Proteases are known to be involved in the apoptotic pathway. We report here that benzyloxycarbonyl (Z)-Leu-Leu-leucinal(ZLLLal), a leupeptin analogue, can induce apoptosis in MOLT-4 and L5178Y cells. ZLLLal is a cell-permeant inhibitor of proteasome. Among the protease inhibitors tested, only calpain inhibitor I (acetyl-Leu-Leu-norleucinal) and ZLLLal caused a marked induction of apoptosis in M...

The relationship between adenosine deaminase (ADA) and a human membrane thymus leukemia (HTL) antigen-detected by an antithymocyte serum was explored. A freeze-thaw extract of the T-cell-derived cell line, MOLT 4, was applied to an immunoabsorbant column of a rabbit antiserum to calf ADA. The bound MOLT 4 ADA was eluted with 6 M urea. The recovered ADA had a specific activity of 490 mumol of ad...

Background: Leukemia is a malignant proliferative disorder of the hematopoietic cells. The important role of angiogenesis in leukemia has been reported by several studies. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a large group of endopeptidases which degredate the extracellular matrix and play an important role in angiogenesis. Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the patterns of ...

Although dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and other artemisinin derivatives have selective toxicity towards cancer cells, Artemisia annua (A. annua) extracts containing artemisinin have not been evaluated for their anticancer potential. Our main goal was to assess the anticancer effect of ethanolic leaf extracts of A. annua from Brazilian and Chinese origins (with DHA as a comparison) on normal and can...

Blue crab diseases, parasites, and commensals are not well studied in the Gulf of Mexico, and their prevalence rates have only been sporadically determined. Commercial soft shell shedding facilities in Louisiana experience high mortality rates of pre-molt crabs, and some of these deaths may be attributable to diseases or parasites. During the active shedding season in 2013, we determined the pr...

Infectivity of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) in feline and human lymphoblastoid cell lines was examined using homogeneous populations of FIV derived from infectious molecular clones of strains TMZ and Petaluma, and two recombinant chimeric clones carrying gag, pol, vif and ORF-A from the heterologous virus. FIV from the clones with the env region of the Petaluma strain was shown to infect...

Genistein (GEN) is an isoflavone known to inhibit both tyrosine protein kinases and DNA topoisomerase II. The effects of GEN on cell proliferation and cell cycle kinetics of human myelogenous leukemia HL-60 and lymphocytic leukemia MOLT-4 cell cultures were studied, and the data were compared to results obtained with normal human lymphocytes stimulated to proliferate with phytohemagglutinin. GE...

Features of the apoptotic response evident in glucocorticoid-treated thymocytes are not uniformly observed in cell lines exposed to anticancer drugs. The significance of such variation has been assessed by monitoring molecular and cellular processes induced by etoposide (VP-16) in the human lymphoblastoid T-cell lines CCRF-CEM (CEM) and MOLT-4 contrasted, where appropriate, with those induced b...

Even though molt involves both endocrine and energetic changes in bird bodies, this study is among the first to combine assessments of energy costs together with thyroid hormone variations in molting birds. Individual shorebirds (red knots Calidris canutus islandica) were measured while in full summer and winter plumage as well as during peak of molt. Molt was associated with a 9.8% increase in...