[30], and 48 h for Mucor.[12] Since Syncephalastrum, Lichtheimia and Apophysomyces revealed inadequate growth in the control well after 48 h, therefore, MIC readings were taken after 72 h. MIC end points for all the drugs except echinocandins were defined as the lowest concentration that produced complete inhibition of growth viz-à-viz the hyphal growth in

the control well. Minimum effective concentration of echinocandins were defined as the lowest drug concentrations that allowed the growth of small, rounded, degenerated colonies viz-à-viz the hyphal growth in the control well. Clinical breakpoints for mucorales are not yet published, therefore, the break points referred by Almyroudis et al. [12] for testing 217 clinical isolates of zygomycetes were used for analysis, viz, AMB ≤ 1 μg ml−1; ITC ≤ 0.5 μg ml−1; VRC ≤ 2 μg ml−1; POS ≤ 0.5 μg ml−1; BMN 673 mouse FLU ≤ 32 μg ml−1 and CAS ≤ 2 μg ml−1. For ISA, recently established ECVs of ≤1 μg ml−1 for Aspergillus species were used.[32] Susceptibility to POS and AMB was also determined by Etest method (AB Biodisk, BioMérieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France).[33] The inoculum were prepared as above to obtain a density of 0.2–2.5 × 105 cells ml−1 Selleckchem MG-132 measured by spectrophotometer. A swab was dipped into the suspension and streaked across the surface

of antibiotic medium 3 (Difco, New Jersey, USA) agar plates for testing AMB and on RPMI agar plates with 2% glucose for POS. The plates were incubated at 35 °C and the lowest drug concentration at which the border of the elliptical inhibition zone intercepted the scale on the antifungal strip was recorded at 24 h for Rhizopus spp. and at 48 h for the other species. Statistical analyses were performed with spss version 20.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). MIC values of CLSI and Etest methods were assessed, using the Student’s t-test (paired sample). Categorical agreement between the MICs obtained by the CLSI microdilution and Etest method was calculated for AMB and POS for which above described

breakpoints were used for analysis. Of the 71 patients with mucormycosis, 39 were diagnosed as pulmonary, 15 as rhino-cerebral, 13 as cutaneous/subcutaneous and 4 as disseminated. Treatment and outcome records were available for 54 patients science (28 pulmonary, 12 sinus infection with or without brain invasion and or ocular involvement, 10 cutaneous/subcutaneous and 4 disseminated). Of these, the disease was fatal in 28 cases (51.8%), which included 12 (42.8%) cases of pulmonary, 11 (39.2%) of rhino-cerebral, 4 cases of disseminated and 1 of cutaneous mucormycosis. Overall, the commonest underlying condition in mucormycosis was uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (47%), followed by haematological malignancies (24%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with long-term steroid use (20%) and trauma (9%).

PAX2 gene mutation may contribute to renal-coloboma syndrome (RCS), involving optic nerve colobomas and renal anomalies. Although around 170 cases with PAX2 gene mutation were reported worldwide, precise genetic analysis and its clinical manifestations in this rare syndrome have not been fully described. Methods: To

investigate the incidence of PAX2 gene mutations in cases with RCS, DNA from white blood cells was analyzed for PAX2 mutations by direct sequencing. MG-132 datasheet Moreover, clinical manifestation of RCS cases with or without PAX2 gene mutations was evaluated. Furthermore, family cases with same PAX2 gene mutation was particularly analyzed Results: Twenty-six cases were clinically diagnosed as renal-coloboma syndrome. Eleven cases had PAX2 gene mutations, including four novel mutations. The other fifteen cases were clinically diagnosed renal-coloboma syndrome without PAX2 gene mutation. RCS cases with PAX2 gene mutations had severer kidney dysfunction

and coloboma than those without PAX2 gene mutations. In the kidney, check details 54.5% cases with PAX2 gene mutations were receiving hemodialysis, however,

only 13.3% cases without PAX2 gene mutations were receiving hemodialysis or had a transplanted kidney. In the eye, the score of optic nerve coloboma was significantly higher in RCS cases with PAX2 Methane monooxygenase gene mutations than those without PAX2 gene mutations. These case control study with or without PAX2 gene mutations revealed that PAX2 gene mutations had significant impacts on pathogenesis of RCS. In family analysis, family cases with same PAX2 gene mutation showed different extents of kidney dysfunction and intensity of coloboma among individuals. Even in one individual, intensity of coloboma in right and left was not always same. These particular family case analyses showed that additional factors over PAX2 gene mutations would contribute pathogenesis of RCS. Conclusion: PAX2 gene mutation may be a key abnormality in renal-coloboma syndrome, and may mainly participate in the pathogenesis of kidney and eye abnormality. However, additional other genes and acquired factors would be involved in this syndrome.

