The Apc mouse model of colorectal cancer provides a discrete, quantitative measurement of tumor multiplicity, allowing for robust quantitative trait locus analysis. This advantage has previously been used to uncover polymorphic modifiers of the Min phenotype: Mom1, which is partly explained by Pla2g2a; Mom2, a spontaneous mutant modifier; and Mom3, which was discovered in an outbred cross. Here...

Bbil-TX, a PLA2, was purified from Bothriopsis bilineata snake venom after only one chromatographic step using RP-HPLC on μ-Bondapak C-18 column. A molecular mass of 14243.8 Da was confirmed by Q-Tof Ultima API ESI/MS (TOF MS mode) mass spectrometry. The partial protein sequence obtained was then submitted to BLASTp, with the search restricted to PLA2 from snakes and shows high identity values ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors contributing to the ability of exercise to enhance insulin-stimulated glucose disposal. Sixteen insulin-resistant nondiabetic and seven Type 2 diabetic subjects underwent two hyperinsulinemic (40 mU x m-2 x min-1) clamps, once without and once with concomitant exercise at 70% peak O2 consumption. Exercise was begun at the start of insulin i...

Current work has shown the importance of spinal cyclooxygenase (COX) products in facilitatory processes leading to tissue injury induced hyperalgesia. This cascade must originate with free arachidonic acid (AA) released by the activity of spinal phospholipase A2s (PLA2). In the present work, we studied the role of PLA2s in spinal sensitization. We first demonstrate the presence of constitutive ...

PURPOSE Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is a growing family of lipolytic enzymes that play a key role in various biological processes including general lipid metabolism, membrane homeostasis, and in diseases such as atherosclerosis, arthritis, and acute pancreatitis. Oxidative stress as well as inflammation may be associated with glaucoma pathogenesis. Therefore, our aim was to examine the expression o...

Phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4; PLA2) is detected in serum by determination of either the catalytic activity of the enzyme or the concentration of the enzyme protein by immunoassays. The most sensitive methods for determining PLA2 catalytic activity are radiometric assays, with a substrate of synthetic phospholipid (e.g., phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylethanolamine) containing a 14C- or 3H-la...

Snake venoms are mixtures of bioactive proteins and peptides that exhibit diverse biochemical activities. This wide array of pharmacologies associated with snake venoms has made them attractive sources for research into potentially novel therapeutics, and several venom-derived drugs are now in use. In the current study we performed a broad screen of a variety of venoms (61 taxa) from the major ...

The pathogenesis of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) is multifactorial, but likely involves urothelial cell dysfunction and mast cell accumulation in the bladder wall. Activated mast cells in the bladder wall release several inflammatory mediators, including histamine and tryptase. We determined whether mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases are activated in response to ...

Kinetic methods in unanesthetized rodents have shown that turnover rates of arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in brain membrane phospholipids are rapid and energy consuming and that phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and acyl-CoA synthetase enzymes that regulate turnover are specific for one or the other PUFA. Thus, AA turnover in brain phospholipids was reduced, and AA-selective cytoso...

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are repetitive, noninfectious chromosomal elements degenerated from exogenous retroviruses. The HERV-H family is composed of approximately 1,000 elements which are dispersed throughout the human genome. We have shown previously that an HERV-H element splices into a downstream locus, termed PLA2L, which has a large open reading frame (ORF) containing two dom...