Death receptors such as Fas are present in a variety of organs including liver and play an
important role in homeostasis. What prevents these harmful receptors from forming …

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is produced in pancreatic mesenchyme-derived cells and in
islet cells. In vitro, HGF increases the insulin content and proliferation of islets. To study the …

Chronic renal disease (CRD) is generally thought to be incurable, except through renal
transplantation, and the number of patients with CRD is on the increase. Glomerulosclerosis …

Myocardial infarction leads to scar formation and subsequent reduced cardiac performance.
The ultimate therapy after myocardial infarction would pursue stem cell-based regeneration …

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) stimulates the motility of epithelial cells,
initially inducing centrifugal spreading of colonies followed by disruption of cell–cell …

The trachealess (trh) gene of Drosophila is required for embryonic tube formation. In trh
mutants, tube-forming cells of the salivary gland, trachea, and filzkörper fail to invaginate to …

Previous studies have shown that activity of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA)
increases very rapidly (within 1 minute) after partial hepatectomy. In view of the well …

The age of an individual is an important, independent risk factor for many of the most
common diseases afflicting modern societies. Interleukin‐7 (IL‐7) plays a central, critical role …

The Bcl-2 family of proteins are key regulators of apoptosis. Bcl-x L is an anti-apoptotic
protein with a high degree of homology to Bcl-2; however, the signals that regulate Bcl-x L …

The generation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β fuel the acute phase
response (APR). To maintain body homeostasis, the increase of inflammatory proteins is …