Action of boron at the molecular level: effects on transcription and translation in an acellular system.

It has been shown that boric acid has well-defined biological effects such as stimulation of wound healing in vivo, release of growth factors and cytokines, and increase of the extracellular matrice turnover. We examined its action at the molecular level, using cell-free systems of transcription (isolated placenta nuclei) and translation (wheat germ extract). We found that 10 mM boric acid greatly increased RNA synthesis, measured by absorbance at 260 nm (x 6.

Boron modulates extracellular matrix and TNF alpha synthesis in human fibroblasts.

Boric acid was not mitogenic for human fibroblasts and it did not change cell viability until 0.5% (w/v). Boric acid treatment affected the metabolism of human dermal fibroblasts in culture, decreasing the synthesis of extracellular matrix macromolecules such as proteoglycans, collagen, and total proteins.

Synergism of interleukin-12 and interleukin-3 on development of hematopoietic progenitors.

The recently cloned cytotoxic lymphocyte maturation factor [CLMF] also called NK cell stimulatory factor [NKSF] or interleukin-12 [IL-12] has been described as a growth factor for mature lymphoid cells. The present study investigated whether purified recombinant human IL-12 could stimulate CFU colony growth. Source of progenitor cells were peripheral blood cells depleted of adherent, CD2- and CD56-positive cells.

Sensitivity of myeloid progenitors to NK-cell depletion.

To gain additional informations on the role played by Natural Killer cells (NK) in the differentiation of human hematopoietic precursors, we have studied the effect of NK-cell depletion on the in vitro proliferation of hematopoietic cells. NK cells were depleted from blood mononuclear cells by FACS using anti CD3 and anti CD56 monoclonal antibodies. Depletion of NK cells suppressed CFU-GM up to 69% (P < 0.