Previously we have shown that G protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) 6 plays a major role in the regulation of the human M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M3 mAChR) in the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y. However, 30-fold overexpression of the catalytically inactive, dominant-negative K215RGRK6 produced only a 50% suppression of M3 mAChR phosphorylation and desensitization. Here, we have attem...

The streptococcal collagen-like proteins 1 and 2 (Scl1 and Scl2) are major surface adhesins that are ubiquitous among group A Streptococcus (GAS). Invasive M3-type strains, however, have evolved two unique conserved features in the scl1 locus: (i) an IS1548 element insertion in the scl1 promoter region and (ii) a nonsense mutation within the scl1 coding sequence. The scl1 transcript is drastica...

The concentrations of airborne dust and bacteria were determined in 12 flax scutching mills and in two milk processing plants in Normandy, France. A total of 308 of 340 flax workers and 111 of 113 milk processors volunteered to answer a respiratory questionnaire. Personal exposure to airborne dust in the scutching mills varied from 22.2 mg/m3 to 144 mg/m3 and areal concentrations from 8.92 mg/m...

Murine γ-herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) infection of Mus musculus-derived strains of mice is an attractive model of γ-herpesvirus infection. Surprisingly, however, ablation of expression of MHV-68 M3, a secreted protein with broad chemokine-binding properties in vitro, has no discernable effect during experimental infection via the respiratory tract. Here we demonstrate that M3 indeed contributes sign...

The prenatal development of cheek-teeth of rabbits was studied by histological methods. Females from 15 to 30 days of gestation were sacrificed and their fetuses were collected and decapitated. The heads were fixed in buffered neutral formalin and paraffin embedded. Sagittal and frontal sections of 7 mu were obtained and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The first tooth-germs observed were the m3...

The insect repellent N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) has been reported to inhibit AChE (acetylcholinesterase) and to possess potential carcinogenic properties with excessive vascularization. In the present paper, we demonstrate that DEET specifically stimulates endothelial cells that promote angiogenesis which increases tumor growth. DEET activates cellular processes that lead to angiogenesis in...

Background Air quality monitoring in brick kilns indicates very high concentrations of airborne particulate matter. Air pollution from brick kilns poses an enhanced threat to the environment and to human health. Objective To evaluate airborne particulate matter concentration and health status of brick kiln workers. Method A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in the Kathmandu valley...

It is generally believed that plasma membrane glycoconjugates influence corneal epithelial cell migration after wounding. Previous studies have focused on the role of glycoproteins in this event. The present study was designed to determine whether migration-specific glycolipids are synthesized by epithelium of healing rabbit corneas. Migrating and nonmigrating rabbit corneal epithelia were incu...

Bias correction is a very important pre-processing step in satellite data assimilation analysis, as data assimilation itself cannot circumvent satellite biases. We introduce a retrieval algorithm-specific and spatially heterogeneous Instantaneous Field of View (IFOV) bias correction method for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) soil moisture. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first...

Pancreatic muscarinic acetylcholine receptors play an important role in stimulating insulin and glucagon secretion from islet cells. To study the potential role of the M(3) muscarinic receptor subtype in cholinergic stimulation of insulin release, we initially examined the effect of the muscarinic agonist, oxotremorine-M (Oxo-M), on insulin secretion from isolated pancreatic islets prepared fro...