Helicobacter pylori is an important human pathogen that causes gastritis and is strongly associated with gastric ulcers, gastric adenocarcinomas, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas. In response to H. pylori, interleukin-8 (IL-8) is secreted from host cells to attract components of the innate and adaptive immune systems to the site of infection. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR5 ...

Necturus taste buds contain two primary cell types: taste receptor cells and basal cells. Merkel-like basal cells are a subset of basal cells that form chemical synapses with taste receptor cells and with innervating nerve fibers. Although Merkel-like basal cells cannot interact directly with taste stimuli, recent studies have shown that Merkel-like basal cells contain serotonin (5-HT), which m...

OBJECTIVE Although there is a convincing evidence supporting an important role for microorganisms in the pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) which comprises ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), the specific mechanisms involved remain unclear. Toll-like receptors (TLR) recognize various molecules of microbiota including flagellin, the principal protein of motile comensa...

The development of serotonin receptor knockout mice has provided an opportunity to study antidepressant drug effects in animals with targeted genetic deletion of receptors involved in antidepressant responses. In the current study, the effects of two types of antidepressant drugs, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors fluoxetine and paroxetine and the selective norepinephrine reuptake inh...

Sequential polymerase chain reaction experiments were performed to amplify a unique sequence representing a guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G-protein)-coupled receptor from rat hypothalamic cDNA. Degenerate oligonucleotides corresponding to conserved amino acids from transmembrane domains III, V, and VI of known receptors [5-HT1A, 5-HT1C, and 5-HT2; 5-HT is serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine)] ...

FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 is a receptor tyrosine kinase expressed by immature hematopoietic cells and is important for the normal development of stem cells and the immune system. Mutations of FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 have been detected in about 30% of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia and a small number of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 muta...

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that cannabinoidergic system is involved in anxiety. However, there are controversial reports in the experimental studies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of pharmacological stimulation or blocking of CB1 receptors and inhibition of endocannabinoid degradation in anxiety like behavior in elevated plus-maze (EPM) test in rat. The EPM is o...