Microbial DNA and host immunity

The immunostimulatory prospects of bacterial DNA have attracted the interest and attention of scientists and physicians and become a major focus in immunobiology and biomedicine. These activities are the product of immunostimulatory DNA sequences (ISS, also known as GpG motifs), which are rare in the mammalian genome. ISS were shown to enhance immunological responses and were used to confer protection to a wide variety of tumors, allergic inflammation, and infections. In Microbial DNA and Host Immunity, leading researchers review the activation of the mammalian immune system by bacterial DNA and consider the applications of ISS in clinical medicine. The authors survey the latest findings concerning the receptor-recognition and signaling pathways triggered by ISS, the process of cell activation, and potential vaccination strategies using ISS. Specific pharmaceutical applications discussed include infectious disease (Hepatitis B, HIV, and mycobacterial infections), allergy (asthma and conjunctivitis), cancer (lymphoma), and inflammation and autoimmunity (arthritis and colitis). Up-to-date and informative, Microbial DNA and Host Immunity illuminates the immunobiology of bacterial DNA and its promise of powerful new vaccines to provide protective immunity against infections, tumors, and chronic disease.

I: Introduction -- 1 Immunostimulatory DNA: An Overview -- 2 Historical Perspectives -- II: Receptors and Signaling -- 3 Signal Transduction Pathways Activated By CpG-DNA -- 4 A Novel Toll-Like Receptor that Recognizes Bacterial DNA -- 5 Activation of Innate Immunity by Microbial Nucleic Acids -- 6 Phosphorothioate Backbone Modification Changes the Pattern of Responses to CpG -- III: Cell Activation -- 7 Activation of NK Cell By Immunostimulatory Oligo-DNA in Mouse and Human -- 8 Regulation of Antigen Presenting Cell Function by CpG DNA -- 9 Activation of B Cells by CpG Motifs in Bacterial DNA -- 10 IFN-Dependent Pathways for Stimulation of Memory CD8+ Cells -- 11 Cross-Priming of CD8+ T Cells by Immunostimulatory Sequence DNA -- IV: Vaccination Strategies -- 12 The Th1 Adjuvant Effect of Immunostimulatory (ISS) DNA Sequences -- 13 Immunostimulatory DNA Prepriming for the Induction of Th1 and Prevention of Th2 Biased Immune Responses -- 14 Protein-Immunostimulatory DNA-Conjugate: A Novel Immunogen -- 15 Immunostimulatory DNA Sequence-Based Mucosal Vaccines -- 16 Enhancement of the Immunoadjuvant Activity of Immunostimulatory DNA Sequence by Liposomal Delivery -- 17 Immunostimulato…