In addition to that, a stretch of sequence upstream of the primat

In addition to that, a stretch of sequence upstream of the primate CLEC9A coding region shows high homology to CLEC-2. Therefore, we hypothesize that this inversion took place after a partial duplication MG-132 mouse of the gene encoding CLEC-2 in the genome of a common primate ancestor. The additional genes CLEC9A and CLEC12B show

all typical characteristics of C-type lectin-like genes as far as amino acid sequences, exon–intron structure and corresponding protein domains are concerned. CLEC9A is unusual as far as it contains three non-coding upstream exons, probably originating from duplication of part of the CLEC-2 gene. CLEC12B has been reported recently to function as inhibitory receptor in macrophages by recruiting the phosphatases SHP-1 and SHP-2 through its immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif (ITIM) [18]. Our analysis found CLEC12B to be differentially spliced. In addition to mRNA coding for a regular lectin-like protein, three additional splice variants were identified resulting from two independent alternative splicing events. All these differential splicing ICG-001 nmr events lead to truncations and probably non-functional proteins. Alternatively spliced isoforms have been described for other receptors of this complex. In particular, mature mRNA

of DECTIN-1 and CD94 have been demonstrated to be generated by multiple splicing events leading to various isoforms, some of which code for truncated and potentially non-functional proteins [43–45]. Moreover, functional isoforms lacking the stalk exon of NKG2A, known as NKG2B, DECTIN-1 and CD94 have been shown to be expressed [43, 45, 46]. Curiously, in the case of CLEC12B these truncated mRNA that probably encode non-functional proteins constitute the majority of transcripts in most cell types Fenbendazole tested. It is however possible that mRNA coding for full-length CLEC12B are transcribed only in certain cell types or upon certain kinds of stimulation not tested in this study. Because both CLEC12B and CLEC9A share all major characteristics with

the other lectin-like receptors encoded by genes of the myeloid cluster, it is possible that these proteins fulfill similar functions. However, the pattern of expression of these two genes shows some differences when compared to the other members of the myeloid subfamily. CLEC9A expression was recently described to be present on BDCA3+ DC and on a small subset of CD14+ CD16− monocytes [47]. Although in our hands CLEC12B and CLEC9A are expressed in cells of the myeloid lineage similar to CLEC-1, CLEC-2 and DECTIN-1, highest expression was detected in the T-cell line CCRF-CEM. Moreover, neither CLEC12B nor CLEC9A expression is significantly downregulated upon stimulation of DC using different stimuli, a feature common to other C-type lectin-like receptors of the myeloid subfamily.

[3] Rarely, Cunninghamella bertholletiae, Rhizomucor pusillus and

[3] Rarely, Cunninghamella bertholletiae, Rhizomucor pusillus and Rhizopus microsporus can also initiate infections in immunocompetent individuals.[52, 54, 55] Many uncommon species have also been implicated in infections in India. Rhizopus homothallicus has been reported selleckchem for the first time from patients with cavitary pulmonary mucormycosis.[56] Mucor irregularis, that was initially considered to be

involved in an emerging endemic cutaneous mucormycosis limited to China, has been reported from a case of rhino-facial mucormycosis in India.[57] Recently, a new mucoralean fungus, Thamnostylum lucknowense has been isolated from a patient with rhino-orbital mucormycosis.[58] The epidemiology of mucormycosis in India is intriguing, and varies significantly from the developed nations. The estimated number of cases in India seems to be alarmingly high, with uncontrolled diabetes being the most important risk factor. Certain confounding factors like renal failure and hepatic diseases have also been detected along with diabetes in mucormycosis patients; a detailed multicentric study is therefore warranted to precisely determine the association of diabetes with this invasive mycosis in India. ROC form remains the most common clinical presentation, albeit due to its association with diabetes. Isolated renal mucormycosis amongst immunocompetent, young individuals

is an emerging entity in India. Although isolated renal infections have been reported from China as well, but the Selleckchem HIF inhibitor Megestrol Acetate majority of patients in China have pre-disposing risk factors for developing mucormycosis, except the paediatric population. The disease is highly aggressive but the mode of acquisition and spread of the fungus through the body are not yet

known, and demand urgent investigation. Cutaneous infections in apparently healthy individuals due to traumatic implantation of Apophysomyces elegans are also a common finding in India, although uncommon in other countries. The precise ecology, epidemiology and taxonomy of this fungus are not well understood, and further studies on these aspects would provide valuable insights into the presence of mucoralean agents in environment, the susceptible hosts and the mode of fungal acquisition and spread. The position of RS is supported by funding from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India in the form of Senior Research Associateship (Scientists’ pool scheme). None. “
“The ability of Candida albicans to form biofilms on denture surfaces is a significant cofactor in the pathogenesis of denture stomatitis. In this study, we applied a differential staining approach and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyse the effect of sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine gluconate on the viability, removal and morphology of C. albicans forming biofilms on denture acrylic using an in vitro model. Immediately after treatment, to distinguish live from dead C.

