Biomedical subjects

Kuljeet Kaur

Publications and source records attributed to Kuljeet Kaur.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Interplay of TNF-alpha and IL-10 in regulating oxidative stress in isolated adult cardiac myocytes.

Oxidative stress and inflammation are considered to be important factors in the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure subsequent to myocardial infarction. Endogenous TNF-alpha plays a central role in initiating and sustaining the inflammatory response. IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, has been shown to antagonize some of the deleterious effects of TNF-alpha. In this study, we tested whether an imbalance of these two contrasting cytokines leads to increased oxidative stress and cardiac myocyte dysfunction. Isolated adult rat cardiac myocytes were exposed to different concentrations of TNF-alpha and IL-10 (1-20 ng/ml) alone or in combination. As a positive control, cells were also exposed to H2O2 (100 microI) to induce oxidative stress. An exposure to TNF-alpha (10 ng/ml) caused a significant decrease in both protein and mRNA for manganese superoxide dismutase and catalase, decreased glutathione peroxidase protein, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, and caused cell injury as measured by creatine kinase release. IL-10 treatment (10 ng/ml) by itself had no effect on any of these parameters, but it prevented all the above listed changes caused by TNF-alpha. IL-10/TNF-alpha ratio of lower or higher than 1 was less effective in reducing TNF-alpha generated oxidative stress. H2O2 treatment increased oxidative stress and cell injury and TNF-alpha mimicked these effects. This study suggests that a proper balance between IL-10 and TNF-alpha, rather than any of the individual cytokines is of more physiological importance in mediating oxidative-stress-induced cardiac injury.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Adriamycin-induced oxidative stress, activation of MAP kinases and apoptosis in isolated cardiomyocytes.

BACKGROUND: Adriamycin (ADR) induced heart failure is associated with an increase in oxidative stress and apoptosis. Changes due to ADR in mitogen-activated protein kinases (ERK1/2 and p38 MAPKs), pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins (Bax and Bcl-xl) and apoptosis were examined in isolated adult rat cardiomyocytes. METHODS: Isolated adult rat cardiomyocytes were exposed to different concentrations of ADR (0.1, 1 and 10mumol/L) and analyzed at different post-treatment durations. Antioxidant, trolox (20mumol/L) was used to determine involvement of oxidative stress on these changes. RESULTS: Total ERK1/2 and p38 did not show any significant change. However, phosphorylated ERK1/2 showed a rapid increase (497%) after 5min of ADR treatment, peaking (610%) at 10min followed by a decline to submaximal levels at 30min (280%) and 60min (247%). Phosphorylated p38 showed no changes until after 30min, peaking (284%) at 1h, followed by a small decline at 2h. These changes were found to be dose-dependent (0.1, 1 and 10mumol/L of ADR). Adriamycin induced apoptosis was confirmed by Hoechst staining. The ratio of Bax/Bcl-xl increased in a dose-dependent manner. At 10mumol/L, this ratio increased to a maximum at 1h, remained steady at the level for up to 12h, followed by a decline below the base line at 24h. Antioxidant, trolox modulated the ADR-induced increase in phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPKs as well as in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-xl. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that ADR activates MAP kinases, followed by an activation of pro-apoptotic protein Bax which results in cardiomyocyte apoptosis and these effects appear to be mediated by ADR-induced oxidative stress.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Constitutive and activation-inducible cyclooxygenase-2 expression enhances survival of chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells.

We recently reported that activated normal human B lymphocytes express Cox-2. These findings prompted us to evaluate whether human B-CLL cells express Cox-2 and synthesize prostaglandins. In contrast to naive human B cells, B-CLL cells constitutively expressed Cox-2 protein and produced PGE2, PGF2alpha, and TXA2. Elevated Cox-2 expression was seen in a subgroup of B-CLL cells that exhibit poor prognostic factors, including unmutated variable heavy chain status and increased CD38 expression. Furthermore, stimulation of B-CLL cells with CD40 ligand plus TNFalpha increased Cox-2 levels. The role of Cox-2 in promoting B-CLL survival was investigated using nonselective and selective Cox-2 inhibitors. Significant reductions in B-CLL survival occurred following Cox-2 inhibition. These new findings support that constitutive Cox-2 expression in B-CLL cells promotes their survival and possibly their expansion in vivo. It will therefore be important to evaluate drugs that inhibit Cox-2 as potential therapeutic agents in B-CLL in vivo.

B-Lymphocytes↗

PubMed2005

Avian metapneumovirus phosphoprotein targeted RNA interference silences the expression of viral proteins and inhibits virus replication.

Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) is one of the major causes of serious respiratory infections of poultry and leads to considerable economic losses to food animal production worldwide. Here, we show that double stranded short interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules corresponding to aMPV phosphoprotein (P) gene silence P RNA and protein expression. These siRNAs broadly reduced the expression of other viral proteins in addition to P, but did not have a discernable effect on cellular protein expression. The exposure of cells to P-specific siRNAs also led to inhibition of virus replication as evidenced by marked reduction in the progeny virion titers. Taken together, the findings suggest that exogenous P silencing siRNAs can inhibit aMPV replication with potential implications in the design of novel siRNA based prophylactics.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Suppression subtractive hybridization coupled with microarray analysis to examine differential expression of genes in virus infected cells.

High throughput detection of differential expression of genes is an efficient means of identifying genes and pathways that may play a role in biological systems under certain experimental conditions. There exist a variety of approaches that could be used to identify groups of genes that change in expression in response to a particular stimulus or environment. We here describe the application of suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) coupled with cDNA microarray analysis for isolation and identification of chicken transcripts that change in expression on infection of host cells with a paramyxovirus. SSH was used for initial isolation of differentially expressed transcripts, a large-scale validation of which was accomplished by microarray analysis. The data reveals a large group of regulated genes constituting many biochemical pathways that could serve as targets for future investigations to explore their role in paramyxovirus pathogenesis. The detailed methods described herein could be useful and adaptable to any biological system for studying changes in gene expression.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Identification of the active site of gelatinase B as the structural element sufficient for converting a protein to a metalloprotease.

Gelatinase B is a member of the matrix metalloproteinase family that efficiently cleaves gelatin, elastin, and types V and X collagen. To understand the contribution of the active site of the enzyme (amino acid residues 373-456) in these activities, we studied catalytic properties of a fusion protein consisting of maltose binding protein and the active site region of gelatinase B. We found that addition of the active site of gelatinase B, which corresponds to 12% of the total protein molecule, to maltose binding protein is sufficient to endow the protein with the ability to cleave the peptide substrates Mca-PLGL(Dpa)AR-NH(2) and DNP-PLGLWA-(D)-R-NH(2). The fusion protein hydrolyzed the Mca-PLGL(Dpa)AR-NH(2) peptide with the same efficiency as that of the stromelysin, k(cat)/K(m) approximately 1.07 x 10(6) M(-)(1) h(-)(1). The fusion protein, however, was not able to degrade the large substrate, gelatin. Inhibition of the activity of the protein by EDTA suggested that its activity was metal dependent. ESR analyses indicated that the fusion protein bound one molecule of Zn(2+). In addition, Z-Pro-Leu-Gly-hydroxamate and TIMP-1 inhibited the activity of the protein, suggesting that the structure of the active site of the fusion protein is similar to that of the other metalloproteinases. These data provide fundamental information about the structural elements required for transforming a protein to a metalloprotease.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