Extracellular stimuli elicit changes in gene expression in target cells by activating intracellular protein kinase cascades that phosphorylate transcription factors within the nucleus. One of the best characterized stimulus-induced transcription factors is cyclic AMP (cAMP) responsive element binding ...

Interferons (IFNs) are pleiotropic cytokines that mediate anti-viral responses, inhibit proliferation and participate in immune surveillance and tumor suppression by inducing the transcription of a number of IFN-stimulated genes. The IFN family includes two main classes of related cytokines, type ...

There are two families of transcription factors that play pivotal roles during mammalian skeletal muscle differentiation. One of them includes MyoD family proteins (also called myogenic regulatory factors or MRFs), with four members Myf5, Myogenic differentiation 1 (MYOD), Myogenin (MYOG), ...

Binding ...

VEGF family of ligands and receptors is crucial for vascular development and neovascularization in physiological and pathological processes in both embryo and adult. VEGFR-2 is a high-affinity receptor for VEGF-A. Activated VEGFR-2 can activate p38 MAPK, PI3K reg class IA/ ...

Efficient and coordinated synthesis of the second messengers, including Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), Diacylglycerol (DAG), and Phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PI(3,4,5)P3), is necessary for normal cell functioning. Production of secondary messengers is regulated ...

Adenosine is a potent biological mediator that affects numerous cell types including neural cells, platelets, neutrophils and smooth muscle cells. Currently, four adenosine receptor subtypes have been identified: A1, A2A, A2B and A3. Adenosine receptors are G-protein-coupled receptors that ...

The integrin family of transmembrane adhesion receptors mediates both cell-cell and cell- extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion. One important, rapid and reversible mechanism for regulating adhesion is increasing the affinity of integrin receptors for their extracellular ligands (integrin activation). ...

Human eosinophils are key effector cells implicated in a number of chronic inflammatory reactions, associated with bronchial asthma, allergic-inflammatory diseases and parasitic infections. Chemoattractants/chemokines, generated at the affected sites, promote migration of eosinophils from vasculature ...