Rho- kinase (ROK)-myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) pathway a

Rho- kinase (ROK)-myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) pathway and protein kinase C potentiated inhibitor (CPI-17)-MLCP pathway have been proposed as two major pathways for the regulation of smooth muscle contraction.20,21 ROK is a serine/threonine kinase that was believed to play an important role in a variety of cellular functions. Caldesmon (CaD) is one of the proteins that regulate the actin cytoskeleton. There are two CaD dominant isoforms: l-CaD and h-CaD (low and high molecular sizes, respectively).21 In the bladder I/R animal Inhibitor Library study,22 ROK increased at 2-h reperfusion, decreased

significantly following 1-week reperfusion, and returned to control by 2-week reperfusion. MLCK expression significantly decreased as early as ischemia alone and did not recover after reperfusion.

Short-term reperfusion induced ROK overexpression in the bladder muscle layer, indicating a compensatory effect of the bladder in response to the ischemic damage. This suggested that ROK in bladder muscle may be upregulated as a compensatory mechanism to increase Ca2+ sensitization. Decreased ROK levels following 1 week of reperfusion indicated free radical damage to the bladder wall and loss of the compensatory BIBW2992 manufacturer ability to sustain bladder contractility. For CaD expressions in the muscle layer, both CaD isoforms had different expressions. h-CaD decreased at ischemia alone and 2-h reperfusion, but significantly increased at 2-week reperfusion; whereas l-CaD significantly decreased at 2-week reperfusion. Decreased h-CaD isoform during early ischemia may be associated with remodeling the cytoskeletal structure and interfering with the generation and maintenance of the additional forces required for ischemia-induced bladder dysfunction. Lin et al. proved the development of I/R injury following bladder outlet obstruction. In

a rabbit obstruction model they found that the content of malondialdehyde, a product of lipid peroxidation induced by I/R, of the detrusor was increased after BOO with persistently increased activity of superoxide dismutase Mirabegron of detrusor mitochondria. The content of high-energy phosphates and the contractility of the detrusor were also decreased. These findings indicate that BOO increases generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and enhances lipid peroxidation of detrusor mitochondria. The resulting mitochondrial damages lead to persistently decreased energy production and impaired detrusor function.23 As I/R is the main etiologic factor in several bladder dysfunctions, reducing the level of I/R damage would significantly diminish the progression of bladder dysfunction. Recently, several studies have focused on natural compounds for protecting against I/R-induced bladder dysfunction, such as Antrodia camphorate (AC), coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and alpha-lipoic acid (α-LA).

2B and C) Similar recovery of DETC numbers after birth has previ

2B and C). Similar recovery of DETC numbers after birth has previously been shown in www.selleckchem.com/products/FK-506-(Tacrolimus).html analyses of the role of CCR10, which is also important for DETC recruitment to the epidermis [11]. Interestingly, however, CCR10 deficiency caused redistribution of Vγ3+ DETCs with accumulation of DETCs in the dermis [11]. In contrast, in gpr15GFP/GFP knockout mice Vγ3+ DETCs isolated from the dermal fraction were also reduced, indicating an overall diminishment of recruited DETCs in the skin (Fig. 2C). The phenotype of the DETCs in the adult epidermis of gpr15GFP/GFP knockout mice was comparable to that

of DETCs in gpr15WT/WT mice (Fig. 2D). In accordance with the abundance of DETCs in adult gpr15GFP/GFP mice, GPR15 deficient mice showed no significant delay in wound healing (data not shown), a result that also rules out a substantial GPR15-dependent defect in DETC functional properties. Postnatal recovery of DETCs appears to be mediated by CCR4: CCR4 deficient mice have only a modest reduction in skin DETCs at birth, but a greater defect in DETC numbers as adults [18]. Moreover, whereas CCR10 and GPR15 are lost on adult skin DETCs ([11] and Fig. 2B), CCR4 is highly and uniformly