1; Nikon). The light source was a 488 nm solid-state laser (Sapphire 488-30; Coherent, Dieburg, Germany). Between 2 × 105 and 5 × 105 CHO cells were seeded on glass cover slips 2–3 days before the experiments. MK-1775 research buy Immediately before Ca2+ imaging, the cells were incubated with the particular concentration of fusion proteins in 50 μl culture medium and washed afterwards with culture medium with 10 mm HEPES added. Glass cover slips were mounted on the stage of an Olympus IX 70 microscope equipped with a 20 × (UApo/340, N.A. 0·75) objective in a self-made

recording chamber, which allowed a complete solution exchange < 1 second. In parallel, T cells were loaded at 22–23° for 30 min with 2 μm fura-2/acetoxymethyl ester (AM) (Invitrogen) in culture medium with 10 mm HEPES added, washed with fresh medium, and immediately used. T cells

were then added and cells were alternately illuminated at 340 and 380 nm with the Polychrome IV monochromator (TILL Photonics, Gräfelfing, Germany) and with an infrared light source using SP 410 as excitation filter and DCLP 410 as dichroic mirror. The fluorescence emissions at λ > 440 nm (LP 440) were captured with CH5424802 in vitro a CCD camera (TILL Imago), digitized, and analysed using TILL Vision software. Ratio images were recorded at intervals of 5 seconds. In some experiments thapsigargin (TG, 1 μm) was used to completely empty the stores. Excel, Igor Pro and TILL Vision were used for data analysis. An unpaired, two-sided Students t-test was used to test for significance. All fusion proteins were generated as single chain molecules to prevent any false pairing or degradation (Fig. S1). The extracellular domains of CD80 and CD86 were cloned at the N-terminal end of the scFv anti-CD33 to ensure correct binding to their respective receptors.52

Soluble proteins were produced in HEK-293 cells by transient gene expression with a yield of 0·5–2 mg total protein/l of cell culture supernatant, purified by IMAC and checked by Coomassie and Western blot analysis for purity and integrity. Proper binding for all fusion proteins was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on recombinant CD33 antigen (data not shown) and flow cytometry Evodiamine (Fig. S2) on either CD33-transfected CHO or Jurkat T cells. Binding of the scFv anti-CD33 was not altered in any of the fusion proteins when compared with the parental scFv anti-CD33. The scFv anti-CD3 and the extracellular domains of CD80 and CD86 showed a moderate to weak binding affinity to their respective receptors. The dscFv anti-CD3/anti-CD19 were used as control. The dscFv anti-CD33/anti-CD3 construct induced proliferation of naïve T cells in the presence of the CD33 antigen in a dose-dependent manner (Fig. 1).

coli serotype 055:B5, Sigma-Aldrich), lipoteichoic acid (LTA, Invivogen), flagellin (FLA-ST Ultrapure, Invivogen), CpG (ODN 2336, Invivogen), Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly(I:C), Sigma-Aldrich), IFN-β (Invitrogen), R848 (Invivogen),

ssRNA40-LyoVec (Invivogen), Poly(I:C) high molecular weight (HMW, Invivogen), Poly(I:C)-LyoVec LMW (Invivogen), Poly(I:C)-LyoVec HMW (Invivogen), or combinations of ligands. Combinations of ligands were, unless described otherwise, added simultaneous. For LPS, an extra purification step was performed as described previously [[48]]. For determination of the viral titer, A549 cells (ATCC, CCL-185) were infected with RSV A2 for 24 h, trypsinized and fixed with 80% acetone. Cells were immunostained with FITC-conjugated mouse monoclonal antibody to RSV nucleoprotein (Abcam), followed by FACS analysis. Determination of the percentage of infection selleck compound was repeated three times and the viral titer was calculated from the dilution at which 50% infection was seen. After 4 and 24 h, the supernatants were collected and stored at −20°C for cytokine measurement. The cells were resuspended in 150 μL RLT buffer with 1% β-mercaptoethanol and stored at −80°C for quantitative PCR. TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-10 concentrations were measured in the cell supernatants by commercial ELISA kits (Pelikine

