Introduction. Macrophages are key players in complex biological processes. In response to environmental signals, macrophages undergo polarization towards a proinflammatory (M1) or anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotype. Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lysophospholipid that acts via 5 G-protein coupled receptors (S1P1-5) in order to influence a broad spectrum of biological processes. This...

Influenza C virus matrix protein (M1) is encoded by a spliced mRNA derived from RNA segment 6. Unspliced mRNA from this RNA segment, which has not been previously identified, can potentially encode a polypeptide that contains an additional 132 amino acids on the carboxy terminus of the M1 protein. Here the nucleotide sequences of RNA segment 6 of four influenza C strains, isolated in Japan betw...

DAP12 is a recently cloned, immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif-bearing transmembrane adapter molecule that is associated with the NK-activating receptors. Previous reports showed that the DAP12 message could be detected not only in NK cells but also in granulocytes, monocytes, dendritic cells, and macrophages. In this study we found a significant level of DAP12 protein expression in...

Inward rectifier K+ channels control the cell's membrane potential and neuronal excitability. We report that the IRK3 but not the IRK1 inward rectifier K+ channel activity is inhibited by m1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor. This m1 modulation cannot be accounted for by protein kinase C, Ca2+, or channel phosphorylation, but can be mimicked by Mg2+. Based on quantitative analyses of IRK3 and t...

The combined presence of WSN gene segments 6 (neuraminidase), 7 (M1 and M2), and 8 (NS1 and NS2) in reassortants of WSN with A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2) has been found by others to be necessary for full expression of neurovirulence in mice. We are examining the expression of the analogous three gene segments in brains of mice after intracerebral infection with non-neuroadapted strains A/WS/33 (WS) (fro...

All isolates of serotype M1 of group A streptococci possess a gene for streptococcal inhibitor of complement (SIC) in the mga regulon, which harbors genes for other virulence factors, such as M and M-like proteins, C5a peptidase, and a regulator. In serotype M57 the gene for a protein that is closely related to SIC (crs57) is located outside the mga regulon. We mapped the location of the crs57 ...