Age-related pseudocapillarization of the liver sinusoidal endothelium is associated with impaired lipid and drug metabolism and the development of disease. 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine is a serotonin receptor 2 agonist that has been shown to have beneficial effects on the liver sinusoidal endothelium in the setting of partial hepatectomy. Here, we have assessed whether 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoam...

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune blistering disease driven by autoantibodies targeting type XVII collagen (Col17, BP180), which mediates adhesion of basal keratinocytes to underlying basement membrane in epithelial tissues. Here, we evaluated therapeutic effects murine Fc fragment IgG2c-ABDEG (mABDEG), a derivative neonatal receptor (FcRn) inhibitor efgartigimod, experiment...

Inbred strains of mice are known to differ in their performance in the Morris water maze task, a test of spatial discrimination and place navigation in rodents, but the genetic basis of individual variation in spatial learning is unknown. We have mapped genetic effects that contribute to the difference between two strains, DBA/2 and C57BL6/J, using an F2 intercross and methods to detect quantit...

The toll-like receptors comprise one of the most conserved components of the innate immune system, signaling the presence of molecules of microbial origin. It has been proposed that signaling through TLR4, which requires CD14 to recognize bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), may generate low-grade inflammation and thereby affect insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. To examine the long-ter...

High-fat feeding for 3-4 days impairs glucose tolerance and hepatic insulin sensitivity. However, it remains unclear whether the evolving hepatic insulin resistance is due to acute lipid overload or the result of induced adipose tissue inflammation and consequent dysfunctional adipose tissue-liver cross-talk. In the present study, feeding C57Bl6/J mice a fat-enriched diet [high-fat diet (HFD)] ...

Oral hypoglycemic agents have great potential for the treatment of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Here we report the identification of novel, small-molecule, insulin mimetics that activate the insulin receptor (IR) in vivo and in vitro, stimulate the Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathways downstream of the IR, and mimic the ability of insulin to stimulate glucose uptake, glyco...