Caspase-8 plays an important role in death-receptor-mediated apoptosis of hepatocytes. We constructed short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) against caspase-8 and investigated the effects of caspase-8 targeting shRNAs on apoptosis of Hepa1-6 cells induced by TNF-alpha. Oligonucleotides coding for four shRNAs against caspase-8 were cloned into mammalian expression vector Pgenesil-1 containing U6 promoter, ...

Abstract Background Particulate matter (PM) is strongly linked to human health and has detrimental effects on the eye. Studies have, however, focused ocular surface, with limited research impact of PM 2.5 intraocular pressure (IOP). Methods To investigate IOP associated mechanism, C57BL/6 mouse eyes were topically exposed a suspension for 3 months, trabecular meshwork (HTM) cells subjected vari...

Members of the caspase family of cysteine proteases coordinate the highly disparate processes of apoptosis and inflammation. However, although hundreds of substrates for the apoptosis effector caspases (caspase-3 and caspase-7) have been identified, only two confirmed substrates for the key inflammatory protease (caspase-1) are known. Whether this reflects intrinsic differences in the substrate...

Caspase-1, the prototypic caspase, is known to process the cytokines IL-1beta and IL-18 to mature forms but it is unclear whether, like other caspases, it can induce apoptosis by activation of downstream protease cascades. Neutrophils are known to express caspase-1, to release IL-1beta and to undergo rapid, caspase-dependent apoptosis. We examined apoptosis and IL-1beta production in peripheral...

Background: Hemin is an important sterile component that induces a neuroinflammatory response after intracerebral hemorrhage, in which NLRP3 inflammasome activation has also proved to be involved. Although microglial activation acts as a key contributor in the neuroinflammatory response, the relationship between hemin and NLRP3 in microglia remains poorly understood. Objective: To investigate w...

introduction: exposure to 3-4, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (mdma) leads to cell death. herein, we studied the protective effects of ginger on mdma- induced apoptosis. methods: 15 sprague dawley male rats were administrated with 0, 10 mg/kg mdma, or mdma along with 100mg/kg ginger, ip for 7 days. brains were removed to study the caspase 3, 8, and 9 expressions in the hippocampus by rt-pcr. dat...