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Immunosuppressive regimens used to prevent rejection of transplanted organs are associated with many adverse side effects. Weaver et al. report that by combining the use of a CD2-targeting reagent (alefacept) with a co-stimulation blockade–based protocol, they can prolong survival of kidney allografts in macaques while avoiding the use of standard immunosuppressive agents.
It has been a long-held belief that the hormone ghrelin is activated when an animal is hungry, inducing the brain to increase food intake. Now, Matthias Tschöp and his colleagues show in vivo that it is not the deficiency of calories per se that activates ghrelin, but rather the presence of energy-rich medium-chain dietary fats.
Neutrophils release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), chromatin fibers that can ensnare bacteria. In small-vessel vasculitis (SVV), a chronic inflammatory condition linked to antineutrophil autoantibodies, these NETs express SVV-associated autoantigens, accumulate in inflamed kidneys and promote the autoimmune response against neutrophils in people with SVV.
Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is an inherited arrhythmia syndrome that is often difficult to treat. Hiroshi Watanabe and coworkers now show that flecainide, an approved drug known to inhibit sodium channels, is able to target the underlying cause of CPVT by inhibiting calcium release through the ryanodine receptor. Flecainide prevented arrhythmia in a mouse model of CPVT and was also effective when tested in two individuals with CPVT.
The neurotoxic Aβ peptide is produced after traumatic brain injury. Mark P. Burns and his colleagues show that inhibiting the enzymes involved in Aβ production can block the neuron death and neurological dysfunction that occurs after traumatic brain injury.
Studies of hepatitis C virus replication in cell culture have suggested that certain microRNAs are required for efficient virus replication and that they may be involved in the antiviral effect of interferon. A study in humans infected with the virus provides a new perspective.
A novel immunization strategy that involves prime-boost vaccination with a recombinant adenovirus-poxvirus vector can induce strong, antigen-specific antibody responses. Antibodies induced by this viral-vector platform against a Plasmodium antigen are effective in vivo and in vitro.