BACKGROUND: A20 and TAX1BP1 interact to negatively regulate NF-κB-driven inflammation. A20 expression is altered in F508del/F508del patients. Here we explore the effect of CFTR and CFTR genotype on A20 and TAX1BP1 expression. The relationship with lung function is also assessed. METHODS: Primary nasal epithelial cells (NECs) from CF patients (F508del/F508del, ...

Recent research findings suggest that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) participates in the development of depressive disorder. VEGF is involved in neurogenesis and neuroprotection processes, mediated by vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). VEGFR2 also plays a role in angiogenesis, a process related to neurogenesis and other biological processes. ...

It is well accepted that TGF-β signaling has critical functional roles in lung development, injury, and repair. We showed previously that null mutation of Smad3, a critical node in the TGF-β pathway, protects mice against fibrosis induced by bleomycin. However, more recently we noticed that abnormal alveolarization also occurs in ...

Serum response factor (SRF) is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of growth-related immediate-early, cytoskeletal, and muscle-specific genes to control growth, differentiation, and cytoskeletal integrity in different cell types. To investigate the role for SRF in epidermal development and homeostasis, we conditionally knocked out SRF in epidermal keratinocytes. We ...

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). However, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for MMP expression in ACS. C-reactive protein (CRP) not only is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events, but also may exert direct pro-atherosclerotic effects. Therefore, we ...

Abstract The IK6 isoform plays an important role in Ph+ALL. This study was designed to monitor the expression of the IK6 isoform with associated cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities. The IK6 isoform, cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities were detected in 100 de novo Chinese patients with Ph+ adult ALL. The expression levels ...

RanGTPases are highly conserved in eukaryotes from yeast to human, have been implicated in many aspects of nuclear structure and function. In our previous study, it was revealed that the RanGTPase was up-regulated in large yellow croaker challenged by pathogen. However, the mechanism of RanGTPase in immunity remains unclear. In ...

Increased interictal concentrations of extracellular hippocampal glutamate have been implicated in the pathophysiology of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Recent studies suggest that perturbations of the glutamate metabolizing enzymes glutamine synthetase (GS) and phosphate activated glutaminase (PAG) may underlie the glutamate excess in TLE. However, the molecular mechanism of the enzyme ...

How dermal papilla (DP) niche cells regulate hair follicle progenitors to control hair growth remains unclear. Using Tbx18(Cre) to target embryonic DP precursors, we ablate the transcription factor Sox2 early and efficiently, resulting in diminished hair shaft outgrowth. We find that DP niche expression of Sox2 controls the migration speed ...

OBJECTIVE: Disturbances of the enteric serotonergic system have been implicated in several intestinal motility disorders. Patients with diverticular disease (DD) have been reported to exhibit abnormal intestinal motility and innervation patterns. Gene expression profiles of the serotonergic system and distribution of the serotonin type 4 receptor (5HT-4R) were thus studied ...

OBJECTIVE: Impaired core I β3-Gal-T-specific molecular chaperone (Cosmc) expression-caused IgA(1) aberrant O-glycosylation is one of the main pathogeneses of IgA nephropathy (IgAN).This study tried to elucidate whether mycophenolic acid (MPA) could up-regulate Cosmc expression of peripheral lymphocytes in IgAN patients and reverse the dys-O-glycosylation. METHOD: Peripheral lymphocytes of eighteen IgAN ...

In the present study we examined the effect of seminal plasma (SP) on angiogenesis in the porcine oviduct. Gene expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its two receptors (Flt-1: fms-like tyrosine kinase and Flk-1/KDR: fetal liver kinase-1/kinase insert domain-containing receptor) as well as fibroblast growth factors (FGF-1 and ...

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is caused by the expansion of CTG repeats in the 3'UTR of the DMPK gene. Several missplicing events and transcriptional alterations have been described in DM1 patients. A large number of these defects have been reproduced in animal models expressing CTG repeats alone. Recent studies ...

The Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5) plays a crucial role in host defense against flagellated bacteria by recognizing flagellin. Accumulating evidence suggests that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR5 have an effect on flagellin recognition and are associated with susceptibility/resistance to disease. In this study, we analyzed association of SNPs, including ...

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease in the vessel wall. Nicotine, a major component of cigarette smoke, is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis. As an inflammatory molecule, C-reactive protein (CRP) participates in atherogenesis. Although it has been confirmed that CRP level in smoking patient is significantly higher ...

There is preliminary evidence that the local renin-angiotensin system (RAS) could affect neoplastic hematopoiesis. The aim of this study is to search messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions of the essential RAS elements in myeloid and lymphoid hematological neoplastic disorders. Forty-six patients with newly diagnosed myeloid (AML, biphenotypic leukemia, CML) or lymphoid ...

