Only diamond nanoparticles, multi-wall nanotubes and fullerenes s

Only diamond nanoparticles, multi-wall nanotubes and fullerenes showed statistically significant results. Nanoparticles showing anti-angiogenic effects also changed the morphology of CAM by decreasing its thickness. Diamond nanoparticles and fullerene changed the expression level of KDR, but not PFT�� order FGFR, thereby affecting the angiogenic potential of CAM. Multi-wall nanotubes and especially diamond nanoparticle can be considered potential inhibitors of blood vessel growth in anti-angiogenic

tumour therapy. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the following grants: NCN 2011/03/N/NZ9/04290 and NCN NN311540840. The report is a part of the doctoral thesis of Mateusz Wierzbicki. References 1. Adams RH, Alitalo K: Molecular regulation of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2007, 8:464–478.CrossRef 2. Kurz H, Burri PH, Djonov VG: Angiogenesis and vascular remodeling by intussusception: from form to function. News Physiol Sci 2003, 18:65–70. 3. Ferrara N, Gerber HP, LeCouter J: The biology of VEGF and its receptors. Nat Med 2003, 9:669–676.CrossRef

4. Shibuya M: Differential roles of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 and receptor-2 in angiogenesis. J Biochem Mol Biol 2006, 39:469–478.CrossRef 5. Cross PF-6463922 clinical trial M, Claesson-Welsh L: FGF and VEGF function in angiogenesis: signalling pathways, biological responses and therapeutic inhibition. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2001, Glutamate dehydrogenase 22:201–207.CrossRef 6. Jain RK, Duda DG, Clark JW, Loeffler JS: Lessons from phase III clinical trials on anti-VEGF therapy for cancer. Nat Clin Pract Oncol 2006, 3:24–40.CrossRef 7. Carmeliet

P, Jain RK: Molecular mechanism and clinical applications of angiogenesis. Nature 2011, 473:298–307.CrossRef 8. Sayes CM, Fortner JD, Guo W, Lyon D, Boyd AM, Ausman KD, Tao YJ, Sitharaman B, Wilson LJ, Hughes JB, West JL, Colvin VL: The differential cytotoxicity of water-soluble fullerenes. Nano Lett 2004, 4:1881–1887.CrossRef 9. Dumortier H, Lacotte S, Pastorin G, Marega R, Wu W, Bonifazi D, Briand JP, Prato M, Muller S, Bianco A: Functionalized carbon nanotubes are non-cytotoxic and preserve the functionality of primary immune cells. Nano Lett 2006, 6:1522–1528.CrossRef 10. Schrand AM, Dai L, Schlager JJ, Hussain SM, Osawa E: Differential biocompatibility of carbon nanotubes and nanodiamonds. Diam Relat Mater 2007, 16:2118–2123.CrossRef 11. Liu KK, Cheng CL, Chang CC, Chao JI: Biocompatible and detectable carboxylated nanodiamond on human cell. Nanotechnology 2007, 18:325102.CrossRef 12. Grodzik M, Sawosz E, Wierzbicki M, Orlowski P, Hotowy A, Niemiec T, Szmidt M, Mitura K, Chwalibog A: Nanoparticles of carbon allotropes inhibit glioblastoma multiforme angiogenesis in ovo. Int J Nanomedicine 2011, 6:3041–3048. 13.

The management of ruptured HCC is achieved by many techniques dep

The management of ruptured HCC is achieved by many techniques depending on the stability of the patient. If the patient is hemodynamically stable, conservative treatment with close monitoring and correction of coagulopathy is the gold standard of care [17]. On the other hand, if the patient is hemodynamically unstable, as in our case, he or she may need surgical interventions after resuscitation. These include transarterial embolization,

perihepatic packing, suture plication, absolute alcohol injection, hepatic artery ligation (HAL) or emergency lobe resection. Surgical interventions also depend on the condition of the liver, the size of the tumor and its location. Perihepatic Ku-0059436 cost packing is preferred in a bleeding tumor located near the diaphragm but the packing should not be left in for more than 36–72 h due to risk of infection [2]. Tumor blood supply comes mainly from the hepatic artery, and the efficacy of HAL is estimated to be 68-100%, with mortality as high as 77% [2]. Due to the risk of liver damage, selective HAL is preferred. One-stage emergency liver resection simultaneously stops bleeding and definitively treats HCC. The resection index in patients with a ruptured HCC ranges between 12.5 and 31%, and

