The X-Men are an ensemble of superheroes whose powers are associated with the X-Gene, a mutant genetic factor. The powers exhibited by each character differ and are dependent on how the X-Gene has modified their individual genomes. For instance, Wolverine possesses regenerative healing, Storm can control local weather systems, and Colossus can…

Exercise is a well-established tool to prevent and combat type 2 diabetes. Exercise improves whole body metabolic health in people with type 2 diabetes, and adaptations to skeletal muscle are essential for this improvement. An acute bout of exercise increases skeletal muscle glucose uptake, while chronic exercise training improves mitochondrial…

Infection by pathogenic microbes initiates a set of complex interactions between the pathogen and the host mediated by pattern recognition receptors. Innate immune responses play direct roles in host defense during the early stages of infection, and they also exert a profound influence on the generation of the adaptive immune responses that ensue.…

This article summarizes a presentation made at the Teaching Refresher Course of the American Physiological Society, which was held at the Experimental Biology meeting in 2007. The intestinal epithelium has important ion transport and barrier functions that contribute pivotally to normal physiological functioning of the intestine and other body…