BACKGROUND This study aimed to predict maternal and neonatal outcomes by measuring mid-trimester amniotic fluid stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha (SDF-1alpha) concentration in healthy women. METHODS Mid-trimester amniotic fluid samples from healthy women with a singleton pregnancy were obtained at the time of genetic amniocenteses. SDF-1alpha concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked i...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1alpha (PGC-1alpha) promotes mitochondrial biogenesis and slow fiber formation in skeletal muscle. We hypothesized that activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in response to increased muscle activity stimulated Pgc-1alpha gene transcription as part of the mechanisms for skeletal muscle adaptation. Here ...

HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor-1), a heterodimeric transcription factor comprising HIF-1alpha and HIF-1beta subunits, serves as a key regulator of metabolic adaptation to hypoxia. HIF-1 activity largely increases during hypoxia by attenuating pVHL (von Hippel-Lindau protein)-dependent ubiquitination and subsequent 26 S-proteasomal degradation of HIF-1alpha. Besides HIF-1, the transcription fac...

The regulation of HIF-1alpha is considered to be realized by pVHL-mediated ubiquitin-26S proteasome pathway at a post-transcriptional level. The discovery of a class of small noncoding RNAs, called microRNAs, implies alternative mechanism of regulation of HIF-1alpha. Here, we show that miR-20b plays an important role in fine-tuning the adaptation of tumor cells to oxygen concentration. The inhi...

OBJECTIVE Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are reaching epidemic proportions in Western societies, and they contribute to substantial morbidity and mortality. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) and PPARgamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) system plays an important role in the regulation of efficient energy utilization and oxidative phosphorylation, both of which ...

Production of chemokines (chemotactic cytokines) by neutrophils is likely to be important in the regulation of inflammation and the control of infection. In this study we show that exposure of human neutrophils to various microbial pathogens leads to the production of both macrophage inflammatory protein 1alpha (MIP-1alpha) and IL-8. The bacterial microbes, Salmonella typhimurium and Pseudomona...

The von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor (pVHL) is a component of an E3 ubiquitin ligase and targets hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) for ubiquitylation and degradation under normoxic conditions. pVHL also directly inhibits HIF-1alpha transactivation by recruiting histone deacetylases. Here, we report a novel pVHL-interacting protein that functions as a negative regulator of HIF-1alph...

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha is a key regulator of anaerobic energy metabolism. We asked the following question: Does the breakdown of microtubular structures influence glycolysis in hypoxic cardiomyocytes by regulating HIF-1alpha? Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were cultured under hypoxic conditions, while microtubule-stabilizing (paclitaxel) and -depolymerizing (colchicine) agents were ...

Elongation factor-1alpha (EF-1alpha) promotes the delivery of aminoacyl-tRNA to the acceptor site of the ribosome during protein synthesis. The enzyme has a number of additional functions, including regulation of apoptosis and interaction with the cytoskeleton. We determined the distribution of EF-1alpha in larval tissues of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda , with a monoclonal antibody ...

Natural killer (NK) cells mediate defense against early murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infections in liver. The chemokine, macrophage inflammatory protein 1alpha (MIP-1alpha), can promote inflammatory responses. Our studies evaluated contributions of NK cells to early MCMV-induced liver inflammation and MIP-1alpha requirements for inflammation and delivery of antiviral defenses. NK cells were sh...