The presented diploma thesis focuses on the parliamentary immunity of Deputies and Senators in the Czech Republic and consists of two not explicitly titled parts. The first one deals with the genesis of the concept of immunity; the historical course describes the origin of the concept that goes back to the 13th century. Immunity might have been described as protection given by an English monarch towards Representatives; it gradually changed in privileged status recognition of a newly emerging institution, nowadays called Parliament. This excursion back into the 800 year history is supposed to help us understand the basic idea that the immunity of deputies or senators serves as an instrument of protection of a legislative body, or rather the Parliament of the Czech Republic. As for the immunity of deputies (senators) in the Czech Republic, relevant chapters deal with the first attempts to create functional constitutions at the end of the 19th century when Bohemia was part of the Austrian empire. Significant space is dedicated to the 1920 Constitutional Act, which may be considered as a crucial document for today's concept of the immunity of deputies and senators in the Czech Republic. Finally, the first part includes also chapters dealing with later constitutions from 1948 and 1960. The second part...

Novilhas Holandesas (n=35) foram vacinadas e distribuídas em grupos de acordo com os adjuvantes presentes nas vacinas comerciais contra BVDV e BoHV-1: Halum (hidróxido de alumínio, n=9), Oleosa (emulsão oleosa, n=10), Prezent A (composto saponina, n=10) e Salina (controle, n=6). As reações locais e sistêmicas foram avaliadas às zero horas (h), seis, 24, 48, 72 e 168h pós-vacinal. A produção de anticorpos (ACs) foi mensurada nos dias da vacinação (D0), D21 e D42. Capítulo 1 O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a resposta inflamatória sistêmica em novilhas vacinadas contendo diferentes tipos de adjuvantes. O número de hemácias (P=0,009) e hemoglobina (P=0,028) foram maiores no grupo Prezent A após a 2a dose. Os teores de ferro foram maiores no grupo controle após 1ª e 2ª dose (P=0,000; 0,000). Em geral, no leucograma os grupos vacinados apresentaram decréscimo nos números de leucócitos (P=0,001) em 2ª dose, neutrófilos (%) (P=0,000; 0,000) em ambas aplicações e monócitos (%) (P=0,010) após 1ª dose. Os linfócitos (%) apresentaram aumento gradual após as duas doses (P=0,031; 0,000), observando-se menores proporções nos grupos Prezent A e Oleosa. Basófilos (%) após 2ª dose (P=0,012) e eosinófilos (%) (P=0,000; 0,000) foram mais reativos nos grupos Prezent A e Halum entre 24 e 72h. As novilhas Prezent A apresentaram maiores valores (P=0,000; 0,000) haptoglobina às 24 e 48h em relação aos demais grupos após a 1ª e 2ª dose. Em geral, a produção de EROs foi suprimida nas novilhas vacinadas em relação ao controle após 1a dose (P=0,018) e entre 24 à 168h após a 2a dose (P=0,002). Capítulo 2 O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar os efeitos adversos associados às reações locais e sistêmicas, assim como verificar a reposta imune humoral induzida pelas vacinas. A reatividade local foi mais intensa no grupo Oleosa após a 1a dose (P=0,000), em contrapartida o grupo Prezent A após a 2a dose foi mais reativo (P=0,000). A temperatura retal foi elevada em Prezent A entre 0 a 24h em 1a dose (P=0,000). O escore de Doença Respiratória Bovina foi mais intensa no grupo Prezent A e Oleosa às 48 horas (P=0,0024). Os ACs contra BVDV foram detectados apenas em D42, observando-se médias semelhantes entre Prezent A (log2=5) e Halum (log2=5). A soroconversão foi maior em Halum (78%) em comparação ao Prezent A (40%) e oleosa (10%). Em relação ao