The random nature of T-cell receptor-β (TCR-β) recombination needed to generate immunological diversity dictates that two-thirds of alleles will be out-of-frame. Transcripts derived from nonproductive rearrangements are cleared by the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway, the process by which cells selectively degrade transcripts harboring premature termination codons. Here, we demonstrat...

Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency causes severe combined immune-deficiency disease in humans. It is believed that the accumulation of the ADA substrate deoxyadenosine affects T cell development through interference with deoxynucleotide metabolism and/or S-adenosylmethionine-mediated methylation processes. In this study, we used a specific inhibitor of methylation, (Z)-5'-fluoro-4',5'-didehyd...

CD4 and CD8 T cells develop from CD4CD8 thymocytes. Although it has been reported that expression of the transcription factor Th-POK is important for CD4 T cell development, the detailed mechanism regulating Th-POK expression is still obscure. By comparing the promoter regions of the Th-POK gene between human and mouse, I found that the region 3600 base pairs (bps) upstream from the transcripti...

The phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) negatively regulates cell survival and proliferation mediated by phosphoinositol 3 kinases. We have explored the role of the phosphoinositol(3,4,5)P3-phosphatase PTEN in T cell development by analyzing mice with a T cell-specific deletion of PTEN. Pten(flox/flox)Lck-Cre mice developed thymic lymphomas, but before the onset of ...

background: due to difficulty of obtaining a 24h urine (especially in children), a random urine calcium sample is recommended to detect of hypercalciuria. however, recent studies have shown that the urinary calcium/creatinine ratio varies with age and geographic areas. so, the aim of this study was determining the normal value of urinary calcium to creatinine ratio in healthy adolescent’s child...

introduction emerging hypotheses suggest a causal role for prenatal androgen exposure in some cases of autism spectrum disorders (asd). the ratios of the lengths of the bones of the 2nd to the 4th digits (2d:4d) are purported to be markers for prenatal androgen exposure and to be established early in gestation. ratio of second and fourth digits (2d:4d)  is usually used as a proxy for prenatal t...

it is well-known that the behavior of soil-structure systems can be well described using a limited number of non-dimensional parameters. this is the outcome of researches based on the premise that the foundation is bonded to the ground. here, it is shown the concept can be extended to systems with foundation uplift. a set of non-dimensional parameters are introduced which controls the main feat...

In this issue of Blood, Matsumoto et al report that T cell–specific deletion of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p57 (p57) in mice leads to a block in T-cell development as a result of hyperactivation of the E2F-p53 pathway and demonstrate that the loss of p57 accelerates lymphomagenesis in the absence of p53. T cells are important components of the adaptive immune system central for cellm...

Betulinic acid is a pentacyclic triterpene found in many plant species, among others, in the bark of white birch Betula alba. Betulinic acid was reported to display a wide range of biological effects, including antiviral, antiparasitic, antibacterial, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities. The effects of betulinic acid (50, 5, 0.5 mg/kg) administered orally five times at 24 hours interval...