On-farm production of protein is limited in most dairy farm operations in arid and semi-arid environments. Cereal-legume intercropping could be a viable option to obtain forage with higher protein content. A two-year experiment was conducted during 2009 and 2010 growing seasons in a loamy soil to determine whether intercropping pattern of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and annual medic (Medica...

Gfi-1B (growth factor independence-1B) gene is an erythroid-specific transcription factor, whose expression plays an essential role in erythropoiesis. Our laboratory has previously defined the human Gfi-1B promoter region and shown that GATA-1 mediates erythroid-specific Gfi-1B transcription. By further investigating the regulation of the Gfi-1B promoter, here we report that (i) Gfi-1B transcri...

BACKGROUND In Trinidad and the wider Caribbean, subtype B Human Immunodeficiency Virus-type 1 (HIV-1B) overwhelmingly accounts for HIV infection among heterosexuals; this contrasts with the association of HIV-1B with homosexual transmission and injecting drug use globally. The HIV envelope contains genetic determinants of cell tropism and evasion from immune attack. In this study we investigate...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The longitudinal relaxation time of blood (T 1b) is influenced by haematocrit (Hct) which is known to vary in neonates. The purpose of this study was threefold: to obtain T 1b values in neonates, to investigate how the T 1b influences quantitative arterial spin labelling (ASL), and to evaluate if known relationships between T 1b and haematocrit (Hct) hold true when Hct is...

Background & Aims: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the chronic autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system with unknown etiology. The present study aimed to investigate the apoptosis and nitric oxide (NO) production of endothelial cells treated with serum of patients with MS and response to interferon beta (IFN- ) therapy. Methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were treated wit...

Because both the brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) gene and the cytokine interleukin-1b (IL-1b) are induced in the infarcted myocardium, localized production of IL-1b may regulate the BNP gene. We tested whether (1) IL-1b regulates the human BNP promoter, (2) cis elements in the proximal promoter respond to IL-1b, and (3) mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways [p42/44, c-jun (J...

Protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP-1B) plays an important role in regulation of insulin signal transduction, and modulation of PTP-1B expression seems to have a profound effect on insulin sensitivity and diet-induced weight gain. The molecular link between PTP-1B expression and metabolic dyslipidemia, a major complication of insulin resistance, was investigated in the present study using PTP-...

PURPOSE To characterize pregnane X receptor (PXR) polymorphic variants in healthy Asian populations [Chinese, Malay and Indian (n=100 each)], and to investigate the association between PXR haplotypes and hepatic mRNA expression of PXR and its downstream target genes, CYP3A4 and ABCB1, as well as their influence on the clearance of doxorubicin in Asian breast cancer patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESI...

Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN), an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in GAN, is characterized cytopathologically by cytoskeletal abnormality. Based on its sequence, gigaxonin contains an NH2-terminal BTB domain followed by six kelch repeats, which are believed to be important for protein-protein interactions (Adams, J., R. Kelso, and L. Cooley. 2000. Trends Cell Biol. 10:17-24.). ...