Antibody engineering and advances in microbial expression systems have enabled production of small, active antibody fragments. However, the functional expression yields of these recombinant antibodies vary widely. The results described in this thesis elucidate factors influencing the expression of stable and active antibody fragments in bacteria. The model antibody used throughout this study wa...

INTRODUCTION: It has been demonstrated that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors (VEGFR-1 and 2) are expressed in human osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes, and that treatment of cultured OA chondrocytes with VEGF enhances production of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 but not tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 or -2 [1], suggesting that VEGF and its re...

Oxidized-1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (Ox-PAPC), found in atherosclerotic lesions and other sites of chronic inflammation, activates endothelial cells (EC) to synthesize chemotactic factors, such as interleukin (IL)-8. Previously, we demonstrated that the sustained induction of IL-8 transcription by Ox-PAPC was mediated through the activation of sterol regulatory ele...

Oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is a product of oxidative stress. In this cross-sectional study, we compared the ox-LDL concentrations in diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria (n = 28), microalbuminuria (n = 28), and macroalbuminuria (n = 28) with their first degree relatives (n = 28) and healthy control people (n = 31). They were selected by consecutive patient selection method. Th...

The rate of degradation of oxidatively modified low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) by human endothelial cells was similar to that of unmodified low density lipoprotein (LDL), and was approximately 2-fold greater than the rate of degradation of acetylated LDL (Ac-LDL). While LDL and Ac-LDL both stimulated cholesterol esterification in endothelial cells, Ox-LDL inhibited cholesterol esterification ...

The interaction of acetylated low density lipoprotein (Ac-LDL) and oxidatively modified low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) with cultured human liver parenchymal cells and human Kupffer cells was investigated to define, for humans, the presence of scavenger receptors in the liver. A direct comparison of the capacity of Kupffer and parenchymal cells to interact with Ac-LDL and Ox-LDL indicated that...

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) plays an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. Asp-hemolysin, a hemolytic toxin from Aspergillus fumigatus, is a specific, high affinity binding protein for Ox-LDL. We have previously shown that Ox-LDL strongly inhibits the hemolytic activity of Asp-hemolysin, and that the removal of lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) from O...

Atherogenesis is associated with alterations in the properties of different cell types, including monocytes/macrophages (foam cell formation), platelets (increased aggregation), endothelial cells (injury), and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) (lipid accumulation or foam cell formation). Oxidized low density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) play a key role in this vascular pathology. This study investigated the ...