CYP2D6 is a highly polymorphic human gene responsible for a large variability in the disposition of more than 100 drugs to which humans may be exposed. Animal models are inadequate for preclinical pharmacological evaluation of CYP2D6 substrates because of marked species differences in CYP2D isoforms. To overcome this issue, a transgenic mouse line expressing the human CYP2D6 gene was generated....

BACKGROUND Humanizing birth means considering women's values, beliefs, and feelings and respecting their dignity and autonomy during the birthing process. Reducing over-medicalized childbirths, empowering women and the use of evidence-based maternity practice are strategies that promote humanized birth. Nevertheless, the territory of birth and its socio-cultural values and beliefs concerning ch...

Dexamethasone (DEX) is a potent and widely used anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant glucocorticoid. It can bind and activate the pregnane X receptor (PXR), which plays a critical role as xenobiotic sensor in mammals to induce the expression of many enzymes, including cytochromes P450 in the CYP3A family. This induction results in its own metabolism. We have used a series of transgenic mouse...

OBJECTIVE This study sought to understand this study sought to understand the meaning of the experience of humanized nursing care from the perspective of patients, relatives, and nurses. METHODS This was an interpretative phenomenological study that included 16 adult participants and which was based on in-depth interviews to gather the information and on the procedures proposed by Cohen, Kahn...

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as the superagonistic, CD28-specific antibody TGN1412, or OKT3, an anti-CD3 mAb, can cause severe adverse events including cytokine release syndrome. A predictive model for mAb-mediated adverse effects, for which no previous knowledge on severe adverse events to be expected or on molecular mechanisms underlying is prerequisite, is not available yet....

Immunodeficient mice engrafted with human cells and tissues have provided an exciting alternative to in vitro studies with human tissues and nonhuman primates for the study of human immunobiology. A major breakthrough in the early 2000s was the introduction of a targeted mutation in the interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptor common gamma chain (IL2rg(null)) into mice that were already deficient in T and...

Bone metastasis is a frequent and life-threatening complication of breast cancer. The molecular mechanisms supporting the establishment of breast cancer cells in the skeleton are still not fully understood, which may be attributed to the lack of suitable models that interrogate interactions between human breast cancer cells and the bone microenvironment. Although it is well-known that integrins...

Bacterial infection with group B Streptococcus (GBS) represents a prominent threat to neonates and fetuses in the Western world, causing severe organ damage and even death. To improve current therapeutic strategies and to investigate new approaches, an appropriate in vivo model to study the immune response of a human immune system is needed. Therefore, we introduced humanized mice as a new mode...

CD30, the so-called Reed-Sternberg antigen, constitutes a promising cell-specific target for the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Starting from the previously characterized cognate HRS3 mouse monoclonal antibody, the bacterially produced functional Fab fragment was humanized by grafting the CDRs from the mouse antibody framework on to human immunoglobulin consensus sequences. This procedure led...