Compact, Y-27632 cell line Sanquin, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) according to the instructions of the manufacturer. TNF-α and IL-1β had a detection limit of 20 pg/mL, for IL-10 the detection limit was 7 pg/mL. Synergy was expressed as the ratio of cytokine response to

the combination of two ligands divided by the sum of cytokine responses obtained with both ligands alone; (virus + ligand)/((virus) + (ligand)). When cytokine response was as low as detection threshold for all individual ligands as well as the combination of ligands, we set the Inositol monophosphatase 1 ratio to 1 in order to prevent a false positive down regulation. Total RNA was extracted using the RNeasy kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany), genomic DNA was removed using TurboDNase (Ambion, Foster City, CA, USA) and cDNA was synthesized using SuperScripttm Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Quantitative PCR measurements for IFN-β (NM_002176.2), TNF-α (NM_000594.2), IL-1β (NM_000576.2), NOD2 (NM_022162.1), RIG-I (NM_014314.3), TLR3 (NM_003265.2), and GAPDH (NM_002046.3) were performed using commercially available Taqman Gene Expression Assays (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, USA). The PCR conditions were as follows: initial denaturation for 10 min at 95°C, followed by 40 cycles of 15 s at 95°C and 1min at 60°C. Mean relative mRNA expression from two replicate measurements was normalized to GAPDH expression in each sample.

These data indicate that, like IQGAP1, the endothelial MT cytoskeleton facilitates lymphocyte diapedesis, but does not appear to be critical for displacement of VE-cadherin from the nascent migration

channel. Each stage of leukocyte TEM is regulated by signaling pathways mediated in both leukocytes and EC that facilitate progress to the next stage. For instance, engagement of the adhesion molecule ICAM-1 during firm adhesion leads to signaling events that HDAC inhibitor mechanism result in actin remodeling, VE-cadherin phosphorylation, and subsequently, paracellular leukocyte diapedesis 13, 16, 17. Thus, molecules localized at the interendothelial cell junctions are candidate proteins to regulate paracellular transmigration

of leukocytes. In this study, we examined the involvement of endothelial IQGAP1 in this process, since this molecule Proteases inhibitor localizes at the cell–cell junctions and regulates dynamic assembly of cytoskeleton components: actin filaments and MT. The major observations of this study are that IQGAP1, and interendothelial junction-associated MT, regulate paracellular TEM of lymphocytes. IQGAP1 knockdown both impairs lymphocyte TEM and decreases cortical MT density underlying the AJ of HUVEC in vitro. Similarly, knockdown of APC, a component of the protein complex linking IQGAP1 and MT, decreases lymphocyte TEM. Brief treatment of EC with ND has similar effects on both lymphocyte TEM and cortical MT. Reverse transcriptase These interventions promote accumulation of lymphocytes on the luminal surface of the EC monolayer, above the level of VE-cadherin. Surprisingly, a

similar fraction of such lymphocytes were associated with an underlying gap in the VE-cadherin band among IQGAP1 knockdown, MT depolymerization, and control monolayers. IQGAP1 has been implicated to participate in dynamic interendothelial junction remodeling after VEGF stimulation 27. IQGAP1 couples VEGFR2 to the β-catenin/VE-cadherin complex to facilitate VEGF-stimulated events such as tyrosine phosphorylation of VE-cadherin. VEGF stimulation increases IQGAP1 association with VE-cadherin, and loss of IQGAP1 expression reduces the assembly of the VEGFR2/VE-cadherin complex, involved in disassembly of endothelial AJ. In contrast to this reported data, however, we did not observe any changes in the basal assembly of AJ components in IQGAP1 knockdown EC monolayers or barrier function of the IQGAP1 knockdown monolayer. In our experiments, the IQGAP1-deficient HUVEC were plated at confluence, then maintained in complete media with 20% FBS for 48 h to promote junction maturation. Hence, in the current experiments, effects of IQGAP1 knockdown on cell migration or repopulation at subconfluent densities were minimized.

