Background: Proteasomes remove regulatory proteins in eukaryotic cells, and control a variety of plant processes. Proteasomes are localized to the cytosol and nuclear, but their role in plant biology has recently been extended to chloroplasts, where it regulates TOC complex. This is turn controls the import of nuclear-encoded chloroplastic proteins, which remodels the chloroplast proteome and facilitates proper developmental transitions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to the nanoporous nature of zeolitic materials, they can be used as gas adsorbents. This paper describes the effect of critical admission temperature through narrow pores of natural ERI zeolites at low levels of coverage. This phenomenon occurs by adsorption of CH₄ and H₂ on pores in natural erionite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrtheses are devices that assist in the function of the limbs, contributing with stability and support to the involved joints. KAFOs (knee-ankle-foot orthosis) are mainly indicated for people with muscular or neural diseases that affect the lower limbs. The actual designs of knee hinges for KAFOs compromise the stability and mobility of the limb.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is considered that hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) occurs with a Th1 cell dominance; however, the role of Th1/Th2 balance is still unclear. C57BL/6 (Th1-biased), BALB/c wt (Th2-biased) and BALB/c Stat6-/- (Th2 deficient) mice were treated with Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula (SR) or saline during 3 weeks, and sacrificed 1 and 4 days (early and late response) after the last administration. Lung isolated T cell subpopulations were analyzed and lung damage extent was quantified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLocal and systemic complications following injected silicone have been described, especially after cosmetic procedures by unlicensed practitioners. We report a retrospective case series of acute pneumonitis following silicone injection to the buttock. Medical records, pulmonary function tests, blood arterial gases, chest radiographs, and high-resolution computed tomography scans were reviewed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHermansky-Pudlak syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder commonly found in individuals of Puerto Rican ancestry. We present 2 cases of familial pulmonary fibrosis in 2 Mexican sisters with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Pulmonary fibrosis was biopsy-proven in 1 of the patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Respir Crit Care Med
January 2008
Rationale: Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) exhibits a diverse outcome. Patients with acute/subacute HP usually improve, whereas patients with chronic disease often progress to fibrosis. However, the mechanisms underlying this difference are unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRationale: Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a lymphocytic alveolitis provoked by exposure to a variety of antigens. However, the disease occurs in only a subset of exposed individuals, suggesting that additional factors may be involved. Microchimerism has been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, especially in those showing increased incidence after childbearing age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) represents a group of lung disorders caused by the inhalation of a wide variety of organic particles by susceptible individuals. HP occurs mainly in nonsmokers, but smoking may promote an insidious and chronic disease. The prevalence of HP is difficult to estimate accurately since several antigens can produce the disease, but the range spans infancy to old age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic disease characterized by fibroblast expansion, and tissue remodeling. It is considered a multifactorial disease but the possible involved genes are largely unknown. Interestingly, studies regarding the possible role of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are scanty and show contradictory results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Selectins are adhesion molecules that contribute to leukocyte recruitment into the tissue after an injury. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a lymphocytic alveolitis, and we hypothesized that the overexpression of selectins could play a role in this process.
Patients And Measurements: We studied 16 patients with HP and 7 healthy control subjects (HCs).