INTRODUCTION Mutations in the gene encoding for acid β-glucosidase (β-glucocerebrosidase, GlcCerase) are seen in Gaucher disease (GD), which give rise to significant protein misfolding effects and result in progressive accumulation of glucosyl ceramide. The main treatment for GD is enzyme replacement therapy (ERT). The iminosugar glycosidase inhibitor N-(n-butyl)-1-deoxynojirimycin (miglustat, ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the electro-physiological alterations induced by gonadectomy, testosterone replacement and supplementation on cardiac action potentials (APs) in sexually mature male rats. Furthermore we studied the effects of testosterone deprivation and administration on total protein (TPC) and sialic acid content (SAC) of the left ventricle. Four groups of rats were comp...

CONTEXT Pendrin is a transmembrane protein located at the apical end of the thyrocyte in which it mediates the efflux of iodide through the thyroid follicular cell. Recently pendrin was described as a significant antibody target in Japanese patients with Graves' disease (GD) or autoimmune hypothyroidism (AH) using an immunoblotting assay. However, a subsequent study failed to verify this in aut...

The protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor 22 gene (PTPN22) is an important negative regulator of signal transduction through the T-cell receptors (TCR). Recently a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 1858 C/T within this gene was shown to be a risk factor for several autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Graves' Disease (GD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Wegener's g...

IL-12 has been shown to enhance cellular immunity in vitro and in vivo. Recent reports have suggested that combining DNA vaccine approach with immune stimulatory molecules delivered as genes may significantly enhance Ag-specific immune responses in vivo. In particular, IL-12 molecules could constitute an important addition to a herpes vaccine by amplifying specific immune responses. Here we inv...

Methods based on pulse electron paramagnetic resonance allow measurement of the electron-electron dipolar coupling between two spin labels. Here we compare the most popular technique, Double Electron-Electron Resonance (DEER or PELDOR), with the dead-time free 5-pulse Relaxation-Induced Dipolar Modulation Enhancement (RIDME) method for Gd(iii)-Gd(iii) distance measurements at W-band (94.9 GHz, ...

Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that underlie neuron death after stroke is important to allow the development of effective neuroprotective strategies. In this study, we investigated the contribution of death receptor signaling pathways to neuronal death after ischemia using in vitro and in vivo models of ischemic injury and transgenic mice that are deficient in tumor necrosis factor recep...

Di(n-butyl) phthalate (DBP) has antiandrogenic-like effects on the developing reproductive tract in the male rat and produces regions of interstitial cell hyperplasia and gonocyte degeneration in the developing fetal testes at maternal doses of 100-500 mg/kg/day. Neither DBP nor its primary metabolites interact with the androgen receptor in vitro. The present study was performed to examine gene...

gd T cells are the majority peripheral blood T cells in young cattle. The role of gd T cells in innate responses against infection with foot-and-mouth disease virus was analyzed on consecutive 5 d following infection. Before infection, bovine WC1 gd T cells expressed a nonactivated phenotype relative to CD62L, CD45RO, and CD25 expression and did not produce IFN-g ex vivo. Additionally, CD335 ex...

Methods 1) P22: The P22 protein cage (60 nm) is bioengineered with an internal polymer network with amine functional groups allowing incorporation of ~9100 Gd-DTPA molecules per cage via the amine groups (Figure 1: [1]). This provides a per cage relaxivity of 70000 mMs, superior to Gd-DTPA for the equivalent Gd concentration. 2) Atherosclerosis Models: Both ApoE-deficient (ApoE) and FVB mice we...