Thymic Nurse Cells Participate in Heterotypic Internalization and Repertoire Selection of Immature Thymocytes; Their Removal from the Thymus of Autoimmune Animals May be Important to Disease Etiology

Author(s): J. C. Guyden, M. Martinez, R. V.E. Chilukuri, V. Reid, F. Kelly and M. -O.D. SammsPages 828-835 (8) Abstract: Thymic nurse cells (TNCs) are specialized epithelial cells that reside in the thymic cortex. The initial report of their discovery in 1980 showed TNCs to contain up to 200 thymocytes within specialized vacuoles in their cytoplasm. Much has been reported since that time to determine the function of this heterotypic internalization event that exists between TNCs and developing thymocytes. In this review, we discuss the literature...

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Plasma Mitochondrial DNA Levels as a Biomarker of Lipodystrophy Among HIV-infected Patients Treated with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).

Author(s): Z. Dai, W. Cai, F. Hu, Y. Lan, L. Li, C. Chung, B. Caughey, K. Zhang and X. TangPages 975-979 (5) Abstract: Lipodystrophy is a common complication in HIV-infected patients taking highly active antiretroviral therapy. Its early diagnosis is crucial for timely modification of antiretroviral therapy. We hypothesize that mitochondrial DNA in plasma may be a potential marker of LD in HIV-infected individuals. In this study, we compared plasma mitochondrial DNA levels in HIV-infected individuals and non-HIV-infected individuals to investigate...

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DREADD in Parvalbumin Interneurons of the Dentate Gyrus Modulates Anxiety, Social Interaction and Memory Extinction

Author(s): D. Zou, L. Chen, D. Deng, D. Jiang, F. Dong, C. McSweeney, Y. Zhou, L. Liu, G. Chen, Y. Wu and Y. MaoPages 91-102 (12) Abstract: Parvalbumin (PV)-positive interneurons in the hippocampus play a critical role in animal memory, such as spatial working memory. However, how PV-positive interneurons in the subregions of the hippocampus affect animal behaviors remains poorly defined. Here, we achieved specific and reversible activation of PV-positive interneurons using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD)...

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STAT3 Activation in Circulating Monocytes Contributes to Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Author(s): M. Chen, J. Lechner, J. Zhao, L. Toth, R. Hogg, G. Silvestri, A. Kissenpfennig, U. Chakravarthy and H. XuPages 412-423 (12) Abstract: Infiltrating macrophages are critically involved in pathogenic angiogenesis such as neovascular agerelated macular degeneration (nAMD). Macrophages originate from circulating monocytes and three subtypes of monocyte exist in humans: classical (CD14+CD16-), non-classical (CD14-CD16+) and intermediate (CD14+CD16+) monocytes. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of circulating monocyte in...

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