To characterize the requirements for T cell proliferation, we have studied the response of purified populations of human T cells to varying concentrations of the mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA). ...Concentrations of PHA which induce optimal proliferative responses induce increases in cytosolic free calcium (Ca2+i), expression of interleukin 2 (IL 2) receptors, and production of IL 2. As the concentration of PHA is decreased, each of these processes decreases in parallel. At suboptimal concentrations of PHA, the addition of exogenous IL 2 reconstitutes both the proliferative response and the expression of the IL 2 receptor, as measured by immunofluorescence with antibodies directed against the TAC/IL 2 receptor molecule, but without reconstituting the increase in Ca2+i. Therefore, the concentration dependence of responses to PHA appears to be secondary to an absence of IL 2 production due to a failure to induce an increase in Ca2+i. The addition of the calcium ionophores A23187 and ionomycin or of accessory cells to low concentrations of PHA induces increases in Ca2+i and subsequent proliferative responses, suggesting that the two events are linked. The proliferative response can be inhibited by antibodies directed towards IL 2 or the IL 2 receptor, indicating that the proliferative response was at least partially dependent on the production and action of IL 2. This suggests that, although increases in Ca2+i are an integral event in the induction of proliferation by PHA, the increase in Ca2+i is required for the production but not the action of IL 2. In addition, low concentrations of PHA deliver an additional signal to cells, independent of an increase in Ca2+i, which induces IL 2 receptor expression and allows a proliferative response in the presence of exogenous IL 2.
We report a simple, rapid, efficient and cost-effective method of gene transfer into bone marrow stromal and other adherent mammalian cells. Our approach involves brief incubation of cells with glass ...beads in a solution containing the DNA to be transferred. We optimized the technique using COS cells (SV40 transformed kidney cell line from African green monkey) and a transient expression assay for chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT). Factors affecting gene transfer include size and condition of the beads and DNA concentration, but not DNA conformation. Gene transfer efficiency, assessed in a transient expression assay for beta-galactosidase activity, was 5 and 3% in nontransformed human bone marrow stromal cells and COS cells, respectively. Long-term stable expression with the selectable marker, neomycin phosphotransferase, was demonstrated in clonogenic COS cells at a frequency of 27%. Southern analysis of resistant clones revealed the transferred DNA to be integrated in low copy number at one or two sites in the host cell genome. Comparison with electroporation and DEAE-dextran indicates that bead transfection is more efficient than the latter and less costly than either of these methods. In view of its simplicity and because the use of retroviral sequences can be avoided, bead transfection may be an attractive means of gene insertion for gene therapy.
The activation of T lymphocytes by mitogens requires at least two signals; the first, delivered to T cells by a mitogen in conjunction with accessory cells (monocytes/macrophages), leads to the ...generation of the second signal, interleukin-2 (IL-2). The first signal also induces the expression of IL-2 receptors on the surface of a subpopulation of T cells; binding of IL-2 to its receptor then initiates a cascade of events culminating in DNA synthesis by these cells. Certain compounds act synergistically with mitogens in promoting T-cell proliferation by substituting for the activities of interacting cells or their products. For example, the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA) has been shown to restore the ability of macrophage-depleted T-cell populations to respond to mitogenic lectins. Transmembrane fluxes of calcium, leading to increased free cytosolic calcium concentrations (Ca2+), have been demonstrated following mitogen binding to lymphocytes and have been implicated in the initiation of cell proliferation. We show here that the effect of TPA on lymphocyte proliferation occurs in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ or detectable changes in Ca2+i, but only in the presence of mitogens. This suggests that in cells which have been incubated with the phorbol ester, mitogens can induce proliferation by a calcium-independent signal.
Results on two-particle \(\Delta\eta\Delta\phi\) correlations in inelastic p+p interactions at 20, 31, 40, 80, and 158~GeV/c are presented. The measurements were performed using the large acceptance ...NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. The data show structures which can be attributed mainly to effects of resonance decays, momentum conservation, and quantum statistics. The results are compared with the EPOS and UrQMD models.
Dietary magnesium (Mg) deficiency in the mouse perturbs bone and mineral homeostasis. The objective of the present study was to evaluate bone mineral density of the femur in control and Mg-deficient ...mice.
