Human SMOOTHENED inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection.

Human SMOOTHENED (SMO) was identified by expression cloning as a new host factor that inhibits HIV-1 infection. Forced expression of SMO inhibited HIV-1 replication and infection with a single-round lentiviral vector, but not infection with a murine leukemia virus-based retroviral vector in human MT-4 T cells. Quantitative PCR analyses revealed that stable expression of SMO impaired formation of the integrated form of lentiviral DNA, but did not interrupt reverse transcription.

Development of a novel transdermal patch of alendronate, a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate, for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Bisphosphonates are widely used for the treatment and prevention of bone diseases, including Paget disease, hypercalcemia of malignancy, and postmenopausal osteoporosis. In this study, we developed a novel transdermal patch of alendronate, a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate, for the treatment of bone diseases. The maximum permeation fluxes of alendronate through rat and human skin after application of this patch were 1.

Carbon dioxide insufflation is useful for obtaining clear images of the bile duct during peroral cholangioscopy (with video).

Background: Peroral cholangioscopy (POCS) is useful for the diagnosis of various bile duct lesions. However, it is often difficult to obtain clear images because of bile or biliary sludge in the bile duct, even after vigorous irrigation of the bile duct with saline solution. Therefore, this study investigated whether inflation with carbon dioxide (CO(2)) yields clearer images of the bile duct than conventional saline solution irrigation during POCS.