BACKGROUND/AIMS Angiotensin II (Ang II) plays a critical role in regulating vascular inflammatory diseases, such as atherosclerosis and hypertension. Early growth response-1 (Egr-1) is an immediate early gene that acts as a master switch for the inflammatory response. However, the role of Ang II in regulating Egr-1 expression in macrophages, and the effect of peroxisome proliferators-activated ...

ALA (α-lipoic acid) is a natural, endogenous antioxidant that acts as a PPAR-γ (peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-γ) agonist to counteract oxidative stress. Thus far, the antioxidative and immunomodulatory effects of ALA on EAE (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) are not well understood. In this study, we found that ALA restricts the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) on non-obese diabetic mice (NOD mice) with Sjogren's syndrome. METHODS 22 eight-week-old female NOD mice were randomly divided into 2 groups. Rosiglitazone and normal saline were administered in the PPAR-γ group and the control group respectively. At the age of 9, 12 and 15 weeks, on...

Our laboratory previously showed that sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) inhibited store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) through store-operated Ca(2+) channels (SOCC) via downregulating the expression of transient receptor potential canonical proteins (TRPC), which contribute to the formation of SOCC (Wang J, Jiang Q, Wan L, Yang K, Zhang Y, Chen Y, Wang E, Lai N, Zhao L, Jiang H, Sun Y, Zhong ...

Endothelial lesion response to injurious stimuli is a necessary step for initiating inflammatory cascades in blood vessels. Hypaphorine (Hy) from different marine sources is shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties. However, the potential roles and possible molecular mechanisms of Hy in endothelial inflammation have yet to be fully clarified. We showed that Hy significantly inhibited the p...

Ceramide mediates inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) which catalyzes formation of prostaglandin further activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR γ ) and Wnt/ β -catenin pathway; and hence plays a critical role in cancer. Therefore, in current study, ceramide, COX-2, 15-deoxy prostaglandin J2(15-deoxy PGJ2), PPAR γ , and β -catenin were estimated to evaluate the effect o...

Gliomas are the most common type of primary tumor in the central nervous system and are characterized by abundant capillary angiogenesis. It is important to study the underlying molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis in order to aid the identification of potential therapeutic targets. The aim of the current study was to investigate the expression levels of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), transforming g...

Portulaca oleracea L. is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used as adjuvant therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the mechanism of its activity in IBD still remains unclear. Since previous studies have documented the anti-inflammatory effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors-γ (PPAR-γ), Portulaca regulation of PPAR-γ in inflammation was examined in cur...