The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor celecoxib is an approved drug in the clinic for colon cancer chemoprevention and has been tested for its chemopreventive and therapeutic efficacy in various clinical trials. Celecoxib induces apoptosis in a variety of human cancer cells including lung cancer cells. Our previous work has shown that celecoxib induces death receptor 5 expression, resulting in...

Plasma or serum extrinsic pathway inhibitor (EPI) activity was measured in 24 patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and in 23 patients with severe hepatocellular disease. EPI was measured as activity in a test sample that inhibitied factor VIla/tissue factor (TF)catalyzed activation of 3H-factor IX (activation peptide release) in the presence of factor X. Of the 24 patients...

Although an association between major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicide exists, most depressed patients never attempt suicide. An improved understanding of the factors contributing to suicidal risk in MDD can provide direction for suicide predictor development. In MDD suicide attempters (MDD-SA), MDD non-attempters (MDD-NA), and healthy controls (HC) (n = 12 each group), complementary plasm...

This solid-phase colorimetric microtiter-plate clotting assay is much more sensitive than standard clotting tests. In enzyme-linked coagulation assay (ELCA), enzyme-labeled fibrinogen and solid-phase fibrinogen are the substrate for thrombin generated in the clotting cascade. We used this assay to measure the factors of the extrinsic pathway by an extrinsic pathway-specific assay (EP-ELCA) and ...

CD147 null mutant male mice are infertile with arrested spermatogenesis and increased apoptotic germ cells. Our previous studies have shown that CD147 prevents apoptosis in mouse spermatocytes but not spermatogonia. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In the present study, we aim to determine the CD147-regulated apoptotic pathway in mouse spermatocytes. Our results showed that im...

Trophic factor deprivation (TFD)-induced apoptosis in sympathetic neurons requires macromolecular synthesis-dependent BAX translocation, cytochrome c (cyt c) release, and caspase activation. Here, we report the contributions of other intrinsic and extrinsic pathway signals to these processes. Sympathetic neurons expressed all antiapoptotic BCL-2 proteins examined, yet expressed only certain BH3...