Gene expression profiling of peri-implant healing of PLGA-Li+ implants suggests an activated Wnt signaling pathway in vivo.

Bone development and regeneration is associated with the Wnt signaling pathway that, according to literature, can be modulated by lithium ions (Li+). The aim of this study was to evaluate the gene expression profile during peri-implant healing of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) implants with incorporated Li+, while PLGA without Li+ was used as control, and a special attention was then paid to the Wnt signaling pathway. The implants were inserted in rat tibia for 7 or 28 days and the gene expression profile was investigated using a genome-wide microarray analysis.

Evidence of hypothalamic degeneration in the anorectic anx/anx mouse.

Mice homozygous for the anorexia (anx) mutation are characterized by poor food intake and death by three to five weeks after birth. By P21 these mice display lower density of hypothalamic neuropeptides, including Agouti gene-related protein (AGRP). The AGRP/neuropeptide Y (NPY) system of the anx/anx mice develops normally until postnatal day (P) 12, then the normal increase in fiber density ceases, in some areas even distinctly decreases.

Osmotic-driven mass transport of water: impact on the adhesiveness of hydrophilic polymers.

Adhesion is an important property for the functionality of many medical devices. One reason for the development of adhesive forces is dehydration caused by mass transport of water. Osmotic pressure is one main driving force for mass transport and the correlation between osmotic pressure and adhesive force has not been studied yet, which was the aim of the present study.

Towards a biosensor immunoassay of protein-bound isopeptides in human plasma.

This study demonstrates that synthetic isopeptides formed on BSA can be quantitatively analyzed by a surface plasmon resonance-based biosensor method. A monoclonal IgM antibody 81D4, that reacts with the synthetic isopeptide and also with the natural isopeptide cross-link in D-dimer (but not with its non-cross-linked fibrin monomer), was covalently immobilized to a carboxymethylated dextran surface, a CM5 surface. Its immunocapturing efficiency was found to be good.

Comparison of PEI-PEG and PLL-PEG copolymer coatings on the prevention of protein fouling.

The effect of surface charge on the protein resistance of adsorbed layers of poly(ethylene imine)-[g]-poly(ethylene glycol), PEI-PEG, and poly(L-lysine)-[g]-poly(ethylene glycol), PLL-PEG, was studied. Mixed and monofunctional self-assembled monolayers, SAMs, on gold were obtained by adsorption of 16-mercapto-1-hexadecanoic acid and 16-mercapto-1-hexadecanol. The surface charge was systematically varied by changing the ratio of the two alkanethiols.

Progressive parkinsonism in mice with respiratory-chain-deficient dopamine neurons.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD), a common age-associated neurodegenerative disease characterized by intraneuronal inclusions (Lewy bodies) and progressive degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) system. It has recently been demonstrated that midbrain DA neurons of PD patients and elderly humans contain high levels of somatic mtDNA mutations, which may impair respiratory chain function. However, clinical studies have not established whether the respiratory chain deficiency is a primary abnormality leading to inclusion formation and DA neuron death, or whether generalized metabolic abnormalities within the degenerating DA neurons cause secondary damage to mitochondria.

Aggregation behavior and size of lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli O55:B5.

Dynamic light scattering, steady-state fluorescence, NMR diffusometry and cryo-TEM have been used to gain more insight into the aggregation behaviour of LPS from Escherichia coli O55:B5. Knowledge of this behaviour of the amphiphilic LPS molecule is in many cases of importance for the design of experiments and interpretation of results when using LPS in solution. The aim of this work was to study the aggregation and determine the aggregate size of E.

Renal lesions in Baltic grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and ringed seals (Phoca hispida botnica).

A severe reduction in the populations of grey and ringed seals in the Baltic occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. Adult animals showed (and still show) a series of lesions inter alia in the female reproductive organs, intestines, integument, kidneys, adrenals, and skulls (the Baltic seal disease complex). The morphology and prevalence of light microscopic changes in the kidneys of 76 grey seals and 29 ringed seals collected in the Baltic proper and the Gulf of Bothnia during 1977-1996 are presented in this report.

Changes in the generation of reactive oxygen species and in mitochondrial membrane potential during apoptosis induced by the antidepressants imipramine, clomipramine, and citalopram and the effects on these changes by Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L).

In order to investigate the molecular mechanism of the antineoplastic effects exerted by the antidepressive agents imipramine, clomipramine, and citalopram, we examined the effects of these compounds on cell viability, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)) in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells. Our results indicate that exposure to these compounds causes a loss in cell viability by activating the apoptotic process, as identified by electron microscopy, DNA gel electrophoresis, and flow cytometry. The increased generation of ROS induced by these drugs was a relatively early event and preceded the loss of DeltaPsi(m).

Antidepressant-induced lipidosis with special reference to tricyclic compounds.

Cationic amphiphilic drugs, in general, induce phospholipid disturbances. Tricyclic, as well as other antidepressants belong to this group. In experimental animals, antidepressants induce lipid storage disorders in cells of most organs, a so-called generalized phospholipidosis.

