Arsenic (As) contamination in soil and groundwater has become a serious problem to public health. To examine how microbial communities and functional genes respond to long-term arsenic contamination in vertical soil profile, soil samples were collected from the surface to the depth of 4 m (with an interval of 1 m) after 16-year arsenic downward infiltration. Integrating BioLog and functional ge...

Angiopoietin-2 (ANG2/ANGPT2) is a context-dependent TIE2 receptor agonist/antagonist and proangiogenic factor. Although ANG2 neutralization improves tumor angiogenesis and growth inhibition by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A signaling blockade, the mechanistic underpinnings of such therapeutic benefits remain poorly explored. We employed late-stage RIP1-Tag2 pancreatic neuroendocrin...

The innate immune cell sensor leucine-rich-containing family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome controls the activation of caspase-1, and the release of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18. The NLRP3 inflammasome is implicated in adipose tissue inflammation and the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that adipose tissue inflammat...

In mammals, resistance to primary and secondary viral infections critically involves major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTLs). Although many gene homologues involved in CTL function have been identified in all vertebrate classes, antiviral CTL responses have been poorly characterized for ectothermic vertebrates. Because of the threat of emerging wi...

To examine whether cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs: LTC4, LTD4 and LTE4) induce symptoms of allergic rhinitis via their receptors, we studied the following: i) the specific binding of radiolabeled cysLTs to guinea pig nasal mucosa membrane and ii) effects of nasal LTD4 challenge in normal guinea pigs. The binding study indicated that there was a single population of binding sites for LTC4, LTD4 ...

PURPOSE Extensive data support the influence of the upper airway on lower airway inflammation and pathophysiology in allergic disease. However, few studies have focused on allergic inflammation in the nose after an isolated lower airway allergen challenge, a situation that can exist clinically when human subjects breathe primarily through the mouth, as occurs when nasally congested. This study ...

Obesity is accompanied by chronic, low-grade inflammation in adipose tissue, which is associated with insulin resistance and consequent multiple metabolic diseases. In addition to M1 macrophage infiltration, multiple involvements of adipose tissue T lymphocytes in the progression of inflammation have been highlighted recently. Here, we isolated a specific Vα5/Vβ8.2 TCR-bearing T cell that accum...

Islet amyloid has been suggested to be an important link between insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. To investigate the prevalence and clinicopathological characteristics of islet amyloid, we examined consecutive autopsies of 235 Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes and 533 nondiabetic subjects. Islet amyloid deposits were identified using Congo red staining and qu...