Advanced-age C57BL/6JRj mice do not develop obesity upon western-type diet exposure.

Obesity has become a global health-threat for every age group. It is well known that young mice (10-12 weeks of age) fed a western-type diet (WD) become obese and develop higher cholesterol levels and liver steatosis whereas insulin sensitivity is reduced. Less is known, however, about the effect of a WD on advanced-age mice.

Adiposity and metabolic health in mice deficient in intestinal alkaline phosphatase.

Intestinal alkaline phosphatase 3 (AKP3) is an enzyme that was reported to play a role in lipid metabolism and to prevent high fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome in mice. To investigate a potential functional role of AKP3 in diet-induced adiposity and metabolic health, we have kept male and female wild-type or AKP3 deficient mice on a high fat diet for 15 weeks to induce obesity and compared those with mice kept on standard fat diet. Body weight as well as adipose tissue mass were statistically significantly higher upon high fat diet feeding for mice of both genders and genotypes.

Dextran sulfate triggers platelet aggregation via direct activation of PEAR1.

Unlabelled: Dextran sulfate (DxS; Mr 500 kD) induces fibrinogen receptor (αIIbβ3) activation via CLEC-2/Syk signaling and via a Syk-independent SFK/PI3K/Akt-dependent tyrosine kinase pathway in human and murine platelets. The platelet surface receptor, responsible for the DxS-induced Syk-independent Akt-activation, has hitherto not been identified. We found that DxS elicited a concentration-dependent aggregation of human platelets resulting from direct PEAR1 activation by DxS.

Bacterial pathogens activate plasminogen to breach tissue barriers and escape from innate immunity.

Both coagulation and fibrinolysis are tightly connected with the innate immune system. Infection and inflammation cause profound alterations in the otherwise well-controlled balance between coagulation and fibrinolysis. Many pathogenic bacteria directly exploit the host's hemostatic system to increase their virulence.