The inhibition of angiogenesis is regarded as a promising avenue for cancer treatment. Although some antiangiogenic compounds are in the process of development and testing, these often prove ineffective in vivo, therefore the search for new inhibitors is critical. We have recently identified a ten amino acid fragment of the Alzheimer A? peptide that is ...

Surfactant protein-A (SP-A) and Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) proteins are recognized as pathogen-recognition receptors. An exaggerated activation of TLR4 induces inflammatory response, whereas SP-A protein down-regulates inflammation. We hypothesized that SP-A-TLR4 interaction may lead to inhibition of inflammation. In this study, we investigated interaction between native ...

BackgroundAntimicrobial peptides derived from the natural processing of chromogranin A (CgA) are co-secreted with catecholamines upon stimulation of chromaffin cells. Since PMNs play a central role in innate immunity, we examine responses by PMNs following stimulation by two antimicrobial CgA-derived peptides.Methodology/Principal ...

A peptide with the natural sequence derived from the complement component C3a, designated C3a7, and C3a9, having a modified sequence of that, was previously shown to inhibit the high-affinity IgER (FcepsilonRI)-induced secretory response of both mucosal and serosal-type mast cells. In addition, several processes that couple the FcepsilonRI stimulus to the ...