BoHV-1, observou-se títulos e soroconversão em D21 nos grupos Halum (log2=3; 67%) e Prezent A (log2=1; 80%). No D42 verificou-se uma maior intensidade de resposta para Prezent A (log2= 6; 100%), seguido de Halum (log2=4; 100%) e Oleosa (log2=3,0; 60%). Os dados permitem concluir que a vacina contendo o adjuvante oleoso e Prezent A ocasionaram maior reatividade local, porém a Prezent A induziu maior resposta inflamatória sistêmica. A produção de ACs contra o BVDV e BoHV-1 foi mais intensa na vacina com hidróxido de alumínio e Prezent A. Estudos futuros são necessários para demonstrar os efeitos benéficos da resposta inflamatória sistêmica do Prezent A sobre a resposta imune adquirida mediada por células do tipo Th1. / Dairy heifers (n=35) were vaccinated and distributed according to adjuvants present in commercial vaccines against BVDV and BoHV-1: Halum (n=9), Oil (n=10), Prezent A (n=10) and Saline (n=6). The local and systemic reactions were evaluated at zero hours (h), 6, 24, 48, 72 and 168h post-vaccination. The production of antibodies (ABs) was measured at vaccination days (D0), D21 and D42. Chapter 1 The objective of this study was to evaluate the inflammatory systemic response in vaccinated heifers with products that contained different types of adjuvants. The numbers of red blood cells (P=0.009) and hemoglobin (P=0,028) were higher in Prezent A after the 2nd dose. The iron were higher in saline group after 1st and 2nd dose (P=0.000; 0.000). In leukogram, vaccinated groups showed a decrease in total leukocytes (P = 0.001) at 2nd dose, neutrophils (%) (P = 0.000; 0.000) in both applications and monocytes (%) (P = 0.010) . Lymphocytes (%) presented gradual increase after received two doses (P = 0.031; 0.000), showing smaller proportions in Prezent A and Oil groups. Basophils (%) after 2nd dose (P = 0.012) and eosinophils (%) (P = 0.000; 0.000) were more reactive in Prezent A and Halum groups between 24 and 72h. Prezent A group presented higher values (P = 0.000; 0.000) of haptoglobin at 24 and 48h compared to the other groups after the 1st and 2nd doses. In general, ROS production was suppressed in vaccinated heifers relative to control after the 1st dose (P = 0.018) and 24 to 168h after the 2nd dose (P = 0.002). Chapter 2 The objective of this research was to evaluate the adverse effects associated with local and systemic reactions as well measure humoral immune response induced by reproductive vaccines containing different adjuvants. Local reactivity was more intense in Oil group after the 1st dose (P = 0.000), in contrast, Prezent A group presented higher reactivity after the 2nd dose. Rectal temperature was higher in Prezent A between 0 and 48 hours in the 1st dose. Bovine Respiratory Disease score was higher in Prezent A and Oil groups at 48h (P=0.002). ABs against BVDV were detected only at D42, observing the similar averages between Prezent A (log2=5) and Halum (log2=5). The seroconversion was higher in Halum (78%) compared to Prezent A (40%) and oil (10%). The titers and seroconversion against BoHV-1 at D21 were observed in Halum (log2 = 3; 67%) and Prezent A (log2 = 1; 80%) groups. At D42 a higher response was observed for Prezent A (log2 = 6, 100%), followed by Halum (log2 = 4, 100%) and Oil (log2 = 3.0, 60%). The data allow to conclude that the vaccine containing oil adjuvant and Prezent A caused greater local reactivity, but Prezent A induced a greater systemic inflammatory response. The production of ABs against BVDV and BoHV-1 was more intense in Halum vaccine and Prezent A. Future studies are needed to demonstrate the beneficial effects of the systemic inflammatory response of Prezent A on the acquired Th1 cell-mediated immune response.

