Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha induces caspase-independent cell death in the fibrosarcoma cell line L929. This cell death has a necrotic phenotype and is dependent on production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the mitochondria. To identify genes involved in this TNF-induced, ROS-dependent cell death pathway, we utilized retrovirus insertion-mediated random mutagenesis to generate TNF-res...

Coxiella burnetii, the agent of Q fever in man and of coxiellosis in other species, is a small, dimorphic, obligate intracellular bacterium, sheltered within large, acidified, and hydrolase-rich phagosomes. Although several primary and established cell lines, macrophage-like cells, and primary macrophages from other species have been infected with C. burnetii, the infection of mouse primary mac...

It is well known that mouse uterine 24p3 protein, is an acute phase protein, secreted from the L929 cell line, and that it will be induced by the dexamethasone stimulation of the cell. We investigated the possible effects of 24p3 protein on the L929 cell line, by observing its morphological change, ROS increase and viability decrease, by the process of culturing in a 24p3 protein-supplemented m...

Autophagy has diverse biological functions and is involved in many biological processes. The L929 cell death induced by the pan-caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-(OMe)-fluoromethyl ketone (zVAD) was shown to be an autophagy-mediated death for which RIP1 and RIP3 were both required. It was also reported that zVAD can induce a small amount of TNF production, which was shown to be re...

The Nine Mile, S Q217, and Priscilla isolates, representative of the three major genetic groups of Coxiella burnetii, are known to differ in their susceptibilities to antibiotics. Mechanisms potentially responsible for these differences were investigated. Accumulation of antibiotics by infected L929 cells and purified isolates was measured. In addition, C. burnetii plasmid-transformed Escherich...

The physical behaviors of stationary cells, such as the morphology, motility, adhesion, anchorage, invasion and metastasis, are likely to be important for governing their biological characteristics. A change in the physical properties of mammalian cells could be an indication of disease. In this paper, we present a silicon-nanowire-array based technique for quantifying the mechanical behavior o...