Search results for "Biological Factor"
showing 10 items of 74 documents
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor is critically involved in basal and fluoxetine-stimulated adult hippocampal cell proliferation and in anxiety,…
2011
Intensive research is devoted to unravel the neurobiological mechanisms mediating adult hippocampal neurogenesis, its regulation by antidepressants, and its behavioral consequences. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is expressed in the CNS, where its function is unknown. Here, we show, for the first time, the relevance of MIF expression for adult hippocampal neurogenesis. We identify MIF expression in neurogenic cells (in stem cells, cells undergoing proliferation, and in newly proliferated cells undergoing maturation) in the subgranular zone of the rodent dentate gyrus. A causal function for MIF in cell proliferation was shown using genetic (M…
Biochemical and Immunological implications of Lutein and Zeaxanthin
2021
Throughout history, nature has been acknowledged for being a primordial source of various bioactive molecules in which human macular carotenoids are gaining significant attention. Among 750 natural carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin and their oxidative metabolites are selectively accumulated in the macular region of living beings. Due to their vast applications in food, feed, pharmaceutical and nutraceuticals industries, the global market of lutein and zeaxanthin is continuously expanding but chemical synthesis, extraction and purification of these compounds from their natural repertoire e.g., plants, is somewhat costly and technically challenging. In this regard microbial as well as microalga…
Characterization of a T-cell-derived mast cell costimulatory activity (MCA) that acts synergistically with interleukin 3 and interleukin 4 on the gro…
1990
The proliferation of mucosal mast cells (MMC) depends on the presence of interleukin 3 (IL 3) and can be further enhanced by interleukin 4 (IL 4). The supernatant of a TH2 cell clone (ST2/K.9) stimulated by concanavalin A was found to contain a factor, provisionally termed mast cell costimulatory activity (MCA), that substantially enhances the proliferation of MMC promoted by a combination of IL 3 and IL 4. In comparison to other lymphokines MCA is rather resistant to tryptic digestion but is very sensitive to pH values lower than 6.0 and to organic solvents. Chromatographic fractionation of MCA revealed that activity is associated with protein(s) or glycoprotein(s) of 35 to 40 kDa. Partial…
Synthesis of a MUC1-glycopeptide-BSA conjugate vaccine bearing the 3'-deoxy-3'-fluoro-Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen.
2011
A novel MUC1-glycopeptide–BSA conjugate vaccine with a specifically fluorinated Thomsen–Friedenreich antigen side chain at Thr6 was prepared. Preliminary immunological experiments reveal specific binding of the tumor-associated glycopeptide antigen analog by anti-MUC1-mouse antibodies.
Interventions to Slow Aging in Humans: Are We Ready?
2015
The workshop entitled 'Interventions to Slow Aging in Humans: Are We Ready?' was held in Erice, Italy, on October 8-13, 2013, to bring together leading experts in the biology and genetics of aging and obtain a consensus related to the discovery and development of safe interventions to slow aging and increase healthy lifespan in humans. There was consensus that there is sufficient evidence that aging interventions will delay and prevent disease onset for many chronic conditions of adult and old age. Essential pathways have been identified, and behavioral, dietary, and pharmacologic approaches have emerged. Although many gene targets and drugs were discussed and there was not complete consens…
NKG2D stimulation of CD8(+) T cells during priming promotes their capacity to produce cytokines in response to viral infection in mice
2017
NKG2D is an activating receptor that is expressed on most cytotoxic cells of the immune system, including NK cells, γδ and CD8+ T cells. It is still a matter of debate whether and how NKG2D mediates priming of CD8+ T cells in vivo, due to a lack of studies where NKG2D is eliminated exclusively in these cells. Here we studied the impact of NKG2D on effector CD8+ T-cell formation. NKG2D-deficiency that is restricted to murine CD8+ T cells did not impair antigen-specific T-cell expansion following mCMV and LCMV infection, but reduced their capacity to produce cytokines. Upon infection, conventional dendritic cells induce NKG2D ligands, which drive cytokine production on CD8+ T cells via the Da…
A Superantigen as Virulence Factor in an Acute Bacterial Infection
1994
This study addresses the role of a bacterial superantigen as a potential virulence factor during an acute systemic infection. BALB/c mice were intravenously infected with a recombinant Staphylococcus aureus strain capable of producing plasmid-encoded staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) or with the SEB plasmid-deficient parental strain. Infection with SEB-producing bacteria resulted in an initial expansion and subsequent decrease of circulating V beta 8+ T lymphocytes. This numeric decrease was accompanied by a SEB-specific state of hyporesponsiveness of splenic T cells. In parallel with SEB-triggered unresponsiveness of a large proportion of T lymphocytes, a weakening of the overall T cell r…
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor induces cytokine secretion by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
1989
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is known as an inducer of proliferation and functional activation of myeloid cells. This study was carried out to characterize the effects of GM-CSF on polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) more extensively. Using Northern blot analysis, we show that PMN are able to accumulate mRNAs for different cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha); G-CSF, and M-CSF, all of which are involved in inflammation and hematopoiesis. Biological assays and immunoassays demonstrate that PMN translate these mRNAs, except TNF-alpha, into secretory proteins. However, the expression of these cytokines is dependent on stimulation by exogenous…
Prognostic Impact of let-7e MicroRNA and Its Target Genes in Localized High-Risk Intestinal GIST: A Spanish Group for Research on Sarcoma (GEIS) Study
2020
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, and they have been described as being associated with tumor prognosis. Here, miRNA profiling was planned to explore new molecular prognostic biomarkers in localized intestinal high-risk GIST. Paraffin tumor blocks of 14 and 86 patients were used in the discovery and expansion sets, respectively. GeneChip miRNA v3.0 was employed to identify the miRNAs differentially expressed between relapsed and non-relapsed patient samples, which were validated in the expansion set, by qRT-PCR. RT2 Profiler PCR Array was used for the screening of let-7e targets. Expression levels were co…
Comparing medical treatments for Crohn’s disease
2013
The drugs available for inflammatory bowel disease are aminosalicylates, antibiotics, steroids, immunosuppressors and biologics. The effectiveness of these drugs has been evaluated in many randomized clinical trials, mainly versus placebo. Few studies have been conducted comparing the different drugs among themselves, owing to the methodological problems raised by comparative trials, such as sample size and blindness. This review focuses mainly on the randomized clinical trials that have compared different treatments. Of course comparisons are mainly between drugs used in a particular setting (mild, moderate and severe disease). However, on many occasions there is no homogeneity in these cl…