Inhibition of vesicular monoamine transporter-2 activity in alpha-synuclein stably transfected SH-SY5Y cells.

alpha-Synuclein plays a key role in the pathological neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease. Although its contribution to normal physiology remains elusive, the selective degeneration of alpha-synuclein-containing dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease may be linked to abnormal alpha-synuclein induced toxicity. In the present study, a complex of alpha-synuclein and vesicular monoamine transporter-2 was identified by GST-Pull Down experiment.

Peritoneal inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor in a brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus).

An 8-yr-old, male brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus) presented for necropsy examination in good nutritional status. It had received treatment for Strongylus spp. infection 1 yr earlier, and it had a short episode of diarrhea 2 days before death.

Renal tubular epithelial expression of the coinhibitory molecule B7-DC (programmed death-1 ligand).

Background: Renal tubular epithelial cells (TECs) function as antigen-presenting cells because they constitutively express MHC class II molecules and have the ability to present peptide antigen to CD4+T cells. However, the costimulatory signals provided by TECs for optimal T-cell activation have not been fully characterized. Increasing recognition of the importance of B7 dendritic cells (B7-DC) in immunoregulation raises the question of whether B7-DC is expressed on TECs and is involved in regulating TEC function.

The effect of blue light exposure on the expression of circadian genes: bmal1 and cryptochrome 1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of jaundiced neonates.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of blue light phototherapy on the expression of circadian genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and plasma melatonin levels in neonates. Real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the expression of Bmal1 and Cry1 in PBMC, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine plasma melatonin levels in 32 breast-milk jaundiced neonates before and after phototherapy, compared with 29 control neonates. The results showed that the expression of Bmal1 was decreased and Cry1 increased significantly after phototherapy.

H-2 Kd-restricted hepatitis B virus-derived epitope whose specific CD8+ T lymphocytes can produce gamma interferon without cytotoxicity.

It is necessary to evaluate the cytokine secretion status of CD8+ T lymphocytes and elucidate the factors influencing cytokine secretion, because the secretion of cytokines is also an important feature of CD8+ T lymphocytes, and the cytokines usually play critical roles in the outcome of diseases. We showed here that peptide AYRPPNAPI, derived from the core antigen of hepatitis B virus (HBV), could bind to H-2 Kd and induce primed splenocytes from HBcAg expression plasmid-immunized mice to produce gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in H-2 Kd- and CD8-dependent manners instead of in a CD4-dependent manner. The induced cells were mainly CD3 and CD8 positive but had no cytotoxic effect on the corresponding target cells.

Plasma proteome of severe acute respiratory syndrome analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.

We have investigated the plasma proteome by using 2D gel electrophoresis and MS from patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). A complete proteomic analysis was performed on four patients with SARS in different time courses, and a total of 38 differential spots were selected for protein identification. Most of the proteins identified are acute phase proteins, and their presence represents the consequence of serial cascades initiated by SARS-coronavirus infection.

MHC class I-associated presentation of exogenous peptides is not only enhanced but also prolonged by linking with a C-terminal Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu endoplasmic reticulum retrieval signal.

Vaccination with antigenic peptide-pulsed antigen-presenting cells (APC) represents an attractive approach for therapy for cancer and diseases caused by intracellular infections. It has been suggested that sufficient stable MHC/peptide complexes on the surface of APC might play an important role in the generation of antitumor and antiviral immunity in vivo. In this study, we observed that exogenous peptides that were artificially fused with an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retrieval signal, a C-terminal Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu sequence, could be efficiently presented by intracellular MHC class I molecules in a TAP- and proteasome-independent, but brefeldin A-sensitive manner.

Cooperative interactions among p53, bcl-2 and Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Interactions among p53, bcl-2 and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells were evaluated by gene cotransfections. The data showed that bcl-2 expression was not only able to prevent the growth suppression induced by wild-type p53 but was also paradoxically able to inhibit the growth enhancement induced by mutant p53. Latent membrane protein 1 was shown to be capable of overcoming the growth inhibition induced by wild-type p53 and the synergistic cooperation with bcl-2 to enhance cellular growth.

Frequencies of epitope-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in active chronic viral hepatitis B infection by using MHC class I peptide tetramers.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are thought to play key roles in viral control and liver damage. We have used HLA-A*02 tetramer complex to human HBV core 18-27 (Tc 18-27), envelope 183-191 (Te 183-191), envelope 335-343 (Te 335-343), and polymerase 575-583 (Tp 575-583) epitopes to characterize HLA class I-restricted CD8+ T cells in active chronic HBV infection. The frequencies of specific epitopes circulating tetramer+ cells were determined in whole-blood samples by analysis of flow cytometry.

Transgenic expression of decoy receptor 3 protects islets from spontaneous and chemical-induced autoimmune destruction in nonobese diabetic mice.

Decoy receptor 3 (DCR3) halts both Fas ligand- and LIGHT-induced cell deaths, which are required for pancreatic beta cell damage in autoimmune diabetes. To directly investigate the therapeutic potential of DCR3 in preventing this disease, we generated transgenic nonobese diabetic mice, which overexpressed DCR3 in beta cells. Transgenic DCR3 protected mice from autoimmune and cyclophosphamide-induced diabetes in a dose-dependent manner and significantly reduced the severity of insulitis.

Esophageal schwannoma.

Benign tumors of the esophagus are rare, and almost all of them are leiomyomas. Esophageal schwannoma is extremely rare. We report a case of esophageal schwannoma in a 54-year-old Taiwanese man who was admitted due to dysphagia.

Correlation of CD44v5 expression with invasiveness and prognosis in renal cell carcinoma.

Background And Purpose: The expression of specific CD44 isoforms is associated with metastasis and poor prognosis in human malignant tumors. We retrospectively investigated the expression of the CD44 variant isoform v5 (CD44v5) in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) specimens by immunohistochemistry.

Methods: We studied the expression of CD44v5 immunohistochemistry in archival tissue specimens from 72 RCC patients (47 men and 25 women) with a mean age of 60.

Cardiac myxoma and myxosarcoma: clinical experience and immunohistochemistry.

From January 1978 to February 1999, 120 patients (42 males and 78 females) with cardiac myxoma (115) or myxosarcoma (5) underwent surgical excision or biopsy. There were 5 early postoperative deaths (mortality, 4.2%).

Aristolochic acid-induced Fanconi's syndrome and nephropathy presenting as hypokalemic paralysis.

Hypokalemic paralysis rarely is seen as the presenting feature in patients with Fanconi's syndrome. We describe a 60-year-old man who presented with the inability to ambulate on awakening in the morning. The pertinent history revealed he had consumed Chinese herbs for leg edema for 5 months.

Monoclonal antibodies against the aster yellows agent.

Hybridoma clones secreting specific monoclonal antibodies against the aster yellows agent, a mycoplasma-like organism, were produced by using partially purified salivary gland preparations from infected leafhopper vectors as the immunogen. After 3947 hybridomas from 20 independent fusions were screened for specific antibody against the aster yellows agent, two table clones were obtained. With these monoclonal antibodies the aster yellows agent in diseased lettuce, periwinkles, and inoculative insects was specifically identified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.