PGC-1α is a transcriptional co-activator known as the master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. Its control of metabolism has been suggested to exert critical influence in the aging process. We have aged mice overexpressing PGC-1α in skeletal muscle to determine whether the transcriptional changes reflected a pattern of expression observed in younger muscle. Analyses of muscle proteins show...

Time Series Data Server (TSDS) is a software package for implementing a server that provides fast super-setting, sub-setting, filtering, and uniform gridding of time series-like data. TSDS was developed to respond quickly to requests for long time spans of data. Data may be served from a fast database, typically created by aggregating granules (e.g., data files) from a remote data source and st...

Recent transcriptome analyses have revealed that a large body of noncoding regions of mammalian genomes are actually transcribed into RNAs. Our understanding of the molecular features of these noncoding RNAs is far from complete. We have identified a novel mRNA-like noncoding gene, named Gomafu, which is expressed in a distinct set of neurons in the mouse nervous system. Interestingly, spliced ...

A novel dendritic-like cell subset termed L-DC was recently identified in murine spleen based on marker expression of a homogeneous cell population derived from long-term culture of neonatal spleen. The function of L-DC is distinct from other splenic dendritic and myeloid cell subsets because of their high endocytic capacity and their ability to cross-present antigen to CD8(+) T cells. This pap...

BACKGROUND Bacterial infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients worldwide. Previous studies have identified a key role for mesothelial cells, lining the peritoneal cavity, in coordinating inflammation and host defense. Toll-like receptor (TLR) involvement in early activation events within the mesothelium, however, remains poorly defined. To i...

Fc receptor-like 3 (FCRL3) is a cell surface protein homologous to Fc receptors. The FCRL3 gene is present in humans but not in mice. We found that FCRL3 protein is expressed on 40% of human naturally occurring CD4(+) regulatory T (nTreg) cells (CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low)). Sorted nTreg cells with the surface phenotype FCRL3(+) and FCRL3(-) were both hypoproliferative to TCR stimulation and both s...

The monocyte population in blood is considered a possible source of endothelial precursors. Because endothelial-specific receptor tyrosine kinases act as regulators of endothelial cell function, we investigated whether expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) on monocytes is important for their endothelial-like functional capacity. Peripheral-blood monocytes exp...

Mycobacteria elicit a cellular immune response in their hosts. This response usually leads to protective immunity, but may sometimes be accompanied by immunopathology due to delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH). A striking example in man is tuberculoid leprosy, which is characterized by high cellular immunity to Mycobacterium leprae and immunopathology due to DTH. Skin lesions of patients suffer...