Heat shock protein 27 expression in patients with chronic liver damage.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a possible relationship between lymphomonocyte expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) 60/27 and plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6) and markers of antioxidant/oxidative status [glutathione (GSH), alpha glutathione-S-transferase activity (alpha GST), malonyldialdeyde (MDA), 4-hydroxinonenal (4-HNE), and S-nitrosothiols (S-NO)] in patients with chronic liver diseases. Entered into the study were 47 subjects: 10 healthy controls, 16 patients with HCV-related chronic hepatitis (CH), and 16 patients with HCV-related and 5 with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis (10 Child A and 11 Child B+C). HSP60 was clearly expressed only in 5% of patients and lowly in the control group.

Induction of signaling pathways by herpes simplex virus type 1 through glycoprotein H peptides.

Eukaryotic cells respond to extracellular stimuli, such as viruses, by recruiting signal transduction pathways, many of which are mediated through activation of distinct mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades and activation of transductional regulation factors. The best characterized of this pathway are the extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), the c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK), and the p38 MAPK cascade. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) encodes at least 11 envelope glycoproteins, which alone or in concert play different roles in viral adsorption, entry, cell-to-cell spread, and immune evasion.

Porins from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium induce TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-8 release by CD14-independent and CD11a/CD18-dependent mechanisms.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria and several surface components of Gram-positive bacteria utilize CD14 and CD11a/18 as cellular receptors to induce expression and release of cytokines. Of the surface components of Gram-negative bacteria, porins exhibit a biological activity similar to that of LPS. The results in this paper show that the mechanism of stimulation by porins of THP-1 cells enriched in CD14 receptor after treatment with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (vitamin D(3)) is independent of this receptor, but is partially dependent on CD11a/18 integrins.