Background:Envenomation by Macrovipera lebetina (M. lebetina) is characterized by prominent local tissue damage, hemorrhage, abnormalities in the blood coagulation system, necrosis, and edema. However, the main cause of death after a bite by M. lebetina has been attributed to acute renal failure (ARF). It is unclear whether the venom components have a direct or indirect action in causing ARF. T...

The effect of endocytosis inhibitors on 5-hydroxytryptamine(2A) (5-HT(2A)) receptor desensitization and resensitization was examined in transiently transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells and in C6 glioma cells that endogenously express 5-HT(2A) receptors. In HEK-293 cells, 5-HT(2A) receptor desensitization was unaffected by cotransfection with a dominant-negative mutant of dynamin (...

background:envenomation by macrovipera lebetina (m. lebetina) is characterized by prominent local tissue damage, hemorrhage, abnormalities in the blood coagulation system, necrosis, and edema. however, the main cause of death after a bite by m. lebetina has been attributed to acute renal failure (arf). it is unclear whether the venom components have a direct or indirect action in causing arf. t...

It is often an immense challenge to overexpress human membrane proteins at levels sufficient for structural studies. The use of Human Embryonic Kidney 293 (HEK 293) cells to express full-length human membrane proteins is becoming increasingly common, since these cells provide a near-native protein folding and lipid environment. Nevertheless, the labor intensiveness and low yields of HEK 293 cel...

The human and murine genes for MRP9 (multidrug resistance-associated protein 9; ABCC12) yield many alternatively spliced RNAs. Using a panel of monoclonal antibodies, we detected full-length Mrp9 only in testicular germ cells and mouse sperm; we obtained no evidence for the existence of the truncated 100 kDa MRP9 protein reported previously. In contrast with other MRPs, neither murine Mrp9 nor ...

Arthritogenic alphaviruses are emerging arthropod-borne viruses that occasionally cause sporadic to global outbreaks all over the world. Many environmental factors including xenobiotics have been identified as capable of influencing the spread, the susceptibility and the outcome of viral infection. Among them cadmium is a toxic non-essential heavy metal and a prevalent environmental contaminant...

Two of the common mechanisms regulating G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signal transduction are phosphorylation and sequestration (internalization). Agonist-mediated receptor phosphorylation by the b-adrenergic receptor kinase (bARK) facilitates subsequent interaction with an arrestin protein, resulting in receptor desensitization. Studies of the b2-adrenergic receptor (b2AR) receptor in huma...

This study was conducted to compare localization of transformed or differentiated cells after injection into developing chick embryos. Mesoderm-derived chicken embryonic fibroblasts (CEFs), retrieved from normal tissues and artificially transformed human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells, were injected into the dorsal aorta of stage 17 embryos, incubated for 60 h, and post-injection survival and...