Introduction: Previous research on autoimmune skin blistering diseases (ABD) has primarily focused on the humoral immune response; moreover, little attention has been given to the potential role of the antigen presenting cells (APCs) in lesional skin. Aim: The purpose of our study was to immunophenotype selected APC in the lesional skin of ABDs, utilizing immunohistochemistry (IHC) stains. Mate...

In insects, products of the male reproductive tract are essential for initiating and maintaining the female post-mating response (PMR). The PMR includes changes in egg laying, receptivity to courting males, and sperm storage. In Drosophila, previous studies have determined that the main cells of the male accessory gland produce some of the products required for these processes. However, nothing...

With the use of the microdialysis method, the present study, performed on young, healthy, nonobese subjects of both genders, compares the effects of locally infused catecholamines on glycerol concentration and blood flow in abdominal (Abd) and femoral (Fem) adipose tissue. Physiological activation of the sympathetic nervous system through active tilt was also investigated. In both genders, extr...

A deficiency of functional dystrophin protein in muscle cells causes muscular dystrophy (MD). More than 50% of missense mutations that trigger the disease occur in the N-terminal actin binding domain (N-ABD or ABD1). We examined the effect of four disease-causing mutations--L54R, A168D, A171P, and Y231N--on the structural and biophysical properties of isolated N-ABD. Our results indicate that N...

In insect species that undergo long germ segmentation, such as Drosophila, all segments are specified simultaneously at the early blastoderm stage. As embryogenesis progresses, the expression boundaries of Hox genes are established by repression of gap genes, which is subsequently replaced by Polycomb group (PcG) silencing. At present, however, it is not known whether patterning occurs this way...

The therapeutic and diagnostic efficiency of engineered small proteins, peptides, and chemical drug candidates is hampered by short in vivo serum half-life. Thus, strategies to tailor their biodistribution and serum persistence are highly needed. An attractive approach is to take advantage of the exceptionally long circulation half-life of serum albumin or IgG, which is attributed to a pH-depen...

Filamin B (FLNB) is a dimeric actin-binding protein that orchestrates the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. Congenital mutations of FLNB at the actin-binding domain (ABD) are known to cause abnormalities of skeletal development, such as atelosteogenesis types I and III and Larsen's syndrome, although the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, using fluorescence microscopy, w...

BACKGROUND Adynamic bone disease (ABD), which is characterized by reduced bone formation and resorption, has become an increasingly common manifestation of bone abnormalities in patients with end-stage renal failure. It has been recognized that skeletal resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH) underlies the pathogenesis of ABD; however, the mechanisms of such resistance remain unclear. METHODS...