The FSCM allows excellent cell growth, is not immunogenic and is well-tolerated in the cornea, and thus meets the basic criteria to serve as a scaffold to reconstitute the cornea.

No abstract

Sézary syndrome (SS) is an aggressive cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma with CD4+ tumor cells localized in the skin, lymph nodes and peripheral blood. Characteristic molecular aberrancies in SS have been identified; however, paucity of functional models severely hampered the translation of these observations into pathogenic mechanisms, and subsequent validation of novel therapeutic targets. We therefore developed a mouse model for SS using intrahepatic injection of SS cells in newborn immunodeficient RAG2−/− γc−/− mice that are completely devoid of T‐, B‐ and NK‐cell activity. Injection of the SS cell line SeAx led to long‐term and reproducible systemic repopulation of the mice. Injection of mice with the SS cell line HuT‐78 led to the death of the mice owing to massive growth of internal tumors. Four weeks after injection of primary SS cells, human CD3+ T cells could be tracked back in the liver, peripheral blood, lymph nodes, spleen and skin of the mice, although the engraftment rate varied when using cells from different patients. In conclusion, we demonstrate that injection of SS cell lines or primary cells in newborn RAG2−/− γc−/− mice results in long‐term systemic repopulation of the mice, thereby providing a novel mouse model for Sézary syndrome.

No abstract

Our standard procedure for phenotypic and functional analysis of immune cells present in the placenta is to isolate leukocytes from the decidua within five hours of the delivery. However, this results in logistical problems with deliveries at night, weekends or in other medical centers. Collecting placentas after complicated pregnancies is even more difficult owing to the low prevalence and the often unscheduled delivery. The aim was to investigate the possibility of preserving the human placenta before phenotypic and functional analysis of decidual lymphocytes. Placentas were obtained after uncomplicated pregnancy. The tissue was divided into two equal parts: decidual lymphocytes from one part were isolated within five hours according to our standard procedure, whereas the other part was preserved in either Celsior(®), a storage solution for solid organ preservation, or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 24h at 4°C before isolation. Overall, the phenotype and functional capacity of decidual lymphocytes isolated within five hours was comparable to decidual lymphocytes isolated after 24-h preservation in Celsior(®) or PBS. Minor differences were found between decidual lymphocytes isolated within five hours and decidual lymphocytes isolated after 24-h preservation in Celsior(®). The results indicate that PBS is sufficient to preserve the placenta for 24h for phenotypical and functional studies. The ability to preserve the placenta will simplify the procedure for the isolation of decidual lymphocytes and makes it easier to analyze tissue from women who deliver during the night, at weekends or in other hospitals, and possibly even women with complicated pregnancies.