Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a pivotal signaling molecule in both the brain and the heart. In this issue of Cell, Erickson et al. (2008) demonstrate a mechanism for CaMKII activation by reactive oxygen species that provides a direct link between kinase activation and cardiac dysfunction.

Effects of α-, β-, γ- and δ-tocopherols on the proliferation and invasion of AH109A hepatoma cells and their modes of action were investigated. Four tocopherols inhibited the invasion as well as the proliferation of AH109A cells. Their inhibitory effects were more prominent on the invasion than on the proliferation. At 1 µM, α-tocopherol showed most potent anti-invasive activity without any inf...

brucellosis is an infectious disease with high impact on innate immune responses which is induced partly by its dna. in the present study the potential differences of wild type and patients isolates versus attenuated vaccine strains in terms of cytokines, ros and no induction on murine splenocytes and peritoneal macrophages were investigated. this panel varied in base composition and included d...

metals can cause oxidative stress by increasing the formation of reactive oxygen species (ros), which make antioxidants incapable of defiance against growing amounts of free radicals. metal toxicity is related to their oxidative state and reactivity with other compounds. however, several reports about metals have been published in the recent years. mitochondria, as a site of cellular oxygen con...

plants face many biotic and abiotic stresses at the same time during their growth under field conditions. plants responses toward combined stresses are often more complex than their responses to one type of stress in a way that the results of these responses are called as cross tolerance. this mixture of stresses activates specific models of gene expression that causes special signaling network...

objective: ageing of the stored seed is a natural phenomenon and the seeds tend to lose viability even under ideal storage conditions. accelerated ageing has been recognized as a good predictor of the storability of seed lots. aged seeds show decreased vigor and produce weak seedlings that are unable to survive once reintroduced into a habitat. the characteristics of the chemical composition of...

Introduction: Cardiac preconditioning represents the most potent and consistently reproducible method of rescuing heart tissue from undergoing irreversible ischemic damage. The aim of the present study was to evaluate oxytocin (OT) induced cardioprotection and its signaling pathways on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase-MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) in the anesthetized rats. Methods: Ei...