these procedures have a high mortality rate due to inadequate knowledge of the functional hepatic reserve (hemorrhagic shock condition). Reported mortality

ranges Akt inhibitor between 6-phosphogluconolactonase 16.5 and 100%, depending on the institution [2] and many authors consequently prefer staged liver resection after initial bleeding control. The resection index mentioned above ranged between 21 and 56%, while postoperative morality was reported between 0 and 9%. Therefore, one-staged liver resection in ruptured HCC cases should only be performed in easily accessible tumors and only in patients without liver cirrhosis [2]. In our case, the diagnosis of HCC was accidental, and the patient had no history of hepatic disease. On admission, the patient was hemodynamically unstable but had normal liver function. Hemoperitoneum secondary to hepatic rupture was confirmed by CT imaging, and we proceeded with emergency surgery. However, the tumor’s advanced stage made it difficult to access and isolate since it was already infiltrating the diaphragm. Direct diaphragmatic invasion of HCC is found in 10% to 13% of patients with HCC [10]. To date, 7 retrospective studies and 2 case reports in the English literature report that a total of 162 patients with HCC direct invasion to the diaphragm have undergone en bloc resection or blunt dissection (Table  1). Lau et al. and Lin et al. reported no significant differences in the surgical morbidity and mortality between patients who underwent a traditional hepatectomy and those who had diaphragm resection [18, 19]. Yamashita et al.

Spa-typing A staged spa-typing protocol was developed to enable i

Spa-typing A staged spa-typing protocol was developed to enable identification of multiple-strain Selleckchem Talazoparib colonization on a large-scale [27]. The polymorphic X region of the protein A gene (spa) was amplified

with primers 1095 F: 5′-AGACGATCCTTCGGTGAGC-3′ and 1517R: 5′-GCTTTTGCAATGTCATTTACTG-3′ [28, 29]. PCR reactions consisted of 0.25 mM dNTPs (Qiagen), 0.5 U of GoTaq Flexi DNA Polymerase (Promega), Colorless GoTaq Flexi Buffer, 2.5 mM of magnesium chloride and 0.25 μM of primers in a volume of 10 μl. PCR conditions were 94°C for 2 min; 35 cycles each of 94°C for 30 s, 50°C for 30 s, and 72°C for 60 s; and a final extension at 72°C for 5 min. PCR products were purified using Agencourt AMPure XP beads (Beckman Coulter). Samples were sequenced with the same primers as used in PCR. Sequencing reactions used BigDye v3.1 sequencing mix (Applied Biosystems) and were cycled using 30 cycles of 96°C for 10 s, 50°C for 5 s, and 60°C for 2 min. Products were purified with Agencourt CleanSEQ Apoptosis inhibitor beads (Beckman Coulter) and separated on an ABI 3730 DNA Analyzer (Applied Biosystems). Chromatograms were analyzed using Ridom StaphType v2.0.3 software (Ridom GmbH). The relationships between spa-types were investigated using the BURP clustering algorithm [30] incorporated into Ridom StaphType. Identification of

rearrangements in spa-gene A small proportion of isolates did not yield clean sequence traces with the original primers indicating the presence of rearrangements in the spa-gene. To identify possible rearrangements, primers spa-3 F: 5′-ATAGCGTGATTTTGCGGTT-3′ and spa-3R: 5′-CTAAATATAAATAATGTTGTCACTTGGA-3′

[14] were used to amplify the whole spa-gene. As some isolates failed to amplify even with this extended set of primers, an alternate forward Histidine ammonia-lyase primer, spaT3-F: 5′-CAACGCAATGGTTTCATCCA-3′ binding upstream from 1095 F was used together with standard reverse primer 1517R. Primer spaT3-F binds to a part of sequence encoding an IgG-binding domain of the spa-gene that is repeated five times in the gene (Figure 1). Due to presence of multiple binding sites for the spaT3-F primer within spa-gene, only the reverse primer (1517R) was used for sequencing. Figure 1 Scheme of the spa -gene with annealing sites for the novel spaT3-F primer and standard primers. Notes: black arrows indicate five annealing sites for spaT3-F primer; grey arrow indicates annealing site for 1095 F standard primer; white arrow indicates annealing site for 1517R standard primer; figures represent distance between the beginning of spaT3-F primer and the beginning of Xr region. Spa-gene: s – signal sequence, E, D, A, B, C – IgG-binding domains, X – region which lacks IgG-binding activity and consists of repetitive region (Xr) and C-terminal region (Xc).

