The interleukin-33 receptor (ST2) is a novel therapeutic target to attenuate the progression of hemophilic arthropathy.

Haemophilia A is an X-linked bleeding disorder caused by a blood clotting protein factor VIII deficiency. Patients with haemophilia develop recurrent bleeding episodes. When bleeding occurs in the joints, haemophilic arthropathy (HA) may develop, resulting in hemarthroses and joint deformation.

Retinoic Acid-Related Orphan Receptor α Is Required for Generation of Th2 Cells in Type 2 Pulmonary Inflammation.

The transcription factor retinoic acid-related orphan receptor α (RORα) is important in regulating several physiological functions, such as cellular development, circadian rhythm, metabolism, and immunity. In two in vivo animal models of type 2 lung inflammation, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection and house dust mite (HDM) sensitization, we show a role for Rora in Th2 cellular development during pulmonary inflammation. N.

Targeting Mucin Protein Enables Rapid and Efficient Ovarian Cancer Cell Capture: Role of Nanoparticle Properties in Efficient Capture and Culture.

The development of specific and sensitive immunomagnetic cell separation nanotechnologies is central to enhancing the diagnostic relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and improving cancer patient outcomes. The limited number of specific biomarkers used to enrich a phenotypically diverse set of CTCs from liquid biopsies has limited CTC yields and purity. The ultra-high molecular weight mucin, mucin16 (MUC16) is shown to physically shield key membrane proteins responsible for activating immune responses against ovarian cancer cells and may interfere with the binding of magnetic nanoparticles to popular immunomagnetic cell capture antigens.

infection differentially alters smooth muscle function in mouse uterine horn and cervix.

infection is a primary cause of reproductive tract diseases including infertility. Previous studies showed that this infection alters physiological activities in mouse oviducts. Whether this occurs in the uterus and cervix has never been investigated.

Endoplasmic reticulum-mediated unfolded protein response is an integral part of singlet oxygen signalling in plants.

Singlet oxygen ( O ) is a by-product of photosynthesis that triggers a signalling pathway leading to stress acclimation or to cell death. By analyzing gene expressions in a O -overproducing Arabidopsis mutant (ch1) under different light regimes, we show here that the O signalling pathway involves the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mediated unfolded protein response (UPR). ch1 plants in low light exhibited a moderate activation of UPR genes, in particular bZIP60, and low concentrations of the UPR-inducer tunicamycin enhanced tolerance to photooxidative stress, together suggesting a role for UPR in plant acclimation to low O levels.

OXI1 and DAD Regulate Light-Induced Cell Death Antagonistically through Jasmonate and Salicylate Levels.

Singlet oxygen produced from triplet excited chlorophylls in photosynthesis is a signal molecule that can induce programmed cell death (PCD) through the action of the OXIDATIVE STRESS INDUCIBLE 1 (OXI1) kinase. Here, we identify two negative regulators of light-induced PCD that modulate expression: DAD1 and DAD2, homologs of the human antiapoptotic protein DEFENDER AGAINST CELL DEATH. Overexpressing in Arabidopsis () increased plant sensitivity to high light and induced early senescence of mature leaves.

The plastoquinone pool outside the thylakoid membrane serves in plant photoprotection as a reservoir of singlet oxygen scavengers.

The Arabidopsis vte1 mutant is devoid of tocopherol and plastochromanol (PC-8). When exposed to excess light energy, vte1 produced more singlet oxygen ( O ) and suffered from extensive oxidative damage compared with the wild type. Here, we show that overexpressing the solanesyl diphosphate synthase 1 (SPS1) gene in vte1 induced a marked accumulation of total plastoquinone (PQ-9) and rendered the vte1 SPS1oex plants tolerant to photooxidative stress, indicating that PQ-9 can replace tocopherol and PC-8 in photoprotection.

METHYLENE BLUE SENSITIVITY 1 (MBS1) is required for acclimation of Arabidopsis to singlet oxygen and acts downstream of β-cyclocitral.

Singlet oxygen ( O ) signalling in plants is essential to trigger both acclimatory mechanisms and programmed cell death under high light stress. However, because of its chemical features, O requires mediators, and the players involved in this pathway are largely unknown. The β-carotene oxidation product, β-cyclocitral, is one such mediator.

Singlet Oxygen-Induced Cell Death in Arabidopsis under High-Light Stress Is Controlled by OXI1 Kinase.

Studies of the singlet oxygen ((1)O2)-overproducing flu and chlorina1 (ch1) mutants of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) have shown that (1)O2-induced changes in gene expression can lead to either programmed cell death (PCD) or acclimation. A transcriptomic analysis of the ch1 mutant has allowed the identification of genes whose expression is specifically affected by each phenomenon. One such gene is OXIDATIVE SIGNAL INDUCIBLE1 (OXI1) encoding an AGC kinase that was noticeably induced by excess light energy and (1)O2 stress conditions leading to cell death.

Plant tolerance to excess light energy and photooxidative damage relies on plastoquinone biosynthesis.

