OBJECTIVE Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of autoantibodies against nuclear components. Lupus nephritis (LN) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with SLE. Central to the pathogenesis of SLE is the accumulation of cellular waste, especially apoptotic microparticles (MPs), which stimulates diverse immune reactions inc...

The ability of staphylococcal two-component leukotoxins to induce an oxidative burst and/or to prime human polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) was studied by using spectrofluorometry or flow cytometry. At sublytic concentrations, the HlgA-HlgB, HlgA-LukF-PV, LukS-PV-LukF-PV, and HlgC-LukF-PV combinations of leukotoxins, but not the LukS-PV-HlgB and HlgC-HlgB combinations, were able to induce H(2)O(2...

Protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), a G protein-coupled receptor expressed in airway epithelia and smooth muscle, plays an important role in airway inflammation. In this study, we demonstrated that activation of PAR2 induces mucus secretion from the human airway gland and examined the underlying mechanism using the porcine and murine airway glands. The mucosa with underlying submucosal glands...

Platelet activation is closely associated with an increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. Various compounds including Ca(2+) ionophores are able to trigger platelet aggregation by increasing intracellular Ca(2+) concentration in platelets. In the present study, we monitored the effect of the phytoestrogen ferutinin, which acts as a Ca(2+) ionophore in human blood platelets; its ionophor...

To test the hypothesis that endothelial dysfunction in hyperhomocysteinemia was due to increased levels of nitrotyrosine and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in response to antagonism of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha), cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) -/+ mice were bred, tail tissue was analyzed for genotype by PCR, and tail vein blood was analyzed for hom...

The RecA protein of Escherichia coli controls the SOS response for DNA damage tolerance and plays a crucial role in recombinational DNA repair. The formation of a RecA.ATP.ssDNA complex initiates all RecA activities, and yet this process is not understood at the molecular level. An analysis of RecA.DNA interactions was performed using both a mutant RecA protein containing a tryptophan (Trp) rep...

The aim of the study was to determine whether exercise affects neutrophil apoptosis and to characterize the underlying mechanisms. Using annexin V labeling, neutrophil apoptosis was measured using flow cytometry after various bouts of exercise (marathon run, concentric/eccentric treadmill exercise, moderate/intensive resistance training) and in vitro conditions. Similarly, apoptosis-related mar...

5-hydroxyindolylacetic acid (5-HIAA), a major serotonin cata-bolite, is eliminated in urine. In carcinoid tumours, 95 ofwhich occur in the small intestine, large quantities of serotonin are secreted by the entero-chromaffin cells of Kultchizky-Masson. Early detection of these tumours is essential, since unless they are surgically treated in the initial stages then their prognosis is serious. Ea...

The fusion activity of influenza hemagglutinin (HA) and of HA proteins altered in the amino terminus of HA2 (fusion peptide) by site-directed mutagenesis (Gething, M.-J., Doms, R. W., York, D., and White, J. (1986) J. Cell Biol. 102, 11-23) was analyzed following expression in CV-1 cells using SV40-HA recombinant virus vectors. Fusion was monitored by the redistribution of lipid and cytoplasmic...

BACKGROUND/AIM Combining an anticancer agent fenretinide (HPR) or C6-pyridinium ceramide (LCL29) with Foscan-mediated photodynamic therapy (FoscanPDT) is expected to augment anticancer benefits of each substance. We showed that treatment with FoscanPDT+HPR enhanced accumulation of C16-dihydroceramide, and that fumonisin B1 (FB), an inhibitor of ceramide synthase, counteracted caspase-3 activati...