Recently, homomultimerization and heteromultimerization reactions of the poliovirus P2 region proteins were investigated using a yeast two-hybrid approach (Cuconati et al., Journal of Virology 72, 1297-1307, 1998). In this study, we investigated multimerization reactions of the 2B, 2C and 2BC proteins of the closely related coxsackie B3 virus (CBV3) using a mammalian two-hybrid system. This sys...

The short circulating half-life and side effects of IFNα affect its dosing schedule and efficacy. Fusion of IFNα to a tumor-targeting mAb (mAb-IFNα) can enhance potency because of increased tumor localization and improved pharmacokinetics. We used the Dock-and-Lock method to generate C2-2b-2b, a mAb-IFNα comprising tetrameric IFNα2b site-specifically linked to hL243 (humanized anti-HLA-DR). In ...

Interferon alpha 2b (IFNα-2b) is an important cytokine and used for antiviral and anticancer treatment. The low cost production of IFNα-2b with high biological activity is necessary to provide the interferon therapy to the hepatitis patients in Pakistan. In the present study, human interferon alpha 2b (hIFNα-2b) gene from a healthy person was cloned and overexpressed in E. coli BL21(DE3). The m...

Uncontrolled transmigration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) into the different compartments of the lungs (intravascular, interstitial, alveolar) is a critical event in the early stage of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Adenosine receptor A(2b) is highly expressed in the inflamed lungs and has been suggested to mediate cell trafficking. In a murine model of LPS-...

Adenosine is a key endogenous signaling molecule that regulates immune responses. A(2B) adenosine receptor (AR) is a relatively low-affinity receptor for adenosine, and the activation of A(2B)AR is believed to require pathological level of adenosine that is associated with ischemia, inflammation, trauma, or other types of stress. The role of A(2B)AR in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS...

The 2B protein of enteroviruses is the viral membrane-active protein that is responsible for the modifications in host cell membrane permeability that take place in enterovirus-infected cells. The 2B protein shows structural similarities to the group of lytic polypeptides, polypeptides that permeate membranes either by forming multimeric membrane-integral pores or, alternatively, by lying paral...

Recombinant human A(2B) adenosine receptors (A(2B)ARs) and receptors extended on the amino terminus with hexahistidine and the FLAG epitope, DYKDDDDK (H/F-A(2B)) were stably overexpressed (to >20,000 fmol/mg protein) in human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK-A(2B)). By Western blotting, the H/F-A(2B) receptor runs as a 34.8-kDa glycoprotein. Pharmacological properties of A(2B)ARs were characteri...