Patients who have renal failure and are on dialysis therapy experience serious complications caused by low-molecular-weight uremic toxin proteins normally filtered by glomeruli and metabolized by proximal tubule cells (PTC). Dialysis-related amyloidosis is one such complication induced by systemic deposition of amyloid proteins derived from 12-kD beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-m). Despite the u...

The human class I MHC molecules are known to generally exist on the cell surface either as peptide-containing complexes of H chain (alpha-chain) and beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)m) or as beta(2)m-free H chains incapable of binding peptides. In this study, a uniquely conformed peptide-containing beta(2)m-free HLA-B2705 H chain has been isolated using the recently described highly efficient perf...

HFE, an atypical MHC class I type molecule, has a critical, yet still elusive function in the regulation of systemic iron metabolism. HFE mutations are linked to hereditary haemochromatosis type 1, a common autosomal recessive disorder of iron overload. Most patients are homozygous for a C282Y point mutation that abrogates the interaction of HFE with beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)M) and, thus, ...

"In this paper we consider a class of quasilinear wave equations $$u_{tt}-\Delta_{\alpha} u-\omega_1\Delta u_t-\omega_2\Delta_{\beta}u_t+\mu\vert u_t\vert^{m-2}u_t=\vert u\vert^{p-2}u,$$ associated with initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions. Under certain conditions on $\alpha,\beta,m,p$, show that any solution positive energy, blows up in finite time. Furthermore, lower bound for the blow-...

A linear mixed model ($\LMM$) $\M :\yy = \mxX\BETA + \mxZ\uu \EPS $ with general assumptions and its transformed $\T:\mxT\yy \mxT\mxX\BETA \mxT\mxZ\uu \mxT\EPS are considered. This work concerns the comparison problem of predictors under $\M$ $\T$. Our aim is to establish equality relations between best unbiased ($\BLUP$s) unknown vectors two $\LMM$s $\T$ through their covariance matrices by us...

BACKGROUND CTX-M-55 extended-spectrum beta-lactamases are being rapidly disseminated and transmitted in clinical practices around the world. The genetic contexts of the transferable plasmid-mediated blaCTX-M-55 gene in Enterobacteriaceae were detected and characterized in this study. METHODS Isolates were obtained from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University between September 20...

The levels of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-m) in serum and urine of 24 seropositive patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with regular gold (sodium aurothiomalate) injections have been investigated. The values obtained were compared with levels from 20 seropositive patients with RA treated only with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 20 age and sex matched normal controls who ha...

Mouse NK cells express inhibitory NK receptors that recognize target cell MHC class I molecules and activation receptors that are less well defined. The Ly-49D activation receptor on C57BL/6 NK cells recognizes Chinese hamster ovary cells and triggers natural killing. In this study, we demonstrate that a Chinese hamster classical MHC class I molecule is the ligand for Ly-49D in a reporter gene ...

The role that NK cells play in the rejection of hemopoietic stem cell (HSC) and tolerance induction has remained controversial. In this study, we examined whether NK cells play a direct role in the rejection of HSC. Purified HSC from MHC class II-deficient mice engrafted readily in congenic mice, while HSC from class I-deficient donors (beta(2)-microglobulin(-/-) (beta(2)m(-/-))) failed to engr...

The urinary excretion of retinol-binding protein (RBP), beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-m), and beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase was monitored in patients with renal tubular damage secondary to multiple injuries, rhabdomyolysis, antibiotic treatment, or poisoning by various chemicals such as solvents, heavy metals, or pesticides. In almost all cases, RBP proved to be a more sensitive index of renal...