bacground: evidence from several lines of investigations suggests that toll-like receptor 4 (tlr4) is involved in atherosclerosis as a bridge between innate and acquired immunity. percutaneous coronary intervention (pci) can trigger inflammation through activation of human tlr4 (htlr4) on monocytes. hydrocortisone as an anti-inflammatory and immuno-suppressant agent has multiple mechanisms of a...

....................................................................................................................................v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 CH...

Little is known about the genetic program that generates synaptic specificity. Here we show that a putative transcription factor, Teyrha-Meyhra (Tey), controls target specificity, in part by repressing the expression of a repulsive cue, Toll. We focused on two neighboring muscles, M12 and M13, which are innervated by distinct motoneurons in Drosophila. We found that Toll, which encodes a transm...

MyD88 is an adapter protein in the signal transduction pathway mediated by interleukin-1 (IL-1) and Toll-like receptors. A Drosophila homologue of MyD88 (DmMyD88) was recently shown to be required for the Toll-mediated immune response. In Drosophila, the Toll pathway was originally characterized for its role in the dorsoventral patterning of the embryo. We found that, like Toll, DmMyD88 messeng...

Neurotrophin receptors corresponding to vertebrate Trk, p75NTR or Sortilin have not been identified in Drosophila, thus it is unknown how neurotrophism may be implemented in insects. Two Drosophila neurotrophins, DNT1 and DNT2, have nervous system functions, but their receptors are unknown. The Toll receptor superfamily has ancient evolutionary origins and a universal function in innate immunit...