1,046 research outputs found
The Role of NF-κB and H3K27me3 Demethylase, Jmjd3, on the Anthrax Lethal Toxin Tolerance of RAW 264.7 Cells
BACKGROUND: In Bacillus anthracis, lethal toxin (LeTx) is a critical virulence factor that causes immune suppression and toxic shock in the infected host. NF-kappaB is a key mediator of the inflammatory response and is crucial for the plasticity of first level immune cells such as macrophages, monocytes and neutrophils. In macrophages, this inflammatory response, mediated by NF-kappaB, can regulate host defense against invading pathogens. A Jumonji C family histone 3 lysine-27 (H3K27) demethylase, Jmjd3, plays a crucial role in macrophage plasticity and inflammation. Here we report that NF-kappaB and Jmjd3 can modulate the LeTx intoxication resistance of RAW 264.7 cells. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study showed that a 2 h exposure of macrophages to LeTx caused substantial cell death with a survival rate of around 40%. The expression of the Jmjd3 gene was induced 8-fold in intoxication-resistant cells generated by treatment with lipopolysaccharides of RAW 264.7 cells. These intoxication-resistant cell lines (PLx intox and PLxL intox) were maintained for 8 passages and had a survival rate of around 100% on secondary exposure to LeTx and lipopolysaccharides. Analysis of NF-kappaB gene expression showed that the expression of p100, p50 and p65 was induced around 20, 7 and 4 fold, respectively, in both of the intoxication-resistant cell lines following a 2 h treatment with PLxL (0.1+0.1+1 microg/ml). In contrast, these NF-kappaB genes were not induced following treatment with PLx treatment at the same concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Although LeTx influences macrophage physiology and causes defects of some key signaling pathways such as GSK3beta which contributes to cytotoxicity, these results indicate that modulation of NF-kappaB by p50, p100 and Jmjd3 could be vital for the recovery of murine macrophages from exposure to the anthrax lethal toxin
Thiol-linked peroxidase activity of human ceruloplasmin
AbstractHuman ceruloplasmin exhibited different antioxidant effects according to the electron donors in a metal-catalyzed oxidation system. Purified ceruloplasmin did not play a significant role in the protection of DNA strand breaks in the ascorbate/Fe3+/O2 system. However, when ascorbates were replaced with a thiol-reducing equivalent such as dithiothreitol, DNA strand breaks were significantly prevented by the same amount of ceruloplasmin. Ceruloplasmin did not catalyze the decomposition of H2O2 in the absence of reduced glutathione. On the contrary, ceruloplasmin showed a potent peroxidase ability to destroy H2O2 in the presence of reduced glutathione. In conclusion, the removal of H2O2 by human ceruloplasmin is not simply stoichiometric but thiol-dependent
Association of factor XIII Val34Leu polymorphism and coronary artery disease: A meta-analysis
Background: Factor XIII plays an important role in the stabilization of the linkage between fibrins and in the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease (CAD). The association between factor XIII Val34Leu polymorphism and CAD risk remains controversial.
Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of 36 studies involving 26,940 cases and 34,694 controls. Subgroup analyses were performed with division of data into disease (myocardial infarction [MI], CAD without MI), age, and sex.
Results: Factor XIII Val34Leu polymorphism was significantly associated with ove all CAD risk (odds ratio [OR] = 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03–1.06, p = 0.004) and MI risk (OR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.07–1.25, p = 0.0003), but not with CAD without MI risk (OR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.87–1.15, p = 0.96). In the subgroup analysis by age and sex, there was no association between Val34Leu polymorphism and CAD.
Conclusions: This meta-analysis found that factor XIII Val34Leu polymorphism was associated with CAD risk, especially MI, but not with CAD without MI. In addition, age and sex did not affect the relationship between factor XIII Val34Leu polymorphism and CAD risk.
A New Hardware Correlator in Korea: Performance Evaluation using KVN observations
We report results of the performance evaluation of a new hardware correlator
in Korea, the Daejeon correlator, developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space
Science Institute (KASI) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
(NAOJ). We conducted Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations at
22~GHz with the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) in Korea and the VLBI Exploration of
Radio Astrometry (VERA) in Japan, and correlated the aquired data with the
Daejeon correlator. For evaluating the performance of the new hardware
correlator, we compared the correlation outputs from the Daejeon correlator for
KVN observations with those from a software correlator, the Distributed FX
(DiFX). We investigated the correlated flux densities and brightness
distributions of extragalactic compact radio sources. The comparison of the two
correlator outputs show that they are consistent with each other within ,
which is comparable with the amplitude calibration uncertainties of KVN
observations at 22~GHz. We also found that the 8\% difference in flux density
is caused mainly by (a) the difference in the way of fringe phase tracking
between the DiFX software correlator and the Daejeon hardware correlator, and
(b) an unusual pattern (a double-layer pattern) of the amplitude correlation
output from the Daejeon correlator. The visibility amplitude loss by the
double-layer pattern is as small as 3\%. We conclude that the new hardware
correlator produces reasonable correlation outputs for continuum observations,
which are consistent with the outputs from the DiFX software correlator.Comment: 13 pagee, 9 figures, 3 tables, to appear in JKAS (received February
9, 2015; accepted March 16, 2015
Inkjet-Printed Silver CPW with Narrow Gap
Inkjet-printed silver coplanar waveguide on a glass substrate with narrow gap is firstly realized by using a selective surface treatment. The measured gap between signal and ground is 16.7 mm. Insertion loss is measured to be 2.04 dB/cm and 4.40 dB/cm at 10 GHz and 40 GHz, respectively
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