PD-1 negative subsets of Env- and Gag- specific CD8+ T cells   PD

PD-1 negative subsets of Env- and Gag- specific CD8+ T cells.  PD-1-negative HIV-specific T cells may theoretically represent ‘true’ effector T cell capacity against the virus. PD-1-negative CD8+ T cell responses were also dominated by Gag and Nef, but the predominance of CD8+ Gag compared to Env responses (×5–6) became less pronounced (×3) among CD8+ PD-1-negative T cells (P < 0·01) (Table 2). However, when PD-1 expression on specific T cells was related to prospective CD4 loss rates and CD38, Gag-specific CD8+ PD-1-negative

T cells were again superior to the corresponding Env- and Nef-specificities (Table 3). The impact of PD-1-negative Gag-specific cells was supported by lower CD38 levels in patients with a high number of Gag PD-1-negative CD8+ cells [5698 (highest Gag tertile) versus 7634 CD38 molecules/cell (lowest tertile); medians, P = 0·01]. Interestingly, Env-specific cells correlated GSI-IX datasheet with current CD4 change rate (r = −0·41), but inversely, so compared with the corresponding PLX3397 Gag subsets (r = 0·79, prospective CD4 change rate) (Table 3). In fact, Env-specific CD8+ T cells were the only cells where high PD-1 was favourable in terms of positive correlation with CD4 change (r = 0·37, Table 3). These results correspond with the hypothesis that Env-specific CD8+ T cells may be directly or indirectly harmful [20,37]. The ratio between Env- and Gag- specific CD8+ T cells. 

The inverse correlations between CD4+ T cell change rates for Gag- and Env-specific CD8+ responses (positive and negative correlations, respectively; see above) combined with the lack of correlation between these two antigen responses

(r = 0·09, n.s.) prompted us to analyse the Env/Gag CD8+ response ratio (E/G). The E/G ratio for PD-1-negative CD8+ T cell subsets (E/G neg) were also included in the analyses, as the E/G and E/G neg ratios did not correlate completely (r = 0·79, P < 0·01). It should be noted that the inverted Gag/Env ratios correlated more strongly with CD4 change rates, but were mathematically inapplicable CHIR-99021 mw in three of the 31 cases due to undetectable Env-responses (data not shown). The E/G and E/G neg ratios correlated more favourably than all of the other pseudomarkers tested with the two CD4 change rate parameters (Table 3, Fig. 2b). This was supported by significantly higher current CD4 change rates in patients with low E/G ratio (approx. −50 CD4 cells/µl/year, lower tertile) compared with those having a high ratio (approximately −200 CD4 cells/µl/year, highest tertile, P < 0·01) (Fig. 2a). The same was true for the E/G neg ratios (P < 0·01, data not shown). E/G ratio best predictor of CD4 loss in logistic regression analysis.  All predictive markers were compared in a binary logistic regression analysis where the median current absolute and relative CD4 change rates represented the binary breakpoints (−158 CD4+ T cells/µl/year and −38·2%/year, respectively).

As a conclusion, the pp65-HLA-A2 tetramer+ fraction does not alte

As a conclusion, the pp65-HLA-A2 tetramer+ fraction does not alter the TcL typology of these two patients. Altogether, these data suggest that, even if CMV is positively correlated with TCR repertoire shape, the TCR classification of these patients is not driven by the specific anti-pp65 CMV-specific T-cell response. TCR Vβ repertoire alteration could be associated with a bias of regulatory/cytopathic

immune gene balance. To test this hypothesis, we measured the gene expression of FOXP3 (prototypic regulatory-associated gene), GZMB (prototypic cytotoxicity-associated gene) and T-bet (prototypic inflammation-associated gene) in the PBMC of patients within the STA GenHomme cohort. Patients belonging to the TcL classes 3 and 4 exhibit a decrease in FOXP3 (p=0.0001) Decitabine purchase expression, and an increase in GZMB (p=0.001) and T-bet (p<0.0001) expression as compared with patients belonging to TcL class 1 (Fig. 4A). Correlations between PCA C1 and gene expression of FOXP3,