To investigate the relative expression of miRNA 17-5p and one of its target genes E2F1 in peripheral blood of systemic lupus erythematosus SLE pediatric patients. miRNA 17-5p and its target E2F1 miRNA expressions in SLE peripheral blood and controls were analyzed by TaqMan real-time qPCR. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) ...

BACKGROUND: ErbB family receptors and tight junction proteins participate in the pathologic process including tissue remodelling of inflammatory diseases in the upper and lower respiratory tracts. This study aimed at investigating the expressions of erbB1, 2, 3, 4, and a tight junction protein, claudin-1, in the nasal mucosa of patients ...

Recent genome wide association studies indicate that a simple alteration of Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene expression may contribute to the etiology of sporadic Parkinson's Disease (PD). However, the expression and regulation of LRRK2 protein in the sporadic PD brains remain to be determined. Here, we found that the ...

BACKGROUND: HTLV-1 proviral load is a risk marker for HAM/TSP, but it is insufficient to determine the disease outcome. HTLV-1 Tax and HBZ proteins have been implicated in HAM/TSP pathogenesis in inducing cell proliferation and cytotoxic T lymphocytes response. OBJECTIVES: To quantify the expression of tax and HBZ mRNA in ...

Previous experimental evidence has suggested that fatty acid synthase (FASN) may be involved in cancer metastasis. However, its role has been poorly evaluated in osteosarcoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of FASN expression with pulmonary metastasis and the correlation of FASN expression with the Ki-67 ...

Lysozyme is a natural antimicrobial enzyme that is up-regulated in inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Pathogenic microbes have recently been identified in the esophageal mucosa in patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE). Lysozyme expression was evaluated in biopsies from patients with BE. Ninety-seven consecutive esophageal biopsies with columnar-lined Barrett's mucosa ...

Deleted in liver cancer 2 (DLC2) has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene. DLC2 is closely related to deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) and is located at chromosome 13q12.3. The expression of DLC2 mRNA has been found in a wide range of cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, ...

Activating mutations in the KRAS oncogene are associated with three related human syndromes, which vary in hair and skin phenotypes depending on the involved allele. How variations in RAS signals are interpreted during hair and skin development is unknown. In this study, we investigated the developmental and transcriptional response of ...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether surfactant-associated protein B (SP-B) mRNA deficiency is involved in the pathogenesis of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). A total of 60 unrelated neonates who died of RDS were recruited as the RDS group and subgrouped into a ≤32-, a 32-36(+6)- and ...

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease associated with long periods of quiescent disease followed by fulminant exacerbation. Imminent relapse in UC is associated with high mucosal expression of SOCS3 and hence knowledge of the mechanisms driving mucosal SOCS3 expression may provide important clues as to rational therapy. Thus here we ...

In recent times, the role of LXRs in skin physiology and pathology has evolved rapidly because of their role in proliferation, carcinogenesis, differentiation and permeability barrier function. LXRs were identified as promising drug targets for the treatment of many skin diseases. For this study, skin biopsies were taken from 15 ...

Acne inversa is a chronic, suppurative relapsing inflammatory skin disease that primarily affects the axillae, perineum and inframammary regions. Evidence suggests that the innate immune system is involved in the pathogenesis of acne inversa. To investigate the role of the innate immune system in acne inversa. Skin biopsies were obtained ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of the expression of metalloproteinases (MMPs)-2 and -9 at a transcriptional level in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine mRNA expression levels of MMP-2 ...

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic degenerative disease characterized by the loss of articular cartilage components due to an imbalance between extracellular matrix destruction and repair. The proinflammatory cytokines involved in OA, TNFα and IL1β, are considered the major implicated. The aim of this study was to investigate the ...

Members of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily have been revealed to be associated with painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis (PBS/IC). TNF ligand-related molecule 1A (TL1A) and its receptor, death receptor 3 (DR3), belong to the TNF superfamily and have been implicated in chronic inflammatory diseases. Bladder biopsies from 8 female ...

Metalloproteases with a disintegrin domain (ADAM) has already been implicated in various cellular processes such as cytokine and growth factor shedding, proliferation, migration, and degradation of extracellular matrix. Their role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis in carotid lesions is however unknown. The aim of the study was to ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Type IV collagen (ColIV) is the most important scaffold for the basement membrane (BM) proteins, and plays an important role in regulating and limiting tumour invasion and metastasis. METHODS: Here, we observed the changes in morphology and distribution of type IV collagen (ColIV) in the basement membrane (BM) ...

