Loss of parkin reduces lung tumor development by blocking p21 degradation.

Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated the reciprocal relationship between the development of cancer and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the possible mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. To identify this relationship, we first compared lung tumor growth in parkin knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice.

Inhibition of skin carcinogenesis by suppression of NF-κB dependent ITGAV and TIMP-1 expression in IL-32γ overexpressed condition.

Background: Interleukin-32 (IL-32) has been associated with various diseases. Previous studies have shown that IL-32 inhibited the development of several tumors. However, the role of IL-32γ, an isotype of IL-32, in skin carcinogenesis remains unknown.

Deficiency of parkin suppresses melanoma tumor development and metastasis through inhibition of MFN2 ubiquitination.

Parkin, a critical gene of Parkinson's disease, is involved in the development of numerous cancers. However, the effect of parkin deficiency on melanoma growth and metastasis has not been reported. We showed that the tumor size and number of surface lung metastases, and expression of tumor growth and metastasis marker proteins were significantly lower in parkin-KO mice than those observed in non-transgenic controls.

IL-32 gamma reduces lung tumor development through upregulation of TIMP-3 overexpression and hypomethylation.

The low expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP-3) is important in inflammatory responses. Therefore, inhibition of TIMP-3 may promote tumor development. Our study showed that expression of TIMP-3 was elevated in lL-32γ mice lung tissues.

Piperlongumine attenuates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through inhibition of NF-kappaB activity.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease in which demyelination sporadically and repeatedly occurs in the central nervous system (CNS). The activity of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), a family of transcription factors, was increased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and/or the serum and brain and/or spinal cord of MS patients than in a healthy donors. In our study, we investigated whether piperlongumine (PL), which is known to have inhibitory effect on activity of NF-κB, can alleviate an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

(E)-4-(3-(3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)allyl)-2-methoxyphenol inhibits growth of colon tumors in mice.

In our previous study, we found that (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal showed anti-cancer effect, but it showed lack of stability and drug likeness. We have prepared several (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal analogues by Heck reaction. We selected two compounds which showed significant inhibitory effect of colon cancer cell growth.

Characterization of the carbohydrate binding and ADP-ribosyltransferase activities of chemically detoxified pertussis toxins.

Pertussis toxin (PTx) is an essential component of the acellular pertussis (aP) vaccine. However, because PTx in its native form is considered too toxic for human vaccine use, it must be inactivated into a stable, nontoxic form by treatment with chemical detoxifying agents or by genetic modification. Therefore, testing for the residual PTx in the aP vaccine is a major quality control step for vaccine manufacturers and regulatory authorities.

Improved protocols for histamine sensitization testing of acellular pertussis vaccines.

The histamine sensitization test is a widely used method for measuring the residual toxicity of pertussis toxin in acellular pertussis vaccines. Although it has been used as a routine assay for decades, the current protocols are difficult to standardize because the test results vary considerably and are based on several factors, including mouse strain, age and sex. In this study, we observed that mice of strains CD1, ddY and C57/BL6 were sufficiently sensitive to pertussis toxin among six mice strains tested and that aged male mice were more sensitive to pertussis toxin than younger or female mice.

Oxidized low-density lipoproteins may induce expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-3 in atherosclerotic plaques.

Genes induced or suppressed by oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) in human monocytic THP-1 cells were searched using the differential display reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. One of the differentially expressed (up-regulated) cDNA fragments was found to contain sequences corresponding to monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (MCP-3). The stimulatory effect of the oxLDL on the expression of MCP-3 mRNA was both time- and dose-dependent.

Comparison of antioxidant effects of naringin and probucol in cholesterol-fed rabbits.

Background: Due to the strong evidence on the involvement of active oxygen species in a variety of disorders, the role of antioxidants against oxidative stress has recently received increased attention.

Methods: Twenty male rabbits were served a high-cholesterol (HC, 5 g/kg diet) diet or high-cholesterol diet supplemented with naringin (0.5 g/kg diet) or probucol (0.