Blocking ATP-releasing channels prevents high extracellular ATP levels and airway hyperreactivity in an asthmatic mouse model.

Allergic asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory response to different triggers like inhaled allergens. Excessive ATP in fluids from patients with asthma is considered an inflammatory signal and an important autocrine/paracrine modulator of airway physiology. Here, we investigated the deleterious effect of increased extracellular ATP (eATP) concentration on the mucociliary clearance (MCC) effectiveness and determined the role of ATP releasing channels during airway inflammation in an ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mouse model.

Lack of Kcnn4 improves mucociliary clearance in muco-obstructive lung disease.

Airway mucociliary clearance (MCC) is the main mechanism of lung defense keeping airways free of infection and mucus obstruction. Airway surface liquid volume, ciliary beating, and mucus are central for proper MCC and critically regulated by sodium absorption and anion secretion. Impaired MCC is a key feature of muco-obstructive diseases.

Nitric oxide activation by progesterone suppresses ATP-induced ciliary activity in oviductal ciliated cells.

Ciliary beat frequency (CBF) regulates the oviductal transport of oocytes and embryos, which are important components of the reproductive process. Local release of ATP transiently increases CBF by increasing [Ca2+]i. Ovarian hormones also regulate ciliary activity and oviductal transport.

In vivo study on the slow release of glucose in vacuum fried matrices.

In vitro studies have shown that vacuum frying may be an effective process to reduce starch digestibility as it may limit gelatinization; this is significant as overconsumption of starchy foods contributes to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Although in vitro studies are an instrumental tool, in vivo studies allow observation of the overall effect on a living organism. The aim of this research was to assess how in vivo starch digestibility can be reduced when frying under vacuum (9.

An autocrine ATP release mechanism regulates basal ciliary activity in airway epithelium.

Key Points: Extracellular ATP, in association with [Ca ] regulation, is required to maintain basal ciliary beat frequency. Increasing extracellular ATP levels increases ciliary beating in airway epithelial cells, maintaining a sustained response by inducing the release of additional ATP. Extracellular ATP levels in the millimolar range, previously associated with pathophysiological conditions of the airway epithelium, produce a transient arrest of ciliary activity.

TNF Affects Ciliary Beat Response to Increased Viscosity in Human Pediatric Airway Epithelium.

In airway epithelium, mucociliary clearance (MCC) velocity depends on the ciliary beat frequency (CBF), and it is affected by mucus viscoelastic properties. Local inflammation induces secretion of cytokines (TNF) that can alter mucus viscosity; however airway ciliated cells have an autoregulatory mechanism to prevent the collapse of CBF in response to increase in mucus viscosity, mechanism that is associated with an increment in intracellular Ca level ([Ca]). We studied the effect of TNF on the autoregulatory mechanism that regulates CBF in response to increased viscosity using dextran solutions, in ciliated cells cultured from human pediatric epithelial adenoid tissue.

Low physiological levels of prostaglandins E2 and F2α improve human sperm functions.

Prostaglandins (PGs) have been reported to be present in the seminal fluid and cervical mucus, affecting different stages of sperm maturation from spermatogenesis to the acrosome reaction. This study assessed the effects of low physiological PGE2 and PGF2α concentrations on human sperm motility and on the ability of the spermatozoa to bind to the zona pellucida (ZP). Human spermatozoa were isolated from seminal samples with normal concentration and motility parameters and incubated with 1μM PGE2, 1μM PGF2α or control solution to determine sperm motility and the ability to bind to human ZP.

Independent anti-angiogenic capacities of coagulation factors X and Xa.

Knockout models have shown that the coagulation system has a role in vascular development and angiogenesis. Herein, we report for the first time that zymogen FX and its active form (FXa) possess anti-angiogenic properties. Both the recombinant FX and FXa inhibit angiogenesis in vitro using endothelial EA.

Calcium (Ca2+) waves data calibration and analysis using image processing techniques.

Background: Calcium (Ca2+) propagates within tissues serving as an important information carrier. In particular, cilia beat frequency in oviduct cells is partially regulated by Ca2+ changes. Thus, measuring the calcium density and characterizing the traveling wave plays a key role in understanding biological phenomena.

Concanavalin-A induces granulosa cell death and inhibits FSH-mediated follicular growth and ovarian maturation in female rats.

Reproductive success stems from a finely regulated balance between follicular maturation and atresia, in which the role of carbohydrate structure is poorly understood. Here, we describe for the first time a fraction of purified recombinant human FSH that is capable of bringing about the cell death of granulosa cells and preventing follicular maturation in a rat model. Further analysis by mass spectrometry revealed the presence of the lectin Concanavalin-A (Con-A) within this fraction of recombinant FSH.

Epithelial cell culture from human adenoids: a functional study model for ciliated and secretory cells.

Background: Mucociliary transport (MCT) is a defense mechanism of the airway. To study the underlying mechanisms of MCT, we have both developed an experimental model of cultures, from human adenoid tissue of ciliated and secretory cells, and characterized the response to local chemical signals that control ciliary activity and the secretion of respiratory mucins in vitro.

Materials And Methods: In ciliated cell cultures, ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and intracellular Ca(2+) levels were measured in response to ATP, UTP, and adenosine.

Progesterone promotes focal adhesion formation and migration in breast cancer cells through induction of protease-activated receptor-1.

Progesterone and progestins have been demonstrated to enhance breast cancer cell migration, although the mechanisms are still not fully understood. The protease-activated receptors (PARs) are a family of membrane receptors that are activated by serine proteases in the blood coagulation cascade. PAR1 (F2R) has been reported to be involved in cancer cell migration and overexpressed in breast cancer.

