Proteins containing the G protein regulator (GPR) domain bind the major neural G protein Gα(o) in vitro. However, the biological functions of GPR proteins in neurons remain undefined, and based on the in vitro activities of GPR proteins it is unclear whether these proteins activate or inhibit G protein signaling in vivo. We found that the conserved GPR domain protein AGS-3 activates Gα(o) signa...

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between patched 1 (PTCH1) expression and its methylation in a human gastric cancer cell line, in order to provide new information regarding carcinogenesis and the development of gastric cancer. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and the immunocytochemical S-P method were used to identify the changes in PTC...

The factors that determine the immunogenicity of Ags encoded by viral vaccines or DNA vaccines in vivo are largely unknown. Depending on whether T cell induction occurs via direct presentation of vaccine-encoded epitopes or via one of the different proposed pathways for Ag cross-presentation, the effect of intracellular Ag stability on immunogenicity may possibly vary. However, the influence of...

Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is a progressive encephalopathy with onset in the first year of life and a recessive autosomal pattern of inheritance. The syndrome is characterised by acquired microcephaly, basal ganglia calcifications, white matter abnormalities, chronic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytosis and raised interferon-alpha (INF-alpha) in the CSF. AGS is diagnosed on the basis o...

Most vaccines and basic studies of T cell epitopes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis emphasize water-soluble proteins that are secreted into the extracellular space and presented in the context of MHC class II. Much less is known about the role of Ags retained within the cell wall. We used polyclonal T cells from infected humans to probe for responses to immunodominant Ags in the M. tuberculosis ce...

A bstract Alagille syndrome (AGS) or arteriohepatic dysplasia is a rare but well-defined clinical entity that is usually inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. A lim­ ited number of patients carry a deletion in chromosome 20p, with 20p 11.23— pi 2.2 as the area of minimal overlap. Recently, a family has been identified in which a balanced translocation with a breakpoint in 20p l 2 co-segrega...

Development of a subunit vaccine for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) depends on the identification of Ags that induce appropriate T cell responses. Using bioinformatics, we selected a panel of 94 Mtb genes based on criteria that included growth in macrophages, up- or down-regulation under hypoxic conditions, secretion, membrane association, or because they were members of the PE/PPE or EsX fam...

background: adipose tissue has characteristics of an endocrine organ which releases a number of adipocyte-specific factors, known as adipocytokines.  it has recently suggested that adipocytokines might play a role in pathogenesis and progression of certain cancers, especially in gastric cancer.  this study has managed to investigate endogenous and/or exogenous expression of visfatin and resisti...