expressed [10]. mTOR inhibitor We already detected substantial numbers of DETCs in the epidermis of gpr15GFP/GFP knockout mice at day 5 after birth (data not shown). CCR4 and/or CCR10 may thus rescue DETC homing to the epidermis beginning shortly after birth, where DETC numbers rise quickly through self-renewal. Taken together, these results show a clear role for the homing receptor GPR15 in targeting thymus derived DETC precursors to the skin, and suggest distinct if overlapping roles for three skin homing receptors, GPR15, CCR10, and CCR4, in this process. Here we show that GPR15

is essential for embryonic Inositol oxygenase DETC recruitment to the skin. Interestingly, GPR15 is expressed by subsets of conventional skin homing αβ TCR+ T cells in blood in both mouse and human, and also by subsets of T cells infiltrating inflamed skin in contact sensitivity models (Lahl and Butcher, unpublished). CCR10 and CCR4, and T-cell E-selectin ligands participate not only in DETC homing during development, but also in conventional effector/memory T-cell homing to skin [19-22]. It remains to be determined whether GPR15 plays a significant role in cutaneous T-cell homing in the adult. Our present finding that GPR15 mediates DETC recruitment to the skin, together with its previously reported role in Treg-cell localization to the colon, suggests an important role for GPR15-dependent homing of lymphocytes at epithelial barrier sites.

It induces the production of acute-phase proteins as well as infi

It induces the production of acute-phase proteins as well as infiltration of neutrophils. Because the expression of cytokines varies over time, one must always be aware of the timing when comparing studies. Chlamydiales infect epithelial cells as well as cells of the immune system. The combination of cytokines is distinct for each cell type, but different

concentrations and different cytokines are also observed for a single cell type depending on the experimental setup. The levels of cytokines expressed vary according to the species and/or serovars studied. A selection of cytokines and chemokines induced by chlamydial infections in different cell types is depicted in Table 1. For example, C. trachomatis infects the epithelial cells present in the reproductive tract of females. To Enzalutamide price study the cytokine expression elicited by these cells, mainly cancerous cell lines and primary cells were used. In cervical LY294002 HeLa cells (229), very different concentrations of IL-8, IL-1α and IL-6 were detected at the same infectivity ratio by Rasmussen et

al. (1997) compared with Dessus-Babus et al. (2000). In primary uterine cells, the basal expression of these cytokines was much closer to the uninfected nonpolarized cells than to the polarized cells (Fahey et al., 2005). This observation is counterintuitive because embedding in an extracellular matrix (ECM) gel should provide a more physiological setup shown by Dessus-Babus et al. (2000). This difference might be explained by the fact Tolmetin that the cancerous cell line used by Dessus-Babus et al. (2000), HeLa 229, is a subclone of HeLa (CCL2) used by Rasmussen et al. (1997). It is important to keep in mind that, depending on the tissue, not all detected cytokines are solely involved in innate immunity. Uterine epithelial cells continuously express cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α, to keep up an innate immune surveillance (Fahey et al., 2005). Furthermore,

some cytokines have been implicated to play a role in controlling the ovulatory cycle in coordination with leukocytes (García-Velasco & Arici, 1999). This is especially important when looking at data from in vivo studies. Chlamydia pneumoniae infects pneumocytes (murine) and induces the production of TNF-α and MIP-2 (Wissel et al., 2005). Interestingly, cell viability was not affected by cytokine secretion or by infection per se. Parachlamydia acanthamoebae also infects epithelial cells (pneumocytes) and no cytopathic effect could be observed either (Casson et al., 2006). One might assess whether the same cytokines are induced by C. pneumoniae and P. acanthamoebae to determine their possible role in protection against cytopathogenicity. Possible differences could be due to species or strain specificity, because cytokine profiles seem to be dependent not only on the cell type but also on the Chlamydia species and/or the serovar used for the experiment.

