Search results for "signal transduction."
showing 10 items of 1278 documents
Effects of leptin on lipopolysaccharide-induced myometrial apoptosis in an in vitro human model of chorioamnionitis.
2011
Objective This study was aimed at assessing the role of leptin on human myometrium, by studying its receptor expression in pregnant myometrium and the interaction of leptin with inflammation-induced apoptosis. Study Design Myometrial samples were obtained from women with uncomplicated pregnancies who underwent cesarean delivery at term before labor onset. The effect of leptin on apoptosis was assessed by the incubation of myometrial strips with leptin (10 –10 to 10 –8 mol/L; 48 hours) before lipopolysaccharide treatment (10 μg/mL; 48 hours). Results Long and short leptin receptor isoforms were expressed in myometrial cells of pregnant women. Leptin prevented lipopolysaccharide-induced apopt…
Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum and Oxidative Stress Parameters in the Pathophysiology of Disease-Related Malnutrition in Leukocytes of an Outpatient P…
2019
Cellular pathways such as inflammation or oxidative stress are the cause and triggers of disease-related malnutrition (DRM), but the influence of these markers on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is unknown. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between mitochondrial function and ER stress parameters in a DRM population. The study population was composed of 82 outpatient subjects, of whom 45 were diagnosed with DRM and 37 were confirmed to be normonourished according to the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition ASPEN criteria. We evaluated anthropometrical and biochemical parameters, pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum. Oxidative and ER stress markers …
The gene expression profile of cumulus cells reveals altered pathways in patients with endometriosis
2014
PURPOSE: The objective of this experimental study was to compare the global gene expression profile of CC of mature oocytes in 18 patients with severe endometriosis and CC in 18 control patients affected by a severe male factor. METHODS: For each group, the CC were pooled, RNA was extracted and a microarray performed. For validating the microarray, a quantitative real-time PCR was performed in the CC of an independent set of patients with endometriosis (n = 5) and controls (n = 7). RESULTS: 595 differentially expressed genes (320 down-regulated, 275 up-regulated, p < 0.05, fold change ≥1.5) were identified. The most significant changes were observed in genes involved in the chemokine signal…
Chronic alcohol intake abolishes the relationship between dopamine synthesis capacity and learning signals in ventral striatum
2014
Drugs of abuse elicit dopamine release in the ventral striatum, possibly biasing dopamine-driven reinforcement learning towards drug-related reward at the expense of non-drug-related reward. Indeed, in alcohol-dependent patients, reactivity in dopaminergic target areas is shifted from non-drug-related stimuli towards drug-related stimuli. Such 'hijacked' dopamine signals may impair flexible learning from non-drug-related rewards, and thus promote craving for the drug of abuse. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure ventral striatal activation by reward prediction errors (RPEs) during a probabilistic reversal learning task in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent pati…
Rare pre-core stop-codon mutant nt. 1897 predominates over wide-spread mutant nt. 1896 in an unusual course of chronic hepatitis B
1996
We present a patient with an unusual course of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B who had repeated reactivations of his disease progressing to cirrhosis with terminal liver failure. Each flare up presented like an acute hepatitis with very high titres of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and high inflammatory activity followed by rapid clearance of viraemia. The pre-core genome of HBV isolated from sera during 5 years of follow up was analysed. Direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products derived from consecutive sera showed a rare pre-core stop-codon mutation at nucleotide (nt.) 1897 G --> A with an accompanying mutation nt. 1857 C --> T as well as a stop-cod…
The role of intrinsic pathway in apoptosis activation and progression in Peyronie's Disease.
2014
Peyronie’s disease (PD) is characterized with formation of fibrous plaques which result in penile deformity, pain, and erectile dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in plaques from PD patients. Tunica albuginea from either PD or control patients was assessed for the expression of bax, bcl-2 and caspases 9 and 3 using immunohistochemistry and by measurement of apoptotic cells using TUNEL assay. Bax overexpression was observed in metaplastic bone tissue, in fibroblasts, and in myofibroblast of plaques from PD patients. Little or no bcl-2 immunostaining was detected in samples from either patients or controls. Caspase 3 immunos…
Expression of the tumor necrosis factor receptor—associated factors 1 and 2 and regulation of the nuclear factor—kB antiapoptotic activity in human g…
2005
Object. Tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR)—associated factors (TRAFs) are a recently established group of proteins involved in the intracellular signaling of the TNFR superfamily members. The TRAFs have been implicated in promoting cell survival through the activation of transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)—κB. The authors investigated the expression of NF-κB, caspase 3, TRAF1, TRAF2, and TRAF-associated NF-κB activator/TRAF—interacting protein (TANK/I-TRAF), a regulator of TRAF activity, in human gliomas. Methods. Tumor samples were obtained in 27 adult patients harboring seven low-grade gliomas, nine anaplastic astrocytomas, and 11 glioblastomas multiforme. The NF-κB activation was…
Apoptosis resistance in epithelial tumors is mediated by tumor-cell-derived interleukin-4
2008
We investigated the mechanisms involved in the resistance to cell death observed in epithelial cancers. Here, we identify that primary epithelial cancer cells from colon, breast and lung carcinomas express high levels of the antiapoptotic proteins PED, cFLIP, Bcl-xL and Bcl-2. These cancer cells produced interleukin-4 (IL-4), which amplified the expression levels of these antiapoptotic proteins and prevented cell death induced upon exposure to TRAIL or other drug agents. IL-4 blockade resulted in a significant decrease in the growth rate of epithelial cancer cells and sensitized them, both in vitro and in vivo, to apoptosis induction by TRAIL and chemotherapy via downregulation of the antia…
Proteomic Profiling of Colon Cancer Tissues: Discovery of New Candidate Biomarkers
2020
Colon cancer is an aggressive tumor form with a poor prognosis. This study reports a comparative proteomic analysis performed by using two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) between 26 pooled colon cancer surgical tissues and adjacent non-tumoral tissues, to identify potential target proteins correlated with carcinogenesis. The DAVID functional classification tool revealed that most of the differentially regulated proteins, acting both intracellularly and extracellularly, concur across multiple cancer steps. The identified protein classes include proteins involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, metabolic pathways, oxidative stress, cell motility, Ras signal transdu…
Rituximab modulates IL-17 expression in the salivary glands of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.
2014
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of rituximab (RTX) in modulating the expression of the IL-17/IL-23 pathway in the salivary glands (SGs) of patients with primary SS (pSS). METHODS: Consecutive SG biopsies were obtained from 15 patients with pSS before and after 1 year of RTX therapy. The SG expression of IL-17, IL-23p19 and p-STAT3 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry at baseline and after RTX therapy. The role of mast cells in pSS patients in modulating the Th17 response and the immunologic effect of RTX on mast cells were also studied in in vitro experiments. RESULTS: IL-17 was overexpressed in the SGs of patients with pSS mainly by infiltrating T cells and mast …