BACKGROUND The Janus kinase (Jak)/Signal transducers of activated transcription (Stat) pathway is an upstream signaling pathway for NF-κB activation in Helicobacter pylori-induced interleukin (IL)-8 production in gastric epithelial AGS cells. H. pylori activates NADPH oxidase and produces hydrogen peroxide, which activates Jak1/Stat3 in AGS cells. Therefore, hydrogen peroxide may be critical fo...

Cancer-related inflammation recently has been proposed as a major physiological hallmark of malignancy. Some genetic alterations known to promote cellular proliferation and induce malignant transformation also may participate in an intrinsic inflammatory pathway that produces a cancer-promoting inflammatory microenvironment. Little is known about this intrinsic inflammatory pathway in Barrett's...

Activation of STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) plays a crucial role in cell survival and proliferation. The aim of the present study was to clarify the role of STAT3 signalling in the protection of polyamine-depleted intestinal epithelial cells against TNF-alpha (tumour necrosis factor-alpha)-induced apoptosis. Polyamine depletion by DFMO (alpha-difluoromethylornithine...

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and T-2 toxin commonly affect cells of the immune system and cause inflammation and apoptosis. Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway is highly associated with inflammatory process and apoptosis and is worth investigating its role when cells were exposed to trichothecenes. The results showed that DON and T-2 upregulated the messen...

OBJECTIVE Our aim was to determine if the expression pattern of CLP-1 in developing heart is consistent with its role in controlling RNA transcript elongation by transcriptional elongation factor b (P-TEFb) and if the inhibitory control exerted over P-TEFb by CLP-1 is released under hypertrophic conditions. METHODS We performed immunoblot and immunofluorescence analysis of CLP-1 and the P-TEF...

AIM Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a cardioprotective agent. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT-3) is a key mediator of many cardioprotective agents. We aimed to explore whether STAT-3 is a key mediator in S1P-induced preconditioning. METHODS Langendorff-perfused hearts from Wistar rats and wild-type or cardiomyocyte-specific STAT-3 knockout mice were pre-treated with ...

Chemotactic movement of myofibroblasts is recognized as a common means for their sequestration to the site of tissue injury. Following myocardial infarction (MI), recruitment of cardiac myofibroblasts to the infarct scar is a critical step in wound healing. Contractile myofibroblasts express embryonic smooth muscle myosin, α-smooth muscle actin, as well as collagens I and III. We examined the e...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms and the therapeutic time window for preventing astrogliosis with erythropoietin (EPO) treatment after in vitro modeled spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS Cultured rat spinal cord astrocytes were treated with kainate and scratching to generate an in vitro model of SCI. EPO (100U/mL or 300U/mL) was adde...

The iberiotoxin-sensitive large conductance voltage- and Ca(2+)-activated potassium (BK) channels (maxi-K(+)-channels) hyperpolarize the cell membrane thus supporting Ca(2+) entry through Ca(2+)-release activated Ca(2+) channels. Janus kinase-2 (JAK2) has been identified as novel regulator of ion transport. To explore whether JAK2 participates in the regulation of BK channels, cRNA encoding Ca(...