An essential phase of skeletal myogenesis is the fusion of mononucleated myoblasts to form multinucleated myotubes. Many cell adhesion proteins, including integrins, have been shown to be important for myoblast fusion in vertebrates, but the mechanisms by which these proteins regulate cell fusion remain mostly unknown. Here, we focused on the role ...
p53 mutations occur frequently in human tumors. The low-molecular-weight compound PRIMA-1 MET reactivates mutant p53, induces apoptosis in human tumor cells and inhibits tumor xenograft growth in vivo. Here, we show that PRIMA-1 MET induces mutant p53-dependent mito-chondria-mediated apoptosis through activation of caspase-2 with subsequent cytochr...
Oxidized 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (OxPAPC) is present in oxidative modified LDL and accumulates in lesions of many chronic inflammatory diseases, such as atherosclerosis. In a microarray study, OxPAPC has been demonstrated to modulate the expression of >700 genes in human aortic endothelial cells. We found that the ...
A mixed-chimerism approach is a major goal to circumvent sustained immunosuppression, but most of the proposed protocols need antibody treatment or host irradiation. Another promising experience involves bu-sulfan combined with cyclophosphamide treatment. Additionally, recent publications demonstrated that, differing from busulfan, treosulfan admin...
A central question in muscle biology is how costameres are formed and become aligned with underlying myofibrils in mature tissues. Costameres are composed of focal adhesion proteins, including vinculin and paxillin, and anchor myofibril Z-bands to the sarcolemma. In the present study, we investigated the process of costamere formation (" costamerog...
