Immunotherapy Foreword 2018.

To all of our readers, the Future Medicine editorial office would like to thank you for your continued readership over 2018 and I hope you have a fantastic Christmas and New Year. I would also like to thank our esteemed editorial board, peer reviewers and contributing authors for their continued support. We very much look forward to working with you all in 2019 and seeing the journal continue to progress. In this foreword, we will present some highlights from the last 12 months in addition to looking forward to the year ahead.

Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) activation of NF-kappaB-directed transcription in leukocytes.

1. The aim of this study was to test whether CRF enhanced nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB)-directed gene transcription in leukocytes and the receptor specificity of the effect. Initially, we examined the ability of CRF to modulate an antigen-specific, in vitro antibody response. Since that could be mediated by NF-kappaB transcription factor activity, we tested CRF in a NF-kappaB driven luciferase gene expression reporter assay. 2. CRF enhanced the antigen-specific antibody production in a dose- and time-dependent manner. RAW 264.7 macrophage cells and splenocytes stained by immunohistochemistry were positive for CRF receptors and CRF. Expression of both was up-regulated by mitogen treatment of the splenocytes. CRF also enhanced the NF-kappaB-regulated reporter assay and this could be blocked by a CRF-R1 receptor antagonist. 3. In light of these findings, it seems likely that CRF enhanced the antigen-specific antibody response through the CRF-R1 receptor by elevation of NF-kappaB activity. This study provides further support for the concept that CRF can act as an immunomodulator mediating neuro-immune interactions.