The vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), two immunomodulatory neuropeptides that affect both innate and acquired immunity, down-regulate IL-12 p40 and inducible NO synthase expression in LPS/IFN-gamma-stimulated macrophages. We showed previously that VIP/PACAP inhibit NF-kappaB nuclear translocation through the stabilization of ...

The proteasome is the principal provider of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-presented peptides. Interferon (IFN)-gamma induces expression of three catalytically active proteasome subunits (LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1) and the proteasome-associated activator PA28. These molecules are thought to optimize the generation of MHC class I-presented peptides. However, known information on the...

BACKGROUND Pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) associated liver injury is thought to be due to the host antiviral immune response. Using a quantitative, competitive RT-PCR technique, we recently showed that expression of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and IFN-gamma inducible type of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is increased in homogenised liver tissue of patients with chronic HCV infection. ...

We have identified differences in gene expression in macrophages grown from the bone marrow of male and female chickens in recombinant chicken M-CSF (CSF1). Cells were profiled with or without treatment with bacterial LPS for 24 h. Approximately 600 transcripts were induced by prolonged LPS stimulation to an equal extent in the male and female macrophages. Many transcripts encoded on the Z chro...

Cyclooxygenases (Cox) are rate-limiting enzymes that initiate the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostanoids. Cox-2 is the inducible isoform that is upregulated by proinflammatory agents, initiating many prostanoid-mediated pathological aspects of inflammation. In this study, we demonstrate that interferon (IFN)-gamma alone or in synergy with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or interleukin 1alpha in...

IFN-kappa is a recently identified type I IFN that exhibits both structural and functional homology with the other type I IFN subclasses. In this study, we have investigated the effect of IFN-kappa on cells of the innate immune system by comparing cytokine release following treatment of human cells with either IFN-kappa or two recombinant IFN subtypes, IFN-beta and IFN-alpha2a. Although IFN-alp...

The effect of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on nitric oxide (NO) production in the mouse vascular aortic endothelial cell line END-D was examined. LPS, TNF-alpha, and a low concentration of IFN-gamma inhibited NO production in END-D cells, while a high concentration of IFN-gamma definitely enhanced it. The NO production induc...

Murine Aim2 and p202 proteins (encoded by the Aim2 and Ifi202 genes) are members of the IFN-inducible p200 protein family. Both proteins can sense dsDNA in the cytoplasm. However, upon sensing dsDNA, only the Aim2 protein through its pyrin domain can form an inflammasome to activate caspase-1 and induce cell death. Given that the p202 protein has been predicted to inhibit the activation of casp...

Gene expression analysis previously revealed a robust IFN-responsive gene induction profile that was selectively up-regulated in Borrelia burgdorferi-infected C3H mice at 1 wk postinfection. This profile was correlated with arthritis development, as it was absent from infected, mildly arthritic C57BL/6 mice. In this report we now demonstrate that profile induction in infected C3H scid mice occu...