SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) papain-like protease (PLpro) has been identified in TGF-β1 up-regulation in human promonocytes (Proteomics 2012, 12: 3193-205). This study investigates the mechanisms of SARS-CoV PLpro-induced TGF-β1 promoter activation in human lung epithelial cells and mouse models. SARS-CoV PLpro dose- and time-dependently up-regulates TGF-β1 and vimentin in A549 cells. Dual lucif...

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β is a central molecule maintaining the malignant phenotype of glioblastoma. Anti-TGF-β strategies are currently being explored in early clinical trials. Yet, there is little contemporary data on the differential expression of TGF-β isoforms at the mRNA and protein level or TGF-β/Smad pathway activity in glioblastomas in vivo.Here we studied 64 newly diagnosed a...

Endometriosis is the abnormal growth of endometrial cells outside the uterus, causing pelvic pain and infertility. Furthermore, adhesion of endometrial tissue fragments to pelvic mesothelium is required for the initial step of endometriosis formation outside uterus. TGF-β1 and adhesion molecules importantly function for adhesion of endometrial tissue fragments to mesothelium outside uterus. How...

BACKGROUND Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in cancer tumorigenesis. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) can induced EMT, which could increase tumor migration and invasion. Moreover, recent studies have been proven that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a critical regulator of EMT. We investigated the mechanisms of mTOR in transforming growth factor β1 (T...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often arises from chronically diseased livers. Persistent liver inflammation causes the accumulation of excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and impairs the liver function, finally leading to the development of HCC. A pleiotropic cytokine, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, plays critical roles throughout the process of fibrogenesis and hepatocarcinogen...

The TGF-β1 cytokine concentration is known to be higher in nephritis with implied Lupus Nephritis severity. The production of TGF-β1 cytokine is associated with G915C polymorphism. Therefore, it is of interest to study G915C polymorphism. The G915C polymorphism changes codon 25 which encodes arginine into proline in the signal peptide of TGF-β1. The amino acid substitution affects signal peptid...

BACKGROUND Aldosterone has been implicated in a variety of organ fibroses, but its role and mechanism in liver fibrosis remain unclear. METHODS Rat primary hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) were isolated, cultured, and characterized. HSCs were incubated with aldosterone (10(-6) M) for 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h, after which TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor beta 1) expression was measured by...

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β has been associated with podocyte injury; we have examined its effect on podocyte bioenergetics. We studied transformed mouse podocytes, exposed to TGF-β1, using a label-free assay system, Seahorse XF24, which measures oxygen consumption rates (OCR) and extracellular acidification rates (ECAR). Both basal OCR and ATP generation-coupled OCR were significantly h...

BACKGROUND Subepithelial fibrosis is a characteristic hallmark of airway remodeling in asthma. A critical regulator of fibrosis, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), can induce airway remodeling in epithelial cells through induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Vitamin D has immunomodulatory functions, however, its effect on controlling subepithelial fibrosis is not known. MET...

During their development, tumors acquire multiple capabilities that enable them to proliferate, disseminate and evade immunosurveillance. A putative mechanism is through the production of the cytokine TGF-β1. We showed in our recent studies that T cell-produced TGF-β1 inhibits antitumor T cell responses to foster tumor growth raising the question of the precise function of TGF-β1 produced by tu...