BACKGROUND Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis of infancy and early childhood that is characterized by endothelial cell damage associated with T-cell activation. Lymphocytes infiltrating damaged tissues might be responsible for the disease through secretion of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, that could cause fever, as well as endothelial tissue damage. De...

In response to various stress stimuli, heat shock genes are induced to express heat shock proteins (Hsps). Previous studies have revealed that expression of heat shock genes is regulated both at transcriptional and posttranscriptional level, and the rapid transcriptional induction of heat shock genes involves activation of the specific transcription factor, heat shock factor 1 (HSF1). Furthermo...

Previous studies have established the presence of high numbers of activated T lymphocytes and "aberrant" expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens by endothelial and smooth muscle cells in human atherosclerotic lesions, implicating the involvement of a local cellular immune response. The identity of the antigen(s) eliciting this immune response, the extent of their effect...

The pattern of polyadenylated RNA of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae changes dramatically upon heat shock. By in vitro translation, we have demonstrated that a 2.9-kilobase heat shock RNA encodes the Mr = 90,000 yeast heat shock protein. Heat shock-responsive genes have been isolated by differential plaque filter hybridization of a recombinant library of yeast DNA inserted in the vector lamb...

We describe here the characterization of five isolates of Mycobacterium simiae-like organisms representing a novel group based on whole-cell fatty acid analysis and genotypic evaluation. Two of the five isolates in this study, W55 and W58, were previously considered to belong to M. simiae serotype 2. Analysis of cellular fatty acids by gas-liquid chromatography indicated a close clustering of t...

The great challenges for researchers working in the field of vaccinology are optimizing DNA vaccines for use in humans or large animals and creating effective single-dose vaccines using appropriated controlled delivery systems. Plasmid DNA encoding the heat-shock protein 65 (hsp65) (DNAhsp65) has been shown to induce protective and therapeutic immune responses in a murine model of tuberculosis ...

One of the basic features of the inducible heat shock response is the activation of heat shock factor which results in the rapid transcriptional induction of the heat shock genes. Although it is widely considered that the heat shock response is ubiquitous, several reports have indicated that the transcriptional response can vary in both intensity and kinetics and often in a tissue-specific mann...

We have isolated a high-light and heat-shock inducible gene, Arabidopsis heat shock transcription factor (HsfA2), which induces expression of various types of target gene such as heat shock protein 18.2-CI (Hsp18.1-CI), galactinol synthase 1 (GolS1), and Bcl-2-associated athanogene 6 (Bag6). Here we investigated the regulatory system of target genes operating via HsfA2. A transient reporter ass...