Some bacterial quorum sensing (QS) small molecules are important mediators of inter-kingdom signaling and impact host immunity. The QS regulated small volatile molecule 2-aminoacetophenone (2-AA), which has been proposed as a biomarker of Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization in chronically infected human tissues, is critically involved in "host tolerance training" that involves a distinct molecu...

Santamarine (STM), a sesquiterpene lactone component of Magnolia grandiflora and Ambrosia confertiflora, has been shown to possess antimicrobial, antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. However, no study has yet been conducted to investigate the molecular mechanism of STM-mediated anticancer activity. In the present study, we found that STM inhibits growth and i...

Hyperglycemia-induced hyperactivity of chemokine CX3CL1 (fractalkine) occurs in the human placenta. Anti-inflammatory/antioxidant activities of resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) are related to the modulation of chemokine CX3CL1 and its receptor, CX3CR1, signaling pathways. We examined the influence of high glucose (25 mmol/L glucose; HG group; N = 36) on resveratrol-mediated effect...

Purpose: To investigate the possible effects and mechanisms of action curculigoside (Cur) on gastric ulcers.
 Methods: Human mucosal epithelial GES-1 cells were infected with Helicobacter pylori then treated Cur. Cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8), flow cytometry, immunofluorescence assays used to effect Cur cell viability apoptosis after exposure H. pylori. Inflammation status reactive oxygen sp...

BACKGROUND A long-term high-fat/cholesterol (HFC) diet leads to insulin resistance (IR), which is associated with inflammation, atherosclerosis (AS), cardiac sympathovagal imbalance, and cardiac dysfunction. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) and nuclear factor ĸB (NF-κB) are involved in the development of IR-AS. Thus, we elucidated the pathological molecular mechanism of IR-AS...

The current study was designed to investigate the pathological changes in brain induced by smoke exposure, and explore whether fasudil could alleviate these impairments.Adult C57BL/6 mice were exposed to tobacco smoking for four months, and fasudil was treated from the third months. To investigate lung injuries, the immunohistochemistry of lung tissue, immune cell infiltrations, cytokine produc...

The Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated NF-κB pathway is essential for defending against viruses in insects and mammals. Viruses also develop strategies to utilize this pathway to benefit their infection and replication in mammal hosts. In invertebrates, the TLR-mediated NF-κB pathway has only been well-studied in insects and has been demonstrated to be important in antiviral responses. However, ...

The NF-κB (nuclear factor κB) family of transcription factors are involved in a myriad of activities, including the regulation of immune responses, maturation of immune cells, development of secondary lymphoid organs and osteoclastogenesis. Fine tuning by positive and negative regulators keeps the NF-κB signalling pathway in check. Microbial products and genetic alterations in NF-κB and other s...

Because our in silico analysis with a human transcription factor database demonstrated the presence of several binding sites for NF-κB, a central regulator of cellular immune and inflammatory responses, in the adeno-associated virus (AAV) genome, we investigated whether AAV uses NF-κB during its life cycle. We used small molecule modulators of NF-κB in HeLa cells transduced with recombinant AAV...