A yellow-pigmented, Gram-reaction-negative, non-motile, aerobic bacterium, designated DR4-30(T), was isolated from tundra soil near Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway (78° 58' N 12° 03' E). Growth occurred at 4-28 °C (optimum 20-25 °C) and at pH 7-8 (optimum pH 7). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain DR4-30(T) belongs to the genus Luteolibacter in ...

BACKGROUND Humanized mice able to reconstitute a surrogate human immune system (HIS) can be used for studies on human immunology and may provide a predictive preclinical model for human vaccines prior to clinical trials. However, current humanized mouse models show sub-optimal human T cell reconstitution and limited ability to support immunoglobulin class switching by human B cells. This limita...

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4/HLA-DRB1*04 has been reported to be a risk factor for Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH) with various strength of association. Its sub-alleles were also found to be associated with VKH. However the results were inconsistent. In this study, we systematically searched the related literature, pooled the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of associa...

The autoimmune process that destroys the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells in type 1 diabetes (T1D) is targeted at insulin and its precursor, proinsulin. T cells that recognize the proximal A-chain of human insulin were identified recently in the pancreatic lymph nodes of subjects who had T1D. To investigate the specificity of proinsulin-specific T cells in T1D, we isolated human CD4(+) T...

The constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) regulates mouse and human CYP2B genes through binding to the direct repeat-4 (DR4) motifs present in the phenobarbital-responsive enhancer module (PBREM). The preference of PBREM elements for nuclear receptors and the extent of cross-talk between CAR and other nuclear receptors are currently unknown. Our transient transfection and DNA binding experimen...

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is an important member of the tumor necrosis factor subfamily with great potential in cancer therapy. Andrographolide (Andro), a diterpenoid lactone isolated from a traditional herbal medicine Andrographis paniculata, is known to possess potent anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. Here, we showed that pretreatment with Andr...

DNA restriction fragments of the genes encoding HLA class II-beta antigens were compared in 34 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and 34 HLA-DR-matched healthy individuals. Ninety-three fragments, determined by six restriction enzymes (EcoRI, EcoRV, HindIII, BamHI, Pvu II, and Taq I), were analyzed: (i) A DR Taq I 12.7-kilobase-pair fragment might be a marker for the extended hap...

AIM To develop polymerase chain reaction based artificial restriction fragment length polymorphism (artificial RFLP PCR) assays for DR3 and DR4 alleles of the multiallelic DRB1 locus and to apply them to paraffin wax embedded archival material. METHODS Sixty five samples from DRB1 typed cell lines were analysed using the artificial RFLP PCR method to determine the specificity and sensitivity ...

The tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor modulates apoptotic response by binding to the proapoptotic death receptor 4 (DR4). Perturbed apoptosis due to missense alterations in the candidate tumor suppressor gene DR4 leads to deregulated cell proliferation and cancer predisposition. Recent studies have discussed the association of DR4 variants with cancer risk. We eva...