Immunology is a branch of medicine and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in all organisms. In such we can see there is a difference of human immunology and comparative immunology in veterinary medicine and animal biosciences.
Multiplesclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to transmit signals, resulting in a range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems. Specific symptoms can include double vision, blindness in one eye, muscle weakness, and trouble with sensation or coordination. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms either occurring in isolated attacks or building up over time. In the relapsing forms of MS, between attacks, symptoms may disappear completely, although some permanent neurological problems often remain, especially as the disease advances.
Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child spread during birth or after a needlestick injury or other potential exposure. It is sold both by itself and together as lamivudine/zidovudine and abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine. It can be used by mouth or by slow injection into a vein.
Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while immunotherapies that reduce or suppress are classified as suppression immunotherapies. Immunotherapy is under preliminary research for its potential to treat various forms of cancer.
CTLA-4 or CTLA4, also known as CD152, is a protein receptor that functions as an immune checkpoint and downregulates immune responses. CTLA-4 is constitutively expressed in regulatory T cells but only upregulated in conventional T cells after activation – a phenomenon which is particularly notable in cancers. It acts as an "off" switch when bound to CD80 or CD86 on the surface of antigen-presenting cells.
Proteasome inhibitors are drugs that block the action of proteasomes, cellular complexes that break down proteins. They are being studied in the treatment of cancer; and three are approved for use in treating multiple myeloma.
An organoid is a miniaturized and simplified version of an organ produced in vitro in three dimensions that mimics the key functional, structural and biological complexity of that organ. They are derived from one or a few cells from a tissue, embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells, which can self-organize in three-dimensional culture owing to their self-renewal and differentiation capacities. The technique for growing organoids has rapidly improved since the early 2010s, and The Scientist names it as one of the biggest scientific advancements of 2013. Scientists and engineers use organoids to study development and diseases in the laboratory and industry for drug discovery and development, personalized diagnostics and medicine, gene and cell therapies, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Peptide YY (PYY) also known as peptide tyrosine tyrosine is a peptide that in humans is encoded by the PYY gene. Peptide YY is a short peptide released from cells in the ileum and colon in response to feeding. In the blood, gut, and other elements of periphery, PYY acts to reduce appetite; similarly, when injected directly into the central nervous system, PYY is also anorexigenic, i.e., it reduces appetite.
CD133 antigen, also known as prominin-1, is a glycoprotein that in humans is encoded by the PROM1 gene. It is a member of pentaspan transmembrane glycoproteins, which specifically localize to cellular protrusions. When embedded in the cell membrane, the membrane topology of prominin-1 is such that the N-terminus extends into the extracellular space and the C-terminus resides in the intracellular compartment. The protein consists of five transmembrane segments, with the first and second segments and the third and fourth segments connected by intracellular loops while the second and third as well as fourth and fifth transmembrane segments are connected by extracellular loops. While the precise function of CD133 remains unknown, it has been proposed that it acts as an organizer of cell membrane topology.
Thymic carcinoma, or type C thymoma, is a malignancy of the thymus. It is a rare cancer that is often diagnosed at advanced stages. Recurrence following treatment is common, and thymic carcinoma is associated with a poor prognosis.
CD3e molecule, epsilon also known as CD3E is a polypeptide which in humans is encoded by the CD3E gene which resides on chromosome 11.
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a protein belonging to the cytokine family. It is known to play an important role in the maturation of T cell populations through activation of antigen-presenting cells.
Neurofilament light polypeptide, also known as neurofilament light chain, is a neurofilament protein that in humans is encoded by the NEFL gene. Neurofilament light chain is a biomarker that can be measured with immunoassays in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma and reflects axonal damage in a wide variety of neurological disorders. It is a useful marker for disease monitoring in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and more recently Huntington's disease. It is also promising marker for follow-up of patients with brain tumors. Higher numbers have been associated with increased mortality.
Polypeptide antibiotics are a chemically diverse class of anti-infective and antitumor antibiotics containing non-protein polypeptide chains. Examples of this class include actinomycin, bacitracin, colistin, and polymyxin B. Actinomycin-D has found use in cancer chemotherapy. Most other polypeptide antibiotics are too toxic for systemic administration, but can safely be administered topically to the skin as an antiseptic for shallow cuts and abrasions.
Tetrandrine, a bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, is a calcium channel blocker. It is isolated from the plant Stephania tetrandra, and other Chinese and Japanese herbs.
Trichodysplasia spinulosa is a rare cutaneous condition that has been described almost exclusively in immunocompromised patients, usually organ transplant recipients, on regimens of immunosuppressive drugs. As of early 2016, a total of 32 cases had been reported in the medical literature. Despite its rarity, TS is believed to be underdiagnosed, and the growing population of patients on immunosuppressive drug regimens suggests its incidence may rise. TS has been described as an emerging infectious disease.
Thymic involution is the shrinking (involution) of the thymus with age, resulting in changes in the architecture of the thymus and a decrease in tissue mass. Thymus involution is one of the major characteristics of vertebrate immunology, and occurs in almost all vertebrates, from birds, teleosts, amphibians to reptiles, though the thymi of a few species of sharks are known not to involute. This process is genetically regulated, with the nucleic material responsible being an example of a conserved sequence — one maintained through natural selection since it arose in a common ancestor of all species now exhibiting it, via a phenomenon known to bioinformaticists as an orthologic sequence homology.
Interleukin 23 (IL-23) is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of an IL-12B (IL-12p40) subunit and an IL-23A (IL-23p19) subunit. IL-23 is part of the IL-12 family of cytokines. The functional receptor for IL-23 consists of a heterodimer between IL-12Rβ1 and IL-23R.
Susan Zolla-Pazner is an American research scientist who is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Microbiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a guest investigator in the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at The Rockefeller University, both in New York City. Zolla-Pazner's work has focused on how the immune system responds to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and, in particular, how antibodies against the viral envelope develop in the course of infection.
Oligoclonal antibodies are an emerging immunological treatment relying on the combinatory use of several monoclonal antibodies (mAb) in one single drug. The composition can be made of mAb targeting different epitopes of a same protein (homo-combination) or mAb targeting different proteins (hetero-combination). It mimicks the natural polyclonal humoral immunological response to get better efficiency of the treatment. This strategy is most efficient in infections and in cancer treatment as it allow to overcome acquired resistance by pathogens and the plasticity of cancers.
