Laboruntersuchungen zur Aufnahme von N 2 O 5, HNO 3 und NO 2 auf Mineralstaub

Mit Hilfe eines Aerosolströmungsreaktors wurden erstmals die heterogenen Reaktionen der Spurengase N2O5, HNO3 und NO2 mit verschiedenen synthetischen Mineralstäuben und dem natürlichen Mineralstaub Saharastaub untersucht. Es wurden Aufnahmekoeffizienten für die Reaktion von N2O5 mit Saharastaub, Arizona Teststaub, Kalzit und Quartz bei Zimmertemperatur, Atmosphärendruck, unterschiedlichen relativen Feuchten und N2O5-Konzentrationen zwischen 5·10^12 und 3·10^13 Moleküle/cm^3 bestimmt. Die Aufnahmekoeffizienten für N2O5 auf Mineralstaub lagen zwischen 1,90·10^−2 (Saharastaub) und 0,63·10^−2 (Kalzit), unabhängig von der relativen Feuchte und der N2O5-Konzentration. Als Reaktionsprodukt wurde HNO3 in der Gasphase gefunden. Es wurde eine Aufnahme von HNO3 auf Saharastaub beobachtet, NO2 wurde nicht caufgenommen. Für NO2 konnte eine obere Grenze von gamma = 4·10^−4 für den Aufnahmekoeffizienten gewonnen werden. Die Aufnahme von N2O5 und auch HNO3 beeinflusst die photochemischen Kreisläufe von NOx und NOy in der Troposphäre. Zum einen führt die Aufnahme von N2O5 zu einer Abnahme in Ozonkonzentrationen und zum anderen zu einer Reduktion von NO3, was beides die oxidative Kraft in der Troposphäre herabsetzt.

Generation of FLT3-ITD-reactive T-cell populations from different sources

Approximately 25% of acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) carry internal tandem duplications (ITD) of various lengths within the gene encoding the FMS-like tyrosine kinase receptor 3 (FLT3). Although varying duplication sites exist, most of these length mutations affect the protein´s juxtamembrane domain. FLT3-ITDs support leukemic transformation by constitutive phosphorylation resulting in uncontrolled activation, and their presence is associated with worse prognosis. As known form previous work, they represent leukemia- and patient-specific neoantigens that can be recognized by autologous AML-reactive CD8+ T cells (Graf et al., 2007; Graf et al., unpublished). Herein, in patient FL, diagnosed with FLT3-ITD+ AML and in first complete remission after induction chemotherapy, T cells against her leukemia´s individual FLT3-ITD were detected at a frequency up to 1.7x10-3 among peripheral blood CD8+ T lymphocytes. This rather high frequency suggested, that FLT3-ITD-reactive T cells had been expanded in vivo due to the induction of an anti-leukemia response.rnrnCell material from AML patients is limited, and the patients´ anti-leukemia T-cell repertoire might be skewed, e.g. due to complex previous leukemia-host interactions and chemotherapy. Therefore, allogeneic sources, i.e. buffy coats (BCs) from health donors and umbilical cord blood (UCB) donations, were exploited for the presence and the expansion of FLT3-ITD-reactive T-cell populations. BC- and UCB-derived CD8+ T cells, were distributed at 105 cells per well on microtiter plates and, were stimulated with antigen-presenting cells (APCs) transfected with in vitro-transcribed mRNA (IVT-mRNA) encoding selected FTL3-ITDs. APCs were autologous CD8- blood mononuclear cells, monocytes or FastDCs.rnrnBuffy coat lymphocytes from 19 healthy individuals were analyzed for CD8+ T-cell reactivity against three immunogenic FLT3-ITDs previously identified in patients VE, IN and QQ and designated as VE_, IN_ and QQ_FLT3-ITD, respectively. These healthy donors carried at least one of the HLA I alleles known to present an ITD-derived peptide from one of these FLT3-ITDs. Reactivities against single ITDs were observed in 8/19 donors. In 4 donors the frequencies of ITD-reactive T cells were determined and were estimated to be in the range of 1.25x10-6 to 2.83x10-7 CD8+ T cells. These frequencies were 1,000- to 10,000-fold lower than the frequency of autologous FLT3-ITD-reactive T cells observed in patient FL. Restricting HLA I molecules were identified in two donors. In one of them, the recognition of VE_FLT3-ITD was found to be restricted by HLA-C*07:02, which is different from the HLA allele restricting the anti-ITD T cells of patient VE. In another donor, the recognition of IN_FLT3-ITD was restricted by HLA-B*35:01, which also had been observed in patient IN (Graf et al., unpublished). By gradual 3´-fragmentation of the IN_FLT3-ITD cDNA, the 10-mer peptide CPSDNEYFYV was identified as the target of allogeneic T cells against IN_FLT3-ITD. rnLymphocytes in umbilical cord blood predominantly exhibit a naïve phenotype. Seven UCB donations were analyzed for T-cell responses against the FLT3-ITDs of patients VE, IN, QQ, JC and FL irrespective of their HLA phenotype. ITD-reactive responses against all stimulatory FLT3-ITDs were observed in 5/7 UCB donations. The frequencies of T cells against single FLT3-ITDs in CD8+ lymphocytes were estimated to be in the range of 1.8x10-5 to 3.6x10-6, which is nearly 15-fold higher than the frequencies observed in BCs. Restricting HLA I molecules were identified in 4 of these 5 positive UCB donations. They were mostly different from those observed in the respective patients. But in one UCB donation T cells against the JC_FLT3-ITD had exactly the same peptide specificity and HLA restriction as seen before in patient JC (Graf et al., 2007). Analyses of UCB responder lymphocytes led to the identification of the 10-mer peptide YESDNEYFYV, encoded by FL_FLT3-ITD, that was recognized in association with the frequent allele HLA-A*02:01. This peptide was able to stimulate and enrich ITD-reactive T cells from UCB lymphocytes in vitro. Peptide responders not only recognized the peptide, but also COS-7 cells co-transfected with FL_FLT3-ITD and HLA-A*02:01.rnrnIn conclusion, T cells against AML- and individual-specific FLT3-ITDs were successfully generated not only from patient-derived blood, but also from allogeneic sources. Thereby, ITD-reactive T cells were detected more readily and at higher frequencies in umbilical cord blood than in buffy coat lymphocytes. It occurred that peptide specificity and HLA restriction of allogeneic, ITD-reactive T cells were identical to autologous patient-derived T cells. As shown herein, allogeneic, FLT3-ITD-reactive T cells can be used for the identification of FLT3-ITD-encoded peptides, e.g. for future therapeutic vaccination studies. In addition, these T cells or their receptors can be applied to adoptive transfer.

