PURPOSE Although stromal-cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α is suggested to be involved in tumorigenicity and tumor angiogenesis, the clinicopathological significance of its expression in colorectal cancers is not fully understood. We examined SDF-1α expression in colorectal cancers and investigated its relationship to clinicopathological features such as tumor staging, lymph-node metastasis, vascula...

Infection with the influenza A (H1N1) virus is a major challenge for public health because it can cause severe morbidity and even mortality in humans. The over-secretion of inflammatory cytokines (cytokine storm) is considered to be a key contributor to the severe pneumonia caused by H1N1 infection. It has been reported that hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) is associated with the produ...

Accumulating evidence implicates the transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) in the pathophysiology of Huntington Disease (HD). Adult PGC-1α (-/-) mice exhibit striatal neurodegeneration, and reductions in the expression of PGC-1α have been observed in striatum and muscle of HD patients as well as in animal models of the disease. However,...

This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) mediated hypoxia-induced permeability changes in bladder endothelial cells. Models of in vitro hypoxic cell culture of bladder cancer, bladder cancer cells with low HIF-1α expression and HIF-1α RNA interference (RNAi) expression vector were established. Western blot and reverse transcription polymerase ch...

BACKGROUND Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is responsible for the majority of HIF-1-induced gene expression changes under hypoxia and for the "angiogenic switch" during tumor progression. HIF-1α is often upregulated in tumors leading to more aggressive tumor growth and chemoresistance, therefore representing an important target for antitumor intervention. We previously reported that zinc d...

BACKGROUND Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that evolves from the interaction of activated endothelial cells, macrophages, lymphocytes and modified lipoproteins (LDLs). In the last years many molecules with crucial metabolic functions have been shown to prevent important steps in the progression of atherogenesis, including peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) and...

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α), an essential transcription factor which mediates the adaptation of cells to low oxygen tensions, is regulated precisely by hypoxia and hyperglycemia, which are major determinants of the chronic complications associated with diabetes. The process of HIF-1α stabilization by hypoxia is clear; however, the mechanisms underlying the potential deleterious ef...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is a transcriptional coactivator of nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ that critically regulates glucose and fat metabolism. Although clinical evidence suggests that Gly482Ser polymorphism of PGC-1α is associated with an increased incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a direct role for Gly48...