Non-receptor type, proline-rich protein tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) is a possible therapeutic target for Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a paediatric vasculitis whose pathogenesis remains unclear. Based on experimental studies using a mouse model for KD, we report here that proline-rich protein tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) plays a critical role in the onset of KD-like murine vasculitis. The mouse model for KD was prepared by administrating a Candida albicans water-soluble fraction (CAWS).

Platelet activation dynamics evaluated using platelet-derived microparticles in Kawasaki disease.

Background: Little is known about the platelet dynamics and the effect of antiplatelet therapy in Kawasaki disease (KD). The aim of this study was to clarify platelet activation dynamics in acute-phase KD patients by assaying platelet-derived microparticles (PDMPs).

Methods And Results: The PDMP level in 18 patients with acute KD was measured on ELISA.

Utility of whole-blood aggregometry for evaluating anti-platelet therapy for Kawasaki disease.

Background: Anti-platelet therapy for Kawasaki disease (KD) is often done without monitoring drug efficacy. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of whole-blood aggregometry to evaluate the efficacy of anti-platelet therapy for KD.

Methods: Of 37 late-phase KD patients included in the present study, 20 were prescribed anti-platelet drugs.

Type-based associations in grapheme-color synaesthesia revealed by response time distribution analyses.

Determining the nature of binding in grapheme-color synaesthesia has consequences for understanding the neural basis of synaesthesia and visual awareness in general. We evaluated type- and token-based letter-color binding using a synaesthetic version of the object-reviewing paradigm. Although mean response times failed to reveal any significant differences between synaesthetes and control participants, RT analyses with ex-Gaussian distributions revealed that the response facilitation in the synaesthesia group reflected type representations exclusively, while response facilitation in the control group, who learned letter-color associations, was dominated by token representations.