Konstruktion symmetrischer Designs

In dieser Arbeit werden zehn neue symmetrische (176,50,14) Designs und ein neues symmetrisches (144,66,30) Design durch Vorgabe von nichtauflösbaren Automorphismengruppen konstruiert. Im Jahre 1969 entdeckte G. Higman ein symmetrisches (176,50,14) Design, dessen volle Automorphismengruppe die sporadische einfache Gruppe HS der Ordnung 44.352.000 ist. Hier wurden nun Designs gesucht, die eine Untergruppe von HS zulassen. Folgende Untergruppen wurden betrachtet: die transitive und die intransitive Erweiterung einer elementarabelschen Gruppe der Ordnung 16 durch Alt(5), AGL(3,2), das direkte Produkt einer zyklischen Gruppe der Ordnung 5 mit Alt(5) und PSL(2,11). Die transitive Erweiterung von E(16) durch Alt(5) lieferte zwei neue Designs mit Automorphismengruppen der Ordnungen 960 bzw. 11.520; letzteres konnte auch mit der transitiven Erweiterung erhalten werden. Die Gruppe PSL(2,11) operiert auf den Punkten des Higman-Designs in drei Bahnen; sucht man nach symmetrischen (176,50,14) Designs, auf denen diese Gruppe in zwei Bahnen operiert, so erhält man acht neue Designs. Die übrigen Gruppen lieferten keine neuen Designs. Schließlich konnte ein neues symmetrisches (144,66,30) Design unter Verwendung der sporadischen Mathieu-Gruppe M(12) konstruiert werden. Dies war zu diesem Zeitpunkt außer dem Higman-Design das einzige bekannte symmetrische Design, dessen volle Automorphismengruppe im Wesentlichen eine sporadische einfache Gruppe ist.

Misregulation of the tumour suppressor gene CYLD drives hyperactivation of T cells leading to intestinal pathology

The tumour suppressor gene cyld is mutated in familial cylindromatosis, an autosomal-dominant condition that predisposes to multiple skin tumours. The deubiquitinase CYLD acts as a negative regulator of NF-κB signaling. To analyse the function of CYLD in vivo we used the CYLDex7/8 mice, which are characterized by loss of the full-length transcript and overexpression of a short splice variant of CYLD (sCYLD). In CYLDex7/8 mice the overexpression of sCYLD results in splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy. Additionally, the B cell population in spleen and lymph nodes is increased at the expense of T cells. Analysis of CYLDex7/8 T cells showed a significant reduction of CD4 single positive (SP) and CD8 SP T cells in the thymus and in the periphery. By investigating the impact of sCYLD in TCR signaling in thymocytes, we could demonstrate that sCYLD partially inhibited the activation of Zap70 and thereby negatively regulated TCR signaling. In vitro as well as in vivo we could show that CD4+ T cells displayed a hyperactive phenotype, proliferated to a better extent than WT cells and expressed high amounts of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-17A. Western Blots of steady state thymocytes and peripheral CD4+ T cells were performed, showing that the noncanonical pathway was highly upregulated visualized by the expression levels of RelB and p100 leading to a hyperactive phenotype of CD4+ T cells. In order to investigate the contribution of sCYLD in positive and negative selection in the thymus in vivo, the HY-TCR transgene (HYtg) was crossed to CYLDex7/8 mice. The analysis of CYLDex7/8 HYtg males revealed an increase in CD4+CD8+ DP as well as in CD8+ SP thymocytes, suggesting a less pronounced negative selection in CYLD mutant mice compared to HYtg control mice. Interestingly, the impaired negative selection in the thymus was accompanied by a strong colitis phenotype at early ages (4 weeks). Since medullary TECs (mTECs) play an important role in the late stage of T cell development by negatively selecting autoreactive thymocytes, the levels of mTECs in the medullary compartment was investigated. Of note, low numbers of mTECs were observed, combined with decreased expression levels of the mTEC markers UEA-1, keratin-5, claudin-3 and claudin-4. The reduction of mTECs in the medullary compartment could explain the inflammatory phenotype of CD4+ T cells in CYLDex7/8 mice leading to the severe intestinal pathology observed in these mice. Taken together, these results show an important role of sCYLD in T cell development and function as well as in NF-кB signaling of T cells.