Current Signal Transduction Therapy - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2008

Liver X Receptor-α (LXRα, also known as NR1H3) and LXRβ (NR1H2) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors, a superfamily which includes the more widely known glucocorticoid receptor, estrogen receptor, thyroid receptor, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors. The LXRs are activated by physiologic sterol ligands (e.g., oxysterols) and by synthetic agon Read More

The popularity of medicinal herbs has grown significantly in recent years despite a dearth of information regarding their modes of action and continuing concerns over their efficacy. Recent efforts to elucidate the mechanisms of action of several anti-inflammatory herbs have focused on a class of compounds, sesquiterpene lactones, that are believed to be the active components of these herbal medicines. Sesquiterpene la Read More

Formyl-peptide receptors (FPR) are expressed in several cell types including phagocytic leukocytes, and a wide variety of agonists of FPR and of its FPRL1 variant have been identified. These ligands interact with their specific receptors on the cellular membrane, and activate specific biological functions through a G-protein-coupled pathway. In nonphagocytic cells, agonist/FPR binding also induces transactivation of the constituti Read More

Approximately 80% of the kidney is composed of tubular cells which secret and reabsorb substances to and from the urine. Activated tubular cells play a pivotal role in the etiology of renal fibrosis. During renal injury, these activated tubular cells participate in the initiation of fibrogenic processes which eventually may lead to tubulointerstitial fibrosis and end stage renal disease (ESRD). Current therapies such as angiote Read More

According to the American Cancer Society, Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men. Conventional therapies produce a high rate of cure for patients with localized prostate cancer, but there is no cure once the disease has spread beyond the prostate. Androgens are the primary growth factors used by prostate cancer cells initially, and androgen deprivation remains the only treatment f Read More

Overexpression of the leucine-rich, glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) gene in neuroblastoma cells inhibited proliferation and efficiently induced apoptosis. Cell clones stably transfected with LGI1 cDNA showed greater mortality during a period of serum starvation in comparison with control cells stably transfected with empty vector. This observation suggested hindrance of the PI3K/Akt pathway, a central transducer of survival stimuli eli Read More

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a crucial role in translating innate to adaptive immunity. DC-based cancer immunotherapy has been under evaluation; however, its clinical benefits remain limited. A better understanding of DCs is, therefore, needed to improve clinical outcomes. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) were initially identified as molecules that recognize and bind pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) leading to DC mat Read More

The growth factor signals regulate the balance of cell proliferation and cell death to maintain the homeostasis in vivo; hence, deregulation of the balance underlies a variety of human diseases. The PI3K-Akt network is activated by various cytokines or growth factors and mediates intracellular signals to regulate a wide variety of cellular responses, including anti-apoptosis, proliferation, cell cycling, protein synthesis, glucose met Read More