Selenium has been long recognized as one of the essential trace elements. Although many selenoproteins have been identified in the last decade, the physiological roles of Se and selenoproteins remain to be elucidated. Since iodothyronine deiodinases (DIs), which regulate the tissue levels of thyroid hormone, are (likely to be) selenoproteins, Se might have specific roles for developing brain. I...

During fetal development, there is a continued demand for large numbers of primitive and mature hematopoietic cells. This demand may require that all potential hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) migrate effectively to emerging hematopoietic sites and subsequently contribute to blood cell production, regardless of their cell cycle status. We recently established that umbilical cord blood cells in t...

In the present study, we investigated the ability of human fetal membranes (amnion and choriodecidua) to regulate human maternal uterine cell functions through the secretion of surfactant protein (SP)-A and SP-D at the end of pregnancy. We detected the expression of both SP-A (SP-A1 and SP-A2) and SP-D by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Immunohistochemistry reveale...

Sox2 is expressed by neural stem and progenitor cells, and a sox2 enhancer identifies these cells in the forebrains of both fetal and adult transgenic mouse reporters. We found that an adenovirus encoding EGFP placed under the regulatory control of a 0.4 kb sox2 core enhancer selectively identified multipotential and self-renewing neural progenitor cells in dissociates of human fetal forebrain....

A successful pregnancy requires synchronized adaptation of maternal immune-endocrine mechanisms to the fetus. Here we show that galectin-1 (Gal-1), an immunoregulatory glycan-binding protein, has a pivotal role in conferring fetomaternal tolerance. Consistently with a marked decrease in Gal-1 expression during failing pregnancies, Gal-1–deficient (Lgals1–/–) mice showed higher rates of fetal lo...

Although in utero hematopoietic cell transplantation is a promising strategy to treat congenital hematopoietic disorders, levels of engraftment have not been therapeutic for diseases in which donor cells have no survival advantage. We used an antibody against the murine c-Kit receptor (ACK2) to deplete fetal host hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and increase space within the hematopoietic niche ...

We examined androgen modulation of proliferation of clonally derived AXC/SSh rat prostate cancer cells. C-family cells were maintained on medium without addition of androgens. D-family cells were maintained on medium containing 10(-7) M 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone and T-family cells were maintained on medium containing 10(-7) M testosterone. Proliferation of all AXC/SSh prostate cancer cell lin...

We have recently observed that protein kinase C (PKC) was involved in the regulation of the accumulation of mRNAs of the AP-1 components in cultured Abelson-transformed murine fetal-liver-derived mast cells stimulated by exocytotic stimuli. Here we analyzed the probable regulatory effect of PKC on the synthesis and DNA-binding activity of AP-1 complexes in immunologic stimulated mast cells. In ...

considerable evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the toxicity of uranyl acetate (ua), a soluble salt of depleted uranium (du). we examined the ability of the two antioxidants, beta-glucan and butylated hydroxyl toluene (bht), to prevent ua-induced mitochondrial dysfunction using rat-isolated kidney mitochondria. beta-glucan (150 nm) and bht (20 nm) attenuated ua-indu...

Zinc deficiency affects the development of the central nervous system (CNS) through mechanisms only partially understood. We previously showed that zinc deficiency causes CNS oxidative stress, damaging microtubules and impairing protein nuclear shuttling. STAT1 and STAT3 transcription factors, which require nuclear import for their functions, play major roles in CNS development. Thus, we invest...