Postcholecystectomy bile duct injuries (BDI) produce hepatic cholestasis and cause infection of the biliary tract. The biliary cells participate in secreting cytokines and in expression of immune response receptors. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) conduct signalling and activate the innate and adaptive inflammatory response. The objective was to determine the serum levels of TLR-2 and the expression...

NK cells limit the emergence of cancers and viral infections by surveillance of 'missing-self' and 'induced-self' ligands, and by direct recognition of pathogen-associated molecules. We examined individual roles for Toll-like receptors (TLRs)-7 and -8 in human NK-cell activation using synthetic, small molecule agonists of either TLR-7 (imiquimod and 3M-001), TLR-8 (3M-002) or both TLR-7/8 (3M-0...

Toll-like receptors (TLR) recognize the pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and regulate the subsequent immune responses in mammals. We have so far succeeded in finding the 11 types of TLR genes from Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). TLR genes have also been found in the genomes of fugu (Takifugu rubripes) and zebrafish (Danio rerio). However, only limited information is kn...

Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins constitute a class of negative regulators for Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) signaling pathways. These intracellular proteins are induced by cytokine signaling, but they can also be induced by stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLR). It has even been suggested that SOCS proteins are important negative re...

Genetic host factors play a substantial role in susceptibility to and severity of malaria, which continues to cause at least one million deaths per year. Recently, members of the toll-like receptor (TLR) family have been shown to be involved in recognition of the etiologic organism Plasmodium falciparum: The glycosylphosphatidylinisitol anchor induces signaling in host cells via TLR-2 and -4, w...

tetanus is caused by the tetanus neurotoxin (tent), a 150 kda single polypeptide molecule which is cleaved into active two-chain molecules composed of a 50 kda n-terminal light (l) and a 100 kda c-terminal heavy (h) chains. fragment c is further subdivided into two subdomains: the proximal hcn  subdomain and the extreme carboxy subdomain, hcc. hcc is considered as an immunodominant part of tent...

INTRODUCTION Fibronectin fragments (FN-fs) are increased in the cartilage of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and have a potent chondrolytic effect. However, little is known about the cellular receptors and signaling mechanisms that are mediated by FN-fs. We investigated whether the 29-kDa amino-terminal fibronectin fragment (29-kDa FN-f) regulates cartilage catabolism via the Toll-like recept...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are probably the most important class of pattern-recognition receptors. Recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by TLRs, either alone or in heterodimerization with other TLR or non-TLR receptors, induces the production of signals that are responsible for the activation of genes important for an effective host defense, especially those of proinfla...

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4), initially identified as an LPS receptor, is critical to the signaling of a variety of danger signals, including heat shock protein 60, fibrinogen, and fibronectin. Recent data also suggest that TLR-4 plays a role in determining survival in both endotoxemia and hemorrhagic shock. We hypothesized that a functional TLR-4 would be required for hemorrhage and endotoxin-...

To better understand the relative efficiencies of using different TLR ligand-activated DCs to induce human CD4(+) T lymphocyte responses, human DCs were activated with two viral and two bacterial TLR ligands, and their production of IL12, TNFalpha, and IL10 was examined. While the two viral TLR ligands (ssRNA and dsRNA) induced DC production of detectable levels of IL12p70, DCs activated by the...