Acute lower respiratory tract infections are a persistent and pervasive public health burden, often caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Hospitalization rates due to pneumonia fall dramatically during early childhood, remain low during early adult years, and then increase steadily around middle age. The low-susceptibility period of early adulthood is likely due to frequent respiratory exposures to diverse pneumococcal serotypes resulting in serotype-independent heterotypic immunity. We hypothesize that resolution of repeated respiratory pneumococcal infections establish capsule-independent, lung-resident adaptive immunity that protects against subsequent unrelated pneumococcal pneumonia. In our model of naturally acquired heterotypic immunity, mice are infected with diverse serotypes of pneumococci in the respiratory tract, given time to recover, and then challenged by pulmonary infection with a highly virulent serotype 3 pneumococcus (Sp3). Prior exposures to unrelated pneumococci resulted in multi-log reductions in Sp3 bacterial lung burdens and long-term sterilizing immunity. The enhanced lung defense during pneumonia included more Th17 cells in the lung and significantly elevated IL-17A as well as neutrophils in the airspaces. Depletion of CD4+ cells resulted in less effective antibacterial defense. Upon ex vivo stimulation with pneumococcus lung-resident CD4+ cells produced multiple protective cytokines including IL-17A, IFN-γ, IL-22, IL-2, and TNF-α. In protected lungs, there were increased numbers of CD4+ resident memory T (TRM) cells, confined to the anatomic region of the initial infections. Heterotypic protection was also confined to the site of previous pneumococcal infections. Previously-exposed mice challenged in their contralateral lobes were not protected. RNAseq analysis of heterotypic lungs 24h after Sp3 infection revealed an enrichment of lymphocyte-related pathways including immunoglobulin and other B cell-related genes. B cell-deficient µMT-/- mice exposed to pneumococci had intermediate protection against Sp3 pneumonia, better than naïve mice but less effective than fully immunocompetent peers. Plasma from mice previously exposed to pneumococci was sufficient to protect naïve mice against Sp3 pneumonia. We conclude that mechanisms of naturally-acquired heterotypic protection against pneumococcus involve both lung-resident cell-mediated and humoral immunity and importantly this protection can be compartmentalized within the lung. Advancing our understanding of these mechanisms will guide future vaccine development and treatment strategies for lung disease.

Submitted by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-04-10T13:17:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DanieldeSouzaNogueiraDissertacao2017.pdf: 1717654 bytes, checksum: d0c286c45e9354f1c927000252628845 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-04-10T13:18:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DanieldeSouzaNogueiraDissertacao2017.pdf: 1717654 bytes, checksum: d0c286c45e9354f1c927000252628845 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-10T13:18:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DanieldeSouzaNogueiraDissertacao2017.pdf: 1717654 bytes, checksum: d0c286c45e9354f1c927000252628845 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-01 / The focus of this scientific paper is to investigate whether the duty exemption conferred on temples of any religious worship as an effective tool of the fundamental right to freedom of belief and conscience reaches with equal protection the temples of the Masonic, extending over them the constitutional mantle of the duty exemption. To do so, necessary was to conceptualize Freemasonry and its historical definition, by looking at its nature from the point of view of the civil right as an association and an integral body of the third sector. This paper discusses the freedom of belief and conscience as fundamental rights and their capability of sustaining the Democratic Rule of Law in its outwardly secular contours. It also presents an analysis of the comparative laws on the relevant points of this paper by verifying how the other nations understand them. The paper is carried out on the hard task of verifying how the doctrine and jurisprudence has manifested itself on the proposed subject by causing the study to be elaborated, in a careful way, on the basis of the understandings elaborated by them. From a critical perspective, this paper aims to analyze how the institute of duty exemption has been treated, considering it as relevant for a better analysis and understanding, which, of course, will bring improvements in the legal system of the country as a whole. / O trabalho objetiva averiguar se a imunidade tribut??ria conferida aos templos de qualquer culto, enquanto instrumento efetivador do direito fundamental ?? liberdade de cren??a e consci??ncia, atinge com igual prote????o os templos dos cultos ma????nicos, estendendo sobre estes o manto constitucional da imunidade tribut??ria. Para tanto, lan??a-se a conceituar a ma??onaria e a defini-la historicamente, perquirindo a sua natureza do ponto de vista do direito civil p??trio enquanto associa????o e corpo integrante do terceiro setor. Discorre acerca da liberdade de cren??a e consci??ncia enquanto direitos fundamentais e capazes de sustentar o Estado Democr??tico de Direito em seus contornos declaradamente laicos. Apresenta uma analise do direito comparado sobre os pontos relevantes do trabalho, buscando constatar como as demais na????es os compreende. O trabalho lan??a-se ?? espinhosa tarefa de verificar como a doutrina e jurisprud??ncia tem se manifestado a respeito do tema proposto fazendo com que o estudo seja elaborado, de forma cuidadosa, com base nos entendimentos por eles exarados. Sob uma perspectiva cr??tica busca analisar como o instituto da imunidade tribut??ria vem sendo tratado, considerando-o como relevante para uma melhor an??lise e compreens??o, o que, por certo, ocasionar?? um aperfei??oamento no sistema jur??dico p??trio como um todo.

