Anti-Ltbr Monoclonal antibody, clone 4D9 [Biotin]

Oryctolagus cuniculus is an important animal model which is widely used for vaccine development, and investigations of human infectious and autoimmune diseases. TNFSF14 is one of the most important TNF superfamily cytokines playing roles in lymphocyte homeostasis by enhancing effector cell activation and survival, or by cellular elimination through apoptosis. For these applications, we cloned full-length cDNA encoding TNFSF14 and its receptor LTBR from O. cuniculus. Then we analyzed the genes structure, function, evolutionary relationships, and predicted three-dimensional structure of proteins and proteins' interaction model. Recombinant O. cuniculus soluble TNFSF14 (OcsTNFSF14) and extracellular LTBR (OceLTBR) proteins were efficiently produced in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography, then confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting analysis. Confocal laser microscopy assays revealed that OcsTNFSF14 and OceLTBR could bind splenic T cells in vitro, suggesting a series of signal pathway activated inside cells in response to OcsTNFSF14 and OceLTBR. The obtained results will lay the foundation for future study of human TNFSF14/LTBR signal pathway and relative diseases in O. cuniculus model. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background: The dietary xanthophylls, lutein and zeaxanthin, accumulate in primate retina and brain, and emerging evidence indicates neural lutein content may be beneficial for cognition. Neural xanthophyll content in primates varies greatly among individuals, and genetic factors are likely to be significant contributors. Subspecies of rhesus macaques originating from different geographic locations are known to differ genetically, but the effect of origin on gene expression and carotenoid status has not been determined. The study objective was to determine whether xanthophyll status and expression of carotenoid-related genes, as well as genes with known variants between subspecies, differ between the brains of adult rhesus monkeys of Indian and Chinese origin. Methods: Samples of prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and striatum were collected from adult monkeys (n = 9) fed a standard stock diet containing carotenoids. Serum and brain carotenoids were determined using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. For each brain region, RNA sequencing and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to determine differentially expressed genes between the subspecies. Results: Indian-origin monkeys had higher xanthophyll levels in brain tissue compared to Chinese-origin monkeys despite consuming similar amounts of dietary carotenoids. In a region-specific manner, four genes related to carotenoid and fatty acid metabolism (BCO2, RPE65, ELOVL4, FADS2) and four genes involved in the immune response (CD4, CD74, CXCL12 LTBR) were differentially expressed between Indian-and Chinese-origin monkeys. Expression of all four genes involved in carotenoid and fatty acid metabolism were correlated with brain xanthophyll concentration in a region-specific manner. Conclusions: These results indicate that origin is related to differences in both gene expression and xanthophyll content in the brain. Findings from this study may have important implications regarding genetic diversity, lutein status, and cognition in primates.