In vitro, cellular immortalization and transformation define a model for multistep carcinogenesis and current ongoing challenges include the identification of specific molecular events associated with steps along this oncogenic pathway. Here, using NIH3T3 cells, we identified transcriptionally related events associated with the expression of Polyomavirus Large-T antigen (PyLT), a potent viral o...

Aim. Stem cell therapy is one of the upcoming therapies for the treatment of diabetes. Discovery of potent differentiating agents is a prerequisite for increasing islet mass. The present study is an attempt to screen the potential of novel small biomolecules for their differentiating property into pancreatic islet cells using NIH3T3, as representative of extra pancreatic stem cells/progenitors....

We investigated the ability of angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor blockers with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonist activity (telmisartan and irbesartan) and AT1 receptor blockers devoid of PPARgamma agonist activity (eprosartan and valsartan) to inhibit vascular cell proliferation studied in the absence of angiotensin II stimulation. Telmisartan and, to a lesser e...

BACKGROUND The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encodes two anti-apoptotic cellular Bcl2 homologs, BALF1 and BHRF1. BHRF1 has an anti-apoptotic activity but is rarely expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, BALF1 is not yet well characterized. OBJECTIVES The objective of the study was to characterize BALF1 gene. First, the search of its transcriptional expression in EBV-positive B cell ...

In most cellular systems ethanol inhibits growth factor-induced cell growth. Here we examined the effects of ethanol on DNA synthesis and cell proliferation induced by insulin and phosphocholine (PCho) in NIH3T3 fibroblasts, Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts and mouse epidermal JB6 cells. In serum-starved low (12-18) passage NIH3T3 fibroblasts, 60 mM ethanol enhanced the mitogenic effect of insulin in the ...

Thrombospondin (TSP)-1, a potent angiogenesis inhibitor, has been shown to exert different biological functions on various cell types. Here, we investigate the role of TSP-1 in tumor-stroma reaction, which is mainly characterized by fibroblast activation to create a permissive microenvironment for tumor progression. Immunohistochemistry examinations in the human surgical specimens have shown th...

Osmotic swelling of NIH3T3 mouse fibroblasts activates a bromoenol lactone (BEL)-sensitive taurine efflux, pointing to the involvement of a Ca(2+)-independent phospholipase A(2) (iPLA(2)) (Lambert IH. J Membr Biol 192: 19-32, 2003). We report that taurine efflux from NIH3T3 cells was not only increased by cell swelling but also decreased by cell shrinkage. Arachidonic acid release to the cell e...