Molecular modulation of airway epithelial ciliary response to sneezing.

Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of the mechanical force of a sneeze on sinonasal cilia function and determine the molecular mechanism responsible for eliciting the ciliary response to a sneeze. A novel model was developed to deliver a stimulation simulating a sneeze (55 mmHg for 50 ms) at 26°C to the apical surface of mouse and human nasal epithelial cells. Ciliary beating was visualized, and changes in ciliary beat frequency (CBF) were determined.

2-Methoxyestradiol inhibits progesterone-dependent tissue factor expression and activity in breast cancer cells.

2-Methoxyestradiol (2ME) is an endogenous metabolite of 17β-estradiol with antiangiogenic and antitumor properties, although its mechanisms of action remain unclear. Progestins in hormone replacement therapy increase the risk of breast cancer. Progesterone also enhances the procoagulant activity and invasive potential of progesterone receptor (PR)-positive breast cancer cell lines, an effect largely mediated by induction of tissue factor (TF), the cellular activator of the coagulation cascade.

A non-genomic signaling pathway shut down by mating changes the estradiol-induced gene expression profile in the rat oviduct.

Estradiol (E(2)) accelerates oviductal egg transport through intraoviductal non-genomic pathways in unmated rats and through genomic pathways in mated rats. This shift in pathways has been designated as intracellular path shifting (IPS), and represents a novel and hitherto unrecognized effect of mating on the female reproductive tract. We had reported previously that IPS involves shutting down the E(2) non-genomic pathway up- and downstream of 2-methoxyestradiol.

Enhancement of visual perception with use of dynamic cues.

Unlabelled: Institutional review board approval and signed informed consent were not needed, as medical images included in public databases were used in this study. The purpose of this study was to improve the detection of microcalcifications on mammograms and lung nodules on chest radiographs by using the dynamic cues algorithm and the motion and flickering sensitivity of the human visual system (HVS). Different sets of mammograms from the Mammographic Image Analysis Society database and chest radiographs from the Japanese Society of Radiological Technology database were presented statically, as is standard, and in a video sequence generated with the dynamic cues algorithm.

ATP and adenosine trigger the interaction of plasma membrane IP3 receptors with protein kinase A in oviductal ciliated cells.

We have demonstrated that adenosine did not produce any change of intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in oviductal ciliated cells; however, it increased the ATP-induced Ca2+ influx through the activation of protein kinase A (PKA). Uncaging of IP3 and cAMP triggered a larger Ca2+ influx than did IP3 alone. Furthermore, the IP3 effect was abolished by Xestospongin C, an IP3 receptor blocker.

Characterization and phenotypic variation with passage number of cultured human endometrial adenocarcinoma cells.

Despite numerous endometrial cancer cell lines, little is know about the progression and transition of primary cultured endometrial tumours. Herein, a stage I grade III endometrial adenocarcinoma was maintained in primary culture and the phenotypic and protein expression changes were observed in relation to passage number. At early passage numbers, cultured human endometrial cancer (CHEC) cells displayed classic epithelial cell morphology, growing in groups in a glandular structure and staining positive for cytokeratin.

Catechol-o-methyltransferase and methoxyestradiols participate in the intraoviductal nongenomic pathway through which estradiol accelerates egg transport in cycling rats.

Estradiol (E(2)) accelerates oviductal egg transport through intraoviductal nongenomic pathways in cyclic rats and through genomic pathways in pregnant rats. This shift in pathways, which we have provisionally designated as intracellular path shifting (IPS), is caused by mating-associated signals and represents a novel and hitherto unrecognized phenomenon. The mechanism underlying IPS is currently under investigation.

The oestrogen metabolite 2-methoxyoestradiol alone or in combination with tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand mediates apoptosis in cancerous but not healthy cells of the human endometrium.

Cancers of the reproductive tract account for 12% of all malignancies in women. As previous studies have shown that oestrogen metabolites can cause apoptosis, we characterised the effect of oestrogen and oestrogen metabolites on non-cancerous and cancerous human endometrial cells. Herein, we demonstrate that 2-methoxyoestradiol (2ME), but not 17beta-oestradiol, induces apoptosis in cancer cell lines and primary cultured tumours of endometrial origin.

Effect of oestradiol and progesterone on the instant and directional velocity of microsphere movements in the rat oviduct: gap junctions mediate the kinetic effect of oestradiol.

The oviducal transport of eggs to the uterus normally takes 72-96 h in the rat, but this is reduced to less than 20 h after a single injection of oestradiol (E2). This accelerated transport is associated with an increased frequency of pendular movements in the isthmic segment of the oviduct, with increased levels of the gap junction (GJ) component Connexin (Cx) 43, and is antagonised by progesterone (P). In the present study, we investigated the effect of these hormones on the instant and directional velocity of pendular movements and the role of the GJ and its Cx43 component in the kinetic response of the oviduct to E2 and P.

Principles: mechanisms and modeling of synergism in cellular responses.

Cells can be considered as integrators of simultaneous stimuli, in which cross-talk between transduction pathways can eventually produce responses that are significantly different from simply additive responses. Synergism represents an efficient means of increasing the amplitude of cellular responses induced by low levels of stimulation. Recently, several kinetic and physicochemical models have been developed to describe and predict synergistic responses.

Tissue factor is regulated by epidermal growth factor in normal and malignant human endometrial epithelial cells.

Tissue Factor (TF), the initiator of the extrinsic coagulation cascade, is overexpressed in a variety of cancers. TF is also expressed in normal human endometrium but little is known about its expression or regulation in endometrial cancer. We demonstrate herein that TF is expressed in the endometrial adenocarcinoma cell line Ishikawa.