Olfactory-discrimination learning results with a series of intrinsic and excitatory synaptic modifications in piriform cortex pyramidal neurons. Here we show that such learning results with long-lasting enhancement of inhibitory synaptic transmission onto proximal dendrites of these pyramidal neurons. Such enhancement is mediated by a strong hyperpolarizing shift in the reversal potential of fa...

PU.1 is a hematopoietic lineage-specific transcription factor belonging to the Ets family. We investigated the role of PU.1 in the expression of OX40L in dendritic cells (DCs), because the regulatory mechanism of cell type-specific expression of OX40L, which is mainly restricted to antigen-presenting cells, is largely unknown despite the critical involvement in Th2 and Tfh development. PU.1 kno...

The calf muscle pump is a mechanism which increases venous return and thereby compensates for the fluid shift towards the lower body during standing. During a muscle contraction, the embedded deep veins collapse and venous return increases. In the subsequent relaxation phase, muscle perfusion increases due to increased perfusion pressure, as the proximal venous valves temporarily reduce the dis...

The transcription factor PAX2 is expressed during normal kidney development and is thought to influence outgrowth and branching of the ureteric bud. Mice with homozygous null Pax2 mutations have developmental defects of the midbrain-hindbrain region, optic nerve, and ear and are anephric. During nephrogenesis, PAX2 is also expressed by mesenchymal cells as they cluster and reorganize to form pr...

Although the human U2 and U6 snRNA genes are transcribed by RNA polymerases II and III respectively, their promoters are remarkably similar in structure. Both promoters contain a proximal element and an enhancer region with an octamer motif. The U6 promoter contains in addition an A/T rich region that defines it as an RNA polymerase III promoter. We have examined in further detail the contribut...

We previously reported that expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) was attenuated in macrophages exposed to febrile range temperatures. In this study, we analyzed the influence of temperature on TNFalpha transcription in the Raw 264.7 macrophage cell line during incubation at 37 and 39.5 degrees C. The initial activation of TNFalpha transcription in response to endotoxin (LPS) was...

Neuropeptide function in the peripheral and central nervous systems has been described in mammals as well as in insects. We previously reported the cloning of the neuropeptide receptor NKD, a Drosophila melanogaster homologue of the mammalian tachykinin receptors. This receptor is expressed during Drosophila embryonic development and in the adult fly. Use of the NKD promoter region to drive bet...

We previously identified actin filament-associated protein 1-like 1 (AFAP1L1) as a metastasis-predicting marker from the gene-expression profiles of 65 spindle cell sarcomas, and demonstrated the up-regulation of AFAP1L1 expression to be an independent risk factor for distant metastasis in multivariate analyses. Little is known, however, about how the expression of AFAP1L1 is regulated. Lucifer...

OBJECTIVE Vascular diabetic complications are associated with abnormal extracellular matrix and dysfunction of vascular cells, which later result in aberrant angiogenesis and development of atherosclerotic lesions. The tissue and cell specificity of the effects of high glucose are well recognized, but the underlying cell type-specific molecular mechanisms controlled by glucose are still unclear...

DHCR24 (3β-hydroxysterol Δ(24)-reductase) catalyses the reduction of the C-24 double bond of sterol intermediates during cholesterol biosynthesis. DHCR24 has also been involved in cell growth, senescence and cellular response to oncogenic and oxidative stress. Despite its important roles, little is known about the transcriptional mechanisms controlling DHCR24 gene expression. We analysed the pr...