Basophils: The neglected minority gains a new respect as antigen presenting cells

To function as an antigen-presenting cell, the cell must fulfill a number of criteria. Upon antigen exposure, the candidate cell must express MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecules. It must be able to take up and process antigen and localize to draining lymph nodes, where efficient T cell–antigen-presenting cell interactions take place. Ideally, the candidate cell would also express the relevant cytokines required for T cell differentiation, although other accessory cells may provide the required cytokines. Finally, the candidate cell must be able to induce CD4⁺ T cell proliferation and differentiation in in vitro and in vivo assays.
Differentiation of naïve CD4⁺ T cells into Th2 cells requires three signals: T cell receptor triggering through peptide antigen recognition in the context of MHC class II molecule, amplification of T cell receptor signaling via co-stimulatory molecules and the presence of appropriate cytokine. For Th2 cell differentiation, however, dendritic cells are not the one-stop shop for all three required signals since dendritic cells do not produce IL-4, the cytokine necessary for Th2 cell differentiation. This observation implies that other antigen-presenting cells, in addition to dendritic cells, may contribute to Th2 cell differentiation.
The studies by Artis and colleagues (Perrigoue et al, Nat Immunol 2009), Medzhitov and colleagues (Sokol al, Nat Immunol 2009), and Nakanishi and colleagues (Yoshimoto al, Nat Immunol 2009), use three different models and elegantly demonstrate that basophils meet the criteria for antigen-presenting cells for Th2 cell differentiation.
Artis and colleagues studied the intestinal helminth parasite Trichuris muris. They showed that CD11c-restricted expression of MHC class II was not sufficient to generate a Th2 inflammatory response. Medzhitov and colleagues investigated the role of basophils in Th2 response to protease antigen papain and OVA. They demonstrated that MHC expression on basophils was sufficient to drive Th2 cell differentiation. Nakanishi and colleagues focused on the role of basophils in augmentation of Th2 responses by antigen–IgE immune complexes.
With basophils added to the list of cells capable of antigen presentation to naïve CD4⁺ T cells, the question arises as to what is the dominant antigen-presenting cell in Th2 inflammatory responses. Four approaches were used to highlight the dominant role of basophils.
First, the authors showed that basophil depletion through treatment with a monoclonal antibody to FceRI significantly diminished Th2 cell differentiation. The second approach used diphtheria toxin in CD11c-DTR mice and demonstrated that depletion of dendritic cells did not alter Th2 cell differentiation in response to OVA plus papain Th2 immunity to T. muris. The third approach demonstrated that CD11c-restricted expression of MHC class II was not sufficient to induce Th2 cell differentiation in response to OVA plus papain or to protect against infection with T. muris. In the fourth approach, mice were immunized in the ear with papain and the ear was either left intact or removed after two hours in order to remove the source of tissue resident dendritic cells. The authors observed Th2 cell differentiation, albeit at lower levels, in the draining lymph node, despite removal of skin resident dendritic cells.
The idea that the basophil is the dominant antigen-presenting cell for Th2 cell differentiation is certainly intriguing, but its validation requires further investigation.

What discriminates danger signals from pathogens with that of damage to tissues

The immune system protects against infection by pathogenic microorganisms, but it also recognizes when the body has been injured. Burns, radiation exposure, and bruises all involve the immune system when responding to damaged tissue. Which signaling pathways recognize tissue damage and keep the resulting inflammatory response from getting out of hand? Patten recognition receptors, which recognize pathogens or components of injured cells (danger), trigger activation of the innate immune system. Whether and how the host distinguishes between danger- versus pathogen-associated molecular patterns remains unresolved. In seminal paper in Science (Vol. 323. no. 5922, pp. 1722 - 1725, March 2009), Chen and colleagues demonstrated an unique mechanisms by which the body differentiates between self- and non-self signals during danger.
They that CD24-deficient mice exhibit increased susceptibility to danger- (DAMPs) but not pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). CD24 associates with high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), negatively regulates their stimulatory activity, and inhibits nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-B) activation. This occurs at least in part through CD24 association with Siglec-10 in humans or Siglec-G in mice. Our results reveal that the CD24-Siglec-G pathway protects the host against a lethal response to pathological cell death and discriminates danger- versus pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Through association with and inhibition of the molecules that are released after tissue damage, CD24 and Siglec-G protected mice from an otherwise lethal inflammatory response.

