Search results for " Gene Expression"

Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of iNOS expression in human chondrocytes

2009

Chondrocytes are important for the development and maintenance of articular cartilage. However, both in osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) chondrocytes are involved in the process of cartilage degradation and synthesize important immunomodulatory mediators, including nitric oxide (NO) generated by the inducible NO synthase (iNOS). To uncover the role of iNOS in the pathomechanisms of OA and RA, we analyzed the regulation of iNOS expression using immortalized human chondrocytes as a reproducible model. In C-28/I2 chondrocytes, iNOS expression was associated with the expression of the chondrocyte phenotype. Peak induction by a cytokine cocktail occurred between 6 and 8h and dec…

Type V collagen and protein kinase C η down-regulation in 8701-BC breast cancer cells.

2011

We previously reported that ductal infiltrating carcinomas (d.i.c.) of the human breast display profound modifications of the stromal architecture, associated with anomalous collagen composition. Among the major alterations observed in the interstitial collagen, the relative increase of type V collagen content was detected. When type V collagen was used as an ‘‘in vitro’’ substrate for 8701-BC d.i.c. cells, it appeared able to restrain cell growth, inhibit cell motility and invasion ‘‘in vitro’’, and modify the expression levels of genes coding for apoptosis factors, caspases and stress response proteins. In the present paper we demonstrate that type V collagen induces the down-regulation o…

Gene expression profiling of human liver cancer cells following celecoxib tretment

2010

Central nicotinic receptors, neurotrophic factors and neuroprotection

2000

The multiple combinations of nAChR subunits identified in central nervous structures possess distinct pharmacological and physiological properties. A growing number of data have shown that compounds interacting with neuronal nAChRs have, both in vivo and in vitro, the potential to be neuroprotective and that treatment with nAChR agonists elicit long-lasting improving of cognitive performance in a variety of behavioural tests in rats, monkeys and humans. Epidemiological and clinical studies suggested also a potential neuroprotective/trophic role of (-)-nicotine in neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Taken together experimental and clinical data largely ind…

p53 as the main traffic controller of the cell signaling network

2010

Among different pathological conditions that affect human beings, cancer has received a great deal of attention primarily because it leads to significant morbidity and mortality. This is essentially due to increasing world-wide incidence of this disease and the inability to discover the cause and molecular mechanisms by which normal human cells acquire the characteristics that define cancer cells. Since the discovery of p53 over a quarter of a century ago, it is now recognized that virtually all cell fate pathways of live cells and the decision to die are under the control of p53. Such extensive involvement indicates that p53 protein is acting as a major traffic controller in the cell signa…

Double In Utero Electroporation to Target Temporally and Spatially Separated Cell Populations.

2020

In utero electroporation is an in vivo DNA transfer technique extensively used to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying mammalian corticogenesis. This procedure takes advantage of the brain ventricles to allow the introduction of DNA of interest and uses a pair of electrodes to direct the entrance of the genetic material into the cells lining the ventricle, the neural stem cells. This method allows researchers to label the desired cells and/or manipulate the expression of genes of interest in those cells. It has multiple applications, including assays targeting neuronal migration, lineage tracing, and axonal pathfinding. An important feature of this method is its temporal a…

Cadmium and mitochondria

2009

The heavy metal cadmium (Cd) a pollutant associated with several modern industrial processes, is absorbed in significant quantities from cigarette smoke, water, food and air contaminations. It is known to have numerous undesirable effects on health in both experimental animals and humans, targeting kidney, liver and vascular system. The molecular mechanism accounting for most of the biological effects of Cd are not well-understood and the toxicity targets are largely unidentified. The present review focuses on important recent advances about the effects of cadmium on mitochondria of mammalian cells. Mitochondria are the proverbial powerhouses of the cell, running the fundamental biochemical…

Isolation and characterization of a murine resident liver stem cell.

2008

Increasing evidence provides support that mammalian liver contains stem/progenitor cells, but their molecular phenotype, embryological derivation, biology and their role in liver cell turnover and regeneration remain to be further clarified. In this study, we report the isolation, characterization and reproducible establishment in line of a resident liver stem cell (RLSC) with immunophenotype and differentiative potentiality distinct from other previously described liver precursor/stem cells. RLSCs, derived from fetal and neonatal murine livers as well as from immortalized hepatocytic MMH lines and established in lines, are Sca+, CD34-, CD45-, alpha-fetoprotein+ and albumin-. This molecular…

Role of cAMP in mediating AHR signaling.

2009

Regulation of the nuclear import of many transcription factors represents a step in gene regulation which is crucial for a number of cellular processes. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a basic helix-loop-helix protein of the PAS (PER-ARNT-SIM) family of transcriptional regulators is a cytosol-associated and ligand-activated receptor. The environmental toxin dioxin binds with high affinity to AHR rendering it nuclear and leading to the activation of AHR sensitive genes. However, the fact, that the AHR mediates a large variety of physiological events without the involvement of any known exogenous ligand, including liver and vascular system development, maturation of the immune system, re…

Monocyte-derived dendritic cells of patients with coronary artery disease show an increased expression of costimulatory molecules CD40, CD80 and CD86…

2007

Background Atherosclerosis is a disease triggered by diverse exogenous stimuli and sustained by chronic inflammatory processes. Dendritic cells (DCs) are key regulatory antigen-presenting cells and play a crucial role in regulating the adaptive and innate immune system in any chronic inflammatory process. DCs are present in atherosclerotic lesions in the areas of the highest T-cell density. So far, their role in atherosclerosis has not been fully elucidated. We investigated the phenotypic properties of DCs in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in comparison to healthy individuals. Methods Peripheral blood monocytes were isolated from 50 patients with CAD and 19 healthy individuals …