Search results for "Messenger"
showing 10 items of 1493 documents
Reduced oxytocin receptor gene expression and binding sites in different brain regions in schizophrenia: A post-mortem study
2016
Schizophrenia is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder with impairments in social cognition. Several brain regions have been implicated in social cognition, including the nucleus caudatus, prefrontal and temporal cortex, and cerebellum. Oxytocin is a critical modulator of social cognition and the formation and maintenance of social relationships and was shown to improve symptoms and social cognition in schizophrenia patients. However, it is unknown whether the oxytocin receptor is altered in the brain. Therefore, we used qRT-PCR and Ornithine Vasotocin Analog ([125I]OVTA)-based receptor autoradiography to investigate oxytocin receptor expression at both the mRNA and protein level in the left p…
Variability in human hepatic MRP4 expression: influence of cholestasis and genotype
2007
The multidrug resistance protein 4 (MRP4) is an efflux transporter involved in the transport of endogenous substrates and xenobiotics. We measured MRP4 mRNA and protein expression in human livers and found a 38- and 45-fold variability, respectively. We sequenced 2 kb of the 5'-flanking region, all exons and intron/exon boundaries of the MRP4 gene in 95 patients and identified 74 genetic variants including 10 non-synonymous variations, seven of them being located in highly conserved regions. None of the detected polymorphisms was significantly associated with changes in the MRP4 mRNA or protein expression. Immunofluorescence microscopy indicated that none of the non-synonymous variations af…
Precision Medicine in Graves’ Disease: CD40 Gene Variants Predict Clinical Response to an Anti-CD40 Monoclonal Antibody
2021
BackgroundCD40, a key co-stimulatory molecule expressed on antigen-presenting cells, is genetically associated with a number of autoimmune diseases including Graves’ disease (GD). Therefore, recent therapies targeting CD40 have been developed, including the anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody Iscalimab. In a recent pilot study, Iscalimab was shown to induce clinical remission in ~ 50% of GD patients, but the reason why only 50% of GD patients responded is not known. The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis that specific CD40 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes and haplotypes are associated with clinical response of GD patients to Iscalimab.MethodsWe extracted genomic DNA from th…
Endogenous levels of mRNA for IFNs and IFN-related genes in hepatic biopsies of chronic HCV-infected and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis patients.
2003
To investigate the intra-hepatic activation of the IFN system in patients affected by chronic HCV-infection in comparison with that observed in a non-infectious liver disease such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, we measured the liver steady state mRNA levels of interferon-alpha, interferon-beta and interferon-gamma as well as of IFN-related genes (IFNAR-1, STAT1alpha, PKR, 2-5 AS, IRF-1, ICE and IL-18). In HCV-infected subjects, possible correlations of these parameters with viral load and liver injury were also analyzed. Twenty-four chronic untreated HCV-infected subjects and seven patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis were enrolled in the study. Liver biopsies were graded accordin…
Cellular distribution of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit mRNAs in the human cerebral cortex as revealed by non-isotopic in situ hybridizatio…
1994
The pharmacology of telencephalic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) has become an important issue in recent years. While in the human brain a direct pharmacological assessment is difficult to achieve the visualization of nAChRs has been enabled by histochemical techniques providing an ever increasing and improving resolution. Receptor autoradiography was used to visualize binding sites on the level of cortical layers whereas immunohistochemistry has allowed for the cell type-specific and ultrastructural localization of receptor protein. Further investigations have to elucidate the cellular sites of NAChR biosynthesis by visualizing subunit-specific transcripts. Using autopsy sample…
Differential transcriptomic profile in spermatozoa achieving pregnancy or not via ICSI
2010
Basic sperm analysis is limited as a method of estimating pregnancy. This study’s objective was use of microarray technology to differentiate the gene expressions of spermatozoa that achieved pregnancy in an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)cycle in an oocyte donation programme with those that did not achieve pregnancy. A study of nested cases and controls was designed to evaluate fresh and frozen spermatozoa from infertile males undergoing ICSI with donor oocytes. The global genome expression of pooled samples from each group (achieving pregnancy versus those that didn’t, from fresh or frozen spermatozoa)was compared using microarray analysis. The level of expression of some of the t…
Ribonucleotide Reductase Messenger RNA Expression and Survival in Gemcitabine/Cisplatin-Treated Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients
2004
Abstract Purpose: No chemotherapy regimen, including the widely used combination of gemcitabine/cisplatin, confers significantly improved survival over any other in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, the selection of patients according to key genetic characteristics can help to tailor chemotherapy. Ribonucleotide reductase subunit M1 (RRM1) is involved in DNA synthesis and repair and in gemcitabine metabolism, and the excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1) gene has been related to cisplatin activity. Experimental Design: Patients were part of a large randomized trial carried out from September 1998 to July 2000, comparing gemcitabine/cisplatin versus gemcit…
Overexpression of interleukin-23, but not interleukin-17, as an immunologic signature of subclinical intestinal inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis
2009
Objective Subclinical gut inflammation is common in spondylarthritis, but the immunologic abnormalities underlying this process are undefined. Perturbation of the interleukin-23 (IL-23)/Th17 axis has emerged as a fundamental trigger of chronic inflammation. This study was undertaken to investigate the expression and tissue distribution of IL-23/Th17–related molecules in Crohn's disease (CD) and in subclinical gut inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods Quantitative gene expression analysis of Th1/Th2 and IL-23/Th17 responses was performed in intestinal biopsy samples obtained from 12 patients with CD, 15 patients with AS, and 13 controls. IL-23 tissue distribution and identific…
Increased expression of IL-19 in the epithelium of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps.
2012
Background : Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is an inflammation of the nose and of the paranasal sinuses. The involvement of the respiratory epithelium in the mechanisms of CRS is poorly understood. Aims : Among proteins expressed by nasal epithelial cells in CRS, IL-19 may have key functions. We here aimed to determine the expression and regulation of IL-19. Methods : Nasal biopsies from normal subjects (n = 12), subjects with CRS but without nasal polyps (NP) (CRSsNP, n = 12) and with CRS with NP (CRSwNP, n = 15) were collected. Human Asthma Gene Array and real-time PCR were used to evaluate gene expression, western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry for protein expression. Results for I…
Increased expression of interleukin-32 in the inflamed ileum of ankylosing spondylitis patients
2012
Objective. To study the mRNA expression and protein tissue distribution of IL-32 in ileal biopsy specimens from patients with AS. Methods. Quantitative gene expression analysis, by real-time PCR, of IL-32, IL-1b, IL-10, TNF-a and IFN-g was performed on ileal biopsies of 15 AS and 15 Crohn’s disease (CD) patients and 10 healthy subjects (HSs). IL-32 tissue distribution was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The effect of IL-32 on the production of IL-10 by intestinal epithelial cell lines was also evaluated. Results. In the ileal specimens of patients with AS and intestinal chronic inflammation, significant up-regulation of IL-32 at both the mRNA and protein levels was found as compared with…