Angiotensin II (Ang II) exerts a potent growth stimulus on the heart and vascular wall. Activation of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) intracellular signaling pathway by Ang II mediates at least some of the mitogenic responses to this hormone. In other signaling systems that use the JAK/STAT pathway, proteins of the suppressor of cytokine signaling (S...

introduction: in the kindling-induced seizure model, low and repeated electrical or chemical stimulations, can elevate the neural network excitability and induce epileptiform seizures. opioid receptors are widely distributed in different areas of the brain. on the other hand, morphine has paradoxical effects and induces elevation or alleviation of the pain sensation and excitability, at differe...

objective: osteoblasts arise from multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) present in the bone marrow stroma and undergo further differentiation to osteocytes or bone cells. many factors such as proteins present in the wnt signaling pathway affect osteoblast differentiation. ror2 is an orphan tyrosine kinase receptor that acts as a co-receptor in the non-canonical wnt signaling pathway. howeve...

Background: Progesterone is indispensable for differentiation of human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs) into decidual cells, a process that critically controls embryo implantation. However, HESCs also abundantly express androgen receptors (AR), yet the role of this member of the superfamily of ligand-dependent transcription factors in the decidual process remains poorly elucidated. Materials a...

BACKGROUND Female steroid hormone levels and exogenous hormone use influence breast cancer risk. We investigated the association between genetic variation in the hormone metabolism and signaling pathway and mammographic density, a strong predictor of breast cancer risk. METHODS We genotyped 161 SNPs in 15 hormone metabolism pathway gene regions and evaluated mammographic density in 2,038 Sing...

Klotho (KL) encodes a single-pass transmembrane protein and is predominantly expressed in the kidney, parathyroid glands, and choroid plexus. Genetic studies on the KL gene have revealed that DNA hypermethylation is one of the major risk factors for aging, diseases, and cancer. Besides, KL exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects by regulating signaling pathways and the expression of tar...

The desert hedgehog (Dhh) signaling pathway is involved in the development of peripheral nerves (PNs). Dhh-null mice show abnormal neuronal development and perineurial barrier function. As it was previously shown that dhh is mainly expressed in developmental nerves and Sonic hedgehog protein (dhh homologous) has therapeutic effects in neuronal survival, we attempted to investigate the possible ...

Objective(s):Multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells is a major obstacle to successful chemotherapy. Overexpression of breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) is one of the major causes of MDR. In addition, it has been shown that PI3K/Akt signaling pathway involves in drug resistance. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of novel approaches including siRNA directed against BCRP and targeted t...

The desert hedgehog (Dhh) signaling pathway is involved in the development of peripheral nerves (PNs). Dhh-null mice show abnormal neuronal development and perineurial barrier function. As it was previously shown that dhh is mainly expressed in developmental nerves and Sonic hedgehog protein (dhh homologous) has therapeutic effects in neuronal survival, we attempted to investigate the possible ...

Wnts are the major ligands responsible for activating Wnt signaling pathway through binding to Frizzled proteins (Fzd) as the receptors. Among these ligands, Wnt2 plays the main role in the tumorigenesis of several human cancers especially colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, it can be considered as a potential drug target.The aim of this study was to identify potential drug candidates ...