background macrophages play critical roles in innate immune response in the liver. whether macrophages participate in liver innate immunity against hcv replication is poorly understood objectives the aim of this study was to investigate the role of macrophages in liver innate immunity against hcv replication. conclusions macrophages may play an important role in liver innate immunity against hc...

background: it is not yet known which types of toll-like receptors (tlrs) are most effective in helicobacter pylori (h. pylori) recognition. it is also not known which gastric zones have the most prominent roles in tlr-mediated bacterial recognition. the aim of this work was to analyze the expression of tlr2 and tlr4 in biopsy specimens from h. pylori-infected patients. methods: thirty-eight pa...

Toll, a transmembrane molecule with extracellular leucine-rich repeats, is dynamically expressed by the Drosophila embryonic musculature. Growth cones of RP3 and other motoneurons normally grow past Toll-positive muscle cells and innervate more distal muscle cells, which have down-regulated their Toll expression. In this study, we show that reciprocal genetic manipulations of Toll proteins can ...

This paper tests the hypothesis that the salience of a tax system affects equilibrium tax rates. I analyze how toll rates change after toll facilities adopt electronic toll collection, under which tolls are automatically deducted as the car drives through the toll plaza, eliminating the need to hand over cash. A survey I conducted indicates that drivers are much less aware of toll rates when th...

Dorsoventral cell fate in the Drosophila embryo is specified by activation of the Toll receptor, leading to a ventral-to-dorsal gradient across nuclei of the NF-κB transcription factor Dorsal. Toll receptor has been investigated genetically, molecularly, and immunohistologically, but much less is known about its dynamics in living embryos. Using live imaging of fluorescent protein chimeras, we ...

OBJECTIVE Platelets contribute to thrombosis, and platelet toll-like receptors (TLRs) are central in pathogen detection, potentially mediating infection-induced vascular occlusion. Using a large community-based cohort study, we sought to examine if platelets express all known TLR transcripts and analyze their association with cardiovascular risk factors. APPROACH AND RESULTS mRNA levels for T...

BACKGROUND Severe leptospirosis features bleeding and multi-organ failure, leading to shock and death. Currently it is assumed that both exaggerated inflammation and immune suppression contribute to mortality in sepsis. Indeed, several proinflammatory cytokines are reported to be induced during leptospirosis. Toll-like receptors, which play an important role in the initiation of an innate immun...

Extracellular adenosine, a key regulator of physiology and immune cell function that is found at elevated levels in neonatal blood, is generated by phosphohydrolysis of adenine nucleotides released from cells and catabolized by deamination to inosine. Generation of adenosine monophosphate (AMP) in blood is driven by cell-associated enzymes, whereas conversion of AMP to adenosine is largely medi...

Insects defend themselves against infectious microorganisms by synthesizing potent antimicrobial peptides. Drosophila has appeared in recent years as a favorable model to study this innate host defense. A genetic analysis of the regulation of the antifungal peptide drosomycin has demonstrated a key role for the transmembrane receptor Toll, which prompted the search for mammalian homologs. Two o...