In an anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) glomerulonephritis (GN) model, GN-resistant Lewis rats naturally recover from early glomerular inflammation. Here we investigated recovery mechanisms for development of a potential immunotherapy for autoimmune GN. Our previous studies suggested that glomeruli-infiltrating leukocytes with a phenotype of CD8αα+CD11c+MHC-II+CD3- (GIL CD8αα+ cells) were...

BACKGROUND One adverse side-effect of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A (CsA) is a decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). This effect might be the result of increased glomerular contractions. The present study compared the contractile effects of CsA, cyclosporin G (CsG) and the novel cyclosporin derivative IMM 125 in isolated rat glomeruli and primary cultures of rat mesangial cel...

TISSUES AND CELLS are characterized by mechanical properties that are variously described as elasticity, deformability, or stiffness, which are critical components in determining their normal structure and function (reviewed in Ref. 25). However, biologists and physicians are not used to thinking of mechanical signals as having a primary role equivalent to biochemical signals in normal biology ...

Newly synthesized rat glomerular [35S]proteoglycans were labelled in vivo after injecting Na2[35S]SO4 intraperitoneally. At the end of the labelling period (7 h) the kidneys were perfused in situ with 0.01% (w/v) cetylpyridinium chloride. This fixed proteoglycans in the tissue and increased their recovery 2-3-fold during subsequent isolation of glomeruli from the renal cortex. The glomeruli wer...

The primary olfactory centres of the sphinx moth Manduca sexta, the antennal lobes, contain a small number of sexually dimorphic glomeruli: the male-specific macroglomerular complex and the large female glomeruli. These glomeruli play important roles in sex-specific behaviours, such as the location of conspecific females and the selection of appropriate host plants for oviposition. The developm...

The ability of interleukin-10 (IL-10) to inhibit macrophage recruitment, activation, and proliferation in vivo was studied in a macrophage-mediated, but T cell-independent, passive anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody-induced model of glomerulonephritis (GN) in rats. Treatment with recombinant murine IL-10 resulted in dose-dependent reductions in proteinuria (high dose: 16 +/- 1 mg/24 h; ...

Tracing of olfactory projections based on odorant receptor expression has led to an almost complete receptor-to-glomerulus map in adult Drosophila. While most of the glomeruli may be involved in processing of food odors, others appear to be more specialized, for example, responding to CO(2) or to pheromonal cues. Recent studies have shed light on signal processing in the antennal lobe and in hi...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in the development of glomerular injury in rat experimental glomerulonephritis (GN). However, the significance of MMPs in human GN remains obscure. In order to evaluate the role of MMPs in human GN, we examined the glomerular distribution and gelatinolytic activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in human GN. METHODS We performed immunohis...

Functional nephrons can be lost through a process of glomerulotubular disconnection. Progressive development of atubular glomeruli seems to play a major role in a number of renal disorders, including glomerular diseases, ascribed to injury to the glomerulotubular junction as a result of proteinuria; however, formation of atubular glomeruli is even more common in tubulointerstitial disorders, su...

In the mammalian brain, similar features of the sensory stimuli are often represented in proximity in the sensory areas. However, how chemical features are represented in the olfactory bulb has been controversial. Questions have been raised as to whether specific chemical features of the odor molecules are represented by spatially clustered olfactory glomeruli. Using a sensitive probe, we have ...