A strain of Lactobacillus casei inhibits the effector phase of immune inflammation.

Some nonpathogenic bacteria were found to have protective effects in mouse models of allergic and autoimmune diseases. These "probiotics" are thought to interact with dendritic cells during Ag presentation, at the initiation of adaptive immune responses. Many other myeloid cells are the effector cells of immune responses.

Cytosolic phospholipase A2alpha mediates Pseudomonas aeruginosa LPS-induced airway constriction of CFTR -/- mice.

Background: Lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are chronically infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Increased airway constriction has been reported in CF patients but underplaying mechanisms have not been elucidated.

Aim: To examine the effect of P.

Oral probiotic control skin inflammation by acting on both effector and regulatory T cells.

Probiotics are believed to alleviate allergic and inflammatory skin disorders, but their impact on pathogenic effector T cells remains poorly documented. Here we show that oral treatment with the probiotic bacteria L. casei (DN-114 001) alone alleviates antigen-specific skin inflammation mediated by either protein-specific CD4(+) T cells or hapten-specific CD8(+) T cells.

Transfection of multiple pulmonary cell types following intravenous injection of PEI-DNA in normal and CFTR mutant mice.

Background: The polycationic vector polyethylenimine (PEI) has been shown to be a powerful agent for transfecting the mouse lung after injection of plasmid-based polyplexes through the tail vein. These findings raise therapeutic prospects for a number of lung conditions. For such potentials to be realised, the precise identity of the transfected cells remains to be determined; however, so far, no ultrastructural analysis has been performed on PEI-transfected lungs.

Severe osteopenia in CFTR-null mice.

Osteoporosis is a common complication in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In this study, we performed a histomorphometric analysis of the bones of a mouse genetic model of human CF in which both copies of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene are inactivated. We find that, even in the absence of obvious nutritional and therapeutic differences, the CFTR mutation is associated with severe osteopenia.

Targeted expression of the dominant-negative prolactin receptor in the mammary gland of transgenic mice results in impaired lactation.

The F3-short form of the rat PRL receptor (F3-SPRLR) form acts as a dominant negative inhibitor in vitro. We have developed a transgenic mouse model in which the rat F3-SPRLR was expressed in mammary epithelium under the control of the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter. Two lines of mice were characterized and shown to express the transgene in the mammary gland.