Two graduate students working under Prof. Bor-Luen Chiang in the College of Medicine's Graduate Institute of Immunology have drawn international attention to NTU by having their research articles published in the two top-rated journals in allergic diseases. Ms. Chien-HuiChien's article was published in the May issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and Ms. Chiu Chiau-Juno's article appeared in the April issue of Allergyas the cover article.

Ms. Chien investigated the mechanisms of oral tolerance on allergic asthma and a group of newly-discovered regulatory T cells (Tregs), induced by B cells (Treg-of-B cells).  Relying on animal models of allergic asthma, she confirmed that B cell-induced Tregs of a single protein and single specificity administered orally can ameliorate symptoms of allergies in animals due to their capability for non-specific modulation. Ms. Chien’s article, "Single allergen-induced oral tolerance inhibits airway inflammation in conjugated allergen immunized mice," explains how her findings could lead to breakthroughs in the development of immunological treatments for allergic diseases.

In "Lung-derived SSEA-1(+) stem/progenitor cells inhibit allergic airway inflammation in mice," Chiu reports on her discovery that the lungs of neonatal mice express a high volume of SSEA-1(+) pulmonary lung stem/progenitor cells and that these cells possess the capabilities of clonogenicity and self-renewal, which enable them to differentiate into pneumocytes and tracheal epithelial cells.  Using mouse models of allergic asthma, she transplanted SSEA-1(+) pulmonary lung stem/progenitor cells into mice, and found that the cells suppress eosinophil chemotactic factor and the cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin produced by epithelial cells, which significantly reduces airway hyperresponsiveness, limiting inflammation and damage to the lungs.