Interleukin-19 (IL-19) induces heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression and decreases reactive oxygen species in human vascular smooth muscle cells.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) has potent anti-inflammatory activity and recognized vascular protective effects. We have recently described the expression and vascular protective effects of an anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL-19), in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and injured arteries. The objective of this study was to link the anti-inflammatory effects of IL-19 with HO-1 expression in resident vascular cells.

Increased atherosclerosis and vascular smooth muscle cell activation in AIF-1 transgenic mice fed a high-fat diet.

Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) is a cytoplasmic, scaffold signal transduction protein constitutively expressed in inflammatory cells, but inducible in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in response to injury or inflammatory stimuli. Although several basic science and population studies have reported increased AIF-1 expression in human and experimental atherosclerosis, a direct causal effect of AIF-1 expression on development of atherosclerosis has not been reported. The purpose of this study is to establish a direct relationship between AIF-1 expression and development of atherosclerosis.

Ultrafast dynamics of single-walled carbon nanotubes dispersed in polymer films.

Wavelength-resolved femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy is used to follow the electronic dynamics of single-walled carbon nanotubes in polymers following visible photoexcitation. Electron-hole (e-h) pairs give rise to sharp features in the transient spectra that decay in amplitude and exhibit rapid spectral shifts. The decay reflects (e-h) recombination on both short (1.