indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (ido), an enzyme involved in the catabolism of tryptophan, is expressed by a variety of cells and tissues such as macrophages, dendritic cells, cells of the endocrine system and by the placenta. ifn- γ is the main inducer of this enzyme. ido acts as an important defense mechanism of innate immunity against pathogens. it also has tumor suppressive activity and prolong...

Development of the human pancreas is well-known to involve tightly controlled differentiation of pancreatic precursors to mature cells that express endocrine- or exocrine-specific protein products. However, details of human pancreatic development at the ultrastructural level are limited. The present study analyzed 8-20 week fetal age human pancreata using scanning and transmission electron micr...

The exocrine protein rat anionic trypsinogen has been expressed and is secreted from the murine anterior pituitary tumor cell line AtT-20. We examined which secretory pathway trypsinogen takes to the surface of this endocrine-derived cell line. The "constitutive" pathway externalizes proteins rapidly and in the absence of an external stimulus. In the alternate, "regulated" pathway, proteins are...

Experimental transplantation of endocrine tissues has led to significant advances in our understanding of endocrinology and metabolism. Endocrine cell transplantation therapy is expected to be applied to the treatment of metabolic endocriopathies. Restoration of functional pancreatic beta-cell mass or of functional adipose mass are reasonable treatment approaches for patients with diabetes or l...

Peripherin is a type III neuronal intermediate filament and its expression is involved in the growth and development of the peripheral nervous systems. Peripherin expression has been reported in cutaneous endocrine carcinomas, but not in rectal well-differentiated endocrine neoplasms (carcinoid tumors). Well-differentiated endocrine neoplasms have been reported to have a relatively high inciden...

Although prognostic markers for early estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer have been extensively developed, predictive markers for adjuvant endocrine therapy are still lacking. Focusing on the mechanisms underlying endocrine resistance, we investigated whether the endocrine sensitivity of ER-positive breast cancer cells was correlated with the expression of aspartate-β-hydroxylase (ASP...

Glucagon and insulin are first detectable at the onset of rat pancreas organogenesis. Initially, the specific activity of glucagon is approximately 100-fold higher than that of insulin. At this early stage, endocrine storage granules, similar to alpha granules, are identifiable in electron micrographs. The granule characteristics, as well as the relative hormone levels, suggest that the early p...

INTRODUCTION There is evidence to suggest that life at high altitude causes changes in the population of pulmonary endocrine cells, possibly because of exposure to chronic hypoxia. A study was made of the populations of pulmonary endocrine cells in three Aymara Indians and three Mestizos of La Paz (3600 m), Bolivia, which were compared with those in four white lowlanders. METHODS Pulmonary en...

The feasibility of isolating and manipulating mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from human patients provides hope for curing numerous disease and disorders. Recent phenotypic analysis showed heterogeneity of MSCs. A nestin progenitor cell is a subpopulation within MSCs which plays a role in pancreas regeneration during embryogenesis. This study aimed to separate nestin (+) cells from human bone mar...