Acta pharmacologica Sinica
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Acta Pharmacol. Sin. · Dec 2008
Acute pulmonary inflammation is inhibited in CXCR3 knockout mice after short-term cigarette smoke exposure.
CXCR3, via binding its specific ligand CXCL10, plays an important role in cigarette smoke (CS)-induced pulmonary inflammation. CXCR3 is preferentially expressed in activated T cells (chiefly CD8+ T cells). The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of CXCR3 in CS-induced pulmonary injury using CXCR3 gene-deficient (CXCR3-/-) mice. ⋯ Our data show that CXCR3 is important in recruiting inflammatory cells (particularly CD8+ T cells) into the airways and lungs, as well as initiating inflammatory and fibrotic cytokines release at 2 h following a short-term CS insult. CXCR3 could be a novel target for the treatment of pulmonary inflammation induced by CS.
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Acta Pharmacol. Sin. · Dec 2008
Neuroprotective effect of sodium ferulate and signal transduction mechanisms in the aged rat hippocampus.
To investigate whether the age-related increase in interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) pathway was coupled with a decrease in cell survival signaling pathways and whether sodium ferulate (SF) treatment was effective in preventing these age-associated changes. ⋯ SF plays neuroprotective roles through suppression of IL-1beta and IL-1beta-induced JNK signaling and upregulation of MEK/ERK1/2 and Akt/p70S6K survival pathways.
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Acta Pharmacol. Sin. · Aug 2008
Cardioprotection of sevoflurane postconditioning by activating extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 in isolated rat hearts.
The activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 protects against ischemic-reperfusion injury. Whether ERK1/2 mediates the cardioprotection of sevoflurane postconditioning is unknown. We tested whether sevoflurane postconditioning produces cardioprotection via an ERK1/2-dependent mechanism. ⋯ Anesthetic postconditioning by sevoflurane effectively protects against reperfusion damage by activating ERK1/2 in vitro.
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Acta Pharmacol. Sin. · Mar 2008
Agonist-induced hump current production in heterologously-expressed human alpha4beta2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
To characterize the functional and pharmacological features of agonist-induced hump currents in human alpha4beta2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR). ⋯ These results support the hypothesis that hump currents reflect a rapid release of agonists from the alpha4beta2-nAChR channel pore and a rapid recovery from desensitized alpha4beta2-nAChR.
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Acta Pharmacol. Sin. · Sep 2007
ReviewCombinatorial strategies for cancer eradication by silibinin and cytotoxic agents: efficacy and mechanisms.
In an effort to develop effective alternative strategies that increase the therapeutic efficacy and minimize the systemic toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents, more efforts are being directed towards the investigation of dietary supplements and other phytotherapeutic agents for their synergistic efficacy in combination with anticancer drugs. One such agent is silibinin, which has shown promising chemopreventive and anticancer effects in various in vitro and in vivo studies. ⋯ Together, the results indicate a synergistic effect of silibinin on growth inhibition, reversal of chemoresistance, apoptosis induction, and a strong increase in G2-M checkpoint arrest when given in combination with these drugs. These results are highly significant with respect to the combined chemotherapy approach, wherein the criteria for combination is that the response has to be synergistic and that the drugs should not share common mechanisms of resistance and not overlap in their major side-effects.