Abstract
The operation of the immune system is a complex orchestration of specific self and non-self-recognition capacities mediated by cells of the innate system acting in coordination with T and B lymphocytes in a series of processes modulated by cytokines. We provide evidence for a natural immunomodulatory system involving autoantibodies directed against a controlling segment of T cell receptor Vβ chains that downregulate production of stimulatory cytokines balanced by the peptides which in turn upregulate inflammatory activities mediated by TH1-type helper cells. TCR Vβ-derived peptides effective in retrovirally induced immunosupression could also reverse the effects of immunosenescence in aged mice by restoring the balance of TH1- and TH2-type immunity and the resistance of the animals to cardiac pathology caused by infection with coxsackievirus. An unexpected finding was an adaptive role of the T cells from peptide-treated mice in remodeling damaged hearts by increasing net collagen synthesis by cardiac fibroblasts.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 247-259 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |
| Volume | 1057 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2005 |
Keywords
- Cardiopathology
- Coxsackievirus
- Cytokines
- Immunosenescence
- Retrovirus
- T cell receptors
- TCR Vβ
- TH1
- TH2
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- History and Philosophy of Science