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Marc Dubourdeau^1,2, Gérald Chêne¹, Agnès Coste¹, José Bernad¹, Jean-Claude Lepert¹, Claudine Orfila¹, Bernard Pipy¹, Denis Rousseau³
European Cytokine Network, Vol.19, No.4, pp. 156-165, 2008, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2008.0134
Abstract The cyclin kinase inhibitor p21^WAF1 is expressed in most, if not all, differentiated cells in the human body and represents an important regulator of cell cycle control and terminal differentiation in the monocyte/macrophage lineage. It has been reported in macrophage cell lines that p21^WAF1 expression is sensi-tive to numerous molecules including cytokines, but nothing was known about p21^WAF1 regulation in human peripheral blood monocytes in response to Th2 cytokines. We report here, that IL-13 increases p21^WAF1 expres-sion in human blood monocytes. This induction is a transcription-dependent event, leading to an increase in mRNA content. We show that… More >

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Justin Monnier¹, Véronique Quillien², Claire Piquet-Pellorce³, Claudine Leberre⁴, Laurence Preisser⁵, Hugues Gascan⁵, Michel Samson¹
European Cytokine Network, Vol.19, No.4, pp. 166-175, 2008, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2008.0138
Abstract Prokineticin 1 and 2 (PROK1 and PROK2) are two small proteins largely expressed in inflamma-tory tissues and involved in monocyte activation and differentiation. The focus of this study was to evaluate whether PROK1 was able to induce chemokine secretion in human monocytes, in monocyte-derived macro-phages and in monocyte-derived dendritic cells, an aspect not addressed thus far. Here, we show for the first time, using flow cytometry, that PROK receptors 1 and 2 are present on the surface of human monocytes. Sub-sequently, monocytes were selected to investigate the chemokine response after stimulation by PROK1. Our results… More >

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Burcak Karaca¹, Yuksel Kucukzeybek¹, Gurbuz Gorumlu¹, Cigdem Erten¹, Mustafa K. Gul¹, Ercument Cengiz¹, Harika Atmaca², Selim Uzunoglu², Ulus A. Sanli¹, Bulent Karabulut¹, Ruchan Uslu¹
European Cytokine Network, Vol.19, No.4, pp. 176-184, 2008, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2008.0139
Abstract In this study, we aimed to investigate the angiogenic cytokine profiles of hormone- and drug-refractory prostate carcinoma cell lines, PC-3 and DU-145. We also studied the effect of gossypol, a natural polyphenolic cotton-seed extract, on the angiogenic cytokine profile of these cell lines. XTT cell proliferation assay was used for the assessment of cytotoxicity. For apoptosis, both histone-DNA fragmentation by ELISA assay and caspase 3/7 activity measurement were used. Angiogenic cytokine profiles of supernatants from both cell lines, before and after treatment with gossypol, were investigated using the human angiogenesis antibody array I^®. It was shown… More >

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Evelien Bodar^1,3, Mihai G. Netea^1,3, Dirk J. de Jong², Bart-Jan Kullberg^1,3, Leo A. B. Joosten^1,3, Jos W. M. Van der Meer^1,3
European Cytokine Network, Vol.19, No.4, pp. 185-189, 2008, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2008.0140
Abstract Background. NOD2/CARD15 is a member of the NACHT-LRR (NLR) family of proteins, which recognize the muramyl dipeptide motif from bacterial peptidoglycans. NOD2 has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease. NLR proteins modulate inflammation and apoptosis, and several studies have implicated NOD2 in the induction of cytokines and inflammatory reactions. However, only scarce data are available regarding its role in apoptosis. Donors and methods. Neutrophils and lymphocytes isolated from the blood from four Crohn’s disease patients homozygous for the loss-of-function 3020insC NOD2 mutation were examined for spontaneous and anisomycin-induced apoptosis. They More >

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Mauricio Venegas¹, Caroll J. Beltrán², Luis Álvarez¹, Ariel Castro³, Tamara Torres⁴, Andrea D. Leal⁵, Francisca M. Lahsen⁵, Marcela A. Hermoso², Rodrigo Quera^1,6
European Cytokine Network, Vol.19, No.4, pp. 190-195, 2008, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2008.0135
Abstract Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are multifactorial diseases with a genetic back-ground. Recent results have shown that a non-synonymous, single nucleotide polymorphism (rs11209026, c.1142G>A, p.Arg381Gln) located in the IL-23R gene is associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The prevalence of IBD is rapidly rising in Chile and there is no information about the frequency of this polymor-phism in the Chilean population. Aim. To assess the distribution of DNA variants in the IL-23R gene in Chilean patients with IBD. Methods. We studied 100 IBD patients (38 CD and 62 UC) and 59 healthy controls.… More >

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Laurianne Giovannoni
European Cytokine Network, Vol.19, No.4, pp. 196-203, 2008, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2008.0136
Abstract Malaria causes more than one million deaths annually, worldwide. Understanding the genetic defenses against this disease is an important challenge for science. We know that the long-term presence of endemic malaria has led to a prevalence of the β°39 heterozygous thalassemia mutation in the two islands of Corsica and Sardinia. The populations of both islands are isolated, which could make it easier to find other genetic traits selected by disease pressure. We chose to investigate genes implicated in the primary defenses against Plasmodium falciparum: oxidative metabolism and the immune response. We indeed selected genes coding for More >

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Le H. Song^1,2,*, Nguyen T. Xuan^1,*, Nguyen L. Toan^1,3, Vu Q. Binh³, Angelica B. Boldt¹, Peter G. Kremsner¹, Jürgen F. J. Kun¹
European Cytokine Network, Vol.19, No.4, pp. 204-210, 2008, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2008.0137
Abstract Interferon-α (IFNα) is a critical mediator of immunity to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Although IFN has been used in the treatment of viral hepatitis for more than a decade, the role of IFN-α-receptor in HBV infection has not been intensively studied. We have evaluated the impact of two variants of the IFNAR1 gene on the outcome of HBV infection. Four hundred and fifty eight HBV-infected Vietnamese patients, with well-characterised clinical profiles including all forms of hepatic disease, and 160 non-infected, healthy Vietnamese individuals were enrolled in the study. Of these patients, 54 had acute… More >

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