The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.

wikigene or wiki gene protein drug chemical gene disease author authorship tracking collaborative publishing evolutionary knowledge reputation system wiki2.0 global collaboration genes proteins drugs chemicals diseases compound
Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)
 
 
 

Expression of interleukin-18 by porcine airway and intestinal epithelium.

In this study, we investigated the expression of interleukin-18 (IL-18) in porcine airway and intestinal epithelium. We found constitutive protein expression of precursor IL-18 in primary culture of porcine airway epithelium. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that porcine IL-18 was localized in the porcine airway epithelium and that it was significantly upregulated with experimental endotoxemia induced by Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) inoculation. We also confirmed by immunohistochemical staining that IL-18 was expressed in porcine intestinal epithelial cells. Moreover, the concentration of IL-18 in intestinal cell lysates of 1-day-old piglets was about 3-fold and 6-fold less than that in those of 1-month-old and 6-month-old piglets, respectively. Exogenous IL-18 was able to induce interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in the peripheral blood of 1-day-old piglets, whereas concanavalin A (ConA) was not able to induce IFN-gamma in the same condition. These results suggest that mucosal epithelial cells are among the major sources of IL-18 in pig and that IL-18 may be useful as a therapeutic agent for the enhancement of immune responses and as a vaccine adjuvant, especially in neonatal piglets.[1]

References

  1. Expression of interleukin-18 by porcine airway and intestinal epithelium. Muneta, Y., Goji, N., Tsuji, N.M., Mikami, O., Shimoji, Y., Nakajima, Y., Yokomizo, Y., Mori, Y. J. Interferon Cytokine Res. (2002) [Pubmed]
 
WikiGenes - Universities