Agostino Pugliese¹, Valerio Vidotto¹, Tiziana Beltramo¹, Donato Torre²

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 186-190, 2005

Abstract Interleukin (IL)-18 is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in both innate and adaptive immune responses against several infectious pathogens. Relatively little is known about its production in HIV-1 infection, and there are controversial data on the influence of IL-18 on HIV-1 replication in vitro. In this study, we investigated the effect of HIV-1 infection, and challenge with recombinant HIV-1 proteins, on IL-18 production by THP-1 cells. This is a monocytoid cell line spontaneously producing IL-18, and consequently is particularly suitable for the study of HIV-1 effects on this type of cytokine regulation.… More >

Reuven Laskov¹, Nir Berger¹, Marshall S. Horwitz^2,3

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.4, pp. 267-276, 2005

Abstract Interaction between the CD40 ligand and its cognate receptor is known to affect various aspects of B-cell biology. Less is known about the biological consequences of B-cell signaling through tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and its two receptors. We have used Ramos germinal center (GC)-derived Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) cells as a model system to compare some of the early signaling events of TNF-α and CD40L on the NF-jB and c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways. We have previously found that both TNF-α and CD40L induced enhanced cell aggregation, adherence and modified cell surface morphology of Ramos… More >

ROBERTO YUNES, PEDRO FERNÁNDEZ, GUSTAVO F. DONCEL, ANÍBAL A. ACOSTA

BIOCELL, Vol.29, No.3, pp. 287-293, 2005, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2005.29.287

Abstract Our objective was to determine the effect of phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibition on: 1) tyrosine phosphorylation of human spermatozoa at the tail level; and 2) sperm motion parameters and hyperactivated motility. The study was conducted with normozoospermic and asthenozoospermic samples incubated under in vitro capacitating conditions. The main outcome measures were computer-assisted sperm motion analysis and fluorescent immunodetection of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins. Pentoxifylline (PTX) was used as PDE inhibitor because of its wide use in the clinic. PTX-treatment significantly increased sperm velocity, hyperactivated motility and tyrosine-phosphorylation, both in normo and asthenozoospermic samples. Tyrosine-phosphorylation of tail proteins was highly More >

Muhammad H. Zaman¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.4, pp. 179-190, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.179

Abstract We report the results of longest to date simulation on misfolding of monomeric human prion protein (HuPrP). By comparing our simulation of a partially unfolded protein to the simulation of the native protein, we observe that the native protein as well as native regions in the partially unfolded protein remain in the native state, and the unfolded regions fold back with increased extended (sheet and PP-II) conformations. The misfolded regions show increased basin hopping from non-helical basins while the amino acids locked in the helical conformation tend to stay locked in that conformation. Our results More >

N.I. Wakayama¹, D.C. Yin², J.W. Qi³

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.1, No.2, pp. 153-170, 2005, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2005.001.153

Abstract The production of crystals of adequate size and high quality is the "bottleneck'' for three-dimensional structure analysis of protein crystals. In this work, in order to shed additional light on the (still controversial) beneficial effect of microgravity on crystal growth, we focus on recent advanced experimental and theoretical research about the effects of buoyancy-driven convection on protein crystallization. In the light of the numerical studies the following major outcomes can be highlighted: (1) when the crystal size exceeds several dozens of µm, buoyancy-driven convection dominates solute transport near the growing crystal and the crystal growth rate… More >

Susanne Schulz^1,2, Undraga Schagdarsurengin¹, Thomas Suss^1,2, Ursula Müller-Werdan², Karl Werdan², Christiane Gläser¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 105-111, 2004

Abstract Background: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous complex diseases. The plasma level of this pro-inflammatory cytokine is associated with a variety of different risk factors, but little is known about the genetic background and the complex interactions. Methods: in this clinical study, correlations were studied between plasma levels of circulating TNF-α protein (ELISA), its mRNA expression in monocytes (RT-PCR) and genetic variants of TNF-α gene (SSCP), with several diseases, including obesity, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, as well as risk factors such as age, gender, inflammatory markers, the coagulation/fibrinolysis balance,… More >

Yan Lin, Qin Ya-Li, Bei Wei-Cheng, Yu Xiao-Lan, Huang Hong-Liang, Chen Huan-Chun^*

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 240-246, 2004

Abstract Interleukin-2 and interleukin-6 can stimulate the growth and proliferation of T lymphocytes and the differentiation of activated B lymphocytes respectively, and in turn enhance cellular and humoral immune responses. In this work, an expression clone using Pichia pastoris, a methylotrophic yeast strain, has been developed in order to produce large amounts of the functional recombinant fusion protein pIL-6-IL-2, which contains the mature porcine interleukin-6 peptide and the mature porcine interleukin-2 peptide. Two components of the fusion protein were connected by means of a flexible linker (Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly-Ser-Glu-Phe-Gly-Ser-Gly-Gly). In response to 1% methanol induction, the recombinant strain… More >

Dimitrios Tziakas¹, Georgios Chalikias¹, John T. Parissis², Helen Hatzinikolaou¹, Dimitrios Stakos¹, Evropi Papadopoulou³, Alexandros Kortsaris³, Dimitrios Hatseras¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 231-239, 2004

Abstract Introduction. Recent clinical and experimental studies indicate that upregulation of the TNF system can contribute to the progression of cardiac remodeling and heart failure decompensation, by promoting alterations in cardiomyocyte biology and extracellular matrix metabolism. Extracellular matrix turnover is regulated by the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which are endogenous enzymes responsible for extracellular collagen degradation. The present study investigates the fluctuation of serum levels of TNF-α, soluble TNF receptor-1 (sTNFR1) and -2 (sTNFR2), in patients with chronic heart failure both during acute decompensation and the stable state of the syndrome. The second goal of this study… More >

Arjen Companjen, Leontine van der Wel¹, Leslie van der Fits¹, Jon Laman, Errol Prens

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 210-216, 2004

Abstract Psoriasis is a T cell-mediated inflammatory skin disease characterized by an elevated IFN-γ and IL-12p70 expression in skin lesions. Interleukin-18 (IL-18) synergizes with IL-12 to induce IFN-γ production and a strong T-helper-1-mediated immune response, or to induce Th2 polarization depending on the immunological context. We have previously shown that keratinocytes in normal skin produce and store large amounts of pro-IL-18. In this study, we hypothesized that the expression of IL-18 in psoriatic lesional skin might be altered compared to normal skin. Therefore, IL-18 expression was assessed in psoriatic, stable, plaque-type lesions and early active and More >

Sukhraj Kaur, Harsimrat Kaur, Prati Pal Singh

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.4, pp. 327-338, 2004

Abstract Colony-stimulating factors (CSFs)-induced increased hematopoietic activity is known to occur in various microbial diseases; however, not much is known during tuberculosis (TB). We investigated the CSF-inducing capability of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv component. Swiss mice intravenously injected with purified 30-kDa secretory protein of M. tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb30; 0.1-10 mg/kg) showed enhanced levels of serum CSFs; maximum response (142 ± 16 colonies) occurred at 1 mg/kg. In vitro, Mtb30 (1-50 lg/mL) induced mouse peritoneal macrophages (PMs) to elaborate CSFs in the conditioned medium (CM); 25 lg/mL appeared optimal (97 ± 11 colonies). Both in vivo and in vitro,… More >