The effectiveness of toxin-neutralizing antibodies is considered to be mediated through the interaction of the variable region of the antibody and the toxin; however, recent studies suggest that the constant region (Fc) of antibodies also influence efficacy.
In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Jeffrey Ravetch and colleagues at The Rockefeller University demonstrate that engineering the Fc domain of anti-toxin antibodies increases toxin neutralization activity through enhancing the interaction between toxin-targeting antibodies and the Fc receptor on immune cells.
The authors found that mice expressing humanized FcR were better protected from anthrax toxin when given engineered anti-anthrax toxin antibodies. This study suggests that engineering the Fc domains of antibodies can be used as a strategy to enhance antibody efficacy.
TITLE: Human IgG Fc domain engineering enhances antitoxin neutralizing antibody activity
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/72676?key=2cb7f03d851cec347394
Mice exposed to retinoid deficiency in utero exhibit bronchial hyperresponsiveness as adults
Individuals with asthma and COPD are subject to debilitating bronchospasm as a result of airways that are hyperresponsive to stimuli. Factors that lead to the development of airway hyperresponsiveness are not well characterized. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Wellington Cardoso and colleagues at the Boston University School of Medicine reveal that mice born to mothers with retinoid deficiency during pregnancy are at increased risk of developing airway hyperesponsiveness.
Prenatal retinoid deficiency promoted altered airway development and lung differentiation. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness and abnormal phenotypes persisted throughout the postnatal period regardless for vitamin A status in the adult.
These results suggest that retinoid signaling in the lung is important for proper airway development and prevention of inappropriate pulmonary inflammatory responses.
TITLE: Prenatal retinoid deficiency leads to airway hyperresponsiveness in adult mice
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/70291?key=37b3b43a181cf53304a1