L'immunité juridictionnelle des États a été pendant des siècles une question incontestée fondée sur le principe de l'égalité des Etats et sur leur indépendance absolue. Cette règle a été élaborée à une époque où tenter une action contre un État dans un pays étranger aurait été considéré comme une violation de sa souveraineté. Toutefois, les fonctions des Etats ont changé au cours des siècles. Désormais, les Etats s’engagent dans les activités commerciales comme une personne privée et jouent un rôle essentiel dans ce secteur.Alors, bien que le droit de l'immunité soit lié à l'octroi de l'immunité aux États pour leur permettre d'accomplir efficacement les fonctions publiques, le droit international moderne n'exige pas que les tribunaux d'un Etat s’abstiennent de connaître un litige simplement parce que l’État étranger n'a pas la volonté de défendre.Ce travail de recherche, est donc consacré à l’étude de l’immunité de juridiction et l’immunité d’exécution afin de montrer le droit international actuel sur la matière.Cette thèse vise à examiner une question spécifique qui a été mise en évidence au cours de ces dernières années. Comment et dans quelle mesure les États et ses démembrements devraient être soumis à des règles spécifiques de l'immunité d’Etat ? / The issue of jurisdictional immunity of states was for centuries an undisputed matter based on the principle of state equality and absolute independence of states. The rules were developed at a time when it was thought to be an infringement of a state's sovereignty to bring proceedings against it or its officials in a foreign country. However, the functions of states have changed over the centuries and nowadays states are involved in commercial activities as a private person and accordingly play an essential role in the commercial activities of the world. In fact, the issue of state immunities is an increasingly important and rapidly developing area of international law and practice. The state practice reflects the emerging global consensus that States and State enterprises can no longer claim absolute, unrestrained immunity from the proper jurisdiction of foreign courts, especially for their commercial activities. Therefore, although the law of state immunity is related to the grant of immunities to states to enable them to carry out their public functions effectively, modern international law does not require the courts of one state to refrain from deciding a case merely because a foreign state is an unwilling defendant. It is therefore important to know how a plea of state immunity may be made and to what type of dispute it applies.

