Open Access

ARTICLE

Patrycja Libako¹, Julia Miller¹, Wojciech Nowacki¹, Sara Castiglioni², Jeanette A. Maier², Andrzej Mazur³
European Cytokine Network, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 1-9, 2015, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2015.0361
Abstract Magnesium is highly involved in the metabolic network such that even subtle disturbances in its homeostasis affect many cellular functions, including calcium homeostasis, signal transduction, energy metabolism, membrane stability and cell proliferation. Recently, magnesium level has been proposed to modulate the priming and activity of immune cells. We studied the behavior of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and T lymphocytes after altering the magnesium/calcium balance. We used two different populations of primary APCs, i.e. bone marrow-derived dendritic cells and bone marrow-derived macrophages, while D10.G4.1 cells served as a model of responding Th2 cells. Our principal findings are More >

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Open Access

ARTICLE

J. Jing, T. T. Dou, J. Q. Yang, X. B. Chen, H. L. Cao, M. Min, S. Q. Cai, M. Zheng, X. Y. Man
European Cytokine Network, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 10-14, 2015, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2015.0360
Abstract Endothelin-1 (ET-1) acts as a key regulator of vasoconstriction and fibrosis. Many previous studies have focused on the role of ET-1 in scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc). We investigated the effects of ET-1 on the production of extracellular matrix in SSc and normal skin fibroblasts. Primary cultured dermal fibroblasts from SSc patients and healthy controls were treated with ET-1 (25 ng/mL) for 0 min, 15 min, 1 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h, respectively. Our results showed that, in SSc fibroblasts, ET-1 upregulated collagen type I, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), type I plasminogen More >

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Yu-Ning Liu¹, Yun-Li Peng¹, Lei Liu¹, Teng-Yun Wu¹, Yi Zhang¹, Yong-Jie Lian¹, Yuan-Yuan Yang¹, Keith W. Kelley², Chun-Lei Jiang¹, Yun-Xia Wang¹
European Cytokine Network, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 15-25, 2015, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2015.0362
Abstract Depression is often preceded by exposure to stressful life events. Chronic stress causes perturbations in the immune system, and up-regulates production of proinflammatory cytokines, which has been proposed to be associated with the pathogenesis of clinical depression. However, the potential mechanisms by which stress-induced proinflammatory cytokines lead to the development of depression are not well understood. Here, we sought to screen the main proinflammatory cytokines and the potential mechanisms linking inflammation to depression-like behavior during unpredictable, chronic, mild stress (UCMS), in vivo. Mice were allocated into four groups in each separate experiment: saline-control, saline-UCMS, drug-control… More >

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