The T Cell Receptor Factsbook

The T Cell Receptor FactsBook contains entries on all the 176 functional variable, diversity, joining, and constant regions of the human T cell receptor, including alpha, beta, gamma, and delta loci. Introductory chapters summarize information of T cell receptor chain synthesis, chromosomal location, and an overview of the human T cell receptor loci.

The importance of thymus-dependent cells, or T cells, in the generation of a successful immune response was first realized in the early sixties. In the follow ing two decades, a succession of elegant experiments established the antigen specificity of T cells and their ability to perform both as regulatory and effector cells. T cells were shown to be essential in most immune reactions, playing a crucial role in augmenting the activity of effector T and B cells against 'foreign' antigen, as well as in the suppression of effector activity against self antigens. The means by which T cells differentiate 'foreign' from 'self' antigens is based on their recognition of antigen almost exclusively in the context of self major histocompatibility complex products, unlike B cells, which recognize an tigen alone. It is this recognition, mediated by the T-cell receptor, that sets into motion the diverse cell-cell interactions, which control the differentiation and regulation of the immune response. Although its importance was well established, the molecular nature of the T-cell receptor remained elusive for two decades. Many hypotheses as to its structure and precise function were put forward, using immunoglobulin as a basis for conjecture, but "the Holy Grail of Immunology" remained ephemeral until three years ago. In the ensuing years, both immunologists and molecular biologists have contributed to an explosion of data unsurpassed by any previous period in the field.

The FactsBook series has established itself as the best source of easily accessible and accurate facts about protein groups. Books in the series use an easy-to-follow format and are meticulously researched and compiled by experts in the field.The Immunoglobulin FactsBook is the first published reference for all 203 human functional and ORF immunoglobulin genes. It is complete and standardized and employs nomenclature approved by the HUGO Nomenclature Committee.

In contrast to existing books on immunoinformatics, this volume presents a cross-section of immunoinformatics research. The contributions highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the field and how collaborative efforts among bioinformaticians and bench scientists result in innovative strategies for understanding the immune system. Immunoinformatics is ideal for scientists and students in immunology, bioinformatics, microbiology, and many other disciplines.

The HLA FactsBook presents up-to-date and comprehensive information on the HLA genes in a manner that is accessible to both beginner and expert alike. The focus of the book is on the polymorphic HLA genes (HLA-A, B, C, DP, DQ, and DR) that are typed for in clinical HLA laboratories. Each gene has a dedicated section in which individual entries describe the structure, functions, and population distribution of groups of related allotypes. Fourteen introductory chapters provide a beginner's guide to the basic structure, function, and genetics of the HLA genes, as well as to the nomenclature and methods used for HLA typing. This book will be an invaluable reference for researchers studying the human immune response, for clinicians and laboratory personnel involved in clinical and forensic HLA typing, and for human geneticists, population biologists, and evolutionary biologists interested in HLA genes as markers of human diversity. Introductory chapters provide good general overview of HLA field for novice immunologists and geneticists Up-to-date, complete listing of HLA alleles Invaluable reference resource for immunologists, geneticists, and cell biologists Combines both structural and functional information, which has never been compiled in a single reference book previously Serological specificity of allotypes Identity of material sequenced including ethnic origin Database accession numbers Population distribution Peptide binding specificities T cell epitopes Amino acid sequences of allotypes Key references

Active specific immunotherapy is a promising but investigational modality in the management of cancer patients. Currently, several different cancer vaccine formulations such as peptides, proteins, antigen-pulsed dendritic cells, whole tumor cells, etc. in combination with various adjuvants and carriers are being evaluated in clinical trials (1-3). To determine the optimal cancer vaccine strategy, a surrogate immunological end-point that correlates with clinical outcome needs to be defined, since it would facilitate the rapid comparison of these various formulations. Traditional immunological assays such as ELISA, proliferation and cytotoxicity assays can detect immune responses in vaccinated patients but are not quantitative. In contrast, novel assays such as enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay, intracellular cytokine assay and tetramer assay can quantitate the frequency of antigen-specific T cells. Of these, the ELISPOT assay has the 5 lowest detection limit with 1/10 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and has been determined to be one of the most useful assays to evaluate immune response to cancer vaccines (4). However, the IFN-? ELISPOT assay is not an exclusive measure of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity as non-cytotoxic cells can also secrete IFN-?. Additionally, CTL with lytic activity do not always secrete IFN-? (5). A more relevant approach to assess functional activity of cytotoxic lymphocytes would be to measure the secretion of molecules that are associated with lytic activity. One of the major mechanisms of cell-mediated cytotoxicity involves exocytosis of cytoplasmic granules from the effector toward the target cell.

The FactsBook Series has established itself as the best source of easily accessible and accurate facts about protein groups. They use an easy-to-follow format and are researched and compiled by experts in the field. This Factsbook is devoted to nuclear receptors. The first section presents an introduction and describes the mode of action of the receptors in general. The second section of the book contains detailed entries covering each type of receptor. Entries provide information on: Nomenclature and structure, Isolation, DNA binding properties, Ligands, Expression, Target genes, Knockouts, Disease association, Gene structure, promoter and isoforms, Chromosomal location, Amino acid sequences, Key references

How do you keep track of basic information on the proteins you work with? Where do you find details of their physicochemical properties, amino acid sequences, gene organization? Are you tired of scanning review articles, primary papers and databases to locate that elusive fact? The Academic Press FactsBook series will satisfy scientists and clinical researchers suffering from information overload. Each volume provides a catalog of the essential properties of families of molecules. Gene organization, amino acid sequences, physicochemical properties, and biological activity are presented using a common, easy-to-follow format. Taken together they compile everything you want to know about proteins but are too busy to look for. The Chemokine FactsBook contains more than 40 entries on chemokines, and chemokine receptors from human or other origin, including IL-8, MCP-1, C5-a, RANTES, Lymphotactin, and CC CKR-1. The text provides information on tissue sources, target cells, physicochemical properties, transcription factors, regulation of expression in disease, receptor-binding characteristics, gene structure and location, amino acid sequences, and accession numbers and references. Contains over 40 entries on chemokines and chemokine receptors from human or other origin, including: IL-8 MCP-1 C5-a RANTES Lymphotactin CC CKR-1 Entries provide information on: Tissue sources Target cells Physicochemical properties Transcription factors Regulation of expression Expression in disease Receptor-binding characteristics Gene structure and location Amino acid sequences Database accession numbers References