The involvement of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in immunity against human herpesviruses has not been previously demonstrated. We show that infection of endothelial cells with Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), a human oncogenic virus, leads to rapid suppression of TLR4 expression. This is a mechanism of immune escape as TLR4 mediates innate immunity against KSHV. In vitro, cells lacking TLR4 are...

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal toxic that can cause health problems including lung injury. This study was set out to meet the growing demand for effective treatment of diseases and explore mechanism caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE, natural phenolic acid) protect against Cd-caused damage. In this study, CAPE significantly increased mice body weight, decreased W/D ratio, alleviated histomorphol...

The pathogenic networks of immune, vascular, and fibrotic processes underlying non-resolving fibrosis in SSc remain poorly understood. Our previous studies demonstrated that while TLR4 its cognate damage-associated endogenous ligands (DAMPs) elicited potent profibrotic effects myofibroblasts activation, genetic targeting or DAMPs mice accelerated resolution. To prevent aberrant DAMP-TLR4 signal...

Palmitic acid (PA) and other saturated fatty acids are known to stimulate pro-inflammatory responses in human immune cells via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). However, the molecular mechanism responsible for fatty acid stimulation of TLR4 remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that PA functions as a ligand for TLR4 on human monocyte derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). Hydrophobicity protein modeling i...

The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling on cardiac myocytes versus immune cells in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cardiac dysfunction. Cardiac myocytes isolated from LPS-treated C57Bl/6 mice showed reduced shortening and calcium transients as compared with myocytes from untreated mice. In addition, LPS-treated C57Bl/6 mice showed impair...

BACKGROUND Inflammation increases the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). We and others have described a role for TLR4, the receptor for LPS, in colon cancer. To explore the relationships between TLR4 expression and CRC, we combined the strength of transcriptome array data and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. METHODS TLR4 signal intensity was scored in the stromal and epithelial compartments....

Toll like receptors (TLRs) with a myeloid differentiation antigen (CD14) recognize and bind various structures from invading microbes and then trigger cell activation. They initiate a variety of effectors' functions, including cytokine secretion, proliferation, co-stimulation or phagocyte maturation. The aim of this study was to evaluate Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and CD14 expression in childr...

Intestinal mucosal injury occurs after remote trauma although the mechanisms that sense remote injury and lead to intestinal epithelial disruption remain incompletely understood. We now hypothesize that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling on enterocytes after remote injury, potentially through the endogenous TLR4 ligand high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), could lead to intestinal dysfunction a...

We hypothesized that PU.1 and PU.1 interacting proteins (PIP) binding to the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) promoter is involved in endotoxin-induced upregulation of TLR4 gene expression. Our results employing chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicate that PU.1 binds to the murine TLR4 promoter both in macrophage cells and, most importantly, in whole lung tissue. Treatment of RAW 264.7 cells w...

Hypertension-induced cardiovascular hypertrophy and fibrosis are critical in the development of heart failure. The activity of TLRs has been found to be involved in the development of pressure overload-induced myocardial hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis. We wondered whether vaccine bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), which activated TLR4 to elicit immune responses, modulated the pressure overload-s...