Protective effects of boswellic acid (BA) against acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity in Balb/ cA mice were examined. BA, at 0.05 or 0.1%, was supplied for 4 weeks. Acute liver injury was induced by APAP treatment. Results showed that BA intake increased hepatic BA bioavailability. APAP treatment decreased glutathione (GSH) level, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized glu...

The metabolic syndrome (visceral obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia) resembles Cushing's Syndrome, but without elevated circulating glucocorticoid levels. An emerging concept suggests that the aberrantly elevated levels of the intracellular glucocorticoid reamplifying enzyme 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11 beta-HSD-1) found in adipose tissue of obese ...

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a potent inhibitor of cell proliferation. This study investigated whether overexpression of Smad7, which blocks TGF-beta-induced activation of Smad2/3, could prevent the suppression of regeneration of small-for-size liver grafts. Rats were intravenously given adenoviruses (2 x 10(10) pfu/rat) carrying the LacZ gene or the Smad7 gene (Ad-Smad7) 3 day...

Lansoprazole is a potent anti-gastric ulcer drug that inhibits gastric proton pump activity. We identified a novel function for lansoprazole, as an inducer of anti-oxidative stress responses in the liver. Gastric administration of lansoprazole (10-100 mg/kg) to male Wistar rats produced a dose-dependent increase in hepatic mRNA levels of nuclear factor, erythroid-derived 2, -like 2 (Nrf2), a re...

Adaptation to hypoxia is regulated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), a heterodimeric transcription factor consisting of an oxygen-regulated alpha subunit and a constitutively expressed beta subunit. Although HIF-1 is regulated mainly by oxygen tension through the oxygen-dependent degradation of its alpha subunit, in vitro it can also be modulated by cytokines, hormones and genetic alterati...

Foxo1, a member of the Fox0 subfamily of winged-helix forkhead transcription factors, is a target of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signal transduction pathways that activate protein kinase B (PKB) in pancreatic beta cells. Foxo1 is a substrate for PKB, and its phosphorylation results in nuclear exclusion with concomitant alterations in gene expression that are important to ce...

In response to viral infection, host cells elicit a number of responses, including the expression of alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta). In these cells, IFN regulatory factor-3 (IRF-3) undergoes a sequence of posttranslational modifications that allow it to act as a potent transcriptional coactivator of specific IFN genes, including IFN-beta. We investigated the mechanisms by which herpes s...

ted embryo. Using the example of a Forkhead binding site, we will show that this approach allows detection of very limited changes in enhancer activity in a whole embryo and, in particular, makes possible the identification of repressor binding sites that are usually difficult to detect. We will also discuss the possible implications of the presence of this Forkhead repressor binding site on hi...

Wnt signaling, via the activation of the canonical beta-catenin and lymphoid enhancer factor (LEF)/T-cell factor pathway, plays an important role in embryogenesis and cancer development by regulating the expression of genes involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Dapper (Dpr), as a Dishevelled interactor, has been suggested to modulate Wnt signaling by promoting Dishevell...