After a long time

Sorry friends for not being active in the previous months. Unfortunately, my India visit and subsequent work load contributed to the lack of time for the blog.
I request the contributors to keep posting messages not only about the opportunities but also about science.

Zurich Ph.D. Program in Microbiology and Immunology

The Zurich Ph.D. Program in Microbiology and Immunology is a joint program of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, two highly prestigious Swiss universities with excellent research facilities. The program offers research and education opportunities in a stimulating international environment for ambitious students who wish to work towards a Ph.D. Microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, cell, developmental, molecular, systems and structural biology are covered by the program.

Accepted students perform their research project in one of the participating research groups of their choice, according to their scientific interest. Advanced teaching and training courses are offered throughout the curriculum. Students will obtain their Ph.D. from either the University of Zurich or ETH Zurich and receive a graded certificate from the program.

The program language is English throughout.

• Browse the participating research groups
• Check infos on applications & deadlines

Sir RATAN TATA Scholarships for Studies in the UK-Deadline July 2

The British Council invites applications for Sir Ratan Tata
Scholarships for Indian students planning to study in the UK.The Sir
Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) has set up this new scholarship scheme in
Development Studies and will offer three scholarships of up to £20,000
each.

The programme is aimed at students interested in studying for a full
time Masters degree in the disciplines of Developmental Economics and
Science and Technology. Students can take advantage of this
scholarship to study courses that are inter-disciplinary like the
following and more.
* Development studies
* Development Economics;
* Studies in Science, Society and Development;
* Economic Development;
* Science, Technology, Medicine and Society;
* Social Informatics and Management;
* Public Health;
* Environment, Science and Society

Eligibility criteria, application form with the guidance can be
downloaded from http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-scholarships-sirratantata.htm

To find research opportunities in France

Mant research students in France invariably need the help of Association Bernard Gregory. This association has a website that posts opportunities for research (PhD, postdoc, technicians etc). To search for research opportunities in France, click on the link below.
http://www.abg.asso.fr/offre_rechercher.php?nature=1&mz=1&lg=en


About ABG:

Founded in 1980, the Association Bernard Gregory promotes the value of training through research to the non-academic world and helps the entry of young PhDs from any discipline into business.

Mission

The mission of the ABG is to promote the placement of PhDs into companies through:

• information, professionalisation initiatives and individual support programmes for job seekers,
• promoting training through research within the business world,
• matching the skills of new and recent PhDs to job offers in companies.

Initiatives

The actions of the ABG are complentary to research institutions' and doctoral schools'. They include:

• Continuous information for PhD students, new and recent PhDs and postdocs on the job market and opportunities for professional contact, through a website that receives 400,000 visits per month, 'Docteurs&Co' quarterly newsletter, around a hundred interventions at PhD student forums and a European guide 'From PhD to Employment' (170,000 copies downloaded in 2004) available in French and in English.
• Professionalisation initiatives: Doctoriales and the 'Adding value to skills – a new chapter in the thesis' programme (170 PhD students involved in 2004).
• A network of 300 correspondents who provide individual support to new PhDs in structuring their career plans, in writing a CV aimed at the non-academic sector, and who follow them through to recruitment.
• An online CVs database validated by ABG correspondents (1,000 CVs) and a database of company job offers (750 in 2004).
• Coordinating a network of companies and partner research organizations: offering arenas (web and press) to communicate their initiatives and their actions in support of jobs for new and recent PhDs; organizing regular meetings of the Business Club that deal with new and recent PhDs and with companies.

