Platelet biogenesis wears silkworm cocoons

Structure and physical properties of silkworm cocoons.

Silkworm cocoons have evolved a wide range of different structures and combinations of physical and chemical properties in order to cope with different threats and environmental conditions. We present our observations and measurements on 25 diverse types of cocoons in a first attempt to correlate physical properties with the structure and morphology of the cocoons. These two architectural param...

Large-scale production of bioactive recombinant human acidic fibroblast growth factor in transgenic silkworm cocoons

With an increasing clinical demand for functional therapeutic proteins every year, there is an increasing requirement for the massive production of bioactive recombinant human acidic fibroblast growth factor (r-haFGF). In this present study, we delicately explore a strategy for the mass production of r-haFGF protein with biological activity in the transgenic silkworm cocoons. The sequence-optim...

Cholesterol in platelet biogenesis and activation.

Hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for atherothrombotic disease, largely attributed to its impact on atherosclerotic lesional cells such as macrophages. Platelets are involved in immunity and inflammation and impact atherogenesis, primarily by modulating immune and inflammatory effector cells. There is evidence that hypercholesterolemia increases the risk of atherosclerosis and thrombosis by...

MicroRNAs in platelet biogenesis and function.

Platelets are important to maintain primary haemostasis and play a key role in pathology of thrombotic and occlusive vascular disorders such as acute coronary syndrome or stroke. Despite of lacking a nucleus and genomic DNA, platelets possess diverse types of RNAs, ranging from protein coding messenger RNAs to small non-coding RNAs inherited from their parent megakaryocytes. Indeed, platelets a...

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