Foi avaliado o desempenho de vacina de subunidade e bactéria completa antileptospirose em matrizes suínas analisando-se os níveis de anticorpos aglutinantes e neutralizantes. A intensidade e duração da imunidade passiva nos leitões, e ativa nas matrizes suínas foi investigada pela soroaglutinação microscópica (SAM) e teste de inibição de crescimento de leptospiras (ICL) em grupos de animais tratados com vacina experimental de subunidade e leptospira completa produzida com a mesma estirpe e com duas bacterinas comerciais. O experimento foi realizado em duas fases, na primeira, sendo utilizadas 33 matrizes. Os animais foram divididos em três grupos: grupo 1 (n=11):controle; grupo 2 (n=11): recebeu duas doses, em intervalo de 30 dias, de vacina anti-leptospirose constituída da subunidade de lipopolissacarídeo (LPS) de leptospira sorovar Canicola. Grupo 3 (n=11): recebeu duas doses, em intervalo de 30 dias, de uma bacterina de bactérias completas antileptospirose. Na segunda fase foram utilizadas 24 matrizes. Os animais foram divididos em três grupos: Grupo A (n=08): recebeu duas doses, em intervalo de 30 dias, de bacterina comercial anti-leptospirose A. Grupo B (n=08): recebeu duas doses, em intervalo de 30 dias, de bacterina comercial antileptospirose B e Grupo C (n=08): controle. Tanto na primeira fase como na segunda, foram realizados exames de SAM e de ICL nas matrizes e nos seus leitões, a fim de se avaliar títulos de aglutininas e de anticorpos neutralizantes obtidos respectivamente com a imunidade ativa e passiva. Os resultados das comparações dos títulos de anticorpos aglutinantes dos grupos tratados, 2 e 3, na primeira fase, apresentaram diferença aos 32 e 68 dias pós-vacinação. Não houve diferença para os anticorpos neutralizantes. No 30º dia de vida não foram detectados anticorpos aglutinantes nos leitões das matrizes vacinadas com LPS, e para anticorpos neutralizantes, os títulos médios foram de 0,832 no grupo 2 e 0,930 no grupo 3. Os títulos de anticorpos aglutinantes dos grupos A e B, na segunda fase, apresentaram diferença entre os sorovares das bacterinas comerciais, aos 60, 90 e 120 dias pós-vacinação. Aos 60 dias, houve diferença para o sorovares Copenhageni e Icterohaemorrhagiae. Em relação aos níveis de anticorpos neutralizantes das matrizes para o sorovar Hardjo, houve persistência de títulos de anticorpos neutralizantes nas sete avaliações realizadas nas duas bacterinas comerciais empregadas, e, em títulos baixos. Nos leitões foi constatada a transferência da imunidade colostral, somente com a bacterina comercial B confirmada pela presença de anticorpos aglutinantes, aos três e oito dias de vida. A vacina de LPS de bactéria completa apresentou perspectivas para emprego na prevenção da leptospirose suína. Houve diferença e baixa resposta imunológica nas bacterinas comerciais A e B anti-leptospirose, principalmente, para os sorovares Canicola, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae e Pomona, Copenhageni para a bacterina comercial B. A imunidade passiva, medida por anticorpos aglutinantes conferida pelas bacterinas comerciais A e B, foi de curta duração. / It was evaluated the performance of a subunit and whole culture bacterin vaccines against leptospirosis in sows by the analysis of agglutinating and neutralizing antibodies level. The intensity and duration of passive immunity in the offspring and active immunity in sows were investigated with microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and leptospira growth inhibition (LGI) in groups of animals treated with experimental subunit vaccine and whole bacterin produced with the same serotype and with two commercial bacterin vaccines. The experiment was performed in two phases. First, 33 sows were divided into three groups of eleven animals each: group 1 was the control and group 2 received two doses with 30 days interval of anti-leptospirosis lipopolysaccharid (LPS) subunit vaccine serovar Canicola and group 3 received two doses with 30 days interval of whole leptospira bacterin. On a second phase 24 sows were divided into three groups of eight animals each: group A received two doses with 30 days interval of the commercial leptospira bacterin A. Group B received two doses with 30 days interval of a commercial leptospira bacterin B and group C was the control. Either in the first phase as in the second one, MAT and LGI were performed in the sows and its piglets in order to evaluate titers of agglutinins and neutralizing antibodies obtained with active and passive immunities respectively. The comparison of agglutinating titers of groups 2 and 3 at the first phase showed differences on days 32 and 68 post vaccination. There was no difference in relation to neutralizing antibodies. Agglutinating antibodies were not detected on thirty days old piglets, born from sows vaccinated with LPS, and for neutralizing antibodies, mean titers were 0.832 on group 2 and 0.930 on group 3. Agglutinating antibodies titers of groups A and B, on the second phase, presented differences between the commercial vaccines serovars at 60, 90 and 120 post vaccination days. At 60 days, there were differences for serovars Copenhageni and Icterohaemorrhagiae. There was persistency of low titers of neutralizing antibodies to serovar Hardjo in the sows, for the seven measurements performed with the two commercial bacterins. It was observed colostral immunity transfer to piglets with three and eight days old only for commercial vaccine B, with detectable agglutinating antibodies. LPS bacteria vaccine presented perspectives to prevent swine leptospirosis. There was difference and low immunological response for commercial vaccines A and B, especially for serovars Canicola, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae and Pomona; and for serovar Copenhageni only for commercial vaccine B. The passive immunity conferred by commercial vaccines A and B and measured by agglutinating antibodies had low duration.

