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The method describes production and the selection of neurosecretory PC12A123.7 cells stably transfected with human vesicular acetylcholine transporter (hVAChT). Transfected cells provide postnuclear supernatant used to characterize equilibrium binding of the neur ...

Skeletal muscle plays a key role in regulating whole body glucose homeostasis and severe dysfunction in insulin-mediated glucose uptake is the hallmark of insulin-resistant states and type II diabetes. Therefore it is highly pathophysiologically relevant to perform detailed st ...

ABC transporters have been implicated in a variety of human diseases. The ABCR gene and its protein have been linked to Stargardt’s disease, fundus flavimaculatus, cone–rod dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, and age-related macular degeneration. The genetic and molecular pathways i ...

Glucose and related hexoses play central roles in the biochemistry and metabolism of single-cell parasites such as Leishmania, Trypanosoma, and Plasmodium that are the causative agents of leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness, and malaria. Glucose transporters and the genes t ...

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of membrane proteins yield valuable insights into their structure and topology. For example, the tilt angle and rotation of the helices in an ion channel can be determined by solid-state NMR spectroscopy in aligned lipid bilayers. Details about the stru ...

The plasma membrane calcium–calmodulin-dependent ATPase (PMCA) is a calcium-extruding enzymatic pump that ejects calcium from the cytoplasm to the extracellular compartment. Although in excitable cells such as skeletal and cardiac muscle cells PMCA has been shown to play only a min ...

The plasma membrane calcium ATPase, or PMCA, functions to extrude calcium out of cells as a key component necessary for adequate calcium homeostasis in all cells. However, calcium is particularly important at synapses between neurons, where communication relies on the controlled rise a ...

The study of membrane transporters may result in breakthroughs in the discovery of new drugs and the development of safer drugs. Membrane transporters are essential for fundamental cellular functions and normal physiological processes. These molecules influence drug absorpti ...

Evaluation of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) is a significant component in any assessment designed to predict the full range of potential immunotoxic risk underlying health risks. Among measures of CMI, the cytotoxic T Lymphocyte (CTL) response is recognized as perhaps the most relevant ...

It is well known that natural killer (NK) cells are involved in defense against viruses and some tumors. NK cells kill target cells by the directed release of cytolytic granules that contain perforin, granzymes, and granulysin. It is increasingly important to evaluate NK cell function in immun ...

The histopathological examination of lymphoid organs together with a T-dependent antibody (TDAR) assay are the primary components of preclinical immunotoxicity assessment. Additional testing including measurement of cellular immunity may be considered. Besides ex vivo l ...

The mouse local lymph node assay (LLNA) is a method for the identification and characterization of skin sensitization hazards. In this context the method can be used both to identify contact allergens, and also determine the relative skin sensitizing potency as a basis for derivation of effec ...

Immunotoxicity testing is important in determining the toxic effects of chemical substances, medicinal products, airborne pollutants, cosmetics, medical devices, and food additives. The immune system of the host is a direct target of these toxicants, and the adverse effects include ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are now recognized to play the key role in the development of adaptive immunity by promoting activation of na�ve T cells. Herein, we describe the methodologies to investigate how DCs can be modified by an environmental toxicant and subsequently influence immunity. The p ...

One of the most potentially useful tools in immunotoxicology is the assessment of cytokines, the proteins/peptides that are responsible for regulating a variety of processes including immunity, inflammation, apoptosis, and hematopoiesis. Cytokine production measurements ...

Flow cytometry has many applications in clinical medicine allowing rapid and highly specific characterization of cells in solution (e.g., peripheral blood) or from dissociated tissues. The data generated from these analyses may be used to diagnose and monitor progression of disease as ...

Enhanced histopathology is a tool that the pathologist can use as a screening test to identify �immunomodulatory compounds. This assessment is based on the assumption that chemically induced alterations may result in qualitative or quantitative changes in the histology of the lymph ...

Biological relevance is generally the major justification for using nonhuman primates (NHP) during preclinical safety assessment. This holds particularly true for the evaluation of biopharmaceuticals with NHP often being the species of choice. For safety assessment of small mo ...

Various methods have been adapted for assessing the effects of environmental contaminants on the structure and function of the immune system in wild and captive birds. This chapter describes two integrative functional assays that have been adapted to a variety of avian species and have pro ...

Whereas animal studies are invaluable for screening various chemical and drugs for immunotoxic potential, such systems are necessarily limited in their predictive value for humans given the differences in physiology, immune system structure and function, and various other para ...