5 mM MgCl2, DTT; pH8 7), 2 μl of Qiagen OneStep RT-PCR Enzyme Mix

5 mM MgCl2, DTT; pH8.7), 2 μl of Qiagen OneStep RT-PCR Enzyme Mix (Qiagen GmbH) and 10 U of RNase inhibitor. The thermal cycler program was carried out at 50°C for 30 min. A 15 min denaturation at 95°C was included prior to the initiation of PCR cycles for the Qiagen One-Step RT-PCR kit, since it contains a hot-start Taq polymerase. At the end of 27 cycles, the reaction-samples (5 μl) were analyzed on 1% agarose gels after amplification. For Northern analysis total RNA extracted from early stationary phase B. pseudomallei was separated by electrophoresis and transferred to solid matrix. Membrane was probed

with a 500-bp SphI-PstI fragment spanning dpsA labeling with α-32P-dCTP by a PCR labeling method and by X-ray exposure this website detection as previously described (14). To investigate whether expression of oxyR regulates rpoS, the B. pseudomallei strain rpoS::lacZ was conjugated with B. pseudomallei strain oxyR−. A mutant rpoS::lacZ, oxyR strain was then selected and designated rpoS::lacZ/oxyR−. The extent to which LacZ was expressed was investigated in the log, early Mitomycin C clinical trial stationary

and late stationary growth phases in rpoS::lacZ and rpoS::lacZ/oxyR−. As can be seen in Figure 1a, both strains showed essentially the same response curve, although late stationary phase concentrations of lacZ were somewhat higher in the rpoS::lacZ/oxyR− strain. These results suggest that rpoS expression does not require oxyR. To determine the converse, whether rpoS regulates the expression of oxyR, the B. pseudomallei strain oxyR:: CAT, which contains a chromosomal oxyR::CAT transcriptional 5-Fluoracil in vivo fusion as well as an integrated mini-transposon containing oxyR (mtoxyR+) (9), was conjugated separately with B. pseudomallei strains rpoS− and the one which carries complement rpoS (rpoS−+ pBSS1[rpoS+]), represented as RpoS, resulting in production of strains oxyR::CAT/rpoS− (chromosomal oxyR::CAT/mtoxyR+/rpoS) and oxyR::CAT/rpoS−/RpoS

(chromosomal oxyR::CAT/mtoxyR+/rpoS, +pBSS1[rpoS+]), respectively. The extent of CAT expression was assessed during log phase growth (4 hr post subculture), and the early (12 hr) and late stationary phases (24, 48, 72 hr). As can be seen in Figure 1b, significant induction of CAT expression was observed during the log to early stationary phase of growth in both strains, oxyR::CAT and oxyR::CAT/rpoS−/RpoS, in both cases declining slowly during the late stationary phase. In contrast, no induction of CAT expression was observed in strain oxyR::CAT/rpoS− (which contains no RpoS), showing that RpoS is required for the induction of oxyR gene expression under normal growth conditions.

The older patient group had higher 1-year mortality (31% vs 19%)

The older patient group had higher 1-year mortality (31% vs 19%). Late referral was associated with greater mortality in both groups (34% vs 9% in the younger group and 42% vs 16% in the older group). The RR for death in the older group was 1.80 and 2.2 in the younger group. Because of the higher frequency of late referral in older patients this accounted for a large proportion of excess mortality. Stoves et al. retrospectively studied all 1260 patients who received dialysis from 1980 to July 1999 at St James Hospital in Leeds.69 Group A commenced dialysis <90 days after referral and group B >90 days. Survival at 4 months Fostamatinib in vivo was 87% in group A and 94% in group

B with survival at 1 year being 74% versus 87% and survival at 5 years being 31% versus 55%. Fewer group A patients were listed for transplantation. By multifactorial analysis, age, diabetes, serum albumin, transplant listing and time of referral were significant predictors of survival. Wasse et al. used Medicare and Medicaid data from 5042 US dialysis patients to analyse reasons for persistent use of CVC 90 days after dialysis initiation.70 At 90 days, 59.4% were still using a CVC, 25.4% an AV graft and only 15.2% a fistula. Age, sex, race and cardiovascular comorbidity were associated with persistence of catheter use. The authors suggested that this could be due to late access referral or primary access

failure. Talazoparib supplier White et al. looked at another aspect of timely referral – whether or not allowing participation in a predialysis clinic could improve quality of life.71 A total of 74 patients attended a predialysis multidisciplinary clinic and 46 did not. The former showed improvement in 4 of 8 physical Quality of Life scores at 6 months after start of dialysis, even when adjusted for comorbidities and other variables. Winkelmayer et al. defined late referral as less than 90 days prior to starting dialysis.72 Medicare and Medicaid

data identified all adult patients in New Jersey who commenced dialysis between 1990 and mid-1996 (3014 patients). Late referral was associated with old age, race, lack of comorbidity and management by a general internist rather than a primary care doctor or other subspecialist. Winkelmayer et al. also looked at potential associations between late referral and choice Rebamipide of dialysis modality.73 Late referral was defined as less than 90 days before first dialysis. Timing of referral did not influence the initial dialysis modality; however, late referral patients commencing predialysis were more likely to switch to haemodialysis than early referred patients (HR 1.47). Winkelmayer et al. performed a propensity analysis of late versus early nephrologist referral and dialysis mortality.74 Late referral was again defined as less than 90 days before initiation of dialysis. There was a 36% excess mortality in late referrals which was, however, limited to the first 3 months (HR 1.75, 95% CI: 1.48–2.