The innate immune system is the first line of defence against infection. It is comprised of physicochemical barriers and a variety of cell types including macrophages and dendritic cells. Pathogens express specific pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMP) which are recognised by pattern recognition receptors (PRR) on macrophages to initiate an innate immune response. Gram-negative bacteria such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium express a range of bacterial PAMPs recognised by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) including lipopolysaccharides (LPS) recognised by TLR-4 and lipoproteins by TLR-2. The activation of TLRs results in activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) to drive transcription of mRNA coding for pro-inflammatory proteins such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and pro-interleukin (IL) 1β. Myeloid cells also possess intracellular PRRs including the nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat (NLR) family. NLR family CARD domain- containing protein 4 (NLRC4) and NLR family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) are the main NLRs engaged in recognising S. Typhimurium infection, leading to formation of the inflammasome. The inflammasome is a macromolecular complex assembled in the cytoplasm, and usually contains a NLR, the structural protein apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) and effector enzymes such as cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed protease (caspase) -1 and caspase-8. This structure is responsible for processing the cytokines pro- IL-1β and pro-IL-18 to their mature form and is involved in triggering a pro-inflammatory process of cell death termed pyroptosis. The formation of the inflammasome therefore results in cell death and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines which play important roles in controlling infections. Inflammasome activity must be tightly coordinated, as its dysregulation is associated with a variety of auto-inflammatory and auto-immune diseases. The signalling events leading to inflammasome assembly are poorly understood and the molecules involved in fine-tuning its activity are only beginning to be discovered. The aim of this thesis was to discover new molecules involved in inflammasome activation and/or in keeping its activity in check. To achieve this goal, I performed S. Typhimurium infection assays in primary bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) derived from C57BL/6 mice wild type (WT) and compared the resulting cellular viability, intracellular bacteria counts and IL-1β production to that of BMDMs derived from C57BL/6 mice lacking proteins involved with, or suspected to be involved with, innate immune activity. Amongst the proteins I studied, caspase recruitment domain 9 (CARD9) inhibited inflammasome-mediated IL-1β production. Multiple independent genome-wide association studies link this protein to inflammatory pathologies such as Crohn's disease, but its role in canonical inflammasomes was largely unexplored. To investigate how CARD9 inhibits inflammasome-mediated IL-1β production I have conducted assays in WT and Card9-/- BMDMs, including stimulation of specific NLRs with their purified ligands, infection with bacterial strains deficient in NLRC4 activation, and infection assays in presence of pharmacological inhibitors. By employing these approaches, I observed that CARD9 has a negative role on NLRP3-dependent IL-1β production. Specifically, in response to activation of the NLRP3 by Salmonella infection, CARD9 negatively regulates pro-IL-1β transcription, and decreases IL-1β processing by inhibiting spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK)-mediated NLRP3 activation and represses caspase-8 activity in the inflammasome. CARD9 expression is suppressed in the course of S. Typhimurium infection which may act as a mechanism to increase IL-1β production during the infection. In conclusion, I have established a connection between CARD9 and IL-1β production by the canonical NLRP3 inflammasome and elucidated some of the mechanisms involved in this process. I have also found evidence that other proteins are likely to be involved in inflammasome regulation and the elucidation of their roles will be addressed in future studies.

