Crosslinking of membrane immunoglobulin (mIg) receptors by anti-Ig causes growth inhibition and subsequent cell death due to apoptosis in a murine B-cell lymphoma model. The earliest signal transduction via mIg has recently been shown to be dependent on the activation of one or more protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs). In this study, we utilized the CH31 lymphoma, which is extremely sensitive to gr...

The regulation of transendothelial fluid flow by glucocorticoids was studied in vitro with use of human endothelial cells cultured from Schlemm's canal (SCE) and the trabecular meshwork (TM) in conjunction with computer-linked flowmeters. After 2-7 wk of 500 nM dexamethasone (Dex) treatment, the following physiological, morphometric, and biochemical alterations were observed: a 3- to 5-fold inc...

Malignant melanoma cells spontaneously generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that promote constitutive activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB). Although antioxidants and inhibitors of NAD(P)H oxidases significantly reduce constitutive NF-kappaB activation and suppress cell proliferation (11), the nature of the enzyme responsible for ROS production in melanoma c...

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of silicotic fibrosis. In this study, antisense oligonucleotides targeted to TNFalpha mRNA were used to inhibit silica-induced TNFalpha gene expression in alveolar macrophages. To achieve macrophage-specific oligonucleotide delivery, a molecular conjugate consisting of mannosylated polylysine tha...

TGFbeta is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in multiple physiological and pathophysiological regulatory mechanisms. Since TGFbeta is a disparate modulator of cell recruitment, proliferation and extracellular matrix phenotype for mesenchymal and nonmesenchymal cells, we have been investigating the role of this cytokine in the pathophysiology of liver. In the present paper we investigate which hep...

Using a novel vessel culture technique in combination with antisense oligonucleotide transfection, we tested whether the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) is a cytochrome P450 (CYP)-related compound. Isolated resistance arteries from hamster gracilis muscle (n=19) were perfused and exposed to antisense (As), sense (S), or scrambled (Scr) oligonucleotides against the coding regio...

Claims to the discovery of cancers Achilles’ heel are multiple, even clichéd. Analogies to this Greek myth usually refer to the fall of the undefeatable, yet the novelty behind the legend is that a seemingly immortal foe could be toppled by something so innocuous as his heel. This may be the case for cancer and a non-coding mitochondrial RNA that as yet has no known physiological function or me...