Insect cells convert vitamin A into a number of retinoids that are evolutionarily conserved with those of mammalian cells. However, insect cells also produce additional natural retinoids. Namely, two retinoic acid peptides, N-trans-retinoylserine (1) and N-trans-retinoylalanine (2), have been isolated from a cell line of the common cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni. These are the first examples o...

Twenty-four patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) were treated with all-trans retinoic acid (45 to 100 mg/m2/day). Of these, eight cases had been either nonresponsive or resistant to previous chemotherapy; the other 16 cases were previously untreated. All patients attained complete remission without developing bone marrow hypoplasia. Bone marrow suspension cultures were studied in 15...

PURPOSE To determine whether retinoids are capable of inducing vascular endothelial cell apoptosis and whether the presence of an intact RPE monolayer can block retinoid-induced vascular endothelial cell death. METHODS Confluent fetal bovine aortic endothelial (FBAE) cells were incubated with various concentrations of all-trans or 9-cis retinoic acid (an analogue of 11-cis retinoic acid). Apo...

PURPOSE An oil in water emulsion of 0.01% all-trans-retinoic acid (tretinoin) was prepared and clinically evaluated in dry eye patients. METHODS The ophthalmic emulsion consisted of 10% of arachis oil and 90% of the hydrogel of Carbopol 940. To evaluate retinoic acid emulsion clinically, a placebo-controlled, open-labeled, randomized study was performed with 22 dry-eye patients. Symptoms were...

Involucrin is a major component of the cornified envelope and a marker for terminal differentiation in keratinocytes. We examined hormone regulation of involucrin mRNA expression and transcriptional modulation of the involucrin gene in human keratinocyte cell lines. Dexamethasone enhanced, and retinoic acid decreased, endogenous involucrin mRNA expression in cells treated with these ligands. Fu...

retinoic acid (ra) plays a key role in pattern formation along the major body axis and limbformation during vertebrate development. exposure to excessive retinoic acid (in uterus) generatescongenital malformations in limbs, craniofacial, cns, urogenital, heart, and axial skeletons. in thesestudies, seven groups of nmri pregnant mice were administered a single gavage dose of 100 mg /kgbody weigh...

RPE65 is essential in the operation of the visual cycle and functions as a chaperone for all-trans-retinyl esters, the substrates for isomerization in the visual cycle. RPE65 stereospecifically binds all-trans-retinyl esters with a K(D) of 47 nM. It is shown here by using a quantitative fluorescence technique, that Accutane (13-cis-retinoic acid), a drug used in the treatment of acne but that c...

The sites of expression in the small intestine and the function of CYP2J4, a recently identified rat cytochrome (P450) isoform found to be predominantly expressed in the small intestine, were characterized. Immunoblot analysis with a polyclonal antibody to heterologously expressed CYP2J4 revealed that expression of CYP2J4 was at the highest level in the distal duodenum and jejunum and decreased...

There is increasing awareness that exposure to endocrine disrupters interferes with lipid homeostasis in vertebrates, including fish. Many of these compounds exert their action by binding nuclear receptors, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and retinoid X receptor. This work investigates the use fish liver cells (PLHC-1 ZFL cells) for screening metabolic aquatic environment as...