A combination of two distinct in vitro amplification procedures for DNA typing of HLA-DRB and -DQB 1 alleles

Long-term follow-up after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes or secondary acute myeloid leukemia: a single center experience

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

We performed a single center analysis of 60 adult patients (33 males and 27 females) with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) at our institution.

RESULTS

Allogeneic stem cell in patients were transplanted between 1988 and 2010, 28 had an human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling donor, 23 had an HLA-identical unrelated donor, and 9 had an 1 allele mismatched donor. The median age at time of HCT was 44 (range: 18-68) years. Conditioning therapy was myeloablative in 36 patients and consisted of a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen in 24 patients. Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis was performed with a combination of methotrexate and cyclosporine A in 36 patients, and cyclosporine A plus mycophenolate mofetil in 24 patients. The 10-year probability of overall survival was 46 %.

CONCLUSION

In a multivariate analysis, we identified pretransplantation serum ferritin as the only independent adverse prognostic variable predicting survival in our patients.

Nitration of the pollen allergen bet v 1.0101 enhances the presentation of bet v 1-derived peptides by HLA-DR on human dendritic cells

Nitration of pollen derived allergens can occur by NO₂ and ozone in polluted air and it has already been shown that nitrated major birch (Betula verrucosa) pollen allergen Bet v 1.0101 (Bet v 1) exhibits an increased potency to trigger an immune response. However, the mechanisms by which nitration might contribute to the induction of allergy are still unknown. In this study, we assessed the effect of chemically induced nitration of Bet v 1 on the generation of HLA-DR associated peptides. Human dendritic cells were loaded with unmodified Bet v 1 or nitrated Bet v 1, and the naturally processed HLA-DR associated peptides were subsequently identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Nitration of Bet v 1 resulted in enhanced presentation of allergen-derived HLA-DR-associated peptides. Both the copy number of Bet v 1 derived peptides as well as the number of nested clusters was increased. Our study shows that nitration of Bet v 1 alters antigen processing and presentation via HLA-DR, by enhancing both the quality and the quantity of the Bet v 1-specific peptide repertoire. These findings indicate that air pollution can contribute to allergic diseases and might also shed light on the analogous events concerning the nitration of self-proteins.