GZMB and T-bet at the individual level (Fig. 4B) show that FOXP3 gene expression decreased when the PCA C1 value increased (slope=−3.01±0.61; p<0.001). On the other hand, GZMB and T-bet gene expression is increased when the PCA C1 value increased (slope=2.14±0.71, p=0.003 and slope=3.34±0.52, p<0.001 respectively). Finally, we investigated whether the TcL pattern allowed the discrimination of patients with distinct clinical status (operational tolerance versus chronic rejection). PCA C1 values from TOL or CHR patients differ significantly (Mann–Whitney Test, p<0.01; TOL PCA C1 median=−0.04 versus CHR PCA C1 median=0.02;

Fig. 1) and sign the immunological differences 5-Fluoracil between the two conditions (Supporting Information Fig. 3). The repertoire of CHR patients displays a higher level of clonal CDR3-LD associated with a higher quantity of Vβ transcripts as compared with the repertoire of TOL patients. Using the four TcL patterns previously defined, we confirmed this observation. More than 90% of TOL patients have the TcL pattern classes 1 and 2 (>60% with a TcL class 1; Fig. 5A). CHR patients exhibit predominately the TcL pattern classes 3 and 4. Interestingly, we noticed that CHR PCA C1 values are directly correlated to the Banff score of patients. Patients Thiamet G with high Banff score show a significantly more altered repertoire than patients with low Banff score (PCA C1 median=0.077, IQR=0.099 versus PCA C1 median=−0.002, IQR=0.127 for patients with grade 3 versus patients with Banff grade 1 Mann–Whitney Test, p=0.0317; Fig. 5B). We have used a new statistical approach to compare the TCR repertoire typology of a large cohort of 286 patients including TOL, CHR, STA and STN patients. Special emphasis has been put on unsupervised analysis to identify TCR Vβ transcriptional patterns without statistical a priori16. This approach led us to use the Kurtosis of the CDR3-LD, an unbiased metric, which is pertinent for revealing the alteration of CDR3-LD and to estimate its “clonality” 17.

This indicates that ligation of a subset of TLRs generates proinf

This indicates that ligation of a subset of TLRs generates proinflammatory cytokines that co-ordinate to potentiate human Th17 differentiation. In addition, the synergy between TLR-4 and TLR-7/8 in controlling the sequential production of regulatory and proinflammatory cytokines by naive CD4+ T cells was detected [78]. The observed polymorphism in DC responses to such TLR-mediated stimuli could explain differences in the susceptibility to infectious pathogens or autoimmune diseases within the human population. Furthermore, using agonists click here specific for TLR-7 (i.e. Imiquimod, Gardiquimod) or TLR-8 (ssPolyU), together with LPS, confirmed that a significant synergy in cytokine induction

is observed consistently after joint engagement of TLR-4 plus TLR-7 and/or TLR-8 [80,81]. However, the TLR-7, which is not present in DCs under normal conditions, is up-regulated dramatically in selected donors after stimulation PD0325901 research buy by LPS, in agreement with a previous study [78,80]. Thus, the observed polymorphism between high and low DC responders is due probably to differences in TLR-7/8 up-regulation following TLR-4 stimulation, suggesting that a threshold stimulation of TLR-7 and/or TLR-8 is required to activate the joint secretion of multiple cytokines by DCs. Taken together, TLR-3, -4, -7 and -8 are required in the induction of Th17 cell differentiation and subsequent biological effects, but the role of TLR-9 is controversial,

which urgently needs to be illustrated (Fig. 3). In mice, coincidental activation of complement and several TLRs (TLR-3, -4, -7, -8 and -9) led to the synergistic production of serum factors that promote Th17 differentiation from anti-CD3/CD28 or antigen-stimulated T cells [82] (Fig. 3). Although multiple

