SummaryMechanisms associated with the progression of simple steatosis to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain undefined. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a critical role in regulating inflammatory processes in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and because T helper type 17 (Th17) functionally oppose Treg-mediated responses, this study focused on characterizing the role of Th17 cells using a NAFLD mouse model. C57BL/6 mice were fed either a normal diet (ND) or high fat (

Cancer immunotherapies that engage immune cells to fight against tumors are proving to be powerful weapons in combating cancer and are becoming increasingly utilized in the clinics. However, for the majority of patients with solid tumors, little or no progress has been seen, presumably due to lack of adequate approaches that can reprogram the local immunosuppressive tumor milieu and thus reinvigorate antitumor immunity. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which abundantly infiltrate most solid tumors, could contribute to tumor progression by stimulating proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis, and by providing a barrier against antitumor immunity. Initial TAMs-targeting strategies have shown efficacy across therapeutic modalities and tumor types in both preclinical and clinical studies. TAMs-targeted therapeutic approaches can be roughly divided into those that deplete TAMs and those that modulate TAMs activities. We here reviewed the mechanisms by which macrophages become immunosuppressive and compromise antitumor immunity. TAMs-focused therapeutic strategies are also summarized.

Surface hydration has been proposed as the key nonfouling mechanism of zwitterionic materials. Because these materials have various chemical structures and will be used in complex environments, in situ probing of their surfaces in different aqueous environments is crucial to understanding their surface hydration properties. In this work, the surfaces of three zwitterionic polymer brushes in aqueous solutions with salts or varied pH were probed using sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. The SFG spectra indicate the ordering of the polymer brushes in water and the strong hydrogen bonding of the interfacial water molecules. The ordering of water at the surfaces of carboxybetaine polymers changed with pH, but at the sulfobetaine polymer surface, this ordering was not affected by pH. The interfacial ordering of water also decreased when salt ions were associated with the polymers. Ions from different salts had different interfacial binding affinities depending on the ion type and the polymer structure, as deduced from the interfacial water signals. These SFG results reveal important surface hydration properties of zwitterionic polymers that will guide their applications in complex environments.