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Biotech / Medical : Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Miljenko Zuanic who wrote (134)	3/18/1999 8:32:00 PM
From: Miljenko Zuanic	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1834

Latest peace of the L. Steinman work at SU: Science Suppressive immunization protects against autoimmune disease in mice By Nancy Ehrlich WESTPORT, Mar 18 (Reuters Health) - In contrast to vaccines that promote an immune response, a new suppressive form of vaccination has been shown to attenuate autoimmune disease in mice. In the March 15th issue of The Journal of Immunology, Dr. Lawrence Steinman of Stanford University in Stanford, California, reports with an international team on experiments in which mice were protected against autoimmune encephalitis by injection of DNA encoding a minigene for a pathogenic self-antigen. Mice that were immunized with DNA containing the antigen, known as myelin proteolipid protein, experienced delayed onset of acute disease after challenge with proteolipid protein peptide. The animals' mean peak disease severity and mean peak disease score were reduced. In vaccinated animals' lymphoid organs and brains, Dr. Steinman and colleagues observed that "[p]roliferative responses and production of Th1 cytokines, [interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma] were reduced in cells responsive to [proteolipid protein]." The effects of the vaccine were due at least in part to modulation of T cell costimulation, they add. "Even in the presence of exogenous CD28 costimulation," the vaccine reduced the ability of T cells to proliferate, according to the paper. Based on their findings, the investigators speculate that "...the immune response to a DNA vaccine-encoding self might be very different from what is observed with DNA vaccination to foreign [antigens].....Our results suggest that a self [antigen] encoded in a DNA vector can anergize self reactive T cells, and prevent an autoimmune attack." J Immunol 1999;162:3336-3341.