Search results for "EMBER"
showing 10 items of 549 documents
Pharmacogenetic Study of ABCB1 and CYP3A5 Genes During the First Year Following Heart Transplantation Regarding Tacrolimus or Cyclosporine Levels
2011
Pharmacogenetics explains part of the interindividual variability in drug responses. Many published works about the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on immunosuppressive drug blood levels present contradictory results. We evaluated the SNPs in ABCB1 (glycoprotein P) and CYP3A5 (metabolic enzyme) genes, seeking correlate them with tacrolimus or cyclosporine levels during the first year after heart transplantation. One blood sample was obtained from each of 41 patients: 26 treated with cyclosporine and 15 with tacrolimus. We characterize the SNPs rs1045642, 1128503, 2032582, 2235013, 2235033, 2229109, 3213619, 9282564 in ABCB1 and rs10264272, 776746 in CYP3A5 genes using the …
Probabilistic and fuzzy logic in clinical diagnosis
2007
In this study I have compared classic and fuzzy logic and their usefulness in clinical diagnosis. The theory of probability is often considered a device to protect the classical two-valued logic from the evidence of its inadequacy to understand and show the complexity of world [1]. This can be true, but it is not possible to discard the theory of probability. I will argue that the problems and the application fields of the theory of probability are very different from those of fuzzy logic. After the introduction on the theoretical bases of fuzzy approach to logic, I have reported some diagnostic argumentations employing fuzzy logic. The state of normality and the state of disease often figh…
Is There Life Outside of the European Union? Lower Silesians’ Opinions About the Alternatives to the EU Membership
2017
This paper answers the question about the alternatives to the European Union membership (and its consequences) conceptualised by the inhabitants of Lower Silesia. To achieve this goal, this text delivers and discusses the empirical data, both quantitative and qualitative, answering the sub-questions if and how their lives have changed as a result of the accession to the EU as well as what are the alternatives, namely: How would our lives have looked like if Poland had not joined the EU in 2004? The article is empirical at its heart. It is built on some fresh data from an extensive research project conducted in 2014 – at the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the EU ‘big bang’ enlargement.…
Novel Stability Criteria for T--S Fuzzy Systems
2014
In this paper, novel stability conditions for Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems are presented. The so-called nonquadratic membership-dependent Lyapunov function is first proposed, which is formulated in a higher order form of both the system states and the normalized membership functions than existing techniques in the literature. Then, new membership-dependent stability conditions are developed by the new Lyapunov function approach. It is shown that the conservativeness of the obtained criteria can be further reduced as the degree of the Lyapunov function increases. Two numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness and less conservativeness of the obtained theoretical resul…
Acidosis induces multi-drug resistance in rat prostate cancer cells (AT1) in vitro and in vivo by increasing the activity of the p-glycoprotein via a…
2008
Because solid growing tumors often show hypoxia and pronounced extracellular acidosis, the aim of this study was to analyze the impact of an acidotic environment on the activity of the p-glycoprotein (pGP) and on the cellular content and cytotoxicity of the chemotherapeutic drug daunorubicin in the AT1 R-3327 Dunning prostate carcinoma cell line cultured in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, extracellular acidosis (pH 6.6) activated p38 and ERK1/2 and thereby induced daunorubicin resistance via a pronounced activation of pGP. De-novo protein synthesis was not necessary and analysis of transport kinetics indicated a fast and persistent pGP activation at pH 6.6 (when compared with 7.4). Intracellul…
Differential inhibition of TRAIL-mediated DR5-DISC formation by decoy receptors 1 and 2.
2006
International audience; Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a member of the TNF family that induces cancer cell death by apoptosis with some selectivity. TRAIL-induced apoptosis is mediated by the transmembrane receptors death receptor 4 (DR4) (also known as TRAIL-R1) and DR5 (TRAIL-R2). TRAIL can also bind decoy receptor 1 (DcR1) (TRAIL-R3) and DcR2 (TRAIL-R4) that fail to induce apoptosis since they lack and have a truncated cytoplasmic death domain, respectively. In addition, DcR1 and DcR2 inhibit DR4- and DR5-mediated, TRAIL-induced apoptosis and we demonstrate here that this occurs through distinct mechanisms. While DcR1 prevents the assembly of the…
Chemotherapy overcomes TRAIL-R4-mediated TRAIL resistance at the DISC level
2011
International audience; TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand or Apo2L (Apo2L/TRAIL) is a promising anti-cancer drug owing to its ability to trigger apoptosis by binding to TRAIL-R1 or TRAIL-R2, two membrane-bound receptors that are often expressed by tumor cells. TRAIL can also bind non-functional receptors such as TRAIL-R4, but controversies still exist regarding their potential to inhibit TRAIL-induced apoptosis. We show here that TRAIL-R4, expressed either endogenously or ectopically, inhibits TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, the combination of chemotherapeutic drugs with TRAIL restores tumor cell sensitivity to apoptosis in TRAIL-R4-expressing cells. This sensitization, which ma…
The nuclear receptor PPARγ selectively inhibits Th17 differentiation in a T cell–intrinsic fashion and suppresses CNS autoimmunity
2009
T helper cells secreting interleukin (IL)-17 (Th17 cells) play a crucial role in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). Th17 differentiation, which is induced by a combination of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta/IL-6 or IL-21, requires expression of the transcription factor retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma t (ROR gamma t). We identify the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) as a key negative regulator of human and mouse Th17 differentiation. PPAR gamma activation in CD4(+) T cells selectively suppressed Th17 differentiation, but not differentiation into Th1, Th2, or regulatory T cells. Control of Th17 differentia…
Cloning and expression of genes involved in conidiation and surface properties of Penicillium camemberti grown in liquid and solid cultures.
2008
International audience; Based on bioinformatic data on model fungi, the rodA and wetA genes encoding, respectively, a RodA hydrophobin protein and the WetA protein involved in conidiation mechanisms, were PCR-cloned and characterized for the first time in Penicillium camemberti. These results, completed by a sequence of the brlA gene (available in GenBank), which encodes a major transcriptional regulator also involved in the conidiation mechanism, were used to compare, by qRT-PCR, the expression of the three genes in liquid and solid cultures in a synthetic medium. While expression of the brlA and wetA genes increased dramatically in both culture conditions after 4 days of growth, expressio…
Antigen-processing machinery breakdown and tumor growth.
2000
Defects in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I antigen-processing machinery (APM) have been described in tumors of different histology. Murine data suggest that defects in the MHC class II APM might also be associated with malignant transformation of human cells. This article describes the pathophysiology of the MHC class I and II APM, reviews APM abnormalities in tumor cells and discusses their role in the escape of tumor cells from in vitro recognition by T cells.