Carole A. Rayburn (1938-2017).

Presents an obituary for Carole A. Rayburn (1938-2017). A feminist, activist, therapist, and researcher, Rayburn authored or coauthored several copyrighted psychological inventories and dozens of book chapters and journal articles and wrote or edited at least nine books. On the national level, she was active in multiple divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA) and was elected to fellow status in at least 10 of them. Courageously speaking truth to power, Rayburn wrote clearly and directly about the oppression of women through misogynistic, sexist, and patriarchal attitudes and systems that permeate society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Bioenergetic Insufficiencies Due to Metabolic Alterations Regulated by the Inhibitory Receptor PD-1 Are an Early Driver of CD8(+) T Cell Exhaustion.

Dynamic reprogramming of metabolism is essential for T cell effector function and memory formation. However, the regulation of metabolism in exhausted CD8(+) T (Tex) cells is poorly understood. We found that during the first week of chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection, before severe dysfunction develops, virus-specific CD8(+) T cells were already unable to match the bioenergetics of effector T cells generated during acute infection. Suppression of T cell bioenergetics involved restricted glucose uptake and use, despite persisting mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and upregulation of many anabolic pathways. PD-1 regulated early glycolytic and mitochondrial alterations and repressed transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α. Improving bioenergetics by overexpression of PGC-1α enhanced function in developing Tex cells. Therapeutic reinvigoration by anti-PD-L1 reprogrammed metabolism in a subset of Tex cells. These data highlight a key metabolic control event early in exhaustion and suggest that manipulating glycolytic and mitochondrial metabolism might enhance checkpoint blockade outcomes.

B cell antigen presentation in the initiation of follicular helper T cell and germinal center differentiation.

High-affinity class-switched Abs and memory B cells are products of the germinal center (GC). The CD4+ T cell help required for the development and maintenance of the GC is delivered by follicular Th cells (T(FH)), a CD4+ Th cell subset characterized by expression of Bcl-6 and secretion of IL-21. The cellular interactions that mediate differentiation of TFH and GC B cells remain an important area of investigation. We previously showed that MHC class II (MHCII)-dependent dendritic cell Ag presentation is sufficient for the differentiation of a T(FH) intermediate (termed pre-T(FH)), characterized by Bcl-6 expression but lacking IL-21 secretion. In this article, we examine the contributions of MHCII Ag presentation by B cells to T(FH) differentiation and GC responses in several contexts. B cells alone do not efficiently prime naive CD4+ T cells or induce T(FH) after protein immunization; however, during lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection, B cells induce T(FH) differentiation despite the lack of effector CD4+ T cell generation. Still, MHCII+ dendritic cells and B cells cooperate for optimal T(FH) and GC B cell differentiation in response to both model Ags and viral infection. This study highlights the roles for B cells in both CD4+ T cell priming and T(FH) differentiation, and demonstrates that different APC subsets work in tandem to mediate the GC response.

Data mining nursing care plans of end-of-life patients: a study to improve healthcare decision making.

PURPOSE: To reveal hidden patterns and knowledge present in nursing care information documented with standardized nursing terminologies on end-of-life (EOL) hospitalized patients. METHOD: 596 episodes of care that included pain as a problem on a patient's care plan were examined using statistical and data mining tools. The data were extracted from the Hands-On Automated Nursing Data System database of nursing care plan episodes (n = 40,747) coded with NANDA-I, Nursing Outcomes Classification, and Nursing Intervention Classification (NNN) terminologies. System episode data (episode = care plans updated at every hand-off on a patient while staying on a hospital unit) had been previously gathered in eight units located in four different healthcare facilities (total episodes = 40,747; EOL episodes = 1,425) over 2 years and anonymized prior to this analyses. RESULTS: Results show multiple discoveries, including EOL patients with hospital stays (<72 hr) are less likely (p < .005) to meet the pain relief goals compared with EOL patients with longer hospital stays. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates some major benefits of systematically integrating NNN into electronic health records.

Monoclonal TCR-redirected tumor cell killing.

T cell immunity can potentially eradicate malignant cells and lead to clinical remission in a minority of patients with cancer. In the majority of these individuals, however, there is a failure of the specific T cell receptor (TCR)­mediated immune recognition and activation process. Here we describe the engineering and characterization of new reagents termed immune-mobilizing monoclonal TCRs against cancer (ImmTACs). Four such ImmTACs, each comprising a distinct tumor-associated epitope-specific monoclonal TCR with picomolar affinity fused to a humanized cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3)-specific single-chain antibody fragment (scFv), effectively redirected T cells to kill cancer cells expressing extremely low surface epitope densities. Furthermore, these reagents potently suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Thus, ImmTACs overcome immune tolerance to cancer and represent a new approach to tumor immunotherapy.

DOCK8 is essential for T-cell survival and the maintenance of CD8+ T-cell memory.

