Cholesterol enrichment of vascular smooth muscle cells, as occurs under conditions of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis, is accompanied by specific changes in cholesterol metabolism and in intracellular cholesterol trafficking. Sterol-carrier protein-2 (SCP2), an intracellular lipid binding protein, enhances the activation of enzymes involved in cholesterol metabolism. It may also enhanc...

PURPOSE We evaluated the photoreceptor response of pigmented P23H and normal pigmented Long Evans (LE) rats over time using functional tests in variable lighting conditions. METHODS Pigmented P23H rats were studied by optomotor testing and electroretinogram (ERG) recordings at P30, P150, and P240. Pigmented LE rats were used as a normal wild-type control. Stimuli were modified with colored fi...

The genetic information for RNA C-type viruses is naturally integrated within the DNA of mouse cells (1-4). In tissue culture, unexpressed virus can be activated spontaneously (5) or by treatment with different chemical inducers (6-8). I t has recently been shown that one class of induced virus is oncogenic when inoculated into animals (9). Thus, the study of cellular controls over the expressi...

Two major proteins from Mycobacterium bovis BCG culture filtrates with molecular masses of 28 kDa (P28) and 30 kDa (P30), identified as components of the BCG 85 complex, were purified and used in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for the determination of specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels in patients with leprosy or tuberculosis or with exposure to these diseases. High reactivity ...

PURPOSE Because interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) is expressed before being needed in its presumptive role in the visual cycle, we tested whether it controls eye growth during development. METHODS The eyes of congenic IRBP knockout (KO) and C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) mice ranging in age from postnatal day (P)2 to P440 were compared by histology, laser micrometry, cycloplegic pho...

The frontal hypothesis of aging predicts an age-related decline in cognitive functions requiring inhibitory or attentional regulation. In Alzheimer's disease, preattentive gating out of redundant information is impaired. Our study aimed to examine changes associated with physiological aging in both pre- and early attentive inhibition of recurrent acoustic information. Using a passive double-cli...

The 3' end of the human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type-1 (HTLV-1) genome contains four overlapping open reading frames (ORF) that encode regulatory proteins. Here, we review current knowledge of HTLV-1 orf-I and orf-II protein products. Singly spliced mRNA from orf-I encodes p12, which can be proteolytically cleaved to generate p8, while differential splicing of mRNA from orf-II results in...

P24, P30, and P39, the three major surface antigens of the envelope of hepatitis B virus, are co-carboxy-terminal proteins with different amino-terminal extensions. We prompted expression of these proteins in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells by placing the appropriate coding sequence(s) under the control of the simian virus 40 early promoter. P24 and P30 formed 22-nm particles which were effic...