Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoantibody-mediated bleeding disorder with both accelerated platelet destruction and impaired platelet production. We and others have described impaired regulatory CD4 CD25hi T cells (Treg) numbers and/or suppressive function in ITP patients. Clinical trials using thrombopoietic agents to stimulate platelet production have shown favorable outcomes in ITP pa...

Although the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) has been implicated in the wound healing process, its exact role and mechanism of action have not been fully elucidated. Our previous findings showed that PPAR induces the expression of the transforming growth factor (TGF)1, which has been implicated in the deposit of extracellular matrix proteins. Here, we demonstrate that administ...

Background and Purpose—Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications. Transforming growth factor1 (TGF1) is a pleiotropic cytokine with a central role in inflammation. Little is known of the relation of variations within the gene and risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. We therefore investigated 5 ...

Abnormal lipid metabolism may play a role in progressive renal failure. We studied whether lipid accumulation occurs and whether lipid deposits are colocalized with transforming growth factor1 (TGF1) in the kidney of angiotensin II–infused animals. Oil red O staining showed marked lipid deposition in the tubular epithelial and vascular wall cells of angiotensin II–treated but not in norepinephr...

Systemic injection of small amounts of transforming growth factor(TGF), a cytokine produced by lymphoid and other cells, has a profound effect in protecting mice from the inflammatory demyelinating lesions of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE; an animal model for multiple sclerosis). However, TGFhas side-effects, which might be avoided if the cells producing TGFcan be delivered to th...

Objective—Transforming growth factor (TGF)1 (TGF1) is a multifunctional cytokine that exhibits vasculoprotective properties. Production and plasma levels of TGF1 are influenced by polymorphisms in the TGF1 gene (TGFB1). We investigated whether the 509C/T (rs1800469), 868T/C (rs1982073), 913G/C (rs1800471), and 11929C/T (rs1800472) polymorphisms of TGFB1 are associated with myocardial infarction...

Aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs) of diabetic animals have unique properties, including the overexpression of transforming growth factor(TGF) type II receptor, fibronectin, and platelet-derived growth factor -receptor. TGF1 is produced and secreted as latent high– molecular weight complex consisting of mature TGF1, latency-associated peptide (LAP), and a latent TGF1 binding protein (LTBP-1). LA...

The thiazolidinedione (TZD) class of antidiabetic drugs, which are ligands for peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor (PPAR), has been shown to possess potent anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic actions. Here, we show in mesangial cells that PPARagonists inhibit fibronectin expression by transforming growth factor (TGF)1. TGF1 enhanced fibronectin mRNA expression, and this enhancement was ...

Smad2 and Smad3 interact and mediate TGFsignaling. Although Smad3 promotes fibrosis, the role of Smad2 in fibrogenesis is largely unknown. In this study, conditional deletion of Smad2 from the kidney tubular epithelial cells markedly enhanced fibrosis in response to unilateral ureteral obstruction. In vitro, Smad2 knockdown in tubular epithelial cells increased expression of collagen I, collage...

TGF/Smad3 promotes renal fibrosis, but the mechanisms that regulate profibrotic genes remain unclear. We hypothesized that miR-192, a microRNA expressed in the kidney may mediate renal fibrosis in a Smad3-dependent manner. Microarray and real-time PCR demonstrated a tight association between upregulation of miR-192 in the fibrotic kidney and activation of TGF/Smad signaling. Deletion of Smad7 p...