Calcification is a detrimental process in vascular ageing and in diseases such as atherosclerosis and arthritis. In particular, small calcium phosphate (CaP) crystal deposits are associated with inflammation and atherosclerotic plaque de-stabilisation. We previously reported that CaP particles caused human vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) death and that serum reduced the toxic effects of the ...

Myostatin, a secreted growth factor, is a key negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. To identify modifiers of Myostatin function, we screened for Myostatin interacting proteins. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, we identified Titin-cap (T-cap) protein as interacting with Myostatin. T-cap is a sarcomeric protein that binds to the N-terminal domain of Titin and is a substrate of the titin k...

BACKGROUND There are few published data concerning radiological findings and their relationship with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) severity. The aim if this study was to assess radiographic findings in children with CAP of different severity in order to evaluate whether some parameters are associated with severe CAP. METHODS We analysed the characteristics of parenchymal densities in 335...

The effect of inhaled drugs in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is unclear. This case-control study was designed to determine whether inhaled drugs were risk factors for CAP. All incident cases of confirmed CAP that occurred over 1 yr in patients with chronic bronchitis (CB), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma were included, as well as CB, COPD and asthma controls. Risk fa...

The relationship between serum and saliva chloramphenicol (CAP) concentrations was evaluated in 27 paired specimens collected from 20 hospitalized patients during therapy with the drug. A significant (R = 0.80, P < 0.001) but variable relationship was found to exist. Serum protein binding of CAP was also evaluated (43.7 +/- 5.7% bound; N = 24). Differences in CAP binding did not apparently acco...

The 7-methylguanosine cap added to the 5' end of mRNA is essential for efficient gene expression and cell viability. Methylation of the guanosine cap is necessary for the translation of most cellular mRNAs in all eukaryotic organisms in which it has been investigated. In some experimental systems, cap methylation has also been demonstrated to promote transcription, splicing, polyadenylation and...

Backround CAP (CEVEC’s Amniocyte Production) cells are an immortalized cell line based on primary human amniocytes. They were generated by transfection of these primary cells with a vector containing the functions E1 and pIX of adenovirus 5. CAP cells allow for competitive stable production of recombinant proteins with excellent biologic activity and therapeutic efficacy as a result of authenti...

A monoclonal antibody (MAb; MAb CAP1) that was reactive with extracellular aspartic proteinase of Candida albicans (CAP) was produced. The MAb showed strong sensitivity and reactivity to CAP but not to the aspartic proteinases of Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis, and Aspergillus fumigatus or to human cathepsin D or porcine pepsin. The epitope of the CAP recognized by the MAb was the pro...