Published in Methods in Molecular Biology
The apoptosis function can be monitored on human lymphocytes by quantifying the induced-death upon apoptotic stimuli involving either the extrinsic or the intrinsic pathway on in vitro activated T cells. Her, we describe an in vitro assay allowing the monitoring of three different apoptosis pathways: (1) the FAS-induced pathway, (2) the activation-...
Published in Methods in Molecular Biology
Epigenetic mechanisms lead to the stable regulation of gene expression without alteration of DNA and trigger initiation and/or maintenance of cell-type-specific transcriptional profiles. Indeed, modulation of chromatin structure and the global 3D organization of the genome and nuclear architecture participate in the precise control of transcription...
Published in Methods in Molecular Biology
Bioluminescence from murine stem cells tagged with the luciferase gene reporter and distributed within three-dimensional scaffolds of two different materials is quantified in vitro and in vivo. The luminescence emitted from cells adhering to the scaffolds tested is monitored noninvasively using a bioluminescence imaging system. Monitoring the kinet...
Published in Methods in Molecular Biology
DC-SIGN and L-SIGN are C-type lectins that recognize carbohydrate structures present on viral glycoproteins and function as attachment factors for several enveloped viruses. DC-SIGN and L-SIGN enhance viral entry and facilitate infection of cells that express the cognate entry receptor (cis-infection). They are also able to capture viruses and tran...
Published in Methods in Molecular Biology
Cross-presentation is defined as the ability of certain professional antigen-presenting cells to take up, process and present extracellular antigens on major histocompatibility class I (MHC-I) molecules to CD8+ T cells. The stimulation of naive cytotoxic CD8+ T cells by this process, termed cross-priming, is involved in many different responses, in...
Published in Methods in Molecular Biology
NKT cells are innate-like αβ T cells that are conserved between humans and mice. They are distinct from conventional T cells as they recognize lipid antigens presented by the CD1d molecule. Most NKT cells expressed a highly restricted TCR repertoire and can be activated by α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) and detected by α-GalCer-loaded-CD1d tetrame...
