In article <CJoMFA.n51 at news2.cis.umn.edu>, shiv at hiv.med.umn.edu (Shiv A.
Prasad) wrote:
> Are readers afraid to
> "look stupid" by posting questions and ideas?
Possibly. In my case when I have replied to questions I have done so
direct to the original poster rather than to the net - perhaps those
posting queries could adopt the practice of making a summary of replies to
the net. And perhaps the rest of us silent readers out here should get
more active.
On the subject of tolerance, I would make two observations. The first is
that the route of administration does seem to affect the outcome in "oral
tolerance", with some reports that inhaled antigen is more efficient than
fed antigen
(reference is
TI: Inhibition of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by
inhalation
but not oral administration of the encephalitogenic peptide:
Influence of MHC binding affinity
AU: Metzler_B, Wraith_DC
JN: International Immunology 1993 Vol.5 No.9 pp.1159-1165 ). And
unless there are multiple mechanisms at work this paper elimainates one
mechanism for affecting the Th1/Th2 balance through IL4 production by mast
cells, as peptide is unlikely to crosslink Ig on mast cells (this is an
assumption on my part, if anyone knows that peptide can induce mast cell
degranulation please me know).
Shiv, I'll go and read your advisor's paper, but one query I have is over
the use of (re)stimulation with Ag in CFA and whether the adjuvant
overrides any hyporesponsiveness set up by oral administration of antigen.
Has your lab looked at stimulating with Ag in IFA to see if there is a
difference between fed and unfed animals?
Finally, if there are any Australian immunologists out there who know
about, or have seen the film on, the Schaffner (sp???) reflex perhaps they
could fill in the details on responses to antigens introduced into the
intestinal tract in that system??
Paul.
--
Paul J Travers phone : +44-(0)71-631-6262 (office)
ICRF Structural Biology Unit " " " 6268 (lab)
Birkbeck College fax : +44-(0)71-436-8918
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HX email : p_travers at icrf.icnet.uk
England or : paul at histo.cryst.bbk.ac.uk
