This is important as the concentration of complement proteins in serum is very high. Therefore, to inhibit complement activity in totality, either a set of inhibitory proteins or a multicomplement-binding protein could fulfil such a requirement. The complement proteins usually act on the surface of target pathogens. However, blocking of complement activation in blood-sucking H. contortus is all the more important as antibodies formed against the internal proteins of the parasite during infection

[42] in combination with complement proteins (acquired during blood meal) would damage the internal tissues with serious consequences for the parasite. Identification of H.c-C3BP should facilitate development of new therapeutics considering a key role of this protein in immune modulation. We thank Director, IVRI, Vincristine nmr for providing the necessary facilities, Prof. Anil K Jaiswal, University of Maryland, USA, for mass spectrometry. This work was supported by a grant from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, to PJ. “
“Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) are involved in innate immunity by interferon (IFN)-α production,

and in adaptive immunity by stimulating T cells and inducing generation of regulatory T cells (Treg). In this study we studied the effects of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibition by rapamycin, a commonly used immunosuppressive and anti-cancer drug, on innate and adaptive immune functions of human PDC. A clinically relevant concentration Saracatinib order of rapamycin inhibited Toll-like receptor (TLR)-7-induced IFN-α secretion potently (−64%) but TLR-9-induced IFN-α secretion only slightly (−20%), while the same concentration suppressed proinflammatory cytokine production by TLR-7-activated and TLR-9-activated PDC with similar

efficacy. Rapamycin inhibited the ability of both TLR-7-activated and TLR-9-activated PDC to stimulate production of IFN-γ and interleukin (IL)-10 by allogeneic T cells. Surprisingly, mTOR-inhibition enhanced the capacity of TLR-7-activated PDC to stimulate naive and memory T helper cell proliferation, which was caused by rapamycin-induced Chloroambucil up-regulation of CD80 expression on PDC. Finally, rapamycin treatment of TLR-7-activated PDC enhanced their capacity to induce CD4+forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3)+ regulatory T cells, but did not affect the generation of suppressive CD8+CD38+lymphocyte activation gene (LAG)-3+ Treg. In general, rapamycin inhibits innate and adaptive immune functions of TLR-stimulated human PDC, but enhances the ability of TLR-7-stimulated PDC to stimulate CD4+ T cell proliferation and induce CD4+FoxP3+ regulatory T cell generation. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) have important functions in innate and adaptive immunity. They are unique in rapidly producing massive amounts of type I interferon upon recognition of viral nucleotides or self-DNA-protein complexes by their Toll-like receptors (TLR).