Sepsis is a frequent complication in critical illness. The mechanisms that are involved in initiation and propagation of the disease are not well understood. Scavenger receptor A (SRA) is a membrane receptor that binds multiple polyanions such as oxidized LDL and endotoxin. Recent studies suggest that SRA acts as a pattern recognition receptor in the innate immune response. The goal of the pres...

The signal recognition particle (SRP)-mediated translocation of proteins across the RER is a GTP dependent process . Analysis of the primary amino acid sequence of one protein subunit of SRP (SRP54), as well as the a subunit of the SRP receptor (SRa), has indicated that these proteins contain predicted GTP binding sites . Several point mutations confined to the GTP binding consensus elements of...

Steroid hormone receptor co-factors are abundantly expressed in the uterus in order to modify steroid hormone receptor action, either leading to activation or repression of transcription in the endometrium. However, the role of co-factors in remodelling of the human endometrium has not been established. We therefore endeavoured to evaluate the presence of the co-activator SRC (steroid receptor ...

Unresolved infection by gram-negative bacteria can result in the potentially lethal condition known as endotoxic shock, whereby uncontrolled inflammation can lead to multiple organ failure and death of the infected host. Previous results have demonstrated that animals deficient in class A scavenger receptor (SRA), a trafficking receptor for bacteria and bacterium-derived molecules, are more sus...

Scavenger receptors represent an important class of pattern recognition receptors shown to mediate both beneficial and detrimental roles in host defense against microbial pathogens. The role of the major macrophage scavenger receptor, scavenger receptor A (SRA), in the immune response against the pathogenic fungus, Cryptococcus neoformans, is unknown. To evaluate the role of SRA in anticryptoco...

BACKGROUND Osteopontin (OPN) is a glycoprotein that has been associated with inflammation and fibrosis. Severe refractory asthma (SRA) is characterised by an intense inflammatory and remodelling process. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of OPN in sputum supernatants of patients with SRA, to compare them with milder forms of the disease and to investigate their possible associ...

The oestrogen receptor is a member of the nuclear receptor family of transcription factors which, on binding the steroid hormone 17beta-oestradiol, interacts with co-activator proteins and stimulates gene expression. Replacement of a single tyrosine in the hormone-binding domain generated activated forms of the receptor which stimulated transcription in the absence of hormone. This increased ac...

BACKGROUND Despite being a high burden disorder, the pathogenesis of severe refractory asthma (SRA) is poorly understood. There are some evidences for the involvement of members of the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family, including STAT3 and STAT5a. Our study aimed to evaluate the gene expression of STAT3 and STAT5a in asthma and SRA to establish if there is an associ...