FSH stimulates in ovarian granulosa cells diverse, differentiation-dependent responses that implicate activation of specific cellular signaling cascades. In these studies three kinases were investigated to determine their relationship to FSH, cAMP, and A kinase signaling: protein kinase B (PKB/Akt), serum and glucocorticoid-induced kinase (Sgk), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK...

Growing evidence shows that hydroxamate-based compounds exhibit broad-spectrum pharmacological properties including anti-tumor activity. However, the precise mechanisms underlying hydroxamate derivative-induced cancer cell death remain incomplete understood. In this study, we explored the anti-tumor mechanisms of a novel aliphatic hydroxamate-based compound, WMJ-J-09, in FaDu head and neck squa...

Chalcone, (2E)-1,3-Diphenylprop-2-en-1-one, and its synthetic derivatives are known to possess anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. In the present study, we prepared a novel synthetic chalcone compound, (E)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-(2-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)prop-2-en-1-one name (YJI-7), and investigated its inhibitory effects on endotoxin-stimulated production of reactive oxygen spec...

OBJECTIVES We have shown previously that human diabetic myocardium cannot be preconditioned. Here, we have investigated the basis of this cardioprotective deficit. METHODS Right atrial sections from four patient groups-non-diabetic, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) receiving glibenclamide, and NIDDM receiving metformin-were subjected ...

During inflammation, neutrophils are rapidly mobilized from the bone marrow storage pool into peripheral blood (PB) to enter lesional sites, where most rapidly undergo apoptosis. Monocytes constitute a second wave of inflammatory immigrates, giving rise to long-lived macrophages and dendritic cell subsets. According to descriptive immunophenotypic and cell culture studies, neutrophils may direc...

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A regulates vascular development and angiogenesis. VEGF isoforms differ in ability to bind coreceptors heparan sulfate (HS) and neuropilin-1 (NRP1). We used VEGF-A165 (which binds HS and NRP1), VEGF-A121 (binds neither HS nor NRP1), and parapoxvirus VEGF-E-NZ2 (binds NRP1 but not HS) to investigate the role of NRP1 in organization of endothelial cells i...

BACKGROUND This study investigated whether quercetin could alleviate vascular calcification in experimental chronic renal failure rats induced by adenine. METHODS 32 adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups fed normal diet, normal diet with quercetin supplementation (25 mg/kg·BW/d), 0.75% adenine diet, or adenine diet with quercetin supplementation. All rats were sacrificed ...

The lymphatic endothelium plays an important role in the maintenance of tissue fluid homeostasis. It also participates in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory diseases. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms by which lymphatic endothelial cell responds to inflammatory stimuli. In this study, we explored the mechanisms by which lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces cyclooxygenas...

BACKGROUND Carbon monoxide (CO) is postulated to protect tissues against several types of injuries. We investigated the role of CO in amelioration of cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo and the mechanisms involved in it. METHODS AND RESULTS Rats inhaled CO (250 ppm, 500 ppm, or 1000 ppm) for 24 hours in a chamber after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion induced by occluding the left ante...

Depending on the strength of signal dose, CD40 receptor (CD40) controls ERK-1/2 and p38MAPK activation. At low signal dose, ERK-1/2 is maximally phosphorylated but p38MAPK is minimally phosphorylated; as the signal dose increases, ERK-1/2 phosphorylation is reduced whereas p38MAPK phosphorylation is reciprocally enhanced. The mechanism of reciprocal activation of these two MAPKs remains un-eluc...