TLR-triggered Chloroambucil cytokines were regulated by complement, Th17 cell-promoting activity in the serum was correlated with IL-6 induction, and antibody neutralization of IL-6 abrogated the complement effect [82]. These data establish a link between complement/TLR interaction and Th17 cell differentiation, and provide new insight into the mechanism of action of complement and TLR signalling in autoimmunity. Although CD4+ T cells are considered to be the major source of IL-17, especially in autoimmune diseases, recent studies have indicated that other T cell subpopulations such as CD8+ T cells, natural killer (NK) T cells and γδ T cells can also produce IL-17 [74,83]. It is reported that CCR6+ IL-17-producing γδ T cells, but not other γδ T cells, express TLR-1 and TLR-2, but not TLR-4 [84,85]. Ligands that target these pathogen recognition receptors can cause the selective expansion of IL-17+γδ T cells and functional consequences, such as neutrophil recruitment [86]. Studies have shown that γδ T cells activated by IL-1β and IL-23 are an important source of innate IL-17 and IL-21 and may act in an amplification loop for IL-17 production by Th17 cells [74,86].

5A and B) Similarly, when BAFF activity was prevented by the add

5A and B). Similarly, when BAFF activity was prevented by the addition of a specific BAFF neutralizing Ab to PBMC cultures, a reduction in the TLR7-stimulated IgM and IgG production was obtained (Supporting Information Fig. 3). A different picture was found when Ig release was measured upon TLR9 triggering in either monocyte-depleted PBMCs or whole PBMCs treated with anti-BAFF Ab. Indeed, an enhanced release

of both IgM and IgG was observed in response to TLR9 stimulation in the absence of monocytes while the neutralization of BAFF poorly affected Ig https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Lapatinib-Ditosylate.html production (Fig. 5A and B and Supporting Information Fig. 3, respectively). This result was not obvious and, at this stage, it is difficult to explain but it suggests that monocytes could be associated to a negative feedback loop on TLR9-driven B-cell differentiation while they positively act on the TLR7 responsiveness of Ig-producing selleck chemical B cells. Thus, we can envisage that changes in the basal and/or TLR-induced cytokine milieu of in vivo IFN-β-conditioned PBMCs could profoundly impact on Ig production from B cells in response to TLR7 or TLR9 stimulation. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the cross-talk between monocytes and B cells is essential for the release of an effective humoral immune response in the context of

TLR7 stimulation affecting the maturation and differentiation status of B lymphocytes into Ig-secreting cells. Over the past decade, there has been growing understanding and acceptance of the pathological involvement

of B cells and humoral response in MS [1, 2]. The demonstration that peripheral B-cell depletion leads to a rapid decline in disease activity in MS is the strongest evidence of the central role of these cells in MS autoimmunity [9, 11]. However, the key question that still remains unsolved is when and how in the IKBKE life of an individual B cell does provide immunopathogenic support or arise as a disease-relevant cell type in MS. In this study, we investigated whether IFN-β targets B lymphocytes and modulates their functions contributing to the protective effects of this treatment. Only a few studies have thus far addressed this point and most have investigated the ability of highly purified B cells from MS patients to present antigens and subsequently regulate T-cell responses [28, 29]. In contrast, we studied whether IFN-β therapy would regulate the maturation and differentiation of B cells into Ig-secreting cells in response to TLR7 or TLR9 stimulation. Indeed, it has been shown that TLR triggering is necessary for extensive human naïve B-cell proliferation, isotypic switching, and production of Abs providing the third signal upon BCR cross-linking by antigen and interaction with T helper cells [30].

From our previous study (Pokkali et al , 2009), an MOI of 3 was f

From our previous study (Pokkali et al., 2009), an MOI of 3 was found optimum for infecting PMNs, and hence, same was kept as standard throughout this study. Because we aimed at observing the initial effect of mycobacterial vaccine strains on neutrophils, early time point

of 4 h was chosen. Uninfected neutrophils (Control) served as negative Ipatasertib in vivo control, and 10 nm phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) (Sigma Chemicals)–stimulated cells were used as positive control. After 4 h, the neutrophil culture supernatants (Nu sups) were collected, centrifuged, and used to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and the remaining was stored in aliquots at −70 °C until use. The cells were washed with PBS twice and used for fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) staining protocol as given in the section ‘cell phenotyping EGFR signaling pathway by flow cytometry’. The buffy coat containing PBMCs was collected after Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient centrifugation. The cells were washed once with Hanks’ balanced salt solution (HBSS) and suspended in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 1% FBS. The cell viability was always found to be > 95% through trypan

blue exclusion test, and the cell density was adjusted to 1 × 106 mL−1. The cells were stimulated with 200 μL of infected Nu sups and cultured in 12 Well Clear TC-Treated Multiple Well Plates (Corning

