The localization of three known alpha-granule proteins, thrombospondin (TSP), von Willebrand factor (vWF), and fibrinogen (Fg) has been studied in human megakaryocytes (MK) by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy. For this study, highly purified populations of MK were prepared from human bone marrow either by counterflow centrifugal elutriation or by cell culture from normal subject...

An evaluation of the effects of a recombinant, soluble form of the c-kit ligand alone and in combination with either granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or interleukin-3 (IL-3) on the regulation of human megakaryocytopoiesis was performed using a serum-depleted clonal assay system and a long-term bone marrow culture system. The effects of the c-kit ligand on the primitive ...

The effects of cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor antagonists on hypothermia induced by cocaine or morphine have been studied in mice. In the present work, subcutaneous (SC) injection of cocaine (50-150 mg/kg) or morphine (125-500 mg/kg) induced hypothermia in mice. Administration of CCKA receptor antagonist MK-329 (0.5-1.5 mg/kg), CCKB receptor antagonist L-365, 260 (0.5-1.5 mgl kg) and CCK r...

Midkine (MK) and heparin-binding growth-associated molecule/ pleiotrophin form a new family of heparin-binding growth/differentiation factors. We studied MK gene expression in human tumors. In normal human reference tissues, MK was highly expressed in the mucosa! tissue of the small intestine, moderately in the thyroid, weakly in the tissues of the lung, colon, stomach, kidney, and spleen, and ...

Midkine (MK) expression has been documented to be inversely correlated with the prognosis of patients with various tumors, but the mechanism of this relationship has not been well characterized. Recent studies have also correlated p53 expression with prognosis of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We evaluated the relationship between MK expression and clinicopathological featur...

The effects of endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factors have been attributed to cytochrome P450-derived epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), but the regulation and role of EETs in endothelial dysfunction remain largely unexplored. Hypertension is a primary risk factor for renal dysfunction, which is frequently accompanied by various systemic diseases induced by endothelial dysfunction in the mi...

Radiotherapy is commonly used to treat a variety of solid tumors but improvements in the therapeutic ratio are sorely needed. The aim of this study was to assess the Chk1 kinase inhibitor, MK-8776, for its ability to radiosensitize human tumor cells. Cells derived from NSCLC and HNSCC cancers were tested for radiosensitization by MK-8776. The ability of MK-8776 to abrogate the radiation-induced...

Midkine (MK) and heparin-binding growth-associated molecule/ pleiotrophin form a new family of heparin-binding growth/differentiation factors. We studied MK gene expression in human tumors. In normal human reference tissues, MK was highly expressed in the mucosa! tissue of the small intestine, moderately in the thyroid, weakly in the tissues of the lung, colon, stomach, kidney, and spleen, and ...

The aim of the present study was to determine if the human erythroid (E) and megakaryocytic (MK) lineages were closely linked to the existence of a bipotent burst-forming unit (BFU) E/MK progenitor. In methylcellulose cultures, BFU-E/MK colonies were observed at day 12 and closely resembled mature BFU-E with the exception that the erythroid component was surrounded by MK. These colonies were qu...

Given any finite alphabet A and positive integers m1, ..., mk, congruences on A*, denoted by ~(m1, ..., mk) and related to a version of the Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse game, are defined. Level k of the Straubing hierarchy of aperiodic monoids can be characterized in terms of the monoids A*/~(m1, ... mk). A natural subhierarchy of level 2 and equation systems satisfied in the corresponding varieties of ...