The biological activities of PGE(2) are mediated through EP receptors (EP(1)-EP(4)), plasma membrane G protein-coupled receptors that differ in ligand binding and signal-transduction pathways. We investigated gastrointestinal EP(2) receptor expression in adult mice before and after radiation injury and evaluated intestinal stem cell survival and crypt epithelial apoptosis after radiation injury...

Although prostanoids are known to be involved in regulation of the spontaneous beating rate of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, the various subtypes of prostanoid receptors have not been investigated in detail. In our experiments, prostaglandin (PG)F(2α) and prostanoid FP receptor agonists (fluprostenol, latanoprost and cloprostenol) produced a decrease in the beating rate. Two prostanoid ...

The digestion of polysaccharides from the wheat cultivars Caphorn and Isengrain was investigated, and the efficiency of an enzyme preparation was tested using the TNO gastrointestinal model (TIM-1). The apparent digestibility (AD) of carbohydrates was determined based on the measurement of organic matter (OM), total monosaccharides, reducing ends (RE) and end products (EP: glucose, maltose and ...

Nucleic acid-based vaccines such as viral vectors, plasmid DNA (pDNA), and mRNA are being developed as a means to address limitations of both live-attenuated and subunit vaccines. DNA vaccines have been shown to be potent in a wide variety of animal species and several products are now licensed for commercial veterinary but not human use. Electroporation delivery technologies have been shown to...

AbstractThe effect of noise on evolutionary dynamics of Evolutionary Programming(EP) is empirically observed using three different statistical values. These are (1) the averaged best function values, (2) the average of strategy parameters and (3) Hotelling’s T 2 of real values. The classical-EP(CEP), Fast-EP(FEP) and Robust-EP(REP) which stand for Fogel’s EP, Yao and Liu’s EP and our extended E...

The spontaneous tone of vascular smooth muscle is augmented in hypertension. The present study examined the role of nitric oxide (NO), cyclooxygenase (COX), thromboxane A(2)/prostanoid (TP) and PGE(2)/prostanoid (EP-1) receptors, reactive oxygen species, and large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BK(Ca)) channels in the regulation of spontaneous tone in renal arteries of young and mature Wist...

Prostaglandin E(2) is a major renal cyclooxygenase metabolite of arachidonate and interacts with four G protein-coupled E-prostanoid receptors designated EP(1), EP(2), EP(3), and EP(4). Through these receptors, PGE(2) modulates renal hemodynamics and salt and water excretion. The intrarenal distribution and function of EP receptors have been partially characterized, and each receptor has a dist...

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) family members, including epiregulin (EP), play a fundamental role in epithelial tissues; however, their roles in immune responses and the physiological role of EP remain to be elucidated. The skin has a versatile system of immune surveillance. Biologically active IL-1alpha is released to extracellular space upon damage from keratinocytes and is a major player in s...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Radiation therapy (RT) is the gold standard treatment for more than half of known tumors. Despite recent improvements in RT efficiency, the side effects of ionizing radiation (IR) in normal tissues are a dose-limiting factor that restricts higher doses in tumor treatment. One approach to enhance the efficiency of RT is the application of radiosensitizers to selectively ...