Publications by authors named "Fil D"

Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has drastically improved outcomes in treating cancer, particularly in melanoma. However, half of melanoma patients are resistant to treatment. One mechanism used by tumor cells to evade immune attack is to down-regulate major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules, which are required for cytotoxic CD8 T-cells to eliminate cancer cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recently, the myelin proteolipid protein gene () was shown to be expressed in the glia of the enteric nervous system (ENS) in mouse. However, beyond this, not much is known about its expression in the intestine. To address this matter, we investigated expression at the mRNA and protein levels in the intestine of mice at different ages (postnatal days 2, 9, 21, and 88).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Modulation of T cell activity is an effective strategy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, immune-related disorders and cancer. This highlights a critical need for the identification of proteins that regulate T cell function. The kinase DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) is emerging as a potent regulator of the immune system, spurring interest in its use as a therapeutic target.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Much of what is known about the mechanisms that control the developmental expression of the myelin proteolipid protein gene () has been attained through use of transgenic animal models. In this study, we analyzed expression of related transgenes which utilize genomic DNA from either human or mouse to drive expression of a reporter. Human () sequence span either the proximal 6.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by reduced expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin (FXN). Most FRDA patients are homozygous for large expansions of GAA repeats in intron 1 of FXN, while some are compound heterozygotes with an expanded GAA tract in one allele and a missense or nonsense mutation in the other. A missense mutation, changing a glycine to valine at position 130 (G130V), is prevalent among the clinical variants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Breast cancer remains one of the leading cancers among women. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are tumor-initiating cells which drive progression, metastasis, and reoccurrence of the disease. CSCs are resistant to conventional chemo- and radio-therapies and their ability to survive such treatment enables tumor reestablishment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by reduced expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin (FXN). Most FRDA patients are homozygous for large expansions of GAA repeat sequences in intron 1 of , whereas a fraction of patients are compound heterozygotes, with a missense or nonsense mutation in one allele and expanded GAAs in the other. A prevalent missense mutation among FRDA patients changes a glycine at position 130 to valine (G130V).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Friedreich's ataxia is caused by large homozygous, intronic expansions of GAA repeats in the frataxin (FXN) gene, resulting in severe downregulation of its expression. Pathogenic repeats are located in intron one, hence patients express unaffected FXN protein, albeit in low quantities. Although FRDA symptoms typically afflict the nervous system, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the predominant cause of death.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that leads to the loss of motor neurons. The molecular mechanisms of motor neuron degeneration are largely unknown and there are currently no effective therapies to treat this disease. In this work, we report whole transcriptome profiling of spinal cords of mutant transgenic hPFN1 mice and their wildtype transgenic hPFN1 controls at a pre-symptomatic stage and at the end-stage of disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB is a paediatric lysosomal storage disease caused by deficiency of the enzyme α-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGLU), involved in the degradation of the glycosaminoglycan heparan sulphate. Absence of NAGLU leads to accumulation of partially degraded heparan sulphate within lysosomes and the extracellular matrix, giving rise to severe CNS degeneration with progressive cognitive impairment and behavioural problems. There are no therapies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Scientists created transgenic mice with a specific mutation (hPFN1G118V) to study how it impacts motor neuron disease, revealing significant similarities to human ALS symptoms including neuron loss and muscle atrophy.
  • * The study suggests that the mutant profilin1 disrupts actin dynamics, leading to severe damage in certain neurons, and these mutant mice could serve as a valuable model for understanding ALS mechanisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Yersiniosis is an acute or chronic, zoonotic disease caused by infection of Gram-negative rods Yersinia enterocolitica. It can be transmitted by the consumption of originally contaminated food products (pork, unpasteurized milk) or secondarily contaminated with animal or vegetable products. The clinical picture of infection may have a variable course is related to the age and physical condition of the patient, or pathogenic properties of microorganisms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Stimulus generalization happens when similar stimuli to a conditioned stimulus trigger the same reactions, notably seen in PTSD patients who react more strongly to reminders of their trauma.
  • Research shows that prenatally stressed (PS) rats exhibit greater stimulus generalization and heightened fear responses compared to control (CON) rats during extinction training with quieter sounds.
