Published in Wound Repair and Regeneration
Impaired healing after severe burns remains a reason for prolonged hospitalization, opportunistic infections, and debilitating scarring. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is an important immune regulator that has been shown to inhibit collagen synthesis by fibroblasts, resulting in delayed healing in incision wounds. To determine whether IFN-γ plays similar...
Published in The Journal of Immunology
We have previously identified a 13-residue cyclic peptide, Compstatin, that binds to complement component C3 and inhibits complement activation. Herein, we describe the binding kinetics, structure-activity relationship, and biotransformation of Compstatin. Biomolecular interaction analysis using surface-plasmon resonance showed that Compstatin boun...
Published in Molecular Immunology
Compstatin is a peptidic complement inhibitor that prevents the cleavage of complement factor 3 (C3) by C3 convertase. Compstatin differs from other C3-regulatory proteins, such as complement receptor (CR) 1 and decay-accelerating factor (DAF), in that it binds native as well as activated C3 fragments and acts through mechanisms that do not involve...
Published in Biochemical Society Transactions
Compstatin is a 13-residue cyclic peptide that has the ability to inhibit the cleavage of C3 to C3a and C3b. The effects of targeting C3 cleavage are threefold, and result in hindrance of: (i) the generation of the pro-inflammatory peptide C3a, (ii) the generation of opsonin C3b (or its fragment C3d), and (iii) further complement activation of the ...
Published in The FASEB Journal
With the use of a novel method for detecting differential gene expression, alterations in functional gene clusters related to transport or oxidative stress response and beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptide metabolism were identified in a HEK293 cell line engineered to overexpress the human ATP binding cassette transporter ABCA2. These included fatty acid b...
Published in Clinical Immunology
Complement activation products are major components of the inflammatory response induced by cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass which contribute to postoperative organ dysfunction, fluid accumulation, and morbidity. Activation of the complement system occurs during extracorporeal circulation, during reperfusion of ischemic tissue, and after ...
Published in Journal of Nutrition
Published in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta
The human ABCA2 transporter is a member of a large family of ATP-binding proteins that transport a variety of molecules across biological membranes. Using RNA ligation-mediated PCR (RLM-PCR), we have identified a novel first exon, which we designate 1B that is located 699 bp upstream of the previously characterized first exon, which we designate 1A...
Published in Journal of Virology
Many microorganisms encode proteins that interact with molecules involved in host immunity; however, few of these molecules have been proven to promote immune evasion in vivo. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein C (gC) binds complement component C3 and inhibits complement-mediated virus neutralization and lysis of infected cells in vit...
Published in Glia
A prominent feature of multiple sclerosis (MS) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is the accumulation of enlarged, multipolar glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and brain lipid binding protein (BLBP) immunoreactive astroglia within and at the margins of the inflammatory demyelinative lesions. Whether this astrogliosis is due to...
