OBJECTIVE To develop and validate a shortened version of the Valued Life Activities disability and accommodations scale (VLA) for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS To shorten the existing VLA measure, item response theory analyses were conducted using data from 449 patients with RA. Next, the resulting 14-item shortened version of the VLA scale (S-VLA) was evaluated by struc...

Their glycolytic metabolism imposes an increased acid load upon tumour cells. The surplus protons are extruded by the Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE) which causes an extracellular acidification. It is not yet known by what mechanism extracellular pH (pHe) and NHE activity affect tumour cell migration and thus metastasis. We studied the impact of pHe and NHE activity on the motility of human melanoma (MV...

Aged human skin is fragile because of fragmentation and loss of type I collagen fibrils, which confer strength and resiliency. We report here that dermal fibroblasts express increased levels of collagen-degrading matrix metalloproteinases-1 (MMP-1) in aged (>80 years old) compared with young (21 to 30 years old) human skin in vivo. Transcription factor AP-1 and alpha2beta1 integrin, which are k...

Tumor cells undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to convert from a benign to a malignant phenotype. Our recent focus has been signaling pathways that promote EMT in response to collagen. We have shown that human pancreatic cancer cells respond to collagen by up-regulating N-cadherin, which promotes tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. Initial characterization showed that knocki...

Endorepellin, the COOH-terminal domain of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan perlecan, inhibits several aspects of angiogenesis. We provide evidence for a novel biological axis that links a soluble fragment of perlecan protein core to the major cell surface receptor for collagen I, alpha2beta1 integrin, and provide an initial investigation of the intracellular signaling events that lead to endore...

The pathophysiology of microthrombocytopenia in the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and its milder form, X-linked thrombocytopenia (XLT), is unclear. Although quantitative defects are correctable by splenectomy, residual platelet abnormalities are suggestive of intrinsic disturbances of production. In contrast to human patients, murine models of WASp deficiency exhibit only mild thrombocytopenia...

Although loss of cell-cell adhesion and gain of invasive properties play a crucial role in the malignant progression of epithelial tumours, the molecular signals that trigger these processes have not been fully elucidated. In light of the well-established relationship between chronic inflammation and cancer, we hypothesized that pro-inflammatory cytokines disrupt epithelial-cell adhesion and pr...

Eyelid fusion normally occurs between E15.5 and E16.5 of mouse embryonic development and results from the migration of a population of periderm-derived epithelial cells over the corneal surface. Cell migration is known to depend on extracellular matrix receptors of the integrin family and to be regulated by growth factors. We were therefore interested that a failure of eyelid fusion has been re...