Monoclonal antibodies to lamin-B1 (33-2000) and SKP2 (32-3300), a

Monoclonal antibodies to lamin-B1 (33-2000) and SKP2 (32-3300), and polyclonal antibody to CKS1B (36-6800) were from Invitrogen (Milan, Italy). Recombinant human IL-2 (11011456001) was from Roche (Milan, Italy). Polyclonal antibodies to c-ABL (2862) and histone H4 (2592) were from Cell Signaling (Milan, Italy). Monoclonal antibodies to I-κBα (ALX-804-209) and proteasome subunit alpha type 5 (PW-8125) were from Vinci-Biochem (Florence, Italy). Lymphoprep (1114545) was from Sentinel (Milan, Italy). BioWhittaker X-VIVO 15 medium (BE04-418F)

was from Lonza (Milan, Italy). Enhanced chemiluminescence selleck chemical (ECL) reagent (WBKL-S0500) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) (immobilon-P, IPVH00010) were buy Navitoclax from Millipore Corporation (Milan, Italy). Nitrocellulose (RPN303D) was from Amersham Bioscience (Milan, Italy). Protein molecular markers (SM0671) were from Fermentas (Milan, Italy). Superscript III reverse transcriptase (18080-044), oligo(dT)20 (18418-020) and SybrGreen qPCR Super Mix (11733-046) were from Invitrogen. The DC Protein Assay kit (500-0119) was from Bio-Rad (Milan, Italy). All other chemicals were high grade from Sigma-Aldrich. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated by Ficoll/Isopaque (Lymphoprep)

density gradient centrifugation of buffy coat leukopheresis residues from fresh blood samples from healthy donors. To eliminate potential suppressive effects of CD4+ CD25+ cells on proliferation,27 CD4+ T cells depleted of CD25+ cells were used throughout the study. CD4+ CD25− T cells were isolated from PBMCs by negative selection using the Human CD4+ CD25+ Regulatory T Cell Isolation kit (130-091-301) according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Miltenyi Biotech, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany). Isolated aminophylline T cells were > 99% CD4+ CD25−, as assessed by flow cytometry analysis. CD4+ CD25− T cells (3 × 106) were maintained

at 37° in a 5% CO2 humidified atmosphere in 24-well plates at 2 × 106/ml/cm2 in X-VIVO 15 medium supplemented with 100 UI/ml penicillin, 100 μg/ml streptomycin and 0·25 μg/ml amphotericin B. Cells were stimulated with 1·5 × 106 MACSiBeadsTM particles loaded with anti-CD3, plus anti-CD28 monoclonal antibodies (CD3/CD28 costimulation) according to the manufacturer’s instructions (T Cell Activation/Expansion kit; Miltenyi 130-091-441) for the indicated times (see results). Cell viability was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion. CD4+ CD25− T cells (3 × 106) were preincubated for 60 min with BMS-345541 or PS-1145 at 0·5–6 μm or drug vehicle [dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO)] and activated as described above. In some experiments, the drugs were replaced by neutralizing anti-human interleukin-2 monoclonal antibody (nIL-2) at 0·02–4 μg/ml (MAB202; R&D Systems, MN).

The technique is of benefit in selected patients requiring additi

The technique is of benefit in selected patients requiring additional reconstructive volume than the one achieved with the classical DIEP-flap. Therapeutic Level IV. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery, 2013. “
“The purpose of this study is to report our experience and learning curve in avoiding complications at both

the recipient and donor sites as well in choosing the best flap for different anatomic locations. For this purpose 155 free flaps done between October 2005 and August 2012 were retrospectively examined. this website Patient demographics, flap types, etiology, re-exploration indications, timing of the re-explorations, and salvage rates were documented. In the first 60 cases, our re-exploration rate was 26.7% (16 flaps), and the rate decreased to 15.0% for the second 60 flaps (9 flaps). In correlation with this decrease, in the last 35 cases, only three flaps were re-explored (8.6%). This decrease in re-exploration rates over time was statistically significant (P = 0.021). Re-exploration rates for axial and perforator flaps were 14.6% and 22.7%, respectively. Salvage rates

