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Director of I Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research i (UCL) since January 2010, he is now professor of Tumor Immunology at the University of Oxford since September 2016 and director of de Duve Institute (UCL) since June 2019. Another founding member was B Raymond Hamers b (1932-2021), VUB professor in immunology on the same Rode campus. B I The Belgian Immunology Society was founded in 1978 but research in Immunology as a separate scientific medicine was already performed in the first half of the 20 SP th sp century, with a.o. the pioneering role of Jules Bordet. Paul Delvaux, Portrait de Jules Bordet, 1952, © Foundation Paul Delvaux, St. Idesbald, Belgium / SABAM Belgium 2022. gl Another famous Belgian immunologist was B Joseph F. Heremans b (1927-1975). [Extracted from the article]

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumour in adult humans. Therapeutic resistance and tumour recurrence after surgical removal contribute to poor prognosis for glioblastoma patients. Men are known to be more likely than women to develop an aggressive form of GB, and differences in sex steroids have emerged as a leading explanation for this finding. Studies indicate that the metabolism and proliferation of GB‐derived cells are increased by sex steroids, the expression of androgen receptors (ARs) and the synthesis of androgens and oestrogens, suggesting that these hormones have a role in the tumour pathogenesis. The expression of aromatase, the enzyme that converts androgens to oestrogens, has been reported in glial cells and GB cell lines. Thus, it was necessary to test whether the steroidogenic enzymes involved in androgen synthesis are expressed in GB cells. Therefore, here, we investigated the expression of four key enzymes involved in androgen synthesis in human‐derived GB cells. U87 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium plus foetal bovine serum and antibiotics on slides for immunocytochemistry or immunofluorescence. U87, LN229 and C6 cells were also cultured in multi‐well chambers to obtain proteins for Western blotting. We used primary antibodies against 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β‐HSD), 17α‐hydroxilase/17,20‐lyase (P450c17), 17β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β‐HSD) and 5α‐reductase. Immunocytochemistry, and immunofluorescence results revealed that glioblastoma cells express 3β‐HSD, P450c17, 17β‐HSD and 5α‐reductase proteins in their cytoplasm. Moreover, Western blot analyses revealed bands corresponding to the molecular weight of these four enzymes in the three GB cell lines. Thus, glioblastoma cells have the key enzymatic machinery necessary to synthesize androgens, and these enzymes might be useful targets for new therapeutic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spider monkey (SM) ( Ateles geoffroyi) a New World primate species native to Mexican forests, has become endangered in the wild due to environmental perturbations. Little is known about adrenal function and its relationship to reproduction in this species. Our objectives were to assess serum glucocorticoid (GC), mineralocorticoid (MC) and testosterone concentrations in captive SM and evaluate adrenal and testicular responses to potentially stressful animal handling procedures. Seven adult males, housed in a single mixed gender group in an off-exhibit enclosure at the University Park were captured for anesthesia every 2 months over a 1-year period. Blood samples were collected from each male at three time points: (1) ∼5-10 min after ketamine injection in the outdoor enclosure; (2) ∼2 hr later following animal transport to the laboratory and immediately after tiletamine-zolazepam injection; and (3) ∼20-30 min following the second anesthetic injection. Serum samples were frozen and later analyzed for cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone and testosterone via radioimmunoassay. Cortisol was the primary GC detected in SM serum with much higher mean concentrations than for corticosterone. Capture, restraint and anesthesia resulted in significant increases in both cortisol and corticosterone concentrations. Whereas aldosterone concentrations were unchanged by animal handling procedures, testosterone concentrations significantly declined under anesthesia over time. In summary, these results provide data for the main adrenocortical hormones in male SM and characterize their acute adrenal responses to potentially stressful handling and anesthesia procedures. Our findings also suggest an interaction between acute increases in corticosteroids and decreased concentrations of serum testosterone. Zoo Biol. 32:641-647, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin-17A ( IL-17A), a pro-inflammatory cytokine acting on neutrophil recruitment, is known to play an important role during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, but the role of IL-17 A receptor signalling in immune defence against this intracellular pathogen remains poorly documented. Here we have analysed this signalling using C57 BL/6 mice genetically inactivated in the IL-17 receptor A subunit ( IL-17 RA−/−). Although early after infection bacterial growth was controlled to the same extent as in wild-type mice, IL-17 RA−/− mice were defective in exerting long-term control of M. tuberculosis infection, as demonstrated by a progressively increasing pulmonary bacterial burden and shortened survival time. Compared with infected wild-type mice, IL-17 RA−/− mice showed impaired recruitment of neutrophils to the lungs at the early but not the late stage of infection. Pulmonary tumour necrosis factor-α, IL-6 and particularly IL-10 levels were decreased in the absence of IL-17 RA signalling, whereas IL-1β was increased. CD4+-mediated and γδ-mediated IL-17 A production was dramatically increased in IL-17 RA−/− mice (confirming part of their phenotype), whereas production of interferon-γ and expression of the bactericidal enzyme inducible nitric oxide synthase were not affected. Collectively, our data suggest that early but not late neutrophil recruitment is essential for IL-17 A-mediated long-term control of M. tuberculosis infection and that a functional interferon-γ response is not sufficient to control M. tuberculosis growth when the IL-17 RA pathway is deficient. As treatment of auto-immune diseases with anti- IL-17 A antibodies is actually being tested in clinical studies, our data suggest that caution should be taken with respect to possible reactivation of tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA vaccines encoding the 32 000 MW mycolyl-transferase Ag85A and the 40 000 MW phosphate-binding protein PstS-3 can elicit protective immune responses against experimental infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in C57BL/6 mice. Here we have analysed the vaccine potential of a combination of both antigens using plasmid vectors expressing either a fusion protein of both antigens or the separate proteins driven by two independent promoters (in pBudCE4·1 vector). Comparable levels of Ag85A specific T helper 1 (Th1) type immune responses could be induced by the two combination vaccines and the single vaccine encoding the mycolyl-transferase, whereas induction of PstS-3 specific Th1-mediated responses was impaired in both combination vaccines. In contrast, magnitude of CD8+ mediated responses against the PstS-3 protein was comparable following combination or single DNA vaccination. Antigenic competition was also observed at the antibody level; PstS-3 specific levels being lower in mice vaccinated with the fusion vector and Ag85A specific levels being lower in mice vaccinated with the combination pBudCE4·1 vector (as compared to levels obtained following single plasmid immunization). Protection against M. tuberculosis was only modestly improved in mice vaccinated with the DNA combinations. It is possible that prior activation of Ag85A specific CD4+ T cells directed against this common mycobacterial antigen leads to cross-competition for major histocompatibility complex class II-restricted peptide complexes of the Pst-3 antigen. This may have implications for future combination vaccines using Ag85. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]