BACKGROUND Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a multifunctional regulator that senses and responds to environmental stimuli, plays a role in normal cell development and immune regulation. Recent evidence supports a significant link between environmental exposure and AhR in the development of allergic diseases. We sought to investigate whether AhR plays a role in mediating cockroach allergen-induc...

Pituitary tumor cells have a poor response to the growth inhibitory effect of TGFβ1, possibly resulting from the cross talk of TGFβ/Smads signal with other signaling pathways, an undescribed mechanism in these tumoral cells. To address this hypothesis, we investigated whether the mitogen-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK)/ERK1/2 and phosphoinositide-3 kinase/protein kinase B ...

Wound healing crucially relies on the mechanical activity of fibroblasts responding to TGFβ1 and to forces transmitted across focal adhesions. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a central adapter recruited to integrin β1 tails in focal adhesions mediating the communication between cells and extracellular matrix. Here, we show that fibroblast-restricted inactivation of ILK in mice leads to impaired...

Tumor microenvironment(TME) has been in the spotlight of cancer progression last years. It is known that transforming growth factor β1(TGFβ1) produced by cancer-associated fibroblasts(CAF) implicated resistance to therapies, although its role cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma cells(cSCC) photodynamic therapy(PDT) and underlying mechanism not fully addressed yet. TGFβ1 effects are mediated throu...

Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) is a cytokine with multiple functions. TGFβ1 significantly induces migration and invasion of liver cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. Epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial for the development of invasion and metastasis in human cancers. The aim of the present study was to determine whether ...

Chronic neuroinflammation has been proposed as a driving force for Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is characterized by amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition, neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal loss, and activation of glial cells. Persistent activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway has been reported, which induces an increased expression of inflammato...

The mouse vascular smooth muscle α-actin (SMA) gene enhancer is activated in fibroblasts by TGFβ1, a potent mediator of myofibroblast differentiation and wound healing. The SMA enhancer contains tandem sites for the Sp1 transcriptional activator protein and Purα and β repressor proteins. We have examined dynamic interplay between these divergent proteins to identify checkpoints for possible con...

Pyrrole-imidazole (PI) polyamide is a novel gene regulating agent that competitively inhibits transcription factor binding to the promoter of the specific target gene. Liver fibrosis is an integral stage in the development of chronic liver disease, and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) is known to play a central role in the progression of this entity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the...

During mammary gland involution, the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) process plays an important role in tissue remodelling and in the termination of milk production. Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) has been known as a central inducer to EMT and contributor to the mammary gland involution. However, the whole mechanism has accomplished the EMT process in mammary gland is still unclear...

Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells play important roles in progression of human ophthalmic diseases. Evidences have showed that Resveratrol (RV) presents benefits for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases. In this study, we investigated the potential molecular mechanism mediated by RV in RPE cells. Transforming Growth Factor beta1 (TGFβ1) and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) signal pa...