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Objective. To examine the effects of intraarticular induction of interleukin-1␤ (IL-1␤) expression in adult mice.Methods. We used somatic mosaic analysis in a novel transgenic mouse with an inducible IL-1␤ transcription unit. Transgene activation was induced by Cre recombinase in the temporomandibular joints (TMJs) of adult transgenic mice (conditional knockin model). The effects of intraarticular IL-1␤ induction were subsequently evaluated at the cellular, histopathologic, and behavioral levels. Osteoarthritis (OA) manifests as a slowly progressing debilitating disease that affects one or more joints of the body. Clinical symptoms include pain, dysfunction, and swelling and enlargement of the joints. The primary pathologic features of OA are fibrillation and loss of articular cartilage, accompanied by remodeling of subchondral bone. OA seems to be a node of convergence for a number of potentially independent pathologic processes that, ultimately, can lead to joint dysfunction and pain (1). Although the role of inflammation in OA has been long debated (2), recent evidence now confirms proinflammatory cytokines as mediators in this disease (3). For example, the catabolism of OA cartilage is thought to involve the action of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1)

Our studies indicate that the CD3(-)CD7(+)icCD3(+) population is heterogeneous and reveal the existence of a Lin(-) subset that is distinct from T, B, NK and lymphoid tissue inducer cells. We speculate that this IL-15 responsive population represents the physiological counterpart of aberrant cells expanded in RCDII and transformed in RCDII-associated lymphoma.

Antrodia camphorata (A. camphorata) is well known in Taiwan as a traditional Chinese medicine, and it has been shown to exhibit antioxidant effects. In this study, the ability of A. camphorata to induce apoptosis was studied in cultured human premyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells. Treatment of the HL-60 cells with a variety of concentrations of the fermented culture broth of A. camphorata (25-150 microg/ml) resulted in dose- and time-dependent sequences of events marked by apoptosis, as shown by loss of cell viability, chromatin condensation, and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, apoptosis in the HL-60 cells was accompanied by the release of cytochrome c, activation of caspase-3, and specific proteolytic cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). This increase in A. camphorata-induced apoptosis was also associated with a reduction in the levels of Bcl-2, a potent cell-death inhibitor, and an increase in those of the Bax protein, which heterodimerizes with and thereby inhibits Bcl-2. The data suggest that A. camphorata exerts antiproliferative action and growth inhibition on HL-60 cells through apoptosis induction and that it may have anticancer properties valuable for application in drug products.