stimulated spleen cells and in the serum of the α-GalCer-treated mice, but not in the iNKT cell-deficient mice. Splenic iNKT cells produced IL-27p28 in the culture supernatant upon stimulation with PMA plus ionomycin, although the transcript of IL-27p28 in the iNKT cells was constitutively expressed regardless of the stimulation. By contrast, the transcript of IL-27EBI3 was induced in the iNKT cells upon stimulation with PMA plus ionomycin in vitro and with α-GalCer treatment in vivo, suggesting that IL-27 (p28/EBI3) could be produced by iNKT cells in an activation-dependent manner. Although repeated injections of rIL-27 did not substitute for the effects of a single injection of α-GalCer, administration of rIL-27 along with rIFN-γ reproduced in vivo effects of the α-GalCer injection. These data indicate that production of both IL-27 and IFN-γ by the α-GalCer treatment is responsible for suppression of the Th2 response and allergic inflammation.