Life Sciences) for 18 h at 37 °C in a humidified 5% CO2 incubator. After 18 h, the cells were harvested and stained for FACS as given in the section ‘cell phenotyping by flow cytometry’. Cell PIK3C2G surface expression of CD32, CD64, TLR-4, and CXCR3 on neutrophils (CD16+ve); CD69 and CXCR3 on T helper cells (CD4+ve); and CCR5 and CCR7 on monocytes (CD14+ve) was determined by staining the cells using the monoclonal mouse anti-human conjugated antibodies, i.e. CD16 (clone 3G8)–fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), TLR-4 (clone HTA125)–phycoerythrin (PE), CD32 (clone FL18.26), CD64 (clone 10.1), CD4 (clone RPA T4), CD14 (clone M5E2)–allophycocyanin (APC), CD69 (clone FN50)–phycoerythrin-cyanine5 (PE-Cy5) (BD Pharmingen), and CCR5 (clone 45549)–FITC, CCR7 (clone 150503), CXCR3 (clone 49801)–PE (R & D Systems), and their fluorescence emission was detected in FL-1 (FITC), FL-2 (PE), FL-3 (PE-Cy5), and FL-4 (APC) channels. The above specified clones were used throughout the study. Briefly, cells were incubated with PBS containing the combinations of antibodies at saturation for 20 min at 4 °C. Cells were washed and fixed with 1% paraformaldehyde (Sigma Chemicals) in PBS and analyzed on a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson).

During these analyses,

During these analyses, Dabrafenib manufacturer it was noticed that there were two forms of cellular mass displaying different histological characteristics (Fig. 2). In one type, cells were confined to a single layer of the skin, surrounded by normal tissue (Fig. 2a,b); however, in the other type,

inflammatory cells were found spread throughout the layers of the skin (Fig. 2c,d). Upon assessment of sections for these characteristics, none of the sections from PC61-treated mice, and around half of the GL113-treated mice, displayed the ‘confined’ phenotype (Fig. 2e). This is noteworthy when compared with the percentage of mice that reject these tumours; approximately 50% in GL113-treated mice and 100% in PC61-treated mice.9 To perform a more quantitative assessment of the differences between cellular masses termed ‘confined’ versus those termed ‘non-confined’, the total volume of each cellular mass within the GL113-treated and PC61-treated groups (> 4 per group),

4 and 24 hr see more after tumour cell inoculation, was calculated. These data, shown in Fig. 3(a), corroborated our previous observation in that at 24 hr larger masses were observed in the PC61 group compared with those treated with GL113. At later time-points (96 hr), larger cellular masses were measured in the latter, control group of mice, coinciding with detection of live tumour cells in this group. Live tumour cells were identified by histological examination of H&E-stained buy Pembrolizumab sections in GL113-treated mice but not in PC61-treated mice. In the former group, within the tumour cell mass, amid cell debris, there are areas of homogeneous healthy cells, forming foci of organized tissue, similar to that seen in large, established tumours (Fig. 3b,c). These data are consistent with the observation that around 50% of mice inoculated with B16FasL develop palpable tumours whereas tumours

are rarely seen in B16FasL-inoculated mice pre-treated with PC61.9 Overall, these data indicate that an inflammatory infiltrate into the tumour creates a disorganized, non-confined mass that is associated with tumour cell death and tumour rejection, favoured by depletion of Treg cells by PC61 mAbs. We were struck by how rapidly Treg-cell depletion affected the accumulation of inflammatory cells at the site of the tumour cell inoculum. The ability of Treg cells to suppress an inflammatory response within hours of an antigenic challenge and at a peripheral site implies that skin-resident Treg cells are rapidly mobilized. To visualize Treg cells at the site of tumour cell challenge, skin sections were stained with Foxp3-specific mAbs. Foxp3+ cells were found in the skin and particularly at the site of tumour cell inoculation (Fig. 4). This is in agreement with other studies reporting Treg-cell identification in the skin of mice16 and humans.17 Stained cells were not observed in sections prepared from PC61-treated mice (data not shown).