introduction: stem cell biology has been the subject of much recent discussion. embryonic stem (es) cells, derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst stage of early mammalian embryos are expected to become a powerful tool in future regenerative medicine and developmental biology due to their capacity of self-renewal and pluripotency. in the present study, the ultrastructural development...

The integrin alpha6 beta4 is a major component of hemidesmosomes, in which it mediates firm adhesion to laminin 5. Previous studies have shown that the incorporation of alpha6 beta4 into hemidesmosomes requires a 303 amino acid stretch of the cytoplasmic domain of beta4, comprising part of the first fibronectin type III (FNIII) repeat, the second FNIII repeat and the segment that connects the s...

objective(s): development of molecules that specifically recognize cancer cells is one of the major areas in cancer research. human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (her2) is specifically expressed on the surface of breast cancer cells. her2 is associated with an aggressive phenotype and poor prognosis. in this study we aimed to isolate rna aptamers that specifically bind to her2 overexpressi...

As an atypical member of the Rab family, Rab24 has several attributes distinguishing this protein from the other members. Based on the yeast two-hybrid system, interaction between human RAB24 and two proteins, cyclophilin A (CyP-A) and gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor-associated protein (GABARAP), was detected and identified in COS-7 cells. Interestingly, RAB24 is predominantly localized...

Scavenger receptor, class B, type I (SR-BI) is a cell-surface glycoprotein that mediates selective uptake of high density lipoprotein cholesteryl ester (CE) without the concomitant uptake and degradation of the particle. We have investigated the endocytic and selective uptake of low density lipoprotein (LDL)-CE by SR-BI using COS-7 cells transiently transfected with mouse SR-BI. Analysis of lip...

BACKGROUND C-reactive protein (CRP) increases in response to inflammation and is purported to be a risk factor for atherogenesis. We recently demonstrated that a scavenger receptor, lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor (LOX-1), is a receptor for CRP. In light of the overlapping ligand spectrum of scavenger receptors such as modified LDL, bacteria, and advanced glycation end products, we examined w...