Elevated blood pressure imposes increased mechanical stress on the vascular wall, and mechanical strain is a mitogenic stimulus for vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells. The role of mechanical forces in regulating the production of noncellular material by VSM cells for VSM cells of human origin remains undefined. We thus investigated the effects of chronic cyclical mechanical strain on extracellu...

It is well established that TGF-β1 and retinoic acid (RA) cause IgA isotype switching in mice. We recently found that lactoferrin (LF) also has an activity of IgA isotype switching in spleen B cells. The present study explored the effect of LF on the Ig production by mouse peritoneal B cells. LF, like TGF-β1, substantially increased IgA production in peritoneal B1 cells but little in peritoneal...

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is injected within tendons to stimulate healing. Metabolic alterations such as the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, or hyperuricemia could hinder the therapeutic effect of PRP. We hypothesise that tendon cells sense high levels of uric acid and this could modify their response to PRP. Tendon cells were treated with allogeneic PRPs for 96 hours. Hyperuricemic PRP did not ...

Motorcycle exhaust (ME) is a major source of air pollution and a potential health hazard in urban areas where motorcycles are a popular means of transportation. The main objectives of this study were to determine the ability of ME to cause cardiotoxicity in rats and investigate the possible mechanisms of toxicity. Male rats were exposed to 1:10 diluted ME by inhalation 2 h daily and Monday thro...

Our previous studies have defined reactive stroma in human prostate cancer and have developed the differential reactive stroma (DRS) xenograft model to evaluate mechanisms of how reactive stroma promotes carcinoma tumorigenesis. Analysis of several normal human prostate stromal cell lines in the DRS model showed that some rapidly promoted LNCaP prostate carcinoma cell tumorigenesis and others h...

The transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b) superfamily of growth factors and cytokines consists of multiple isoforms of TGF-b, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), activins, and many other structurally related proteins in vertebrates. Through the work of many investigators, there is increasing evidence to support a role for members of this family in a broad range of biological processes, including...

Transfection of primary human prostate tumor cells (i.e., HPCA-10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d lines) with the transforming growth factor (TGF)-b1 gene stimulated anchorage-independent growth and promoted tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis after orthotopic implantation in severe combined immunodeficiency mice. In contrast, interleukin (IL)-10 transfected cells or cells cotransfected with these t...

METHODS. Northern and western blot analyses were used to detect smooth muscle (SM) a-actin message and protein. I-labeled TGF-b1 was used in a radioreceptor-binding assay as an index of functional receptors on the cell surface of rabbit corneal fibroblast cultures prepared either at high density (cell–cell contact) or low density (absence of contact). Cell lysates were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and ...

ease, whose clinical features are intractable pain, loss of pancreatic exocrine and endocrine function. Fibrosis and loss of parenchymal cells in the pancreas are characteristic histopathologic features in chronic pancreatitis. Moreover, pancreatic fibrosis is suggested to contribute to the irreversibility of the disease. Therefore, to search for an available medicine against pancreatic fibrosi...