FILACI , Gilberto

The autoimmune regulator gene (AIRE) is a transcription factor expressed both in the thymus, by medullary thymic epithelial cells, and in secondary lymphoid organs. AIRE controls the local transcription of organ- specific proteins typically expressed in peripheral tissues, thus allowing the negative selection of self- reactive T cells. The...

The pathogenesis of HIV immunodeficiency is mainly dependent on the cytopatic effects exerted by the virus against infected CD4+ T cells. However, CD4+ T cell loss cannot be the only pathogenic factor since severe opportunistic infections may develop in HIV infected patients with normal CD4+ T cell counts and since the recent START study...

CD8+ T regulatory/suppressor cells (Treg) affect peripheral tolerance and may be involved in autoimmune diseases as well as in cancer. In view of our previous data showing the ability of DA to affect adaptive immune responses, we investigated the dopaminergic phenotype of human CD8+ Treg as well as the ability of DA to affect their generation...