Background: Cardiac valve calcification (CVC) is associated with adverse cardiovascular events. We studied the risk factors of CVC in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients and value serum β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) levels predicting incidence CVC. β2-MG a middle molecular weight toxin. In recent years, researchers found that elevated blood was coronary, thoracic, abdominal aortic calcifications...

UNLABELLED The ubiquitously expressed β2-spectrin (β2SP, SPTBN1) is the most common non-erythrocytic member of the β-spectrin gene family. Loss of β2-spectrin leads to defects in liver development, and its haploinsufficiency spontaneously leads to chronic liver disease and the eventual development of hepatocellular cancer. However, the specific role of β2-spectrin in liver homeostasis remains t...

We discuss the Cauchy problem for a parabolic attraction–repulsion chemotaxis system: ∂tu=Δu−∇⋅(β1u∇v1)+∇⋅(β2u∇v2),t>0,x∈R2,∂tvj=Δvj−λjvj+u,t>0,x∈R2(j=1,2),u(0,x)=u0(x),vj(0,x)=vj0(x),x∈R2(j=1,2)with positive constants βj,λj>0 (j=1,2) satisfying β1>β2. In our companion paper, authors proved existence of global-in-time solutions any initial data with (β1−β2)∫R2u0dx<8π. this we prove that every s...

β2-Glycoprotein I (β2-GPI) is a plasma glycoprotein primarily synthesized in the liver. The interindividual variability of β2-GPI expression in subjects with various metabolic syndromes and disease states suggests that it may have clinical importance. However, the regulation of β2-GPI gene expression has not been clarified. To gain more insight into the control of β2-GPI gene expression, we clo...

Retinoic acid receptor-β2 (RAR-β2) is a putative tumor suppressor gene in various cancers. To determine the underlying molecular mechanisms, we transfected RAR-β2 cDNA into esophageal cancer TE-1 and TE-8 cells and found that RAR-β2 suppressed tumor cell growth in vitro and tumor formation in nude mice in TE-8 cells, whereas the stable transfection of RAR-β2 did not restore retinoid sensitivity...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of β2-microglobulin (β2-M) on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in renal tubular epithelial cells. METHODS A human kidney proximal tubular cell line (HK-2) was used as the proximal tubular cell model. HK-2 cells were exposed to different concentrations of β2-M (5, 10, 25, and 50 μM) for up to 24, 48 and 72 h. Th...

TGF-β1 is a major player in chronic liver diseases promoting fibrogenesis and tumorigenesis through various mechanisms. The expression and function of TGF-β2 have not been investigated thoroughly in liver disease to date. In this paper, we provide evidence that TGF-β2 expression correlates with fibrogenesis and liver cancer development.Using quantitative realtime PCR and ELISA, we show that TGF...

PURPOSE Transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2) is associated with glaucomatous neuropathy, primarily via the increased synthesis and secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and remodeling of the optic nerve head (ONH). Here, we investigated the signaling pathways used by TGF-β2 to stimulate ECM expression by ONH astrocytes and lamina cribrosa (LC) cells. METHODS TGF-β2 localization a...

Objective. After filtration through glomeruli, β2-microglobulin is reabsorbed in proximal tubules. Increased urinary β2-microglobulin indicates proximal tubule injury and measurement of β2-microglobulin in urine is useful to determine the source of renal injury. Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) has been characterized as a selective proximal tubule injury marker. This study was designed to evalu...

PURPOSE An increased aqueous level of TGF-β2 has been found in many primary open-angle glaucoma patients. Secreted Protein, Acidic, and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC)-null mice have a lower intraocular pressure. The mechanistic relationship between SPARC and TGF-β2 in trabecular meshwork (TM) is unknown. We hypothesized that TGF-β2 upregulates SPARC expression in TM. METHODS Cultured TM cells were ...