BALB/c mice aged 28 days at study initiation were maintained on a normal or Mg deficient (0.0002% Mg) diet, and at time points 0, 2, 4 or 6 weeks bones were harvested for bone mineral density analysis. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) was used to assess the trabecular metaphyseal compartment and the cortical midshaft.
Although mean total bone density of the femoral midshaft in Mg deficient mice did not differ significantly from controls throughout the study, the trabecular bone compartment showed significantly decreased mineral content after 4 (p < 0.001) and 6 weeks (p < 0.001) of Mg depletion.
This study demonstrates the profound effect of Mg depletion on the trabecular compartment of bone, which, with its greater surface area and turnover, was more responsive to Mg depletion than cortical bone in the appendicular skeleton of the mouse.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The NOD-like receptor (NLR) family, pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a component of the inflammatory process, and its aberrant activation is pathogenic in inherited disorders ...such as cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS) and complex diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis. We describe the development of MCC950, a potent, selective, small-molecule inhibitor of NLRP3. MCC950 blocked canonical and noncanonical NLRP3 activation at nanomolar concentrations. MCC950 specifically inhibited activation of NLRP3 but not the AIM2, NLRC4 or NLRP1 inflammasomes. MCC950 reduced interleukin-1β (IL-1β) production in vivo and attenuated the severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a disease model of multiple sclerosis. Furthermore, MCC950 treatment rescued neonatal lethality in a mouse model of CAPS and was active in ex vivo samples from individuals with Muckle-Wells syndrome. MCC950 is thus a potential therapeutic for NLRP3-associated syndromes, including autoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases, and a tool for further study of the NLRP3 inflammasome in human health and disease.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Genomic instability is a key hallmark of cancer that arises owing to defects in the DNA damage response (DDR) and/or increased replication stress. These alterations promote the clonal evolution of ...cancer cells via the accumulation of driver aberrations, including gene copy-number changes, rearrangements and mutations; however, these same defects also create vulnerabilities that are relatively specific to cancer cells, which could potentially be exploited to increase the therapeutic index of anticancer treatments and thereby improve patient outcomes. The discovery that BRCA-mutant cancer cells are exquisitely sensitive to inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase has ushered in a new era of research on biomarker-driven synthetic lethal treatment strategies for different cancers. The therapeutic landscape of antitumour agents targeting the DDR has rapidly expanded to include inhibitors of other key mediators of DNA repair and replication, such as ATM, ATR, CHK1 and CHK2, DNA-PK and WEE1. Efforts to optimize these therapies are ongoing across a range of cancers, involving the development of predictive biomarker assays of responsiveness (beyond BRCA mutations), assessment of the mechanisms underlying intrinsic and acquired resistance, and evaluation of rational, tolerable combinations with standard-of-care treatments (such as chemotherapeutics and radiation), novel molecularly targeted agents and immune-checkpoint inhibitors. In this Review, we discuss the current status of anticancer therapies targeting the DDR.
Critical limb ischemia, first defined in 1982, was intended to delineate a subgroup of patients with a threatened lower extremity primarily because of chronic ischemia. It was the intent of the ...original authors that patients with diabetes be excluded or analyzed separately. The Fontaine and Rutherford Systems have been used to classify risk of amputation and likelihood of benefit from revascularization by subcategorizing patients into two groups: ischemic rest pain and tissue loss. Due to demographic shifts over the last 40 years, especially a dramatic rise in the incidence of diabetes mellitus and rapidly expanding techniques of revascularization, it has become increasingly difficult to perform meaningful outcomes analysis for patients with threatened limbs using these existing classification systems. Particularly in patients with diabetes, limb threat is part of a broad disease spectrum. Perfusion is only one determinant of outcome; wound extent and the presence and severity of infection also greatly impact the threat to a limb. Therefore, the Society for Vascular Surgery Lower Extremity Guidelines Committee undertook the task of creating a new classification of the threatened lower extremity that reflects these important considerations. We term this new framework, the Society for Vascular Surgery Lower Extremity Threatened Limb Classification System. Risk stratification is based on three major factors that impact amputation risk and clinical management: Wound, Ischemia, and foot Infection (WIfI). The implementation of this classification system is intended to permit more meaningful analysis of outcomes for various forms of therapy in this challenging, but heterogeneous population.
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