The innate immune functions of human airways include mucociliary clearance and antimicrobial peptide activity. Both functions may be affected by changes in epithelial ion transport. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A), which has a receptor at the basolateral membrane of airway epithelia, is a T cell cytokine that has been shown to increase mucus secretion and antimicrobial peptide production by human bron...

Haemoglobinopathies particularly haemoglobin S and E (HbS, HbE) and β-thalassaemia are important challenges for tribal populations in India. The HbS, HbE and β-thalassaemia genes are variably distributed across various tribal populations of India. HbE is mainly restricted in tribals of North-East, West Bengal, Odisha and those in Andaman and Nicobar islands. HbS has more extensive distribution ...

Classical antigen presentation by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules involves cytosolic processing of endogenously synthesized antigens by proteasomes and translocation of processed peptides into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by transporters associated with antigen presentation (TAP). Alternative pathways for processing of endogenous antigens, generally involving the ER, have b...

BACKGROUND Lamivudine is used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients. Recent studies show that the YMDD motif mutants (resistant hepatitis B virus) occur as natural genome variability in lamivudine-untreated chronic hepatitis B patients. In this study we aimed to determine the rate of YMDD motif mutants in lamivudine-untreated chronic hepatitis B patients in Iran. PATIENTS AND METH...

The cell regulatory volume decrease (RVD) response triggered by hypotonic solutions is mainly achieved by the coordinated activity of Cl- and K+ channels. We now describe the molecular nature of the K(+) channels involved in the RVD response of the human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cell line 16HBE14o-. These cells, under isotonic conditions, present a K+ current consistent with the activity of m...

Bombesin-like peptides (BLPs) are important regulators of lung development and may also act as autocrine growth factors in lung tumors. We have previously demonstrated expression of mRNA for the three BLP receptor subtypes (neuromedin B [NMB]) receptor, gastrin-releasing peptide [GRP] receptor, and bombesin receptor subtype 3 [BRS-3]) in human non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines an...

Background: HbE β thalassemia is a major congenital hematological disease of Bangladesh. These patients have poor growth and delayed maturation mainly due to iron overload but zinc deficiency also has been suggested as a contributing