Severe influenza infections are complicated by acute lung injury, a syndrome of pulmonary microvascular leak. The pathogenesis of this complication is unclear. We hypothesized that human influenza could directly infect the lung microvascular endothelium, leading to loss of endothelial barrier function. We infected human lung microvascular endothelium with both clinical and laboratory strains of...

In abnormal skin wound healing, hypertrophic scars (HS) are characterized by excessive fibroblast hypercellularity and an overproduction of collagen, leading to atypical extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Although the exact mechanisms of HS remain unclear, decreased HS fibroblast (HSFB) apoptosis and increased proliferation are evident in the development of HS. In this study, the contributi...

The synthesis and characterization of polynuclear lanthanide complexes and tungsten chloride clusters are detailed. The relevance of these complexes to MRI contrast agents, physiological parameter reporting MRI contrast agents, and X-ray computed tomography contrast agents is discussed. Polylanthanides, in particular polygadolinium and polyeuropium(II) complexes, represent a paradigm shift in c...

The necessary precondition for efficient boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is control over the content of isotope 10B in the tumor and normal tissues. In the case of boron-containing porphyrins, the fluorescent part of molecule can be used for quantitative assessment of the boron content. Study Objective: We performed a study of the biodistribution of the chlorin e₆-Cobalt bis(dicarbollide) ...

AIM To purify the platelet aggregation inhibitor from Echis multisquamatis snake venom (PAIEM) and characterize its effect on platelet aggregation and HeLa cell proliferation. METHODS Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) were used for PAIEM identification. Platelet aggregation in the pre...

The first-line specific antituberculous drug isoniazid inhibits the fatty acid elongation system (FAS) FAS-II involved in the biosynthesis of mycolic acids, which are major lipids of the mycobacterial envelope. The MabA protein that catalyzes the second step of the FAS-II elongation cycle is structurally and functionally related to the in vivo target of isoniazid, InhA, an NADH-dependent enoyl-...

A highly proliferative, migratory and invasive subpopulation of human placental trophoblasts, known as extravillous trophoblasts (EVT), invades the uterus and its vasculature, to establish an adequate exchange of key molecules between the maternal and fetal circulation. Our earlier studies provided evidence for a positive regulation of migration/invasion of EVT by an autocrine factor IGFII and ...

BACKGROUND Adapalene is a retinoid analogue with actions similar to those of tretinoin. It is used in topical treatment of mild to moderate acne. A survey of the literature reveals that no spectrofluorimetric method has been reported yet for determination of ADP, so it was thought necessary to develop a highly sensitive stability indicating spectrofluorimetric method. RESULTS Two highly sensi...

This work was designed to study how this ability is affected by different sperm treatments routinely used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) assay. In this study, boar sperm samples from epididymal or ejaculated origin were processed by three different methods: left unwashed (NW group), washed in Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline supplemented with 0.1% BSA (BSA group), and washed on a Percoll(...

BACKGROUND Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-(gamma) (PPAR(gamma)) is expressed in human platelets although in the absence of genomic regulation in these cells, its functions are unclear. OBJECTIVE In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the ability of PPAR(gamma) ligands to modulate collagen-stimulated platelet function and suppress activation of the glycoprotein VI (GPVI) sig...