Activation of the cysteine protease caspase-1 and the subsequent processing and secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1Β and IL-18 is central to the inflammatory response as well as the induction of adaptive immune responses. Caspase-1 is activated as a part of a high-molecular weight multi-protein complex termed the inflammasome. The NLRP3 inflammasome is by far the best studied of these complexes, and it is the most promiscuous in terms of activating signals. The diversity of NLRP3 activating signals makes it likely that NLRP3 does not recognize each agonist directly, rather it detects a molecule that is generated, revealed, or altered by cellular stress. Recent studies have indicated that mitochondrial dysfunction is crucial for NLRP3 inflammasome activation, yet the activating ligand has not yet been identified. Appropriate and timely activation of this inflammatory pathway is required for host immunity to a variety of pathogens, however dysregulated activation leads to autoinflammation and potentially autoimmunity. Hence it is important to identify mechanisms for inflammasome activation and regulation. Therefore, this dissertation has focused on investigating the mechanisms for activation and regulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, and the biological consequences of these changes. We show that the mitochondrial lipid cardiolipin is required for NLRP3 inflammasome activation. We have also identifying a novel mechanism by which inflammasome activation is regulated. Data presented in this dissertation shows that IgG immune complexes effectively suppress inflammasome activation and the subsequent processing and secretion of IL-1Α and IL-1Β. Furthermore we show that immunization with IgG immune complexes suppresses both Th2 and Th17 immune responses. Together these data provide novel insights into the activating and regulatory pathways of both the innate and adaptive immune systems.

The extent to which the progeny of one primary memory CD8 T cell differs from the progeny of one naïve CD8 T cell of the same specificity remains an important question. In order to explore cell autonomous functional differences between naïve and memory CD8 T cells that are not influenced by differences in the priming environment, an experimental model has been developed in which physiological numbers of both populations of cells were co-transferred into naïve host before antigen-stimulation. Interestingly, naïve CD8 T cells expand in numbers more than primary memory CD8 T cells after various infections or immunizations. The intrinsic ability of one naïve CD8 T cell to give rise to more effector CD8 T cells than one memory CD8 T cell is independent of the number of primary memory CD8 T cells present in vivo. The sustained proliferation of primary, but not the increased death of secondary effectors was shown to contribute to the differences in the observed magnitudes of expansion. In addition, longitudinal analysis of primary and secondary CD8 T cell responses revealed that the ability of naïve CD8 T cells to generate long-lived progeny (`memory generation potential') is better than for primary memory CD8 T cells despite the differences in overall kinetics of both responses after infection. Taken together, the data presented here revealed previously unappreciated differences between naïve and memory CD8 T cells and will help further define the functional potential for both cell types. The goal of immunization is to generate memory CD8 T cells of sufficient quality and quantity, and it has been shown that the naïve to primary memory CD8 T cell differentiation in vivo is controlled, at least in part, by the amount and duration of inflammation present early after the initiation of the response. In experiments where naïve CD8 T cells were co-transferred with increasing numbers of primary memory CD8 T cells, we observed a negative correlation between the number of primary memory present and the magnitude of primary CD8 T cell responses. Interestingly, the conversion of newly recruited (either TCR-Tg or endogenous) primary CD8 T cells into CD8 T cells with the phenotype (CD62Lhi, CD27hi) and function (tissue distribution, Ag-driven proliferation, cytokine production) of long-term memory was facilitated when they were primed in the presence of memory CD8 T cells of the same or unrelated specificity. Therefore, these data suggest that the presence of anti-vectorial immunity will not necessarily decrease the efficacy of CD8 T cell vaccination since newly recruited CD8 T cells, despite their decreased magnitude of expansion, might differentiate into functional memory cells faster.