Hence, the defects in immunological development in the Ts65Dn mice seem to be limited to immature haematopoietic progenitors, particularly T-lineage precursors, although the mechanisms and potential biochemical effects in DS remain to be tested. Hence, these data demonstrate significant defects in immature and mature T-lymphocyte populations of Ts65Dn mice, with changes in

both the composition and function of the cells of the thymus and spleen. The data suggest that decreased IL-7Rα expression may underlie this dysfunction, causing decreased proliferation and function. Taken together with the haematopoietic stem and progenitor defects in previous studies,[6] the data indicate an overall dysfunction of adaptive

immune system development in Ts65Dn mice. The authors wish to thank Ian M. Kaplan for helpful discussions and Regina Harley for Dinaciclib order CB-839 chemical structure expert assistance in cell sorting. This work was supported by funding from the US Public Health Service (AI070823) (MSW) and the LeJeune Foundation (PJY). The authors declare that they have no competing interests. “
“Highly protective intestinal cell membrane antigens have been prepared from Haemonchus contortus, an important blood feeding nematode which parasitizes sheep and goats. One such antigen, H-gal-GP, is a glycoprotein complex containing predominantly digestive proteases. This study showed that H-gal-GP readily digested ovine haemoglobin and albumin, the two most abundant proteins in the parasite’s blood meal. It was found that adding protective antibodies from H-gal-GP immunized sheep to the H-gal-GP catalysed haemoglobin digestion reaction, reduced the rate by 70–90% at pH 5·0. This reduction was only 30% when nonprotective IgG from sheep immunized with denatured H-gal-GP was added and IgG from worm-free sheep had no effect. These

results support the theory that the mechanism of protection in sheep vaccinated with H-gal-GP is by specific antibodies impairing the parasites ability to digest its blood meal. The blood feeding parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus causes severe anaemia, loss of condition Adenosine triphosphate and, in the worst cases, death in small ruminants (1). Currently, it is controlled by pasture management and anthelmintic drugs. However, the increasing prevalence of worm strains resistant to the current drugs (2,3) demands alternative approaches for control, one of which could be by vaccination. To meet this goal, Smith et al. (4) have pursued the hidden antigen approach. Hidden antigens are ones to which the host does not normally mount an immune response over the course of natural infection, but which are accessible to antibodies ingested by the parasite (5). Their work has led to the isolation of a highly protective antigen called Haemonchus galactose-containing glycoprotein complex (H-gal-GP) from detergent extracts of Haemonchus intestinal cell membranes (6).

[61] This could explain how inducible genes acquire active chromatin signature, so enabling a fast and effective transcription of these genes in daughter cells. For example, genes encoding signalling molecules have

a repressive chromatin state in naive T cells but a permissive chromatin state in memory T cells, hence these genes in memory T cells are able to respond more quickly to T-cell activation.[47] Furthermore, gene promoters in memory T cells have increased histone acetylation levels when compared with naive T cells. Increased acetylation levels were retained even after numerous cell divisions.[62, 63] There is currently intense interest in determining the mechanisms responsible for the inheritance of permissive chromatin states in memory T cells, as this is an essential step in mediating a faster gene expression response that is required to combat re-infection. Selleckchem NVP-LDE225 Although the particular histone patterns that mark MLN0128 order inducible genes described above and the changes to histone modifications that occur during gene activation have been characterized relatively recently, changes to chromatin structure have long been thought to accompany gene

activation in T cells. The appearance of inducible DNase I hypersensitive (DH) sites have been well documented concomitant with gene activation in T cells.[64, 65] These DH sites coincide with regulatory regions and have long been presumed to represent regions at which chromatin structure is reorganized. Further studies have revealed that the DH sites at the granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) promoters represent regions of increased chromatin accessibility,[64-66] and coincide with depletion of the core histones H3 and H4 from the promoter region

upon T-cell activation.[60, 67] Genome-wide analysis of histone occupancy and positioning in human CD4+ T cells also documented extensive reorganization at gene promoters and enhancers in response to T-cell activation.[68] There are several mechanisms that may underlie the reorganization of chromatin associated with T-cell activation that has been described in such studies. click here First, chromatin-remodelling complexes such as the SWI/SNF complex have been demonstrated to contribute to chromatin changes during T-cell activation. Early studies examining the BRG1 ATPase component demonstrated its increased association with chromatin in response to T-cell activation,[69] and ChIP-Seq analysis has demonstrated increased association of BRG1 with promoters of a set of inducible genes following T-cell activation.[70] Second, chromatin composition can be altered by the exchange of the canonical histones for histone variants,[71] which can affect nucleosome stability and also high-order chromatin structure.

