Crystal structure of a macrophage migration inhibitory factor from Giardia lamblia

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor

Crystal structure at 2.6-A resolution of human macrophage migration inhibitory factor.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was the first cytokine to be described, but for 30 years its role in the immune response remained enigmatic. In recent studies, MIF has been found to be a novel pituitary hormone and the first protein identified to be released from immune cells on glucocorticoid stimulation. Once secreted, MIF counterregulates the immunosuppressive effects of steroid...

Structure of aldose reductase from Giardia lamblia

Giardia lamblia is an anaerobic aerotolerant eukaryotic parasite of the intestines. It is believed to have diverged early from eukarya during evolution and is thus lacking in many of the typical eukaryotic organelles and biochemical pathways. Most conspicuously, mitochondria and the associated machinery of oxidative phosphorylation are absent; instead, energy is derived from substrate-level pho...

Homologues of human macrophage migration inhibitory factor from a parasitic nematode. Gene cloning, protein activity, and crystal structure.

Cytokines are the molecular messengers of the vertebrate immune system, coordinating the local and systemic immune responses to infective organisms. We report here functional and structural data on cytokine-like proteins from a eukaryotic pathogen. Two homologues of the human cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) have been isolated from the parasitic nematode Brugia malayi. Both...

I-43: Expression Profile of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) Signaling Pathway as A Potentional Biomarker in Pathophysiology of Endometriosis

Background MIF via its receptor, CD74, initiates a signaling cascade that leads to proliferation and survival of cells. Also, MIF binding to CD74 activates p38 signaling pathways that lead to positive effect on the expression of COX-2. The aim of this study was to evaluate the gene expression profile of MIF, CD74 and COX-2 in normal, ectopic and eutopic endometrium during menstrual cycle. The e...