Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Initial Evidence Of Endothelial Cell Apoptosis As A Mechanism Of Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome, Ragheb Assaly, Dan Olson, Jeffrey Hammersley, Pan-Sheng Fan, Jiang Liu, Joseph Shapiro, M. Kahaleh

Jiang Liu

Background: Systemic capillary leak syndrome (SCLS) is a rare disorder of unknown etiology that is characterized by acute recurrent attacks of hypovolemic shock commonly following an inflammatory stimulus such as a viral illness. Prophylactic therapy is generally ineffective, and the outcome is frequently fatal. Methods: In order to investigate the cellular mechanisms leading to SCLS, we examined the effects of sera from two patients with active SCLS on microvascular endothelial cell apoptosis in vitro. Apoptosis was determined by morphologic criteria, DNA fragmentation, annexin V stain, and by a quantitative photometric assay. The apoptotic pathway was investigated by Western blot of …

Effect Of Green Tea Extract On Cardiac Hypertrophy Following 5/6 Nephrectomy In The Rat, Snigdha Priyadarshi, Brandon Valentine, Chi Han, Olga Fedorova, Alexei Bagrov, Jiang Liu, Sankaridrug Periyasamy, David Kennedy, Deepak Malhorta, Zijian Xie, Joseph Shapiro

Jiang Liu

Background

Left ventricular hypertrophy commonly complicates chronic renal failure. We have observed that at least one pathway of left ventricular hypertrophy appears to involve signaling through reactive oxygen species (ROS). Green tea is a substance that appears to have substantial antioxidant activity, yet is safe and is currently widely used. We, therefore, studied whether green tea supplementation could attenuate the development of left ventricular hypertrophy in an animal model of chronic renal failure.

Methods

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to sham or remnant kidney surgery and given green tea extract (0.1% and 0.25%) or plain drinking water for the next …

Identification Of A Pool Of Non-Pumping Na/K-Atpase, Man Liang, Jiang Tian, Lijun Liu, Sandrine Pierre Phd, Jiang Liu, Joseph I. Shapiro M.D., Zi-Jian Xie

Jiang Liu

Recent studies have ascribed many non-pumping functions to the Na/K-ATPase. Here, we present experimental evidence demonstrating that over half of the plasma membrane Na/KATPase in LLC-PK1 cells is performing cellular functions other than ion pumping. This “non-pumping” pool of Na/K-ATPase, like the pumping pump, binds ouabain. Depletion of either cholesterol or caveolin-1 moves some of the “non-pumping” Na/KATPase into the pumping pool. Graded knock-down of the 1 subunit of the Na/K-ATPase eventually results in loss of this “non-pumping” pool while preserving the pumping pool. Our prior studies indicate that a loss of the non-pumping pool is associated with a loss …