Efficient degradation of gluten by a prolyl endoprotease in a gastrointestinal model: Implications for coeliac disease

Background: Coeliac disease is caused by an immune response to gluten. As gluten proteins are proline rich they are resistant to enzymatic digestion in the gastrointestinal tract, a property that probably contributes to the immunogenic nature of gluten. Aims: This study determined the efficiency of gluten degradation by a post-proline cutting...

Cellular target of UVB-induced DNA damage resulting in local suppression of contact hypersensitivity

Experimental data are reviewed that lend support to the hypothesis that formation of DNA damage is the initiation event of local suppression of contact hypersensitivity (CHS) after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiaton and that the antigen-presenting cell (APC) is an important traget for this DNA damage. Chemicals/CAS: DNA, 9007-49-2

Multiple sclerosis: An altered immune response or an altered stress response?

The pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), the major neurological disease of young adults in the Western world, is still poorly understood, and no effective therapy to block MS is available as yet. The clinical symptoms of MS result from inflammatory damage to the insulating myelin sheath of axons in the CNS and - at later stages - to axons...