Background: We have previously reported the aberrant expression of Fibromodulin (FMOD) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Although FMOD has been considered as a cytoplasmic or secretory protein, we discovered the cell surface expression of FMOD in leukemic B cells via anchoring with glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). Objective: To evaluate FM...

Various kinds of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and proteoglycans (PGs) have been known to be involved in structural and space-filling functions, as well as many physiological regulations in skin. To investigate ultraviolet (UV) radiation-mediated regulation of GAGs and PGs in cultured human dermal fibroblasts, transcriptional changes of many types of PGs and GAG chain-synthesizing enzymes at 18 hr ...

We determined lymphoid enhancer-binding factor-1 (LEF1) mRNA expression in 112 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) samples and assessed correlations with the prognostic markers ZAP70 and CD38, Binet stages, the percentage of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, and fibromodulin (FMOD) transcripts. The mean LEF1 relative expression ratios (RER) were 53.72 and 37.10 in ZAP70-positive and ZAP70-neg...

OBJECTIVE Identify gene changes in articular cartilage of the medial tibial plateau (MTP) at 2, 4 and 8 weeks after destabilisation of the medial meniscus (DMM) in mice. Compare our data with previously published datasets to ascertain dysregulated pathways and genes in osteoarthritis (OA). DESIGN RNA was extracted from the ipsilateral and contralateral MTP cartilage, amplified, labelled and h...

BACKGROUND Collagen type I, proteoglycans (PG) and non-collagenous proteins represent important building blocks of the dentine matrix. While different PGs have been identified in dentine, changes in the distribution of these macromolecules with the progression of caries have been poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to compare the immunolocalization of three small collagen-binding PG...

Corneal epithelial stem cells or limbal stem cells (LSCs) are responsible for the maintenance of the corneal epithelium in humans. The exact location of LSCs is still under debate, but the increasing need for identifying the biological processes in the limbus, where LSCs are located, is of great importance in the regulation of LSCs. In our current study we identified 146 preferentially expresse...

Development of mammalian teeth and surrounding tissues includes time-space changes in the extracellular matrix composition and organization. This requires complex control mechanisms to regulate its synthesis and remodeling. Fibril-associated collagens with interrupted triple helices (FACITs) and a group of small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRPs) are involved in the regulation of collagen fibri...

Considerable information has accumulated about components of BM that regulate the survival, self-renewal, and differentiation of hematopoietic cells. In the present study, we investigated Wnt signaling and assessed its influence on human and murine hematopoiesis. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) were placed on Wnt3a-transduced OP9 stromal cells. The proliferation and production of B ...

Biosynthesis of fibrillar collagen in the skin is precisely regulated to maintain proper tissue homeostasis; however, the molecular mechanisms involved in this process remain largely unknown. Transcription factor Fli1 has been shown to repress collagen synthesis in cultured dermal fibroblasts. This study investigated the role of Fli1 in regulation of collagen biosynthesis in mice skin in vivo u...