5-HT (5-Hydroxytryptamine; Serotonin) is the neurotransmitter with the highest number of known receptors in humans, and the importance of 5-HT is also reflected in the number of species using 5-HT as a signalling molecule and the number of 5-HT receptors found within each species. 15 human 5-HT receptors have at this date been characterised and classified into seven 5-HT receptor families. Six of ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of autoantibodies towards nuclear antigens. Sub-populations of anti-dsDNA antibodies have the potential to bind in the kidney and thereby induce nephritis, but there is no definite distinction that separates non-pathogenic from pathogenic antibodies. There must be parameters that determine anti-dsDNA antibody binding, ...

I denne oppgaven ble kreftceller fra livmorhals bestrålt med gammastråler. Strålingens effekt på celletetthet, celledød og cellesyklus ble undersøkt for å si noe om disse cellenes strålesensitivitet. Den ekstracellulære konsentrasjonen av cGMP ble også målt. Dette sykliske nukleotidet har relevans fordi det har vist seg at nivået av cGMP går ned etter behandling hos pasienter med livmorhalskreft.

Infections caused by Enterococcus faecium have increased over the last few decades. In this thesis there has been an attempt to identify putative pili proteins in E. faecium. The putative genes were ligated into a pENTR vector; the insert was sequenced to check the orientation, sequence, length and ends. Then the putative genes were recombined into a pDEST vector for expression. The expression showed ...

Among many known and tested immunomodulators, polysaccharides isolated from various natural sources occupy a prominent position. An important group of these polysaccharides is represented by the homopolymers of β-glucose, called β-glucans. Their very low-to-negligible toxicity and immunomodulating effects show the promise it has in the therapy of a variety of infectious and cancer illnesses. ...

Jeg har karakterisert kliniske E. coli isolater, med nedsatt følsomhet for cefalosporiner, på nukleotid og amino syre nivå.

In these studies, we focus on moricrase (enzyme mixture from hapatopancreas of king crab) as an activator of inflammatory responses in airway cells. Taking under consideration that serine proteases, such as trypsin, are stimulator of interlukin-8 (IL-8). We investigate the role of protease activated receptor 2 (PAR-2) in the inflammation of human pulmonary epithelial cells (A549). A549 cells were ...

Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) is most commonly caused by destruction of foetal platelets by maternal antibodies reactive to human platelet antigen (HPA)-1a. The activation of antigen-primed B cells to differentiate to antibody-secreting plasma cells usually requires help from CD4 T cells. The strong association between anti-HPA-1a-production and the MHC allele HLA-DRB3*0101 supports ...

The mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK) are a large and diverse family of protein kinases, contributing to the cells ability to respond to external stimuli by relaying messages in a well orchestrated way until they reach their final destinations. This is achieved through successive phosphorylation events. One member of this large family is mitogen activated protein kinase activated protein ...

ABCC5 is a member of the superfamily of ABC-transporters, and it has been identified as an efflux transporter of cGMP. This transporter is also involved in export of antibiotic and cytostatic drugs from target cells, and as such represents a challenge in treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. In order to find inhibitors to ABCC5 mediated drug efflux, compounds predicted as potent inhibitors ...