To overcome unresponsiveness to the self-high molecular weight melanoma-associated antigen (HMW-MAA) in hosts with constitutive HMW-MAA expression, we have used as immunogen the anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody (mAb) MK2-23, which mimics the antigenic determinant recognized by the anti-HMW-MAA mAb 763.74. In a phase I/II clinical trial, anti-idiotypic mAb MK2-23, conjugated to keyhole limpet ...

Adipocytes release the secretory protein adiponectin in a number of different higher-order complexes. Once synthesized and assembled in the secretory pathway of the adipocyte, these complexes circulate as biochemically distinct and stable entities with little evidence of interchange between the different forms that include a high-molecular-weight (HMW) species, a hexamer (low-molecular-weight f...

Defects in vascular integrity are an initiating factor in several disease processes. We have previously reported that high molecular weight hyaluronan (HMW-HA), a major glycosaminoglycan in the body, promotes rapid signal transduction in human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMVEC) leading to barrier enhancement. In contrast, low molecular weight hyaluronan (LMW-HA), produced in dis...

It is widely accepted that the role of the high molecular weight (HMW) component is cooperative in shear-induced crystallization, owing to entanglements among long chains. However, this paper demonstrates that the HMW component has a novel effect on structural evolution during the process of multi-melt multi-injection molding (M3IM), organized as follows. First, the appropriate HDPE system with...

Genes encoding high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin, a wheat seed storage protein, are expressed only in the developing endosperm. It was previously demonstrated that sequences essential for endosperm-specific transcription reside within 436 base pairs upstream of the initiation codon for HMW glutenin translation. We have further analyzed this region by testing the ability of a series of trunca...

Adiponectin and leptin have recently emerged as potential risk factors in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis. In this study we evaluated the effects of adiponectin and leptin on immunomodulatory function of adipose mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) derived from infrapatellar fat pad of RA patients. ASCs were stimulated with leptin, low molecular weight (LMW) and high/middle molecular weight (HM...

BACKGROUND Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are reported to provide direct protection to many organs by controlling inflammation and decreasing oxidant stress in patients without arteriosclerosis. This study aimed to evaluate (1) whether an ARB (candesartan) decreases values for inflammatory parameters in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus of long duration accompanied by ar...

INTRODUCTION Mechanical ventilation with even moderate-sized tidal volumes synergistically increases lung injury in sepsis and has been associated with proinflammatory low-molecular-weight hyaluronan production. High-molecular-weight hyaluronan (HMW HA), in contrast, has been found to be anti-inflammatory. We hypothesized that HMW HA would inhibit lung injury associated with sepsis and mechanic...

Adiponectin is an insulin-sensitizing adipokine with anti-diabetic, anti-atherogenic, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective properties. This adipokine is secreted from adipocytes into the circulation as three oligomeric isoforms, including trimeric, hexameric and the HMW (high-molecular-mass) oligomeric complex consisting of at least 18 protomers. Each oligomeric isoform of adiponectin exerts ...

To study possible functional differences of the 18-kD and high molecular weight forms of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), we have examined the effect of endogenous production of different bFGF forms on the phenotype of NIH 3T3 cells. Cells transfected with cDNAs coding for either 18-kD bFGF (18-kD bFGF) or all four molecular forms (18, 22, 22.5, 24 kD; wild type [WT] bFGF) exhibit increas...