Attributes and outcomes of end stage liver disease as compared with other noncancer patients admitted to a geriatric palliative care unit.

Background: End stage liver disease (ESLD) is increasingly more prevalent as a noncancer disease to manage in palliative care. Because of the clear lack of a "terminal phase" in ESLD, palliative care is often initiated only when death is perceived as being imminent. Palliative care units (PCUs) serve as an option for continued care for patients living with ESLD and are a limited resource, often not able to accommodate longer patient admissions.

Inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling by Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin causes destabilization of interleukin-8 mRNA.

Bacillus anthracis must overcome host innate immune defences to establish a systemic anthrax infection. This is facilitated in part by lethal toxin (LT), a secreted virulence factor that consists of a cell-binding moiety, protective antigen (PA), and an enzymatic moiety, lethal factor (LF). PA binds cells through protein receptors and mediates the delivery of LF to the cytosol.

Differentiation of human monocytic cell lines confers susceptibility to Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin.

Anthrax lethal toxin (LT) is comprised of protective antigen and lethal factor. Lethal factor enters mammalian cells in a protective antigen-dependent process and cleaves mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases. Although LT has no observable effect on many cell types, it causes necrosis in macrophages derived from certain mouse strains and apoptosis in activated mouse macrophages.

Retinoid X receptor (RXR) agonist-induced antagonism of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) activity due to absence of coactivator recruitment and decreased DNA binding.

The bile salt export pump (BSEP) plays an integral role in lipid homeostasis by regulating the canalicular excretion of bile acids. Induction of BSEP gene expression is mediated by the farnesoid X receptor (FXR), which binds as a heterodimer with the retinoid X receptor (RXR) to the FXR response element (FXRE) located upstream of the BSEP gene. RXR ligands mimic several partner ligands and show additive effects upon coadministration.

Generation of multiple farnesoid-X-receptor isoforms through the use of alternative promoters.

Bile acid biosynthesis is regulated by both feed-forward and feedback mechanisms involving a cascade of nuclear hormone receptors. Feed-forward regulation of the rate limiting enzyme in bile acid biosynthesis is provided by oxysterols through liver-X-receptor alpha (NR1H3), while feedback regulation is provided by bile acids through farnesoid-X-receptor (FXR) (NR1H4). The Syrian golden hamster provides a useful model for studying lipid metabolism.