Streptococcus pyogenes, the most significant streptococcal species in clinical medicine, expresses surface proteins with affinity for several human plasma proteins. Here we report that kininogens, the precursors to the vasoactive kinins, bind to the surface of S. pyogenes. M protein, a surface molecule and a major virulence factor-in these bacteria, occurs in > 80 different serotypes. Among 49 ...

The role of Bcl-2 as an anti-apoptotic protein has been well documented. In the present work, we present evidence that Bcl-2 may also be involved in cell growth regulation. SC-M1 is an unique cell line which responds to retinoic acid (RA) treatment with reversible growth arrest [Shyu, Jiang, Huang, Chang, Wu, Roffler and Yeh (1995) Eur. J. Cancer 31, 237-243]. In this study, when treated with R...

Some isolates of the significant human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes, including virulent strains of the M1 serotype, secrete protein SIC. This molecule, secreted in large quantities, interferes with complement function. As a result of natural selection, SIC shows a high degree of variation. Here we provide a plausible explanation for this variation and the fact that strains of the M1 serotype...

Three different matrix (M) proteins termed M1, M2 and M3 have been described in cells infected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). Individual expression of VSV M proteins induces an evident cytopathic effect including cell rounding and detachment, in addition to a partial inhibition of cellular protein synthesis, likely mediated by an indirect mechanism. Analogous to viroporins, M1 promotes ...

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is thought to contribute to both neuroprotection and angiogenesis after stroke. While increased expression of VEGF has been demonstrated in animal models after experimental ischemia, these studies have focused almost exclusively on the infarct and peri-infarct regions. The present study investigated the association of VEGF to neurons in remote cortical ...

Neurons influence renal function and help to regulate fluid homeostasis, blood pressure and ion excretion. Intercalated cells (ICCs) are distributed throughout the renal collecting ducts and help regulate acid/base equilibration. Because ICCs are located among principal cells, it has been difficult to determine the effects that efferent nerve fibers have on this cell population. In this study, ...

We used the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3 ) biosensor, the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of PLC 1 (phospholipase C) tagged with enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP-PHPLC ), to examine muscarinic acetylcholine (mACh) receptor regulation of phospholipase C/IP3 signaling in intact single hippocampal neurons in “real time.” Initial experiments produced a pharmacological profile consisten...

The goal of the two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis protocol described here is to show how to analyse the phenotype of human cultured macrophages. The key role of macrophages has been shown in various pathological disorders such as inflammatory, immunological, and infectious diseases. In this protocol, we use primary cultures of human monocyte-derived macrophages that can be differentiated int...

DB289 [2,5-bis(4-amidinophenyl)furan-bis-O-methylamidoxime] is biotransformed to the potent antiparasitic diamidine DB75 [2,5-bis(4-amidinophenyl) furan] by sequential oxidative O-demethylation and reductive N-dehydroxylation reactions. Previous work demonstrated that the N-dehydroxylation reactions are catalyzed by cytochrome b5/NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase. Enzymes responsible for catalyzing ...