Polymorphisms in genes that encode chemokines or their receptors can modulate susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and disease progression. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of polymorphisms CCR5-Δ32, CCR2-64I, CCR5-59029A and SDF1-3'A and their role in the course of HIV infection in a Southern Brazilian population. Clinical data were obtained fro...

Gene-targeting studies have shown that Delta-like 4 (Dll4) is required for normal embryonic vascular remodeling, but the mechanisms underlying Dll4 regulatory functions are not well defined. We generated primary human umbilical vascular endothelial cells that express Dll4 protein to study Dll4 function and previously showed that Dll4 down-regulates vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) rece...

Ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) is the most key pathological event for accelerating progression to chronic kidney disease through vascular endothelial injury or dysfunction. Thus, it is critical to elucidate the molecular mechanism of endothelial protection and regeneration. Emerging evidence indicates that bone marrow-derived cells (BMCs) contribute to tissue reconstitution in several types...

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue sarcoma affecting children, and the overall cure rate of children with metastatic disease remains below 30%. The CXC chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4)/stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF1) axis has been implicated in the promotion of metastatic potential in several tumors. In this study, we developed a novel anti-CXCR4 mAb, CF172, and investigated its a...

The expression of Cxcr4 mRNA that encodes the receptor for the chemokine Sdf1 was studied during mouse brain development using in situ hybridization, from E9.5 to maturity at P21. At embryonic stages, expression is prominent in ventricular zones of stem cell proliferation. This abates during the postnatal period in parallel to the depopulation of ventricular zones. In addition, the Cxcr4 gene i...

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells are recruited to ischemic regions, improving neovascularization. 1 and 2 integrins play a crucial role for progenitor cell homing to ischemic tissues. Integrin activity is regulated by chemokines and their respective G protein–coupled receptors. The phosphatidylinositol3-kinase catalytic subunit (PI3K ) is the PI3K isoform t...

Allelic differences of chemokine (C-C motif ) receptor 5 (CCR5) and CCR2, as well as the ligand for the chemokine receptor CXCR4, stromal-derived factor (SDF-1), are known to suppress HIV-1 transmission and to be involved in delay in HIV-1 disease progression. The aim of our study was to investigate the frequencies of four mutations that confer resistance to HIV-1: CCR5-Delta32, CCR5-m303, CCR2...

The aim of the present study was to determine how mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) could improve bone marrow (BM) stroma function after damage, both in vitro and in vivo. Human MSC from 20 healthy donors were isolated and expanded. Mobilized selected CD34(+) progenitor cells were obtained from 20 HSCT donors. For in vitro study, long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC) were performed using a etoposid...

Most sensory systems are innervated by efferent neurons as well as by afferent neurons. The efferent innervation modulates the sensitivity of the receptor cells or of the sensory terminals. In the posterior lateral line system of the zebrafish, two efferent nuclei have been described in the hindbrain. Here we examine the development of the efferent neurons. We show that their axons are guided t...

RATIONALE Culture-expanded cells originating from cardiac tissue that express the cell surface receptor cKit are undergoing clinical testing as a cell source for heart failure and congenital heart disease. Although accumulating data support that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) enhance the efficacy of cardiac cKit(+) cells (CSCs), the underlying mechanism for this synergistic effect remains incomp...