Richard Bucala

Bio: Richard Bucala is an academic researcher from Yale University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor & Cytokine. The author has an hindex of 119, co-authored 595 publications receiving 54607 citations. Previous affiliations of Richard Bucala include École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne & Rockefeller University.

Regulatory role for macrophage migration inhibitory factor in acute respiratory distress syndrome

Abstract: Migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is known to exert significant pro-inflammatory effects and has the potential to override the anti-inflammatory action of glucocorticoids. In this study we have identified significant quantities of MIF in the alveolar airspaces of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We show in alveolar cells from patients with ARDS that MIF augments pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion (TNF alpha and IL-8), anti-MIF significantly attenuates TNF alpha and IL-8 secretion and MIF overrides, in a concentration-related fashion, the anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids. These findings suggest that MIF may act as a mediator sustaining the pulmonary inflammatory response in ARDS and that an anti-MIF strategy may represent a novel therapeutic approach in inflammatory diseases such as ARDS.

Purification, bioactivity, and secondary structure analysis of mouse and human macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF).

Abstract: The cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been identified to be secreted by the pituitary gland and the monocyte/macrophage and to play an important role in endotoxic shock. Despite the recent molecular cloning of a human T-cell MIF, characterization of the biochemical and biological properties of this protein has remained incomplete because substantial quantities of purified, recombinant, or native MIF have not been available. We describe the cloning of mouse MIF from anterior pituitary cells (AtT-20) and the purification of native MIF from mouse liver by sequential ion exchange and reverse-phase chromatography. For comparison purposes, human MIF was cloned from the Jurkat T-cell line and also characterized. Mouse and human MIF were highly homologous (90% identity over 115 amino acids). Recombinant mouse and human MIF were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified in milligram quantities by a simple two-step procedure. The molecular weight of native mouse MIF (12.5 kDa monomer) was identical with that of recombinant mouse MIF as assessed by gel electrophoresis and mass spectroscopy. No significant post-translational modifications were detected despite the presence of two potential N-linked glycosylation sites. Recombinant MIF inhibited monocyte migration in a dose-dependent fashion, and both recombinant and native MIF-exhibited comparable biological activities. MIF induced the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and stimulated nitric oxide production by macrophages primed with interferon-gamma. Circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed that bioactive mouse and human MIF exhibit a highly ordered, three-dimensional structure with a significant percentage of beta-sheet and alpha-helix conformation. Guanidine hydrochloride-induced unfolding experiments demonstrated that MIF is of low to moderate thermodynamic stability. These studies establish the biochemical identity of native and recombinant MIF and provide a first insight into the three-dimensional structural properties of this critical inflammatory mediator.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor stimulates AMP-activated protein kinase in the ischaemic heart

Abstract: Understanding cellular response to environmental stress has broad implications for human disease AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) orchestrates the regulation of energy-generating and -consuming pathways, and protects the heart against ischaemic injury and apoptosis A role for circulating hormones such as adiponectin and leptin in the activation of AMPK has received recent attention Whether local autocrine and paracrine factors within target organs such as the heart modulate AMPK is unknown Here we show that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), an upstream regulator of inflammation, is released in the ischaemic heart, where it stimulates AMPK activation through CD74, promotes glucose uptake and protects the heart during ischaemia-reperfusion injury Germline deletion of the Mif gene impairs ischaemic AMPK signalling in the mouse heart Human fibroblasts with a low-activity MIF promoter polymorphism have diminished MIF release and AMPK activation during hypoxia Thus, MIF modulates the activation of the cardioprotective AMPK pathway during ischaemia, functionally linking inflammation and metabolism in the heart We anticipate that genetic variation in MIF expression may impact on the response of the human heart to ischaemia by the AMPK pathway, and that diagnostic MIF genotyping might predict risk in patients with coronary artery disease

Exogenous advanced glycosylation end products induce complex vascular dysfunction in normal animals: a model for diabetic and aging complications.

Abstract: Advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs) have been implicated in many of the complications of diabetes and normal aging. Markedly elevated vascular tissue and circulating AGEs were linked recently to the accelerated vasculopathy of end-stage diabetic renal disease. To determine the pathogenic role of AGEs in vivo, AGE-modified albumin was administered to healthy nondiabetic rats and rabbits alone or in combination with the AGE-crosslink inhibitor aminoguanidine. Within 2-4 weeks of AGE treatment, the AGE content of aortic tissue samples rose to six times the amount found in controls (P < 0.001). Cotreatment with aminoguanidine limited tissue AGE accumulation to levels two times that of control. AGE administration was associated with a significant increase in vascular permeability, as assessed by 125I label tracer methods. This alteration was absent in animals that received aminoguanidine in addition to AGE. Significant mononuclear cell migratory activity was observed in subendothelial and periarteriolar spaces in various tissues from AGE-treated rats compared to normal cellularity noted in tissues from animals treated with aminoguanidine. Blood pressure studies of AGE-treated rats and rabbits revealed markedly defective vasodilatory responses to acetylcholine and nitroglycerin compared to controls (P < 0.001), consistent with marked NO. inactivation; aminoguanidine treatment significantly prevented this defect. These in vivo data demonstrate directly that AGEs, independent of metabolic or genetic factors, can induce complex vascular alterations resembling those seen in diabetes or aging. AGE administration represents an animal model system for the study of diabetic and aging complications as well as for assessing the efficacy of newly emerging therapies aimed at inhibiting advanced glycosylation.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor.

Abstract: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been proposed to be the physiologic counter-regulator of glucocorticoid action within the immune system. In this role, MIF's position within the cytokine cascade is to act in concert with glucocorticoids to control both the "set point" and the magnitude of the inflammatory response. As well as overriding the immunosuppressive effects of glucocorticoids, it is now well established that MIF has a direct proinflammatory role in inflammatory diseases, such as sepsis, rheumatoid arthritis, and glomerulonephritis. The functions of MIF within the immune system are both unique and diverse, and although a unified molecular mechanism of action remains to be elucidated, there have been significant advances in our understanding of how MIF affects cellular processes. This review discusses the pathogenic role of MIF in inflammatory disease and highlights the novel structural, functional, and mechanistic properties of MIF.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Multilineage Potential of Adult Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Abstract: Human mesenchymal stem cells are thought to be multipotent cells, which are present in adult marrow, that can replicate as undifferentiated cells and that have the potential to differentiate to lineages of mesenchymal tissues, including bone, cartilage, fat, tendon, muscle, and marrow stroma. Cells that have the characteristics of human mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from marrow aspirates of volunteer donors. These cells displayed a stable phenotype and remained as a monolayer in vitro. These adult stem cells could be induced to differentiate exclusively into the adipocytic, chondrocytic, or osteocytic lineages. Individual stem cells were identified that, when expanded to colonies, retained their multilineage potential.

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。