Search results for "Integument"
showing 10 items of 754 documents
Modulation of MHC Class II Determinants on Rat Langerhans Cells During Short Term Culture
1993
Epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) are regarded as the most peripheral outpost of the immune system. They play a pivotal role during the onset of an immune response in the skin. One of the principal functions of LC is reflected in their extraordinary potency to present antigen to high activation requiring naive T cells.
Data from: A link between heritable parasite resistance and mate choice in dung beetles
2019
Parasites play a central role in the adaptiveness of sexual reproduction. Sexual selection theory suggests a role for parasite resistance in the context of mate choice, but the evidence is mixed. The parasite-mediated sexual selection (PMSS) hypothesis derives a number of predictions, among which that resistance to parasites is heritable, and that female choice favours parasite resistance genes in males. Here we tested the PMSS hypothesis using the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus, a species that can be heavily parasitised by Macrocheles merdarius mites, which are known to affect adult survival. We investigated the heritability of resistance to M. merdarius, as well as whether female O. tauru…
4-Dechloro-14-deoxy-oxacyclododecindione and 14-deoxy-oxacylododecindione, two inhibitors of inducible connective tissue growth factor expression fro…
2015
Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2), a member of the CCN superfamily of secreted cysteine-rich glycoproteins, is a central mediator of tissue remodeling and fibrosis. CTGF is suggested to be an important down-stream effector of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling and has therefore reached considerable pathophysiological relevance because of its involvement in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases, atherosclerosis, skin scarring, and other conditions with excess production of connective tissue. In a search for inhibitors of inducible CTGF expression from fungi, two new macrocyclic lactones, namely 4-dechloro-14-deoxy-oxacyclododecindione (1) and 14-deoxy-oxacylododecind…
Keratinocyte-Derived Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor Accelerates Wound Healing: Stimulation of Keratinocyte Proliferation, Granulati…
2001
Chronic, nonhealing wounds represent a major clinical challenge to practically all disciplines in modern medicine including dermatology, oncology, surgery, and hematology. In skin wounds, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is secreted by keratinocytes shortly after injury and mediates epidermal cell proliferation in an autocrine manner. Many other cells involved in wound healing including macrophages, lymphocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and dendritic cells synthesize GM-CSF and/or are targets of this cytokine. Therefore, GM-CSF is a pleiotropic cytokine evoking complex processes during wound repair. Despite this complexity and the scarcity of mechanistic unde…
Temperature affects the ontogeny of sexually dimorphic cuticular hydrocarbons inDrosophila melanogaster
2002
0022-0949 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Hydrocarbons on the cuticle of mature Drosophila melanogaster flies play a crucial role in mate recognition, and protect against dehydration. We measured the effect of temperature on mature cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs) by (i) rearing two control strains at different temperatures, (ii) shifting the temperature after metamorphosis and (iii) inducing a single heat-shock pulse in control and heat-sensitive transgenic strains, over a period of 3 days following adult eclosion. This study describes the time course of the events involved in the production of male- and female-predominant CHs. We also found that 'immature' CHs, sexua…
Gender as a key factor in trace metal and metalloid content of human scalp hair. A multi-site study
2016
This multi-site study discusses the content of metals and metalloids (MM) in scalp hair of children, living in different environmental contexts, with the purpose of verifying if hair level of some MM is distinctively gender-specific. A total of 943 hair samples (537 females and 406 males) from adolescents were analysed for their content of Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sr, U, V and Zn. Elemental quantification was performed by ICP-MS. The obtained data identified different metal distributions in adolescent girls which exhibited significantly higher hair concentrations of some trace metals, especially Sr, Zn and Ni, than boys. On the base of the median value, hai…
Sequential BMP7/TGF-β1 signaling and microbiota instruct mucosal Langerhans cell differentiation
2018
Capucha et al. demonstrate that mucosal Langerhans cell (LC) differentiation from pre–dendritic cells and monocytes involves consecutive BMP7 and TGF-β1 signaling in separate anatomical locations. Moreover, mucosal microbiota regulates the development of LCs that in turn shape microbial and immunological homeostasis.
Coverage intervals for trace elements in human scalp hair are site specific.
2014
Coverage intervals for trace elements in human scalp hair commonly provide the basis for interpreting laboratory results and also in comparative decision-making processes regarding exposure risk assessment. This short communication documents, by some examples, that those computed for human hair are to be considered site specific, as they reflect local environmental conditions; also each geographic area has a typical profile of hair elemental composition of its inhabitants. Therefore, the levels of trace elements in hair are not strictly comparable between different areas of the world. This issue is particularly relevant when identification of anomalous environmental exposures are requested …
Volatile Drosophila cuticular pheromones are affected by social but not sexual experience.
2012
International audience; Recognition of conspecifics and mates is based on a variety of sensory cues that are specific to the species, sex and social status of each individual. The courtship and mating activity of Drosophila melanogaster flies is thought to depend on the olfactory perception of a male-specific volatile pheromone, cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA), and the gustatory perception of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs), some of which are sexually dimorphic. Using two complementary sampling methods (headspace Solid Phase Micro-Extraction [SPME] and solvent extraction) coupled with GC-MS analysis, we measured the dispersion of pheromonal CHs in the air and on the substrate around the fly. We als…
Genes coding for intermediate filament proteins closely related to the hagfish "thread keratins (TK)" alpha and gamma also exist in lamprey, teleosts…
2005
The "thread keratins (TK)" alpha and gamma so far have been considered highly specialized intermediate filament (IF) proteins restricted to hagfish. From lamprey, we now have sequenced five novel IF proteins closely related to TKalpha and TKgamma, respectively. Moreover, we have detected corresponding sequences in EST and genomic databases of teleosts and amphibians. The structure of the TKalpha genes and the positions of their deduced amino acid sequences in a phylogenetic tree clearly support their classification as type II keratins. The genes encoding TKgamma show a structure typical for type III IF proteins, whereas their positions in phylogenetic trees favor a close relationship to the…