β-Citronellol is an alcoholic monoterpene found in essential oils such Cymbopogon citratus (a plant with antihypertensive properties). β-Citronellol can act against pathogenic microorganisms that affect airways and, in virtue of the popular use of β-citronellol-enriched essential oils in aromatherapy, we assessed its pharmacologic effects on the contractility of rat trachea. Contractions of iso...

BACKGROUND Retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) is a putative RNA helicase involved in immune reactions against RNA viruses and various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of RIG-I in glomerular diseases. METHODS We treated human mesangial cells in culture with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly IC), which is an authentic dou...

Background: The root cortex of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews (Paeoniaceae), which is also called moutan bark, known as Botanpi in Japan. This crude drug has been used several Kampo formulas, such Daiobotanpito, to treat menstrual disturbance and constipation by improving blood stasis suppressing inflammation. However, the anti-inflammatory effect not well studied.Objective: To clarify effects we...

Progress in the functional studies of human olfactory receptors has been largely hampered by the lack of a reliable experimental model system. Although transgenic approaches in mice could characterize the function of individual olfactory receptors, the presence of over 300 functional genes in the human genome becomes a daunting task. Thus, the characterization of individuals with a genetic susc...

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor oligomerization has important roles in signaling. Complex formation among type I and type II (TβRI and TβRII) TGF-β receptors is well characterized and is essential for signal transduction. However, studies on their interactions with the type III TGF-β coreceptor (TβRIII) in live cells and their effects on TGF-β signaling are lacking. Here we invest...

Activation of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) is associated with carcinogenesis, but its contribution to smoking-associated lung carcinogenesis is poorly understood. Here we show that a tobacco-specific carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) activation via β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) is crucial for smoking-associa...

Knowledge of the mechanisms underlying chemoresistance is important in the development of novel targeted treatments for ovarian cancer. We recently reported that targeting endothelin A receptor/β-arrestin-1, a binding partner of Wnt/β-catenin, is sufficient to sensitize ovarian cancer to chemotherapy. This result highlights endothelin-1 receptor antagonists as potential anticancer therapeutics.

These experiments examined water-drinking and arterial blood pressure responses to β-adrenergic receptor activation in young (4 mo), "middle-aged" adult (12 mo), and old (29 mo) male rats of the Brown-Norway strain. We used isoproterenol to simultaneously activate β(1)- and β(2)-adrenergic receptors, salbutamol to selectively activate β(2)-adrenergic receptors, and the combination of isoprotere...

Arrestins are a family of scaffolding proteins that are closely associated with the function of seven transmembrane domain G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). In mammals, two members of the arrestin family, the visual arrestins, are restricted to photoreceptor cells, whereas two others, β-arrestin 1 and β-arrestin 2, are expressed ubiquitously. These proteins promote the internalization and de...

Skin aging, represented by wrinkles, is caused a decrease in the dermal components such as collagen, elastin, and fibroblast. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate cell-to-cell communication via cargo biomolecules cell-free manner. In previous studies, we produced mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived cargo-regulated EVs through various priming methods reported that these affect progression of dis...