Abstract Macrophage plasticity and functional activation are critical to the broad array of macrophage-mediated functions that help determine disease outcomes. galactose-type lectin (MGL), a type-2 C-type receptor (CLR) primarily expressed on myeloid cells, has been shown play an anti-inflammatory role in innate response some infectious agents. Our lab recently demonstrated MGL-1 contributes an...

Although sialic acid has long been recognized as the primary receptor determinant for attachment of influenza virus to host cells, the specific receptor molecules that mediate viral entry are not known for any cell type. For the infection of murine macrophages by influenza virus, our earlier study indicated involvement of a C-type lectin, the macrophage mannose receptor (MMR), in this process. ...

The body maintains Mg(2+) homeostasis by renal and intestinal (re)absorption. However, the molecular mechanisms that mediate transepithelial Mg(2+) transport are largely unknown. Transient receptor potential melastatin 6 (TRPM6) was recently identified and shown to function in active epithelial Mg(2+) transport in intestine and kidney. To define the relationship between Mg(2+) status and TRPM6 ...

The endogenous cannabinoids anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamide, AEA) and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) are upregulated during liver fibrogenesis and selectively induce cell death in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), the major fibrogenic cells in the liver, but not in hepatocytes. In contrast to HSCs, hepatocytes highly express the AEA-degrading enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) that pr...

An improved understanding of the endocannabinoid system has provided new avenues of drug discovery and development toward the management of pain and other behavioral maladies. Exogenous cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor agonists such as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol are increasingly used for their medicinal actions; however, their utility is constrained by concern regarding abuse-related subjective e...

Erymet is a new therapy resulting from the encapsulation of a methionine gamma-lyase (MGL; EC number 4.4.1.11) in red blood cells (RBC). The aim of this study was to evaluate erymet potential efficacy in methionine (Met)-dependent cancers. We produced a highly purified MGL using a cGMP process, determined the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) properties of erymet in mice, and assessed i...

Three genes (mglA, mglB, and mglC) required for active transport of substrate by the methylgalactoside permease were identified in a hybrid ColE1-DNA plasmid isolated from a clone (pLC3-14) of the Clarke-Carbon bank of Escherichia coli genes. A 4.6-kilobase DNA fragment obtained from pLC3-14 was cloned into the plasmid vector pBR322. The presence of the three mgl genes in the resultant plasmid,...

Gonorrhea is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases in the world. A naturally occurring variation of the terminal carbohydrates on the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) molecule correlates with altered disease states. Here, we investigated the interaction of different stable gonoccocal LOS phenotypes with human dendritic cells and demonstrate that each variant targets a different set o...

The cuticular exoskeleton of arthropods is a composite material comprising well-separated layers that differ in function and molecular constituents. Epidermal cells secrete these layers sequentially, synthesizing components of distal cuticle layers before proximal ones. Could the order of synthesis and secretion be sufficient to account for the precision with which cuticle components localize t...