Carbon Chain Length Determines Inhibitory Potency of Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonic Acids on Human Placental 3β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase 1: Screening, Structure-Activity Relationship, and Analysis.

Objective: This study aimed to compare 9 perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSA) with carbon chain lengths (C4-C12) to inhibit human placental 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (3β-HSD1), aromatase, and rat 3β-HSD4 activities.

Methods: Human and rat placental 3β-HSDs activities were determined by converting pregnenolone to progesterone and progesterone secretion in JEG-3 cells was determined using HPLC/MS-MS, and human aromatase activity was determined by radioimmunoassay.

Results: PFSA inhibited human 3β-HSD1 structure-dependently in the order: perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS, half-maximum inhibitory concentration, IC : 9.

Overactivation of mitogen-activated protein kinase and suppression of mitofusin-2 expression are two independent events in high mobility group box 1 protein-mediated T cell immune dysfunction.

High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1), a critical proinflammatory cytokine, has recently been identified to be an immunostimulatory signal involved in sepsis-related immune dysfunction when released extracellularly, but the potential mechanism involved remains elusive. Here, we showed that the treatment with HMGB1 in vitro inhibited T lymphocyte immune response and expression of mitofusin-2 (Mfn-2; a member of the mitofusin family) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Upregulation of Mfn-2 expression attenuated the suppressive effect of HMGB1 on T cell immune function.

Burn injury induces gelsolin expression and cleavage in the brain of mice.

Gelsolin is an actin filament-severing and capping protein, affecting cellular motility, adhesiveness and apoptosis. Whether it is expressed in the brain of burned mice has not yet been characterized. Mice were subjected to a 15% total body surface area scald injury.

Curcumin inhibits suppressive capacity of naturally occurring CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in mice in vitro.

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that naturally occurring CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) are critical for maintenance of immunological tolerance and have been shown to be important in regulating the immune responses in many diseases. Curcumin, a phytochemical obtained from the rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa, has achieved the potential therapeutic interest to numerous immune-related disorders. However, the effect and mechanism of curcumin on Tregs remain largely elusive.

[The extracellular role of high mobility group box-1 protein in regulation of immune response].

High mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1), a highly conserved nuclear DNA-binding protein, is involved in maintenance of nucleosome structure and regulation of gene replication, transcription and translation. Recently, there is accumulating evidence that HMGB1 can be passively or actively released from the nucleus to the extracellular milieu and act as a late proinflammatory cytokine that mediates development of inflammatory diseases, including sepsis. In addition, HMGB1 can also act as an "alarm signal" regulating immune response of host.

Expression of high mobility group protein B1 in the lungs of rats with sepsis.

Background: Vibrio vulnificus inside the body could activate the NF-κB signaling pathway and initiate the inflammatory cascade. The lung is one of the earliest organs affected by sepsis associated with acute lung injury. High mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) is an important late-acting pro-inflammatory cytokine involving in the pathophysiology of sepsis.