BACKGROUND The purpose of the present study is to quantify the in vitro antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of mitomycin-C on human keratocytes for their potential to modulate corneal stromal wound healing. METHODS Cultured human keratocytes were exposed to various concentrations of mitomycin-C for periods of 5 minutes and 1 hour. Keratocyte proliferation and viability were assessed by ph...

Although hypoglycemic doses of insulin (0.24-7.5 U/kg s.c.) did not significantly change acetic acid-induced writhing in mice, they dose-dependently attenuated formalin-induced nociceptive responses, and their effects were more potent on the second phase (ID50 = .62 U/kg) than on the first (ID50 > 7.5 U/kg). Intracerebroventricular doses of insulin (250-1000 microU/animal) mimicked the effects ...

Chemotherapy given sequentially or concurrently with external beam radiation therapy has emerged as a standard for the treatment of locally advanced lung cancer. Gene therapy by adenovirus-mediated wild-type p53 gene transfer has been shown to inhibit lung cancer growth in vitro, in animal models, and in human clinical trials. However, no information is available on the combined effects of p53 ...

It has been previously shown that fibrinogen (FG) associates specifically with human umbilical vein and bovine aortic endothelial cells (EC) in culture and induces EC migration. In the present study, we have investigated whether the FG-EC interaction is mediated by an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) recognition specificity and whether EC membrane proteins related to platelet GPIIb-IIIa are involved. Highly p...

A chimeric toxin has been constructed by fusion of a gene encoding human interleukin 4 (hIL4) to a gene encoding a mutant form of Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE) which cannot bind to its receptors (PE4E). The chimeric gene was expressed in Escherichia coli where large amounts of the chimeric toxin, hIL4-PE4E, was produced. Purified hIL4-PE4E was very cytotoxic to cancer cell lines of both hematopoi...

There has been recent concern about the inadvertent exposure of dentin with patent tubules as well as gingiva to bleaching systems containing 10-15% carbamide peroxide or 2-10% hydrogen peroxide for more than a few minutes. The aims of the present study were: (1) to determine the cytotoxicity of dilutions of hydrogen peroxide in cell culture; (2) to measure hydrogen peroxide diffusion from blea...

The in vitro susceptibility of eight strains of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) to E-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU) was examined in human embryonic fibroblasts by the following techniques: inhibition of focus formation by either cell-free VZV (4-day assay) or cell-associated VZV (2-day assay), inhibition of viral antigen formation (2-day assay), and inhibition of viral cytopathogenicity (...

Recombinant truncated forms of Pseudomonas exotoxin A that lack the cell binding domain of Pseudomonas exotoxin A were coupled to an F(ab') fragment of a monoclonal antibody HB21 directed against the human transferrin receptor. One of these was NlysPE40. The other, NlysPE38QQR, has two amino groups on residues near the NH2-terminus and has no amino groups near the COOH-terminus. The proteins we...

Codium fragile and Chondrus crispus are, respectively, green and red seaweeds which are abundant along the North Atlantic coasts. We investigated the chemical composition and antiviral activity of enzymatic extracts of C. fragile (CF) and C. crispus (CC). On a dry weight basis, CF consisted of 11% protein, 31% neutral sugars, 0.8% sulfate, 0.6% uronic acids, and 49% ash, while CC contained 27% ...

Parvoviruses have a predilection for rapidly dividing cells such as occurs during embryonic development. Potentially, in utero exposure could lead to immune tolerance in progeny mice. To determine if MPV infection in utero results in immune tolerance, pregnant mice were inoculated by oral gavage with 50 ID50 MPV1e or sham inoculated with phosphate buffered saline at day 5 and 12 gestation. Offs...