Alpha-synuclein (?S) is an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) that abundantly present in the brain and associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). In spite of its abundance contribution to PD pathogenesis, exact cellular function ?S remains largely unknown. The ability remodel phospholipid model membranes combined biochemical studies suggests involved endocytosis. To unravel which route(s) st...

Maternal microchimerism (MMc) has been associated with development of allospecific transplant tolerance, antitumor immunity, and cross-generational reproductive fitness, but its mode of action is unknown. We found in a murine model that MMc caused exposure to the noninherited maternal antigens in all offspring, but in some, MMc magnitude was enough to cause membrane alloantigen acquisition (mAA...

CUB domain-containing protein-1 (CDCP1) is a trans-membrane protein predominantly expressed in various cancer cells and involved in tumor progression. CDCP1 is phosphorylated at tyrosine residues in the intracellular domain by Src family kinases and recruits PKCδ to the plasma membrane through tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent association with the C2 domain of PKCδ, which in turn induces a sur...

Data from the Canada-U.S.A. (CANUSA) Study have recently confirmed a long-suspected linkage between total clearance and patient survival in peritoneal dialysis (PD). Recognizing that what we have historically accepted as adequate PD simply is not, the Ad Hoc Committee on Peritoneal Dialysis Adequacy met in January, 1996. This committee of invited experts was convened by Baxter Healthcare Corpor...

Mutations in LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) (also known as PARK8 or dardarin) are responsible for the autosomal-dominant form of PD (Parkinson's disease). LRRK2 mutations were found in approximately 3-5% of familial and 1-3% of sporadic PD cases with the highest prevalence (up to 40%) in North Africans and Ashkenazi Jews. To date, mutations in LRRK2 are a major genetic risk factor for fam...

Dysregulation of regulatory B cells (Bregs), a type of immunosuppressive lymphocyte, are associated with development of autoimmune diseases and cancers. Bregs produce immune tolerance-inducing cell surface molecules and tolerogenic cytokines (interleukin [IL]-10 and transforming growth factor-beta). We previously showed that levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-18 were increased in patients w...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive movement disorder with multiple non-motor symptoms. Although family genetic mutations only account for a small proportion of the cases, these mutations have provided several lines of evidence for the pathogenesis of PD, such as mitochondrial dysfunction, protein misfolding and aggregation, and the impaired autophagy-lysosome system. Recently, vesicle tr...

BACKGROUND Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is associated with functional and structural alterations of the peritoneal membrane. However, the (ir)reversibility of these pathological changes of the peritoneum is not understood fully. METHODS In an experimental PD model, rats (n = 15) received daily 10 ml conventional glucose containing PD fluid, via peritoneal catheters connected to implanted subcutan...