EMBO Lifesciences Mobility Portal

The European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) is a prominent body involved in molecular biology research. It funds research in molecular biology that involves chemistry, physics, bioinformatics that support molecular biology. One of the initiatives of EMBO is the "EMBO Lifesciences Mobility Portal". It can be accessed here
http://mobility.embo.org/

PhD fellowships from Wellcome trust

Visit the following website for the PhD student fellowships from Wellcome trust.
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Biomedical-science/Grants/PhD-programmes-and-studentships/WTD004384.htm

Support is provided for four years and includes:

• a stipend
• PhD registration fees at UK/EU student rate
• contribution towards laboratory rotation expenses in the first year
• research expenses for years two to four
• contribution towards travel
• contribution towards transferable-skills training.

Students are recruited annually by the individual Programmes for uptake in October each year. Recruitment begins in the preceding December. If you are interested in applying you should contact the relevant Programme. Currently 27 Programmes based in centres of excellence throughout the UK with specialised training provided in a range of important biomedical research areas are supported:

• developmental biology and cell biology
• genetics, statistics and epidemiology
• immunology and infectious disease
• molecular and cellular biology
• neuroscience
• physiological sciences
• structural biology and bioinformatics.

Call for PhD students in University of Groningen, Netherlands

The University of Groningen, Netherlands is inviting applications for PhD students in the following fields

• Biological Science
• Chemistry, Biochemistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Materials Science
• Physics & Astronomy
• Mathematics, Informatics & AI
• Education, Technology & Management

The applications can choose from the list of projects offered in their website http://www.rug.nl/gradschoolscience/scholarships/phdscholarships/ue2009/index

The applicants have to pass two rounds of selection procedure.In the first round, they must submit an application package detailing their academic background and prior achievements. In the second round, a selected group of the best students will be invited to submit a short project proposal (on an application form provided by the graduate school) and give an interview presentation.

The criteria for acceptance include:

• an internationally-recognised Master’s degree in the relevant scientific field
• marks that clearly identify the candidate as belonging to the top 10-15% of her/his cohort
• demonstrated oral and written communication skills
• good command of the English language
• outspoken motivation to pursue a scientific career
• excellent letters of recommendation

All students admitted to the Ubbo Emmius Programme are guaranteed a scholarship of approximately € 20,000 per year. This financial support, which is detailed below, provides a monthly income more than sufficient to cover housing and living expenses in Groningen .As of 2009, the support consists maximally of:

• a net income of ca. € 1,600 a month
• visa costs and related costs for obtaining the visa (e.g., translating documents)
• incoming flight to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
• costs of train trip from Schiphol to Groningen
• costs of residence permit

It should be noted that the Dutch authorities require non-EU students to have an income of at least € 800 a month at their disposal in order to qualify for a residence permit.

The following are the deadlines:

1 May 2009: Deadline for First round of Applications

Visit the website for more details

Interactive PLoS website for scientific community

I just came across PLoS (Public Library of Science) website http://www.plos.org/index.php
It's an amazing site whose objective is to make the scientific literature available for free to the scientific community. Of course, you will have to pay if your article is accepted in their journals. The following are the core principles of PLoS: (Modified from their website)

1. Open access.
2. Excellence.
   
3. Scientific integrity.
4. Breadth.
5. Cooperation.
   
6. Financial fairness.
7. Community engagement.
8. Internationalism.
   
9. Science as a public resource.
   

They have seven journals that have good citation index. They are
1. PLoS One
2. PLoS Biology
3. PLoS Medicine
4. PLoS Computational Biology
5. PLoS Genetics
6. PLoS Pathogens
7. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Their web site is user friendly and have various features such as news, journal information etc. Visit the website and browse through the different subject areas. The users can go to this webpage for more friendly version http://www.plosone.org/static/users.action
If you need more help in using the site follow this link
http://www.plosone.org/static/help.action

HI Everyone : Please introduce yourself

It's very nice to be participating on such a wonderful platform.I thought I should first introduce about my whereabouts.I will keep you posted very shortly about things we are collectively planning.Right now,I am at NCBS(May 2007-present)(National Centre for Biological Sciences) working in Dr.V.Sriram's Lab involved in Mitochondrial Remodelling.We also have Raghu(2006-2008,M.Sc batch) here.

