We have established a novel immunotherapeutic approach involving dendritic cells (DCs) with potent immunoregulatory property (designated as regulatory DCs [rDCs]) for acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and leukemia relapse in allogeneic bone marrow (BM) transplantation (BMT) in mice bearing leukemia. rDCs displayed high levels of MHC molecules and extremely low levels of costimulatory molecules. A single injection of rDCs following allogeneic BMT controlled the ability of the transplanted T cells to induce acute GVHD and graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect in the recipients bearing leukemia, and that resulted in protection from the lethality caused by acute GVHD and tumor burden. Thus, the use of rDCs may be therapeutically useful for the treatment of acute GVHD and leukemia relapse in allogeneic BMT.

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Objective. To elucidate the role played by HLA-B51 in the neutrophil hyperfunction of Behqet's disease, we determined the superoxide production by purified peripheral blood neutrophils from Behqet's disease patients, from HLA-B51 positive healthy individuals, and from HLA-B51 transgenic mice, Methods. Neutrophil function was evaluated by flow cytometric analysis, detecting the conversion of 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate into dichlorofluorescein, induced by superoxide in the neutrophils.Results. A significant correlation between the neutrophil hyperfunction and the possession of HLA-B51 phenotype, regardless of the presence of the disease, was observed in humans. FMLP-stimulated neutrophils (without in vitro priming) from HLA-BS1 transgenic mice, but not those from HLA-B35 transgenic mice or from nontransgenic mice, produced substantial amounts of superoxide.Conclusion. The HLA-BS1 molecule itself may be responsible, at least in part, for neutrophil hyperfunction in Behqet's disease.

SUMMARYBD is prevalent in the area of the Silk Route. It has been shown that hsp are involved in the T cell activation in patients with BD in the UK, where this disease has developed sporadically. We have thus examined whether the T cell response to the hsp-derived peptides may be induced in patients with BD in Japan, an east pole of the Silk Route. As with patients in the UK, the human 60-kD hsp peptide 336-351 also yielded vigorous proliferation of T cells in Japanese patients with BD, but neither in normal subjects nor in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); there was significant association between proliferation by this peptide and the presence of ocular lesion, but not any other symptoms of BD. To clarify whether the peptide stimulates T cells as a polyclonal activator, a specific antigen or a superantigen-like substance, we analysed T cell receptor (TCR) usage of responding T cells by means of MoAbs specific for TCR Vb subfamily and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)-based technique. We found that T cells with certain TCR Vb subfamilies (including Vb5.2-3, 8, 13.6, 18, 21.3) were increased in circulation and responded to the hsp peptide in an antigen-specific fashion. In addition, TCR Vb gene-amplified products of freshly isolated T cells of patients with BD formed several bands in the PCR-SSCP analysis; some of them became prominent after stimulation with the peptide. This suggests that T cells in patients with this disease have already been expanded oligoclonally in vivo, which may be a result of stimulation by triggering antigens, including the hsp peptide. In addition, hsp peptide stimulation induced proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, including IL-8, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) and TNF-b in eight out of eight patients studied. Taken together, the results suggest that hsp antigen may play a role in the pathogenesis of BD, not only in the area of the Silk Route, but also outside the Silk Route area.

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Phenotypic and functional properties of γδ T cells, which play an important role in mucocutaneous immunity, were examined to elucidate whether immunological abnormality in Behc¸et's disease may be related to a specific T cell population. We found that CD45RA+Vγ9+Vδ2+γδ T cells, which constitute a minor population of γδ T cells in healthy individuals, were increased in number in Behc¸et's disease irrespective of disease activity. This CD45RA+ subset of γδ T cells in the active, but not inactive, phase of this disease expressed IL‐2Rβ and HLA‐DR, suggesting that they are activated in vivo in active Behc¸et's disease. In addition, the CD45RA+γδ T cells produced extreme amounts of tumour necrosis factor and contained perforin granules. These data indicate that a phenotypically distinct subset of γδ T cells, CD45RA+CD45RO−Vγ9+Vδ2+, may contribute to immunological abnormalities which may lead to complexity of pathophysiology in Behc¸et's disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSEIL-31, which is described as a pruritogenic cytokine, is linked to the itching that is associated with allergic and non-allergic eczema, but the precise pruritogenic mechanism of IL-31 and its potential as a therapeutic target for atopic dermatitis (AD) have not been determined. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHWe investigated the effects of existing drugs on the scratching behaviour induced by an i.v. injection of IL-31 to clarify whether IL-31 induced pruritus indirectly. In addition, we studied the effects of an anti-IL-31 receptor α subunit (anti-IL-31 receptor α) neutralizing antibody on chronic pruritus-inducing dermatitis in an AD-like model to determine whether IL-31 not only induces scratching behaviour, but is also the causative factor in an AD phenotype. KEY RESULTSThe scratching behaviour induced by an i.v. injection of IL-31 was inhibited by pretreatment with an anti-IL-31 receptor α-neutralizing antibody. In contrast, it was not inhibited significantly by a non-sedative antihistamine (terfenadine), immunosuppressants (dexamethasone and tacrolimus), or a μ-opioid receptor antagonist (naloxone). The anti-IL-31 receptor α-neutralizing antibody reduced the ear swelling and dermatitis score in a chronic pruritus-inducing AD-like model. Moreover, treatment with the anti-IL-31 receptor α-neutralizing antibody showed therapeutic effects on the dermatitis even if it was injected after the disease had developed. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSAnti-IL-31 receptor α is a potential novel therapeutic approach for escaping from the itch-scratch cycle and also a treatment for dermatitis in AD. AbbreviationsAb, antibody; AD, atopic dermatitis; CS, contact sensitivity; OSMR, oncostatin M receptor; PiCl, picryl chloride; Th2, T helper 2 Table lists key protein targets and ligands in this document, which are hyperlinked to corresponding entries in http:// www.guidetopharmacology.org, the common portal for data from the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY (Pawson et al., 2014) and are permanently archived in the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14 (Alexander et al., 2013a. BJP IntroductionAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, highly pruritic and inflammatory skin disease characterized by disease exacerbations and remission. In AD, a major diagnostic criterion that impairs the patient's quality of life is persistent pruritus (Williams et al., 1994;Hanifin, 1999), which is also a cause of a more severe phenotype known as the itch-scratch cycle. In the itchscratch cycle the strong actions of scratching facilitate both the susceptibility to increased itching and the exacerbation of skin lesions in patients with AD (Koblenzer, 1999;Stander and Steinhoff, 2002). Therefore, to escape from this vicious cycle by reducing the itching is crucial for preventing this aggravation of skin lesions and for improving the quality of life of patients with AD (Finlay, 2001;Greaves and Khalifa, 2004). The mediators that induce chronic scratching behaviour have not been fully characterized, and remedies for persistent pruritus have no...