Aneste

NF-kappaB is a principal transcriptional regulator of diverse cytokine-mediated processes and is tightly controlled by the IkappaB kinase complex (IKK-alpha/beta/gamma). IKK-beta and IKK-gamma are critical for cytokine-induced NF-kappaB function, whereas IKK-alpha is thought to be involved in other regulatory pathways. However, recent data suggest a role for IKK-alpha in NF-kappaB-dependent gene expression in response to cytokine treatment. Here we demonstrate nuclear accumulation of IKK-alpha after cytokine exposure, suggesting a nuclear function for this protein...

Mammalian thioredoxin reductases are selenoproteins. For native catalytic activity, these enzymes utilize a C-terminal -Gly-Cys-Sec-Gly-COOH sequence (where Sec is selenocysteine) forming a redox active selenenylsulfide/selenolthiol motif. A range of cellular systems depend upon or are regulated by thioredoxin reductase and its major protein substrate thioredoxin, including apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1, peroxiredoxins, methionine sulfoxide reductase, and several transcription factors. Cytosolic thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) is moreover inhibited by various electrophilic anticancer compounds...

BACKGROUND: Retrobulbar anaesthesia in ocular surgery leads to a temporary sensory blockade of the nervus opticus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect and duration of this anaesthesia on the visual system and to find out whether there is any relation to the patient's age, oral premedication, time of oculopression and the axial length of the operated eye. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 57 patients with a mean age of 77.4 +/- 9.5 years were included in the study...

Bcl-3 is a distinctive member of the IkappaB family of NF-kappaB inhibitors because it can function to coactivate transcription. A potential involvement of Bcl-3 in oncogenesis is highlighted by the fact that it was cloned due to its location at a breakpoint junction in some cases of human B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and that it is highly expressed in human breast tumor tissue. To analyze the effects of Bcl-3 dysregulation in breast epithelial cells, we created stable immortalized human breast epithelial cell lines either expressing Bcl-3 or carrying the corresponding vector control plasmid...

Wnt-4 signaling plays a critical role in kidney development and is associated with the epithelial conversion of the metanephric mesenchyme. Furthermore, secreted Frizzled-related proteins (sFRPs) that can bind Wnts are normally expressed in the developing metanephros, and function in other systems as modulators of Wnt signaling. sfrp-1 is distributed throughout the medullary and cortical stroma in the metanephros, but is absent from condensed mesenchyme and primitive tubular epithelia of the developing nephron where wnt-4 is highly expressed...

Secreted Frizzled-related protein-1 (sFRP-1) contains a cysteine-rich domain homologous to the putative Wnt-binding site of Frizzleds. To facilitate the biochemical and biological analysis of sFRP-1, we developed a mammalian recombinant expression system that yields approximately 3 mg of purified protein/liter of conditioned medium. Using this recombinant protein, we demonstrated that sFRP-1 and Wg (wingless) interact in enzyme-linked immunosorbent and co-precipitation assays. Surprisingly, a derivative lacking the cysteine-rich domain retained the ability to bind Wg...

OBJECTIVE: To facilitate teaching the pharmacologic determinants of clinically observed drug effect, we expand on the hydraulic representation of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of intravenous drugs. INTRODUCTION: There are two significant barriers to understanding the pharmacological determinants underlying clinically observed drug responses. The first obstacle is the mathematical nature of traditional descriptions of these phenomena; the second barrier to understanding is that most educational texts focus solely on pharmacokinetics...

Hemorrhagic shock leads to bone marrow (BM) failure and renders the host susceptible to infection. We hypothesized that splanchnic hypoperfusion may play a mechanistic role in this process. BM was harvested from normal rats and, on Postprocedure Days 1 and 3, from rats that had undergone laparotomy (LAP) or gut ischemia/reperfusion (I/R; 45 min superior mesentery artery occlusion). Granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming unit (CFU-GM) proliferation, a measure of BM myeloid progenitors, was quantitated using a standard soft agar culture technique...

Sneezes were induced in anestized cats by repetitive stimulation of the ethmoidal nerve. Activity of bulbar respiratory neurons during sneezing was recorded extracellularly through tungsten microelectrodes. Most expiratory neurons could be locked onto the stimulus pulses so that they responded either throughout inspiration as well as expiration or so that they began responding at some time during inspiration. As inspiration approached termination, multiple spiking occurred, finally to result in high-frequency bursts which just preceded active expiration...

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