7^th World Congress on
Immunology

Yuh-Ching Twu is an Associate Professor at Department of Biotechnology and Laboratory Science in Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan. She received her BS and Master degrees in Biotechnology & Laboratory Science from National Yang-Ming University and PhD degree in Biochemistry Science from National Taiwan University. She has done Post-doctoral programs in Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia and Terry Fox Laboratory, BC Cancer agency. She works on the molecular genetics of human blood group I locus, the regulatory mechanism of branched I formation and the correlation with immune-surveillance.

The aberrant glycosylation on proteins and lipids has been implicated in malignant transformations through promoting the tumorigenesis, metastasis and the evasion from the host immunity. The I-branching β-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase, responsible for the straight I conversion to branched I histo-blood group antigens, has been reported for its important effects on the migration, invasion and metastasis of solid tumors. First, we demonstrated that SHP-2-ERK2 signaling regulates the phosphorylation status of C/EBP by altering its binding affinity onto the IGnTC promoter region, thereby activating the synthesis of cell-surface I antigen formation during erythropoiesis. Second, we addressed how the branched I antigens on the leukemia impacted the host immuno-surveillance mediated by natural killer (NK) cells. The levels of I antigen presented on leukemia cells showed a positive correlation with the susceptibility to NK-mediated lysis. Third, by the conjugation assay, elevating the expression of the I antigens on the leukemia cells that can only display low level of cell surface I antigens greatly increased the sensitivity to NK cytotoxicity. Our findings suggested that branched I of the leukemia cells not only is important for NK targeting but also could serve as a potentially evaluation maker for NK-cell based leukemia treatment.

Laila H. Damanhouri is a PHD research Scholar at faculty of medical school, university of Nottingham (UK). Prior to Nottingham, she pursued Master of Immunology of infectious diseases from London school of hygiene and tropical medicine, London , UK. She graduted from Medical school from Ain Shams university at Cairo, Egypt. Currently, she is working in immunology department at applied medical science at King AbdulAZiz university, Jeddah. Saudi Arabia as associate professor. Her research interest to study the cytokines and its rule in pathogenesis of various disease including autoimmune diseases as Diabetes, SLE, AND Bronchial Asthma and Cancer

Background & Aim: Bronchial asthma is an inflammatory airway disease characterized by infiltration of inflammatory cells into bronchial tree and increased airway hyperreactivity to various physical and chemical stimuli. T-cells play an important role in pathogenesis and inflammatory immune response in bronchial asthma. The aim of this study was to detect soluble interleukin-2 receptors (sIL-2) serum levels, as marker of T lymphocyte activation in vivo, among bronchial asthmatic children. Methods: The study was done at King Abdulaziz University Hospital from January 2015 to December 2015. 77 children were included and subdivided into three groups (acute asthmatic; chronic stable asthmatic and control (table 1, demographic data). After history and clinical examination, with acute asthma were classified into atopic and non-atopic groups. Blood sample was taken from all groups and sIL-2R was measured by ELISA technique. Results: sIL-2R serum level was significantly elevated in acute and chronic asthmatic children versus controls (table 1). Meanwhile, in acute asthmatic, insignificant differences were recorded between different atopic states of the disease (table 2). . Conclusion: This study emphasize the role of T cells in asthma and suggest that regulation of their function may be important in the treatment of acute and stable asthmatic children as evident by elevated serum levels of sIL-2R Keywords: T cell; Bronchial asthma; soluble interleukin-2 receptors

Reshma J Nevagi is a PhD Research Scholar at Faculty of Science, University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Prior to UQ, she pursued Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) from Pune University, India. Currently, she is working in vaccinology field with Professor Istvan Toth and her research interest is to develop self-adjuvanting delivery systems for peptide-based vaccines. Her project involves interdisciplinary research including peptide synthesis, nanoparticles formulation, physicochemical characterization and immunological evaluation. Her aim is to do significant research contribution to develop prophylactic peptide vaccine for group A streptococci (GAS) infection.

Statement of the Problem: Vaccination is cost-effective approach to enhance the host immunity against infections. Traditional vaccines comprised of live/attenuated or killed microorganism have been efficacious against many diseases such as influenza, small-pox, chicken-pox, etc. However, pathogen-based vaccines may also be associated with risks of allergic responses. In recent years, new generation peptide-based vaccines have gained attention in vaccinology field, because of their safety profile and cost-effective production. Peptide-based vaccines utilize a small defined peptide fragment responsible for induction of immune responses which make them safer than other types of vaccines, but it also reduces its immunogenicity because of lack of danger signals. Hence, vaccine formulation into nano-complexes with the help of polymers enhances immunogenicity of peptide vaccines by improving entry and access into antigen-presenting cells. Aim: The purpose of this study is to develop a trimethyl-chitosan (TMC) polymer-based peptide nano-vaccine against group A streptococcus (GAS) infection. Methodology: A peptide comprising of B-cell epitope from GAS M-protein (J8, QAEDKVKQSREAKKQVEKALKQLEDKVQ) and a universal T-helper cell epitope (PADRE, AKFVAAWTLKAAA) was conjugated to anionic polymer which then formed nano-complexes with TMC. J8-specific antibody titers were evaluated after intranasal administration of nano-complexes in C57BL/6 mice. The mice were challenged with M1 GAS strain 20 days after second boost and bacterial burden in nasal associated lymphoid tissue (NALT), throat swabs and nasal shedding was determined. Additionally, the opsonic activity of generated serum IgG antibodies was evaluated against various GAS strains. Findings: TMC-based nano-complexes were effective in generating high serum IgG and salivary IgA titers compared to negative control (PBS) mice group. Nano-complexes showed a reduction in bacterial load following intranasal M1 GAS challenge and also induced high opsonic IgG antibody titers. Conclusion: Developed vaccine delivery system based on TMC nano-complexes possessed adjuvanting properties and hence, it could be used to improve poor immunogenicity of peptide vaccines.