Proliferation and the sequence of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET), called epithelial-mesenchymal-epithelial (EME) cycling are pivotal mechanisms of kidney repair and fibrosis. Furthermore, data suggest that dedifferentiation (EMT) is a prerequisite for proliferation of tubule cells. These processes have been shown to be regulated ...

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and agrin play unique functional roles in the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). AChE is a cholinergic and agrin a synaptogenetic component. In spite of their different functions, they share several common features: their targeting is determined by alternative splicing; unlike most other NMJ components they are expressed in both, ...

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play pivotal roles in diverse biological processes. Altered expressions of miR-17-5p in several tumor types have been reported. However, the expression and clinical significance of serum miR-17-5p in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are unclear. Methodology: The expression of miR-17-5p was measured in ...

Abstract Conclusion: Dexamethasone provides protection against noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) possibly by suppressing cochlear Hes1 expression via a glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-dependent mechanism. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to explore whether hairy and enhancer of split 1 (Hes1) was involved in the protective effect of dexamethasone against NIHL. ...

BACKGROUND: Human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (Her2)/ErbB2 plays a key role in the initiation and progression of invasive breast cancer. However, the prognostic relevance to breast cancer patients of the other ErbB family members has long been a matter of debate. METHODS: In a series of 250 primary ...

Root hair morphogenesis is driven by an amalgam of interacting processes controlled by complex signaling events. Redox processes and transcriptional control are critical for root hair development. However, the molecular mechanisms that integrate redox state and transcription are largely unknown. To elucidate a possible role of transcriptional Mediators in root ...

It has been reported that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) promotes the healing of skin ulceration by inducing fibroblast proliferation, yet the role of bFGF on epidermal barrier function, especially from the perspective of scratch-induced skin abrasion, remains unknown. To this end, we initially developed an epidermal abrasion mouse model ...

Fibrillar amyloid plaques are largely composed of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides that are metabolized into products, including Aβ1-16, by proteases including matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9). The balance between production and degradation of Aβ proteins is critical to amyloid accumulation and resulting disease. Regulation of MMP-9 and its endogenous inhibitor tissue inhibitor ...

Systemic sclerosis is a disease hallmarked by microangiopathy; the enlargement and leakage of skin capillaries in active stages develops into extensive avascular areas, clinically associated with severe tissue hypoxia and the formation of digital ulcers. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is upregulated in all stages of the disease, with little ...

Recently, we showed that increased miR-181a expression was associated with improved outcomes in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML). Interestingly, miR-181a expression was increased in CN-AML patients harboring CEBPA mutations, which are usually biallelic and associate with better prognosis. CEBPA encodes the C/EBPα transcription factor. We demonstrate here that the ...

Dysregulated complement is thought to play a central role in Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) pathogenesis, but the specific mechanisms have yet to be determined. In maculas of AMD specimens, we found that the complement regulatory protein, CD59, was increased in regions of uninvolved retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) of early AMD, ...

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than ~200 nucleotides with little or no protein-coding capacity. There is evidence that the lncRNAs are involved in a variety of biological functions and are associated with human diseases. The aim of this study was to reveal any potential lncRNA regulatory mechanism ...

Few studies have investigated the changes of Th1- and Th2-type cytokines in pulmonary embolism (PE) patients. In this study, the gene expression of interleukins and the balance of Th1- and Th2-type cytokines in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of PE patients and controls were investigated. A total of 20 ...

BACKGROUND: This study is to investigate the time-course expression of TLR2 and TLR4 on peripheral monocytes in patients receiving major abdominal surgical operation. METHODS: Blood samples were obtained from peripheral vein before and after an operation in 30 patients with gastrointestinal or pancreatic surgery. The mRNA expression of TLR2, TLR4, ...

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the amino acid tracer 6-(18)F-fluoro-L-3,4-dihydroxy-phenylalanine ((18)F-DOPA) may provide better spatial and functional information in human gliomas than CT or MRI alone. The L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) is responsible for membrane transport of large neutral amino acids in normal cells. This study assessed ...

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: The immunoregulatory function of interleukin (IL)-29 has recently been recognized. However, little is known about the involvement of IL-29 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aimed to examine the expression profiles of IL-29 in blood, synovial fluid (SF) and synovium in RA patients and investigate ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the alterations in histone modifications in woman with endometriosis. METHODS: Global histone H3/H4 acetylation and H3K4/H3K9 methylation in eutopic and ectopic endometrium from 15 endometriosis patients were assayed using the EpiQuik™ global histone H3/H4 acetylation and H3K4/H3K9 methylation assay kits. Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was ...