OBJECTIVE Adenosine receptor activation has been implicated in the mechanism of ischaemic preconditioning protection. Evidence suggests adenosine A1 receptor involvement, and possibly A3 receptor involvement in the rabbit. This study investigated the roles of these receptors in human preconditioning. Human A1- and A3-selective compounds were chosen based on Ki values for inhibition of N6-(4-ami...

The structure of the human major histocompatability (MHC) class I molecule HLA-A*0301 (HLA-A3) in complex with a nonameric peptide (KLIETYFSK) has been determined by X-ray crystallography to 2.7 Å resolution. HLA-A3 is a predisposing allele for multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. The KLIETYFSK peptide is a naturally processed epitope of proteolipid prot...

We have established a stable human cell line, termed HPL-A3, by co-transfection of a human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) expression vector and a reporter plasmid (p3A4-hPXRE-Luc) containing a luciferase gene and a promoter/enhancer region of the human cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) gene into a human hepatoma-derived cell line, HepG2. We then examined the usefulness of HPL-A3 for a chemically activat...

Adenosine receptors (A1, A2a, A2b and A3) have several physiological and pathological roles in cancer cell lines. The present study was carried out to evaluate the mRNA and protein expression profile and functional role of adenosine receptors in OVCAR-3, Caov-4 and SKOV-3 ovarian cancer cell lines. The levels of mRNA and protein expression of A1, A2a, A2b and A3 adenosine receptors in the ovari...

The development of effective T cell-based immunotherapy for cancer requires the identification of antigens capable of inducing both CTL and T helper immune responses. Although CTLs will participate in the antitumor response mainly by exerting their lytic activity on the tumor cells, helper T lymphocytes will be critical for the induction and maintenance of the CTLs. Thus, effective subunit ther...

The barnacle life cycle has two key stages at which eicosanoids are believed to be involved in cellular communication pathways, namely the hatching of nauplii and the settlement of cypris larvae. Barnacle egg-hatching activity has previously been reported to reside in a variety of eicosanoids, including 8-hydroxyeicosapentaenoic acid and a number of tri-hydroxylated polyunsaturated fatty acid d...

Extracellular a-synuclein (a-syn) assemblies can be up-taken by neurons; however, their interaction with the plasma membrane and proteins has not been studied specifically. Here we demonstrate that a-syn assemblies form clusters within the plasma membrane of neurons. Using a proteomic-based approach, we identify the a3-subunit of Na/K-ATPase (NKA) as a cell surface partner of a-syn assemblies. ...

Nigella sativa, commonly referred as black cumin, is a popular spice that has been used since the ancient Egyptians. It has traditionally been used for treatment of various human ailments ranging from fever to intestinal disturbances to cancer. This study investigated the apoptotic, antimetastatic, and anticancer activities of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extracts of the seeds of N. sa...

Ors-binding activity (OBA) was previously semipurified from HeLa cells through its ability to interact specifically with the 186-basepair (bp) minimal replication origin of ors8 and support ors8 replication in vitro. Here, through competition band-shift analyses, using as competitors various subfragments of the 186-bp minimal ori, we identified an internal region of 59 bp that competed for OBA ...