  • This difference may be linked to changes in brain chemistry, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, affecting how these rats respond to fear cues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Splenic cysts are rare disease that are diagnosed incidentally during imaging studies. In recent years, through the development of diagnostic methods the detection of their are increased, although documented and described in the literature of cases is still low. The disease can be asymptomatic--this concerns mainly small cysts, but greater changes cause unspecific symptoms resulting from oppression of enlarged spleen on adjacent organs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In recent years, a constant growth of knowledge and clinical applications of stem cells have been observed. Mesenchymal stromal cells, also described as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a particular cell type for research and therapy because of their ability to differentiate into mesodermal lineage cells. The most investigated source of MSCs is bone marrow (BM).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Concentration-response curves (CRCs) of adenosine receptor (AR) agonists, NECA (nonspecific), CCPA (A1 specific), CGS-216870 (A2A specific), BAY 60-6583 (A2B specific), and Cl-IB-MECA (A3 specific) for mesenteric arteries (MAs) from 4 AR knockout (KO) mice (A1, A2A, A2B, and A3) and their wild type (WT) were constructed. The messenger RNA expression of MAs from KO mice and WT were also studied. Adenosine (10 to 10 M) and NECA (10 to 10 M) induced relaxation in all mice except A2B KO mice, which only showed constriction by adenosine at 10 to 10 and NECA at 10 to 10 M.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this article, we study superfluid behavior of a gas of spatially indirect magnetoexcitons with reference to a system of two graphene layers embedded in a multilayer dielectric structure. The system is considered as an alternative of a double quantum well in a GaAs heterostructure. We determine a range of parameters (interlayer distance, dielectric constant, magnetic field, and gate voltage) where magnetoexciton superfluidity can be achieved.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Stationary waves in a superfluid magnetoexciton gas in ν = 1 quantum Hall bilayers are considered. The waves are induced by counterpropagating electrical currents that flow in a system with a point obstacle. It is shown that stationary waves can emerge only in imbalanced bilayers in a certain diapason of currents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The NADPH oxidase (Nox) subunits 1, 2 (gp91 phox), and 4 are the major sources for reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vascular tissues. In conditions such as ischemia-reperfusion and hypoxia, both ROS and adenosine are released, suggesting a possible interaction. Our aim in this study was to examine the A(3) adenosine receptor (A(3)AR)-induced vascular effects and its relation to ROS and Nox1, 2, and 4 using aortic tissues from wild-type (WT) and A(3)AR knockout (A(3)KO) mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Clinical evidence implicates peripheral inflammatory diseases as comorbid factors in epilepsy. The present study was designed to determine the effect of the acute phase of antiviral response on seizure susceptibility. Young adult mice were intraperitoneally injected with 12 mg/kg of a viral mimic, polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (PIC).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Previously, we have shown that peripheral challenge of mice with double stranded RNA (dsRNA), a viral mimic, evokes global upregulation of cerebral inflammatory genes and, particularly, genes encoding chemokines. Because chemokine networks are potent modulators of brain function, the present study was undertaken to comprehensively characterize the cerebral response of chemokine ligand and receptor genes to peripheral immune system stimulation. Briefly, C57BL/6 mice were intraperitoneally injected with 12 mg/kg of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (PIC) and the expression of 39 mouse chemokine ligand and 20 receptor genes was monitored in the cerebellum by real time quantitative RT-PCR within 24 h.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cyclic AMP is part of an endogenous mechanism that downregulates inflammatory response, and its intracellular concentration is regulated chiefly by cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases type 4. The goal of the present study was to determine whether phosphodiesterases 4 are involved in the inflammatory response of astrocytes mediated by Toll-like receptors. Astrocyte cultures established from newborn rat brain were challenged with lipoteichoic acid, a ligand of Toll-like receptor 2, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid, a ligand of Toll-like receptor 3, or lipopolysaccharide, a ligand of Toll-like receptor 4.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

It is shown that in a bilayer excitonic superconductor dissipative losses emerge under transmission of the current from the source to the load. These losses are proportional to the square of the interlayer tunneling amplitude and are independent of the value of the input current. The case of a quantum Hall bilayer is considered.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

It is well established that mediators of peripheral inflammation are relayed to the brain and elicit sickness behavior via neuroinflammatory agents that target neuronal substrates. In the present study, we used double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), a viral replication intermediate, to mimic the acute phase of viral infection. C57BL/6 mice were injected intraperitoneally with 12 mg/kg of synthetic dsRNA, i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The family of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) expressed by innate immune cells recognizes a spectrum of microbial components as well as molecules released from injured tissues. TLR ligation activates intracellular signaling cascades that culminate in the up-regulation of proinflammatory genes. We have recently demonstrated that the up-regulation of inflammatory cytokines mediated by TLR4 in astrocytes is negatively controlled by the monomeric GTPases of Rho subfamily.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF