IL-13 has emerged as a major contributor to allergic and asthmatic responses, and as such it represents an attractive target in these diseases. In this study, IL-13-responsive cells in the lung were targeted via the intranasal administration of IL-13-PE38QQR (IL-13-PE), comprised of human IL-13 and a derivative of Pseudomonas exotoxin, to Aspergillus fumigatus-sensitized mice challenged with A....

Chronic inflammation is implicated in the etiology of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), the leading cause of death among men and women. Accordingly, the discovery of inflammation biomarkers, identification of agents with anti-inflammation properties, and studies of their anti-CVD and cardioprotective mechanisms are of significant interest. Previously, we reported that in cultured Human Pulmonary Ar...

BACKGROUND Two major ways of macrophage (MΦ) activation can occur in radiation-induced pulmonary injury (RPI): classical and alternative MΦ activation, which play important roles in the pathogenesis of RPI. MΦ can produce chemokine MΦ inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), while MIP-1α can recruit MΦ. The difference in the chemotactic ability of MIP-1α toward distinct activated MΦ is unclear. We spe...

Introduction: Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cell type. In addition to their neurological roles, astrocytes also have immune functions. They have been involved in antigen presentation in the central nervous system (CNS). Activated astrocytes express adhesion molecules, chemokines and release several inflammatory mediators, pro-inflammatory cytokines, neurotrophic and neuroprotective fac...

The present study aimed to determine whether the T-helper cell type 2-derived cytokines, interleukin (IL)-4 and -13, can modulate the lung response to ozone exposure. IL-13(-/-), IL-4/13(-/-) and IL-13-overexpressing transgenic (Tg) mice were exposed to ozone (3 ppm; 3 h) or air. Wild-type (Wt) Balb/c mice and transgenic-negative littermates (IL-13Wt) were used as controls for gene-deficient an...

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease characterized by pruritus and eczematous lesions. It has been described that the repeated topical application of hapten oxazolone to ears sensitized mice cause lesions mimic some features AD. However, in most published reports number challenges significantly high (6 12), which translates into long duration assay causing s...

Interleukin-13 (IL-13) is a cytokine produced primarily by activated T lymphocytes. It exerts a variety of effects on different cell types, including monocytes, B lymphocytes, mast cells, and keratinocytes. The effects of IL-13 on target cells are often similar to the effects of IL-4, which is another cytokine product of activated T lymphocytes. We recently described the expression of intermedi...