Procurement of study material

As suggested by Pradeep, there is a need to give the outgoing students access to study material. I remember, that when we were passing out, there was Brilliant tutorials material in the department. It may be too outdated today. Regarding the previous year question papers, it is more convenient for our alumni who are studying in these institutions. I request Premananda and Arun to procure the previous year question papers of IISc, JNCASR and NCBS. Based on this, I have following proposals:
1. Procurement of GATE, CSIR material from Brilliant tutorials.
2. Procurement of GRE/ subject GRE material.
3. Procurement of previous year question papers of IISc, NCBS and JNCASR.
4. If possible compilation of questions from GATE and CSIR by the current students after writing the exams ( from their memory)
5. A data base of excellent review papers from top journals for the benefit of the members.

I shall discuss with the alumni in Europe (Kanth, Saiki, Bharath, Shibu, Bala Sai, Pradeep, Tarini, let me know if I have missed anyone) about the option of buying the GRE, CSIR and GATE material.

I request Malli, Sujith, Vennel Raj or Candy to inform us about the costs of the Brilliant tutorials and their procurement.

Objectives of the Team to help the department

As proposed by Saiki, we need to form a team of alumni that can co-ordinate the activities to help our alma mater. I reproduced the contents of the mail sent by Saiki about the objectives of the team.

1. Interested alumni will form a group (as everyone might not be interested, due to their work load or whatever might be the reason).I say so because this effort should not be a forceful one.

2. IT IS OK IF SOME ALUMNI ARE NOT A PART OF THIS. IT IS TOTALLY BY ONE'S OWN CHOICE.

3. During our PhD/Post-doc period there is always stress. But sometimes it is a lot. So when one or two of us are in that phase, where we cannot think of anything else, then there should be others who will be able to contribute.

4. So when one or two of us are busy, the whole effort goes on. That is the idea.

However, we need some more development on this concept.
1. Think of a name for our group or the team.
2. Need to make a proper aims and objectives or goals of the group.
3. Need to involve the alumni and present students on a large scale. (Like Sai students group)
4. Need for Division of Labour of our tasks.
5. Need to give a chance for other intrested alumni and students who want to contribute to this forum.

I shall start working on the aims and objectives of the forum. I would be more happy if others also start thinking about it. We should be as critical as possible of others comments so that we get good output.

Blog authors to take care of "OUR" blog

I have changed the settings of this blog. Previously, it can be modified only by me. I have included the names of Malli, Bharath, Kanth, Saiki and Pradeep. I need the gmail ids of Premananda, Kamesh, Candy, Vennel Raj too. These blog authors can post the entries.

The others can comment for specific topics. Some one should take the initiative to keep the blog active with posts that can be informative to our target audience: students , alumni and teachers of Department of Bioscience.

The topics can be diverse. It can be some advice to others regarding various topics, some intresting facts in science (you can post on immunology, microbiology, molecular biology etc), career advice and latest news. The blog authors can divide themselves to post on specific topics.

I am happy to see Bharath's comment to my post. This post is the result of his comments. Please register yourself as a "follower" so that you are updated with this blog regularly.

Nice website with useful tips

I came across this website of Alexander Fleming "Biomedical Sciences Research Center". They give useful tips for making an effective presentation, writing an article and preparing a poster.
Visit the site for more information.

http://www.fleming.gr/en/Education/tutorials.html

Welcome to Bioalumni

Sairam, This blog was created with the objective of interaction between the alumni and the present students of the Department of Biosciences, Sri Sathya Sai University, Prasanthi Nilayam.

I am new to blogging and I hope we can make it a better forum for interaction and discussion.