18 Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments have shown binding of NFAT1 to promoter of IL-4 in Th2 cells but not in Th1 cells, suggesting chromatin remodelling as one of the mechanism that determines NFAT binding to its target genes.19 NFAT is also the major player in the ionomycin-induced anergy Talazoparib order model.20 Anergy is defined as a state of

T cells where they are unresponsive to stimulation and fail to make IL-2 or proliferate.21 An anergic state is achieved when T cells are stimulated through the TCR in the absence of co-stimulation in vitro.22 Developed by Rao and colleagues, the ionomycin-induced anergic state is achieved by treating cells with the calcium ionophore for a period of about 12 hr subsequent

to which cells become unresponsive to TCR stimulation and fail to make IL-2 or proliferate. This form of anergy is largely NFAT dependent because sustained high calcium levels cause cells to primarily activate selleck kinase inhibitor NFAT. A constitutively active form of NFAT when expressed in T cells also leads to a similar state.20 The NFAT rapidly translocates to the nucleus on a rise in intracellular calcium. Several studies indicate that NFAT translocation into the nucleus is more efficient if the calcium signal is oscillatory.23,24 Within minutes of reducing the cytoplasmic calcium level, NFAT is rapidly exported out of the nucleus. In another cell type these kinetics were much slower.25 Hence, the re-phosphorylation kinetics may differ from cell type to cell type. Because the formation of the immune synapse is preceded by calcium fluxes,5,26 the transport of NFAT into the nucleus in T cells is presumably rapid. Recently a novel regulation for NFAT-like proteins was described. Crz1 is a calcineurin-dependent transcription factor in yeast

wherein it plays an important role in stress-induced apoptosis. Elowitz and colleagues monitored the real-time trafficking Axenfeld syndrome of Crz1 fused to green fluorescent protein in response to increasing extra-cellular calcium. They found that the amount of Crz1 translocated to the nucleus was not simply proportional to the concentration of extra-cellular calcium. Instead, Crz1 translocated into and out of the nucleus in oscillatory bursts. Neither the amplitude nor the duration of these bursts changed as extra-cellular calcium was increased; rather, the frequency of bursts increased. The authors further showed by mathematical modelling and experimental validation that the frequency-modulated trafficking of Crz1 was important for maintaining the same amount of relative gene expression across different Crz1 targets as the extra-cellular stimulus changed.27 As NFAT is calcineurin dependent, it would be interesting to see if this form of regulation is valid for NFAT in mammalian cells.

In the current study we used a well-characterized mouse model of allergen-induced airway inflammation to determine the role of CCR3 receptor–ligand interactions in the migration and function of CD34+ cells. Allergen exposure significantly increased BM, blood and airway CD34+ CCR3+ cells as well as airway CD34+ CCR3+ stem cell antigen-1-positive (Sca-1+) and CD34+  CD45+ interleukin-5 receptor-α-positive (IL-5Rα+) cells. A portion of the newly produced CD34+ CCR3+, Sca-1+ CCR3+ and IL-5Ralpha+ lung cells showed a significant proliferative capacity in response to allergen when compared with saline-treated animals. In addition, in vitro colony formation of lung CD34+ cells

was increased by IL-5 or eotaxin-2 whereas eotaxin-2 had no effect on BM CD34+ cells. Furthermore, both eotaxin-1 and eotaxin-2 induced migration of BM and blood

