Regulation of plasma lipid homeostasis by hepatic lipoprotein lipase in adult mice.

LPL is a pivotal rate-limiting enzyme to catalyze the hydrolysis of TG in circulation, and plays a critical role in regulating lipid metabolism. However, little attention has been paid to LPL in the adult liver due to its relatively low expression. Here we show that endogenous hepatic LPL plays an important physiological role in plasma lipid homeostasis in adult mice.

Reverse signaling using an inducible costimulator to enhance immunogenic function of dendritic cells.

A costimulatory signal from an inducible costimulator (ICOS) of T cells plays a critical role in immunological homeostasis. This study shows that the interaction of ICOSIg and its ligand (ICOSL) on mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs) induces a p38-MAPK dependent elevation of interleukin 6 (IL-6). It also enhances phagocytosis and the antigen-presentation function of DCs in vitro, further favoring cell-mediated immunity in vivo.