CD55 is a HIF-2α marker with anti-adhesive and pro-invading properties in neuroblastoma.

CD55 has been revealed to have an important role in tumor genesis, and presence of small populations of cells with strong CD55 expression would be sufficient to predict poor prognosis of several tumors. In our study we revealed that CD55 is a novel target of hypoxia-inducible factor HIF-2α in neuroblastoma (NB) cells. We show that HIF-2α expression is sufficient to sustain stem-like features of NB cells, whereas CD55 protein upon HIF-2α expression contributes to growth of colonies and to invasion of cells, but not to stemness features. Interestingly, in NB tissues, CD55 expression is limited to quite a small population of cells that are HIF-2α positive, and the gene expression of CD55 in the NB data set reveals that the presence of CD55(high) affects prognosis of NB patients. The functional characterization of CD55-positive populations within heterogeneous NB monoclonal cell lines shows that CD55 has pro-invading and anti-adhesive properties that might provide the basis for the ability of solid tumors to survive as microscopic residual disease. The easy accessibility to CD55 membrane antigen will offer the possibility of a novel antibody approach in the treatment of recurrent tumors and will provide a ready target for antibody-based visualization in NB diagnosis and prognosis.

[Late onset immunodeficiency with hypo-IgG and hyper-IgM, T CD4+ lymphocytopenia and vitiligo]. / Immunodeficienza ad insorgenza tardiva con ipo-IgG e iper-IgM, linfocitopenia T CD4+ e vitiligo.

The Authors report the clinical case of a patient with a deficit of humoral immunity who developed infections since puberty. The serum levels of IgG and IgA decreased progressively in the fourth decade of life, while serum IgM increased. Moreover, the patient developed a marked CD4+ T lymphocytopenia and a meager B lymphocytopenia, vitiligo, positivity for anti-SSA/Ro autoantibodies and granulomatous phlogosis of the knee. The heterogeneity of the clinical and laboratory data suggests that this patient might present an overlap immunodeficiency syndrome with some of the clinical and immunological features typical of the hyper-IgM syndrome (in the X-linked or autosomal forms) and others that can be referred to a nosologically distinct humoral immunodeficiency such as the common variable immunodeficiency.

Functional characteristics of cord blood T lymphocytes after lectin and anti-CD3 stimulation. Differences in the way T cells express activation molecules and proliferate.

Newborns are more susceptible than adults to infections, which suggests a relative immaturity of the immune system early after birth. Cord blood T cells differ significantly both in surface phenotype and function from adult T cells. We examined the proliferation and expression of activation molecules by lymphocytes isolated from umbilical cord blood or peripheral blood of adults. The lymphocytes were cultured for 5 days in the presence of phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, or anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody. Cord blood T cells expressed the CD45RA molecule, while a low proportion expressed the RO isoform, a marker of primed or activated lymphocytes. Furthermore, more than 95% of neonatal lymphocytes bear the CD38 molecule, but do not express the CD57 molecule. After stimulation by phytohemagglutinin or concanavalin A, the lymphocytes from newborns were activated and proliferated as efficiently as adult T cells. Anti-CD3 did not cause neonatal lymphocytes to proliferate, but these cells expressed activation molecules, such as HLA-DR antigens and the receptor for interleukin-2 and transferrin. The relevance of these findings to tolerance induction in immature cord blood T cells is discussed.

[Telemetric surveys in plant pathology and for taking the census of ungulates]. / Il telerilevamento in patologia vegetale e nel censimento degli ungulati.

Two new applications of the remote sensing techniques in the territory management which make use of a thermal scanner, are described here: the first concerned with the vegetal pathology field and the second with the big game censusing the Castelporziano farm. The former constitutes an improvement of the usual techniques either for its quick performance or for being an uncurrent intervention on plants, the latter allows to realize censuses also in thickly bushy or woody lands, where the usual methods of counting "at sight", besides to need a large staff are not much reliable.