ABSTRACT
Dendritic cells (DCs) play a crucial role as central orchestrators of immune system response in atherosclerosis initiation and progression. Lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) is involved in the immune maturation of DCs, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We isolated mouse bone marrow progenitors and stimulated them with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin (IL)-4 to induce immature DCs. We then treated DCs with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) to induce maturation. LOX-1 siRNA was used to investigate the modulation of LOX-1 on the development of DCs and the underlying signal pathways. CD11c-positive DCs were successfully derived from mouse bone marrow progenitors. OxLDL promoted the expressions of DCs maturation markers and pro-inflammatory cytokines. OxLDL also upregulated LOX-1 expression and activated MAPK/NF-κB pathways. LOX-1 siRNA could attenuate the expression of MAPK/NF-κB pathways and inflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, oxLDL induced the maturation of DCs via LOX-1-mediated MAPK/NF-κB pathway, which contributed to the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis.
Subject(s)
Animals , Rats , Dendritic Cells , NF-kappa B , MAP Kinase Signaling System , Scavenger Receptors, Class E , Lipoproteins, LDLABSTRACT
To find the underlying causes of primary myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), the gene expression profiling of both CD34+ cells and bone marrow mononuclear cells from MDS patients was performed using oligonucleotide microarray and cDNA microarrays, respectively. Several candidate genes which were differentially expressed in MDS patients versus normal controls were selected and confirmed in expanding samples by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction after clustering and bioinformatics analysis. one of these genes, RAP1GAP, was found to be expressed at a significantly higher level in patients with MDS in comparison with those suffering from other hematopoietic diseases including leukemia (P < 0.01). We propose that over-expression of RAP1GAP gene may play a role in the pathogenesis of MDS.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , GTPase-Activating Proteins/genetics , Myelodysplastic Syndromes/genetics , /blood , Cluster Analysis , Bone Marrow Cells/cytology , Bone Marrow Cells/metabolism , Gene Expression Profiling , Leukocytes, Mononuclear , Monocytes/metabolism , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Myelodysplastic Syndromes/bloodABSTRACT
The population dynamics and production of cercariae of Schistosoma japonicum in Oncomelania hupensis are reported. The experiments covered the whole life span of positive snails and different intervals of cercariae shedding. The results indicated that two patterns of the dynamics of cercariae shedding had been found in the life span of positive snails. The first was a long-time interval (4-7 days) and progressive decline pattern. The cercariae shedding of positive snails lasted 18-19 weeks in males and for 32-33 weeks (once a week). The second was a short-time interval (1-3 days) and continued release pattern. The cercariae shedding of positive snails lasted for 20-36 days (every day shedding). Shedding cercariae stimulate cercariae development.