Deficiency in the guanine nucleotide exchange factor dedicator of cytokinesis 8 (DOCK8) causes a human immunodeficiency syndrome associated with recurrent sinopulmonary and viral infections. We have recently identified a DOCK8-deficient mouse strain, carrying an ethylnitrosourea-induced splice-site mutation that shows a failure to mature a humoral immune response due to the loss of germinal centre B cells. In this study, we turned to T-cell immunity to investigate further the human immunodeficiency syndrome and its association with decreased peripheral CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. Characterisation of the DOCK8-deficient mouse revealed T-cell lymphopenia, with increased T-cell turnover and decreased survival. Egress of mature CD4(+) thymocytes was reduced with increased migration of these cells to the chemokine CXCL12. However, despite the two-fold reduction in peripheral naïve T cells, the DOCK8-deficient mice generated a normal primary CD8(+) immune response and were able to survive acute influenza virus infection. The limiting effect of DOCK8 was in the normal survival of CD8(+) memory T cells after infection. These findings help to explain why DOCK8-deficient patients are susceptible to recurrent infections and provide new insights into how T-cell memory is sustained.

High affinity soluble ILT2 receptor: a potent inhibitor of CD8(+) T cell activation.

Using directed mutagenesis and phage display on a soluble fragment of the human immunoglobulin super-family receptor ILT2 (synonyms: LIR1, MIR7, CD85j), we have selected a range of mutants with binding affinities enhanced by up to 168,000-fold towards the conserved region of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. Produced in a dimeric form, either by chemical cross-linking with bivalent polyethylene glycol (PEG) derivatives or as a genetic fusion with human IgG Fc-fragment, the mutants exhibited a further increase in ligand-binding strength due to the avidity effect, with resident half-times (t(1/2)) on the surface of MHC I-positive cells of many hours. The novel compounds antagonized the interaction of CD8 co-receptor with MHC I in vitro without affecting the peptide-specific binding of T-cell receptors (TCRs). In both cytokine-release assays and cell-killing experiments the engineered receptors inhibited the activation of CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in the presence of their target cells, with subnanomolar potency and in a dose-dependent manner. As a selective inhibitor of CD8(+) CTL responses, the engineered high affinity ILT2 receptor presents a new tool for studying the activation mechanism of different subsets of CTLs and could have potential for the development of novel autoimmunity therapies.

Dock8 mutations cripple B cell immunological synapses, germinal centers and long-lived antibody production.

To identify genes and mechanisms involved in humoral immunity, we did a mouse genetic screen for mutations that do not affect the first wave of antibody to immunization but disrupt response maturation and persistence. The first two mutants identified had loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding a previously obscure member of a family of Rho-Rac GTP-exchange factors, DOCK8. DOCK8-mutant B cells were unable to form marginal zone B cells or to persist in germinal centers and undergo affinity maturation. Dock8 mutations disrupted accumulation of the integrin ligand ICAM-1 in the B cell immunological synapse but did not alter other aspects of B cell antigen receptor signaling. Humoral immunodeficiency due to Dock8 mutation provides evidence that organization of the immunological synapse is critical for signaling the survival of B cell subsets required for long-lasting immunity.

Themis is a member of a new metazoan gene family and is required for the completion of thymocyte positive selection.

T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signaling in CD4(+)CD8(+) double-positive thymocytes determines cell survival and lineage commitment, but the genetic and molecular basis of this process is poorly defined. To address this issue, we used ethylnitrosourea mutagenesis to identify a previously unknown T lineage-specific gene, Themis, which is critical for the completion of positive selection. Themis contains a tandem repeat of a unique globular domain (called 'CABIT' here) that includes a cysteine motif that defines a family of five uncharacterized vertebrate proteins with orthologs in most animal species. Themis-deficient thymocytes showed no substantial impairment in early TCR signaling but did show altered expression of genes involved in the cell cycle and survival before and during positive selection. Our data suggest a unique function for Themis in sustaining positive selection.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine availability, recommendations, cost, and policies among health departments in seven Appalachian states.

Telephone interviews of health department personnel in six states and review of an immunization database from one state were conducted to assess human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine availability, recommendations, cost, policies, and educational materials in health departments in seven Appalachian states. Most (99.1%) health departments (n=234) reported receiving patient requests for the HPV vaccine, and only two (1%) health departments reported that they did not provide the vaccine for patients. HPV vaccine supply was reported to not meet the demand in 10.5% (24/228) of health departments due to high costs. Level (state, region, county) at which policy about the HPV vaccine was determined, vaccine recommendations, costs, and available educational materials varied among states. This study documented variation in vaccine availability, recommendations, cost, policies, and educational materials in Appalachian health departments that could significantly affect vaccine distribution. Findings highlight the need for more comprehensive and consistent policies that maximize accessibility of the HPV vaccine to women, especially those in underserved areas.

On line UV-adsorbance measurements. Summary of the EDTNA/ERCA journal club discussion. Summer 2006.

The discussion was initiated by a paper comparing the measurement of dialysis dose (Kt/V) and solute clearance using on-line ultra-violet absorbance, blood and dialysate urea and ionic dialysance by Uhlin et al (NDT 2006). Participants from 14 countries discussed the theory behind the UV absorbance technique and the potential for its use in routine practice, the correlation between Kt/V measured using different methods, the use of ionic dialysance and the optimisation of dose monitoring. The 'take-home' messages from the discussion were that UV-absorbance could help ensure the delivery of dialysis dose as it provides real time feedback on the effect interventions such as repositioning of needles. The technology is relatively inexpensive and requires no consumables but changes in the dialysis machine settings could lead to misleading measurements if not communicated to the UV monitor. Session-to-session variation in dialysis dose can be measured using on-line clearance monitoring. If it is already on the machine and costs nothing, why not use it? Alternatively, regular access recirculation checks and a record of the total blood volume processed at each session allow problems with delivered dialysis dose to be picked up between routine blood tests.