BACKGROUND Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a phospholipid normally located in the inner leaflet of the cell membrane. PS is translocated from the inner to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane during the early stages of apoptosis and in necrosis. In cell and animal studies, reversible PS externalisation to the outer membrane leaflet has been observed in viable cells. Hence, PS markers have been p...

99mTc radiopharmaceuticals play an important role in widespread applications of nuclear medicine. When 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals first came into use, major efforts were directed toward the development of 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals for bone imaging and for the excretory functions of the liver and kidneys. In the past 20 years, a significant advance has been made in technetium chemistry, which p...

Postprandial pancreatic secretion results from the interaction of neural and hormonal factors but their contribution to the net postprandial secretion is unknown. Recent description of highly specific and potent cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor antagonists allows the determination of the physiological role of CCK in the postprandial pancreatic secretion. In six dogs with chronic pancreatic fistul...

Amplification of mRNA from a human antral cell culture preparation demonstrated the presence of two receptors of the bombesin and gastrin-releasing peptide family, GRPR-1 and BRS-3. Single cell microfluorometry demonstrated that most cells that exhibited bombesin-evoked changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration were gastrin immunoreactive, indicating that antral G cells express the GRPR subty...

BACKGROUND This study evaluates the effect of eradicating Helicobacter pylori on basal and bombesin-stimulated gastric acid secretion and serum gastrin in non-ulcer dyspepsia. METHODS Before and 1 month after an attempt to eradicate H. pylori basal and bombesin-stimulated gastric acid outputs were measured in 23 patients. H. pylori was eradicated in 15 patients (group A) but not in the other ...

BACKGROUND The effects of combined administration of bombesin and verapamil hydrochloride (verapamil), a calcium channel blocker, on the incidence of peritoneal metastasis of intestinal adenocarcinomas induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and the labeling index of intestinal cancers were investigated in male Wistar rats. METHODS From the beginning of the experiment, rats were given 10 weekly subcuta...

Bombesin and structurally related peptides including gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) are potent mitogens for Swiss 3T3 cells. The early cellular and molecular responses elicited by bombesin and structurally related peptides have been elucidated in detail. Further understanding of the molecular basis of the potent mitogenic response initiated by bombesin is required in order to elucidate the mec...

The role of actin organization in occupancy-induced receptor internalization remains poorly defined. Here we report that treatment of mouse Swiss 3T3 cells with latrunculin A, a potent inhibitor of actin polymerization (including cortical actin), inhibited the internalization of the endogenous bombesin/gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor, as judged by uptake of (125)I-labeled GRP or fluore...

The kinetics of bombesin-stimulated phospholipase D (PLD) activity were examined in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. The stimulated activity was found to rapidly desensitize, being completely absent after 40 s. This activity then quickly, but incompletely, resensitized, with PLD being detectable after a 4.5 min wash of the desensitized cells and 75-80% of the activity being recovered after 10 min. The de...

OBJECTIVES To validate 99mTc-labeled arginylglycylaspartic acid (99mTc-3PRGD2) scintigraphy as a means to image synovial neoangiogenesis in joints afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis and to investigate its potential in the early detection and management of rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis were generated in Sprague Dawley rats by type II collagen immunization...