CD34+ CCR3+ cells in vitro. These data suggest that the CCR3/eotaxin Selleckchem AZD6244 pathway is involved in the regulation of allergen-driven in situ haematopoiesis and the accumulation/mobilization of eosinophil-lineage-committed progenitor cells in the lung. Hence, targeting both IL-5 and CCR3-mediated signalling pathways may be required to control the inflammation associated with allergen-induced asthma. Allergic airway inflammation Forskolin mw in asthma is dominated by eosinophils, which develop from CD34+ haematopoietic progenitor cells within the bone marrow (BM).1–7 Evidence increasingly suggests that in addition to the trafficking of mature eosinophils from the BM to the airways, migration of immature cells and progenitors from the BM to sites of inflammation can also occur during an allergic inflammatory response.8–11 Increased numbers of CD34+ cells in BM and airways has been reported in atopic individuals and in individuals with ongoing asthma or allergic rhinitis.12,13 To date, however, it is not clear which chemotactic factors induce the Ergoloid traffic of these cells to the airways during an allergic inflammatory

response. It is known that the eotaxin receptor, CC chemokine receptor 3 (CCR3) is expressed on human CD34+ BM cells and that asthmatics with late responses to allergen have increased numbers of BM CD34+ CCR3+cells 24 hr after allergen challenge.14,15 These findings imply that variations in CCR3 expression on BM CD34+ cells may facilitate chemokine-mediated progenitor cell mobilization to the peripheral circulation and that eotaxins may orchestrate the homing of CD34+ cells to tissue sites of allergic inflammation. Furthermore, results from clinical studies using humanized monoclonal anti-interleukin-5 (IL-5) clearly demonstrate that eosinophils are able to reside in the tissue despite blockade of IL-5.16 These findings highlight unidentified signals that promote eosinophil survival and proliferation in vivo in response to allergen challenge and that need further investigation.

Based on the above findings, we next examined the intracellular expression of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in TLR-stimulated MLN B cells. Representative results of flow cytometry are shown in Fig. 5(a) for IL-10 and Fig. 6(a) for TGF-β1. Stimulation of TLR ligands increased the total number of B cells producing IL-10 and TGF-β1. In particular as seen from the bar diagram, CpG-DNA significantly increased the expressions of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in MLN B cells isolated

from AKR/J mice (Figs 5b, 6b), compared with those from SAMP1/Yit mice. These findings confirmed our results obtained with EIA. Previous studies have shown that CD1d and CD5 are possible cell surface markers for identification

of B cells producing IL-10 and TGF-β1,41 AZD0530 we therefore examined the expressions of these markers on MLN B cells stimulated by TLR ligands. Our flow cytometric results showed that B cells producing IL-10 and TGF-β1 were mainly contained in populations characterized by the cell surface markers CD1d+ from both SAMP1/Yit and AKR/J mice (Figs 5b, 6b). On the other hand, we observed the presence of the regulatory subset in both CD5+ and CD5− populations of MLN B cells. In addition, decreased expression of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in CpG-DNA-stimulated MLN B cells of SAMP1/Yit mice was confirmed by the results of real-time PCR (Figs 5c and 6c). Although the SAMP1/Yit B-cell functional AZD2281 supplier problem has been demonstrated previously,42 the plausible mechanism underlying the alteration in cell signalling pathway had not been explored. However, it was anticipated that an enlarged MLN with increased numbers of pathogenic B cells in SAMP1/Yit mice might be involved in ileitis. In our present study, we noted

an increase of CD5+/− CD1d+ IL-10+ or CD5+/− CD1d+ TGF-β1+ B-cell population in AKR/J as compared with the SAMP1/Yit mice (Figs 5a, 6a) and therefore, depending on this fact, we expect a possible ground for increased production of IL-10 and TGF-β1 produced by B cells from AKR/J mice treated with Clomifene TLR ligands. However, to gain detailed insight into the cell signalling events, we stimulated isolated B cells from AKR/J and SAMP1/Yit strains with CpG-DNA, as this ligand exhibited a better response than LPS for both IL-10 and TGF-β1 secretions, after which a TLR pathway focused PCR array assay was performed using total extracted RNA. Although we observed that the B cells from both strains of mice were responsive to CpG-DNA, they did not exhibit any marked difference between the B-cell types from two different strains in terms of inducing the expression of some familiar TLR pathway-related genes, e.g., Myd88, TRAF6, IRAK-1/4 (Fig. 7a).