Antibody-IL-2 fusion proteins: a novel strategy for immune protection

Advances in genetic engineering and expression systems have led to a rapid progress in the development of immunoglobulins fused to other proteins. These 'antibody fusion proteins' have novel properties and include antibodies fused to the cytokine interleukin-2. In the present review we describe strategies for construction of these antibody-interleukin-2 fusion proteins and discuss their in vitro and in vivo properties. Antibody-interleukin-2 fusion proteins retain both antibody associated functions such as antigen binding, complement activation and Fc gamma receptor binding as well as interleukin-2 associated functions such as the stimulation of proliferation of CTLL2 cells. In vivo, they produce strong potentiation of the host immune response against any associated antigen. In addition, these novel molecules are able to target tumor cells and produce a specific and effective T cell response capable of eliminating the tumor. These properties suggest that antibody-interleukin-2 fusion proteins will be useful in the diagnosis and/or treatment of human cancer as well as in the potentiation of human response against any associated antigen.     

The use of joint coordinates to monitor patients in a movement-based interaction system

Universal Access in the Information Society - Movement-based interaction has brought about new possibilities in healthcare environments. Concretely, rehabilitation therapies represent an adequate...     

Improving location awareness in indoor spaces using RFID technology

Location awareness is a key issue to improve the development of autonomous entities that are embedded into ubiquitous computing environments. GPS seems to be the best solution to develop outdoor location systems, but the performance of these systems is not good enough to locate objects or humans within indoor environments, mainly if accuracy and precision are required. In this article we propose the use of a cheap and reliable technology as RFID to develop a passive RFID-based indoor location system that is able to accurately locate autonomous entities, such as robots and people, within a defined surface. This system is applied to solve the robot tracking problem. We include the evaluation of the proposal by comparing our system technology performance with other alternatives built on different technologies (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IrDA, ultrasound, etc.). We have also performed a location awareness proof concept test to analyze the viability of the approach.     

Using emotion recognition technologies to teach children with autism spectrum disorder how to identify and express emotions

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which since 2013 is considered as an umbrella term for several disorders such as autistic syndrome, Asperger’s disorder and pervasive developmental disorder, is characterized, among other aspects, by deficits in social-emotion reciprocity. This deficit manifests itself as a reduced sharing of emotions and an increased difficulty in interpreting emotions other people are feeling, which in the end leads to more impairments in social communication. Since it is possible to help a person with ASD (especially children) to improve their ability to understand and detect emotions, we have developed a proposal which integrates emotion recognition technologies, often used in the field of HCI, to try to overcome this difficulty. In this paper, we present a novel software application developed as a serious game to teach children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to identify and express emotions. The system incorporates cutting-edge technology to support novel interaction mechanisms based on tangible user interfaces (TUIs) and emotion recognition from facial expressions. In this way, children interact with the system in a natural way by simply grasping objects with their hands and using their faces. The system has been assessed on the premises of an association with children with ASD. The outcomes of the evaluation are very positive and support the validity of the proposal.

     

Foundations for distributing the interaction: facilitating universal access through Responsive Cross-Device Applications

Universal Access in the Information Society - The emergence of the Internet of Things has created the prospect of a future in which devices can always be connected. There is a trend for information...     

Distributed user interfaces: distributing interactions to facilitate universal access

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User interface analysis for groupware applications in the TOUCHE process model

Groupware applications require a special attention during the first development stages since, in addition to interactions of the users with the system, interactions among the users through the system should be considered. The methodological approach we present in this paper is part of a complete process model called TOUCHE. The proposal is based on several models to perform the analysis of CSCW systems. The methodology presented to address the analysis stage provides the mechanisms to specify the organization of the participants of a system, the roles they play, the interaction of the users within the system and the interaction among the different participants through the system, i.e., person–computer–person interaction. The integration within the process model is also slightly depicted. The artefacts of the whole process are robustly connected, what facilitates the inter and the intra-stage traceability. Finally, a case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposal.     

Interactive fruit panel (IFP): a tangible serious game for children with special needs to learn an alternative communication system

Universal Access in the Information Society - After several months working with Mateo, a child with special needs, the therapist of the Early Childhood Treatment Center (ECTC) was astonished by how...     

A B7.1-antibody fusion protein retains antibody specificity and ability to activate via the T cell costimulatory pathway

We describe the construction and characterization of an Ab fusion protein specific for the tumor-associated Ag HER2/neu linked to sequences encoding the extracellular domain of the B7.1 T cell costimulatory ligand. The Ab domain of the fusion molecule will specifically target HER2/neu-expressing tumor cells, while the B7.1 domain is designed to activate a specific immune response. We show that the B7.1 fusion Ab retained ability to selectively bind to the HER2/neu Ag and to the CTLA4/CD28 counter-receptors for B7.1. Specific T cell activation was observed when the B7.1 Ab fusion protein was bound to HER2/neu-expressing cells. The use of the B7.1 Ab fusion protein may overcome limitations of gene transfer and/or standard Ab therapy and represents a novel approach to the eradication of minimal residual disease.     

A RANTES-antibody fusion protein retains antigen specificity and chemokine function

The successful eradication of cancer cells in the setting of minimal residual disease may require targeting of metastatic tumor deposits that evade the immune system. We combined the targeting flexibility and specificity of mAbs with the immune effector function of the chemokine RANTES to target established tumor deposits. We describe the construction of an Ab fusion molecule with variable domains directed against the tumor-associated Ag HER2/neu, linked to sequences encoding the chemokine RANTES (RANTES.her2.IgG3). RANTES is a potent chemoattractant of T cells, NK cells, monocytes, and dendritic cells, and expression of RANTES has been shown to enhance immune responses against tumors in murine models. RANTES.her2.IgG3 fusion protein bound specifically to HER2/neu Ag expressed on EL4 cells and on SKBR3 breast cancer cells as assayed by flow cytometry. RANTES.her2.IgG3 could elicit actin polymerization of THP-1 cells and transendothelial migration of primary T lymphocytes. RANTES.her2.IgG3 prebound to SKBR3 cells also facilitated migration of T cells. RANTES.her2.IgG3 bound specifically to the CCR5 chemokine receptor, as demonstrated by flow cytometry, and inhibited HIV-1 infection via the CCR5 coreceptor. RANTES.her2.IgG3, alone or in combination with other chemokine or cytokine fusion Abs, may be a suitable reagent for recruitment and activation of an expanded repertoire of effector cells to tumor deposits.