Plastoquinone-9 is known as a photosynthetic electron carrier to which has also been attributed a role in the regulation of gene expression and enzyme activities via its redox state. Here, we show that it acts also as an antioxidant in plant leaves, playing a central photoprotective role. When Arabidopsis plants were suddenly exposed to excess light energy, a rapid consumption of plastoquinone-9 occurred, followed by a progressive increase in concentration during the acclimation phase.

Modulation of Zn/Cd P(1B2)-ATPase activities in Arabidopsis impacts differently on Zn and Cd contents in shoots and seeds.

Zn is an essential microelement for all living cells and Zn deficiency is widespread in world's population. At the same time, high Zn concentration and low Cd concentration are toxic to the environment. Both Zn and Cd are transported in planta via Zn/Cd HMA transporters.

Arabidopsis lipocalins AtCHL and AtTIL have distinct but overlapping functions essential for lipid protection and seed longevity.

Lipocalins are a group of multifunctional proteins, recognized as carriers of small lipophilic molecules, which have been characterized in bacteria and animals. Two true lipocalins have been recently identified in plants, the temperature-induced lipocalin (TIL) and the chloroplastic lipocalin (CHL), the expression of which is induced by various abiotic stresses. Each lipocalin appeared to be specialized in the responses to specific stress conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana, with AtTIL and AtCHL playing a protective role against heat and high light, respectively.

Working conditions and psychosocial risk factors of employees in French electricity and gas company customer support departments.

Objective: Little is known about the real impact of working conditions on the health of call center employees. The aim of this article is to describe the working conditions of French electricity and gas company customer service teams, especially those spending more than 75% of their working time handling calls in order to determine their subjective experience of their work and identify situations at risk of psychosocial constraints.

Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-completion questionnaire was conducted on a representative sample of 2,000 employees working in customer service centers.

Surveillance of fatal occupational injuries in France: 2002-2004.

Background: Insufficient use is made of available information about workplace and commuting accidents covered by social insurance workers compensation funds in France. We sought to determine whether these data could be used to calculate national indicators for surveillance of fatal occupational injuries for 2002-2004.

Methods: We calculated the number of deaths, mortality rate, and years of potential life lost from workplace and commuting accidents (by sex, age, economic activity, and cause of accident) for employees by collecting data from eight social insurance funds in France.

Health professionals' attitudes and use of nipple shields for breastfeeding women.

Objective: No professional guidelines exist regarding nipple shield use for nursing women. This study was done to determine health professionals' most common reasons for and concerns regarding the use of nipple shields for breastfeeding women.

Methods: In June and July 2009, a web-based anonymous survey was advertised via internet listservs to physicians and other allied health professionals specializing in breastfeeding management.

Role of the iron mobilization and oxidative stress regulons in the genomic response of yeast to hydroxyurea.

Hydroxyurea (HU) is a specific inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase and thus impairs dNTP synthesis and DNA replication. The long-term transcriptional response of yeast cells to hydroxyurea was investigated using DNA microarrays containing all yeast coding sequences. We show that the redox-responsive Yap regulon and the iron-mobilization Aft regulon are activated in yeast cells treated with HU.

The protein kinase Snf1 is required for tolerance to the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor hydroxyurea.

The Snf1/AMP-activated kinases are involved in a wide range of stress responses in eukaryotic cells. We discovered a novel role for the Snf1 kinase in the cellular response to genotoxic stress in yeast. snf1 mutants are hypersensitive to hydroxyurea (HU), methyl-methane sulfonate, and cadmium, but they are not sensitive to several other genotoxic agents.

Leukemia in relation to occupational exposures to benzene and other agents: a case-control study nested in a cohort of gas and electric utility workers.

Background: Many occupational and environmental exposures have been implicated in the etiology of leukemia, but only a few, such as benzene, are well-established leukemogens. The risk of leukemia in a large cohort of gas and electricity utility workers with exposures to several suspected or confirmed carcinogens was investigated.

Methods: A case-control study nested within the cohort was conducted, with 72 leukemia cases identified among male workers, and 285 controls matched to the cases by year of birth.

Ca(2+) and membrane binding to annexin 3 modulate the structure and dynamics of its N terminus and domain III.

Annexin 3 (ANX A3) represents approximately 1% of the total protein of human neutrophils and promotes tight contact between membranes of isolated specific granules in vitro leading to their aggregation. Like for other annexins, the primary molecular events of the action of this protein is likely its binding to negatively charged phospholipid membranes in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner, via Ca(2+)-binding sites located on the convex side of the highly conserved core of the molecule. The conformation and dynamics of domain III can be affected by this process, as it was shown for other members of the family.

Spc24 interacts with Mps2 and is required for chromosome segregation, but is not implicated in spindle pole body duplication.

Mps2 (monopolar spindle protein) is a coiled-coil protein found at the spindle pole body (SPB) and at the nuclear envelope that is required for insertion of the SPB into the nuclear envelope. We identified three proteins that interact with Mps2 in a two-hybrid screen: Bbp1, Ynl107w and Spc24. All three proteins contain coiled-coil motifs that appear to be required for their interaction with Mps2.