Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common type of cancer characterized by fast progression and high mortality rates, which generally implies a poor prognosis at time of diagnosis. Intricate interaction networks of cytokines produced by resident and inflammatory cells in the tumor microenvironment play crucial roles in ESCC development and metastasis, thus influencing therapy efficiency. As such, cyt...
Background: T cell priming has been shown to be a powerful immunotherapeutic approach for cancer treatment in terms of efcacy and relatively weak side efects. Systems that optimize the stimulation of T cells to improve therapeutic efcacy are therefore in constant demand. A way to achieve this is through artifcial antigen presenting cells that are complexes between vehicles and key molecules that target relevant...
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes include heterogeneous populations of T lymphocytes that play crucial roles in the tumor immune response; importantly, their presence in the tumor tissue may predict clinical outcomes. Therefore, we herein studied the prognostic significance of the presence and location of CD3<sup>+</sup>, CD8<sup>+</sup>, and FoxP3<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes in colorectal cancer samples. In the int...
Supplementary Materials: The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10 .3390/pharmaceutics13111925/s1. Figure S1 (A) Intraperitoneal injection of STZ. (B) Mice are kept in cages with ad libitum fed regimen. Figure S2 MIN-6 cell transplantation. A) Abdominal viscera of female mice. (B) Intramuscular administration of anaesthetics. (C) Topical application of Vaseline to protect eyes from d...
Granuloma formation is a hallmark of several infectious diseases, including those caused by Mycobacterium sp These structures are composed of accumulations of inflammatory cells, and it has been shown that cytokines such as IFN-γ and TNF-α are required for granuloma assembly during M. avium infections in mice. Macrophages (MΦs) insensitive to IFN-γ (MIIG) mice have MΦs, monocytes, and dendritic cells that are u...
Buruli Ulcer (BU) is a necrotizing skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Although the current antibiotic treatment for BU is effective, daily administrations for a prolonged period of time, combined with potential risk of severe side effects, negatively impact on patient adherence. In that sense, we tested the efficacy of an alternative strategy based on Lysin B (LysB), a phage encoded lipolytic enzyme...
Setting: University-affiliated hospital located in Porto, North Portugal, an area with a low to intermediate incidence of tuberculosis (TB). Objective: To identify predictors and outcomes of disseminated TB (dTB). Design: A cohort of patients diagnosed with TB between 2007 and 2013 was retrospectively analysed. Patients with dTB criteria were characterized and compared to single organ TB cases. Factors independ...
Dietary nutrients have emerged as potential therapeutic adjuncts for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) given their impact on intestinal homeostasis through the modulation of immune response, gut microbiota composition and epithelial barrier stability. Several nutrients have already been associated with a protective phenotype. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge toward the most promising ones as well as the most ad...
Inflammatory bowel disease encompasses a group of chronic-inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. These conditions are characterized by exacerbated inflammation of the organ that greatly affects the quality of life of patients. Molecular mechanisms counteracting this hyperinflammatory status of the gut offer strategies for therapeutic intervention. Among these regulatory molecules is the anti-...
Nonribosomal peptide synthases produce short peptides in a manner that is distinct from classical mRNA-dependent ribosome-mediated translation. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome harbors a nonribosomal peptide synthase gene, nrp, which is part of a gene cluster proposed to be involved in the biosynthesis of isonitrile lipopeptides. Orthologous clusters are found in other slow-growing pathogenic mycobacteria ...