were 76.9% in axial flaps and 53.3% in perforator flaps. The total success rate for axial flaps was 95.5% and for perforator flaps was 89.4%. Besides, re-exploration rates were higher with lower salvage rates in perforator flaps compared to axial flaps causing lower overall success rates in the former group. The mean https://www.selleckchem.com/products/R788(Fostamatinib-disodium).html time of re-explorations was 21.4 hours. Salvage rates were significantly higher in re-explorations done within the first 12 hours after the initial surgery than Racecadotril in re-explorations done after 12 hours (83.3% vs. 47.3%) (P = 0.040). We can conclude that axial flaps have a steeper learning curve and are safer options for the inexperienced reconstructive micro-surgeons until they have adequate experience with the perforator dissection. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery 33:519–526, 2013. “
“The esthetic outcome is dictated essentially not only by

the position, size, and shape of the reconstructed breast, but also by the extra scaring involved. In the present study, we conducted a visual analog scale survey to compare the esthetic outcome in delayed autologous breast reconstruction following two different abdominal flaps inset. Twenty-five patients had their reconstruction using the Single-esthetic Unit principle and were compared with 25 patients that their breast was reconstructed using the Two-Esthetic Unit principle. Photographic images were formulated to a PowerPoint presentation and cosmetic outcomes were assessed from 30 physicians, by means of a Questionnaire and a visual analog scale. Our data showed that the single-esthetic unit breast reconstruction presents significant advantages over the traditional two-esthetic units, due to inconspicuous flap reconstruction, better position of the inframammary fold, and more natural transition from native and reconstructed tissues.

Similarly, the additional putative sites (AP1–2 and 3) identified

Similarly, the additional putative sites (AP1–2 and 3) identified in silico, appeared to be functionally irrelevant. We thus consider that other transcription factors

may be involved in TSLP modulation via PMA. Indeed, SAHA HDAC manufacturer we have identified two putative AP-2 binding sites in the proximal region of TSLP promoter. Our results, obtained using transfected cells with small fragments of TSLP promoter (212 and 74 bp, respectively) lacking these two putative sites, suggest that a presumed AP-2 site located at –85 bp from the ATG could be responsible for the residual PMA-depending activity of TSLP observed when NF2 is absent (Supporting Information Fig. 6A). Indeed, we have demonstrated that the IL-1 stimulated luciferase activity is completely lost in cells transfected with the 290 bp construct that lacks the NF2 site (Fig. 5A), while a lower but still significant activity is measured on cells exposed to PMA (Supporting Information Fig. 6A). Previous works showed that PMA significantly increases MCT1 expression in Caco-2 cells, a monocarboxylate

transporter important for butyrate absorption in the human colon [37, 38]. Recently, Saksena et al. [39] demonstrated that the effect of PMA on MCT1 gene expression was mediated through a PKC-ζ-dependent pathway involving the AP-2 transcription factor. Although we cannot rule out this hypothesis, we observed that BIM used at 2 μM abolished KU-57788 the PMA-dependent TSLP transcription, while PKC-ζ is reported to require higher concentration of BIM (>5 μM) to be inhibited. Other transcription factors or binding elements seem to be involved in PMA-mediated TSLP transcription. Finally, we showed that butyrate is a weak stimulator of TSLP expression when used alone, but strongly enhances the stimulatory effect of PMA. This effect is specific for PMA/butyrate association, since the combined action, IL-1/butyrate, C59 produces

only a weak synergy (Supporting Information Fig. 2). Moreover, we observed that butyrate alone was not able to directly activate luciferase when constructs with different size of TSLP promoter were transiently transfected in IECs (Supporting Information Fig. 6B). This suggests that the effect of butyrate may not depend on a specific butyrate binding site on TSLP promoter but involve the epigenetic modification properties of butyrate, i.e. its histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitory properties [21, 40]. The fact that TSA, another HDAC inhibitor, displays identical effects to butyrate alone or in conjunction with PMA strongly argues for this hypothesis (Supporting Information Fig. 2). In conclusion, our work contributes to a better understanding of the mechanism of regulation of TSLP expression in epithelial cells. Moreover, it provides evidence for the critical transcriptional role of the proximal NF-κB binding site in human TSLP promoter in driving TSLP expression response to IL-1.