Neonates are generally thought to be more likely to suffer from gastrointestinal disease, owing in part to diminished immune cell function. To gain insight into the development of mucosal immune responses during early life, we developed a model of orogastric infection with the Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica using murine neonates. Remarkably, neonatal mice of either the BALB/c or C57BL/6 mouse strains showed markedly enhanced survival after infection compared to adult mice. Both innate and adaptive immune components appear to contribute to this phenomenon. First, the increased resistance of neonates coincided with containment of the bacteria in the intestinal tissue with low dissemination into the spleen and liver. In contrast, the bacteria readily disseminated to the peripheral tissues in adult mice. Flow cytometric and histological studies revealed increased levels of neutrophils and macrophages in the neonatal mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) compared to adult mice. Similar results were obtained using two different high virulence Y. enterocolitica strains. The rapid mobilization of innate cells sequestered the bacteria to the intestinal tissue, since in vivo neutrophil depletion led to efficient dissemination of Y. enterocolitica to the spleen and liver of neonates. Together, these results support the hypothesis that the neonatal intestinal immune system is competent to mount a strong antibacterial response by rapidly mobilizing innate phagocytes and thereby confining the bacterial infection to the gut, resulting in a high level of resistance. Second, we have also demonstrated that the adaptive immune system was mobilized during primary and secondary infection with this pathogen and that some of these factors may contribute to the enhanced resistance of neonatal mice to infection. Primary infection in neonates led to increased levels of antigen presenting cells, B and T cells with an activated phenotype in the MLN. MLN CD4+ Th cells from infected neonates were found to produce greater levels of IFN-gamma and IL-17A, compared to CD4+ Th cells from adult mice. These Th responses are likely to be functionally significant because neonatal mice deficient in CD4+ T cells were found to be more susceptible than adult mice to primary infection. CD4+ T cells adoptively transferred into CD4 deficient mice rescued the majority of mice from lethal infection and led to the production of IFN-gamma and IL-17A by MLN cells. In addition, primary T cell-dependent IgG1 and IgG2a serum antibodies specific for the Yersinia immunogen LcrV were increased compared to adult mice, and the absence of B cells partially increased the susceptibility of neonatal mice to primary infection. During secondary infection, however, neonatal and adult mice mounted quantitatively and qualitatively similar Yersinia-specific memory antibody responses, demonstrating that infection with Y. enterocolitica promotes mature B cell responses in neonatal mice. Finally, primed neonatal and adult mice were protected from colonization of the Peyer's patches, weight loss and mortality after a lethal infection in adulthood, demonstrating the development of long-lived protective memory responses at the intestinal interface. Together, these results indicate that both B and T cell responses, in particular Th1 and Th17 associated immunity, are important for the development of long lasting immunity to this pathogen in early life. Third, infection of neonatal mice with a Y. enterocolitica strain deleted of the anti-inflammatory protein YopP led to massive infiltration and/or accumulation of innate phagocytes in the intestine and MLN. This effect was not detectable in infected adult mice. Thus, we have identified a novel negative regulator of intestinal inflammation which might be valuable in preventing or ameliorating inflammatory conditions. This model system has revealed the unprecedented potential of neonatal mice to develop protective inflammatory innate and adaptive immunity at mucosal surfaces. The combined results presented here demonstrate that neonatal mice may be well equipped to mount robust innate and adaptive intestinal inflammatory responses that are highly protective toward Y. enterocolitica. These findings have implications for understanding how pediatric intestinal adaptive immune responses develop in response to naturally occurring gastroenteric pathogens and offer a new biological platform for development of vaccines aimed at improving mucosal and systemic immunity in early life.