Targeting of the antioxidant enzyme catalase to endothelial cells protects against vascular oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2))(Am J Physiol 285:L283-L292, 2003; Nat Biotechnol 21:392-398, 2003; Am J Physiol 293:L162-L169, 2007). However, another reactive oxygen species, superoxide anion, is also involved in many forms of vascular oxidative stress, including ischemia/reperf...

Platelet responses to collagen are mediated by the combined actions of the integrin alpha2beta1, which serves as a major collagen-binding receptor, and the GPVI/FcRgamma-chain complex, which transmits collagen-specific activation signals into the cell interior through the action of an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif within the cytoplasmic domain of the FcRgamma-chain. Despite muc...

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is initiated in aggregation and adhesion of inflammatory cells to vascular endothelium mediated by adhesion molecules, thereby activating platelets and inducing thrombosis. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a gasotransmitter with anti-adhesive, anti-inflammatory and vasoactive properties. This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect of platelet aggregation and thromb...

Asthma is considered as a chronic inflammatory airway disease and defined as increased tracheobronchial responsiveness to variety of stimuli. Edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in airway is observed in the asthmatic patients. One of the essential changes in inflammation is adhesion of leukocyte to endothelium and transmigration of leukocytes to the sites of inflammation. Unfortunately, li...

Mammalian spermatozoa must become ;capacitated' in the female reproductive tract before they gain the ability to fertilize the oocyte. The attainment of a capacitated state has been correlated with a number of biochemical changes, the most notable of which is a dramatic increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation status of these cells. Despite its biological importance, the mechanisms responsible ...

Leukocyte migration across the endothelial lining is a critical step in the body's response to infection and inflammation. The homophilic interaction between endothelial PECAM and leukocyte PECAM is essential for this process. The molecular events that are triggered in the endothelial cell by PECAM engagement have been well characterized; however, the function of leukocyte PECAM remains to be e...