OBJECTIVE The goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of IL-12 expressed in plasmid on the Th1 cytokine profile in an experimental HPV16-positive murine tumor model and the association with the IL-12's antitumor effect. METHODS Mice were injected with BMK-16/myc cells to establish HPV16-positive tumor and then pNGVL3-mIL-12 plasmid; pcDNA3 plasmid or PBS was injected directly ...

The thyroid sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) is responsible for iodide concentrating ability within thyroid follicular cells. We sought to develop monoclonal antibodies against human NIS (hNIS) for use as reagents in structure-function studies of the protein, as well as potential tools in the assessment of NIS expression in benign and malignant thyroid tissues. Synthetic peptides corresponding to ...

Several antigens have been tested as vaccine candidates against Leishmania infections but controversial results have been reported when different antigens are co-administered in combined vaccination protocols. Immunization with A2 or nucleoside hydrolase (NH) antigens was previously shown to induce Th1 immune responses and protection in BALB/c mice against Leishmania donovani and L. amazonensis...

An antitumour lectin (named AAL) consisting of two identical subunits of 15.8 kDa was isolated from the fruiting bodies of the edible mushroom Agrocybe aegerita using a procedure which involved precipitating the extract by addition of (NH(4))(2)SO(4), ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow, gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S-200 HR and finally purification on a GF-250...

Cancer cells developing multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the most serious clinical problems responsible for the failure of cancer chemotherapy. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) overexpression and inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) overexpression in cancer cells are the two common mechanisms of MDR. However, the relationship between IAPs and P-gp in MDR cancer cells is unknown. We investigated the ...

BACKGROUND To examine the effect of the natural antimicrobial peptide human β-defensin-3 (hBD-3), on the migration of a head and neck cancer cell line in vitro using microfabrication and soft-lithographic techniques. METHODS TR146 cancer cells were seeded in Petri dishes with microfabricated wells for cell migration assays. Total 54 cell islands were used of various shape and size and experim...

PURPOSE To design, generate, and compare in vitro a range of hammerhead ribozymes targeting retinal transcripts implicated in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) and thereby identify ribozymes that may be valuable as therapeutic agents for adRP. To address mutational heterogeneity in rhodopsin and peripherin-linked adRP using mutation-independent ribozyme-based therapeutic approaches...

BACKGROUND Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are important for the proliferation of cancer cells. One of their binding proteins, known as insulin-like growth factor binding protein -4 (IGFBP-4) is well known for its inhibitory action on IGFs in vitro. We assessed the effect of IGFBP-4 in prevention of development of colon cancer in vivo. METHODS Nude mice were subcutaneously inoculated with ...