Effects of the rodent peroxisome proliferator and hepatocarcinogen, perfluorooctanoic acid, on apoptosis in human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

The effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a potent hepatocarcinogen and peroxisome proliferator in rodents, on human cells have not yet been examined. In the present study we demonstrate that treatment of human hepatoblastoma HepG2 cells with PFOA induces apoptosis, as well as perturbs the cell cycle. This apoptosis was characterized by electron microscopy, which revealed typical nucleosomal fragmentation (also observed as a 'DNA ladder' upon electrophoresis on agarose) and was quantitated using propidium iodide staining of cellular DNA and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay.

The antidepressants imipramine, clomipramine, and citalopram induce apoptosis in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells via caspase-3 activation.

Some widely used antidepressants such as imipramine, clomipramine, and citalopram have been found to possess antineoplastic effects. In the present study, these compounds were found to induce apoptotic cell death in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells. Apoptosis induced by the antidepressants was identified by electron microscopy and conventional agarose gel electrophoresis and was quantitated by propodium iodide staining and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) via flow cytometry.

Reduced cell survival and morphological alterations induced by three tricyclic antidepressants in human peripheral monocytes and lymphocytes and in cell lines derived from these cell types.

Tricyclic antidepressant drugs are widely used for the treatment of manic-depressive disorders. As such compounds have been reported to give rise to myelin figures in lymphocytes in experimental animals, the effects of clomipramine (2.5-50 muM), imipramine (2.

Hepatic peroxisome proliferation in vitamin A-deficient mice without a simultaneous increase in peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase activity.

Vitamin A-adequate and vitamin A-deficient C57B1/6 mice were treated for ten days with 0.02% (w/w) perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in their diet. Treated vitamin A- adequate and -deficient mice demonstrated approximately the same increases in liver somatic index (g liver/g body weight) (somewhat more than 2-fold) and mitochondrial protein content (5-fold).

[The man on the portrait].

Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry 1911. During the preceding year a rumour had circulated in Stockholm that she had had an affaire with one of her assistants. She received a letter, in which she was told that there had been strong opposition to her election not on scientific but moral grounds, and that she should not go to Stockholm, because nobody could forsee what reactions her appearance at the prize ceremony could evoke.

Effects of perfluorooctanoic acid--a potent peroxisome proliferator in rat--on Morris hepatoma 7800C1 cells, a rat cell line.

In this study, Morris hepatoma 7800C1 cells (from rat) were exposed to 500 microM perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the culture medium for 7 days. This treatment resulted in inductions of catalase, lauroyl-CoA oxidase (which catalyzes the first step in peroxisomal beta-oxidation) and of cytochrome P-450IVA (specialized for omega- and omega-1 hydroxylation of fatty acids). Northern blot analysis revealed that the level of mRNA for peroxisomal fatty acyl-CoA oxidase was enhanced in cells treated with PFOA.

The involvement of selenium in peroxisome proliferation caused by dietary administration of clofibrate to rats.

The effects of dietary treatment with clofibrate (0.5% w/w for 10 days) on the livers of selenium-deficient male rats were examined. The peroxisome proliferation (as determined by electron microscopy) in the livers of selenium-deficient animals was much less pronounced than in the case of selenium-adequate rats and no increase in peroxisomal fatty acid beta-oxidation (assayed both as antimycin-insensitive palmitoyl-CoA oxidation and lauroyl-CoA oxidase activity) was observed in the deficient animals.

Deterioration of GFR in IgA nephropathy as measured by 51Cr-EDTA clearance.

In 191 patients with mesangial IgA nephropathy, GFR was determined as clearance of 51Cr-EDTA. 86 (45%) of them had subnormal renal function 7.3 +/- 4.

An electron and fluorescence microscopic study of LLC-PK1 cells, a kidney epithelial cell line: normal morphology and cyclosporin A- and cremophor-induced alterations.

The present study demonstrates the following: (I) At high concentrations cyclosporin A is toxic to LLC-PK1 cells and at intermediate concentrations also alters intracellular morphology in this same system. Even though these cells differ morphologically from renal cortex in a number of ways, the morphological changes in this system caused by cyclosporin A resembled in certain respects its reported morphological effects in vivo. Thus, LLC-PK1 cells may provide a suitable system for investigating certain aspects of the nephrotoxicity of cyclosporin A and its underlying mechanism.

Distribution of 125I-galanin binding sites, immunoreactive galanin, and its coexistence with 5-hydroxytryptamine in the cat spinal cord: biochemical, histochemical, and experimental studies at the light and electron microscopic level.

The distribution of galanin-like immunoreactivity (GAL-LI) in the spinal cord of the cat was studied by use of indirect histochemistry and the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) technique. In the ventral horn GAL-immunoreactive (IR) axonal fibers and terminals were most frequent in the ventral part of the motor nucleus. The GAL-IR axons also contained 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)-LI, and they disappeared after spinal cord transection.

Deterioration rate in hypertensive IgA nephropathy: comparison of a converting enzyme inhibitor and beta-blocking agents.

The effect of beta-blocking agents and enalapril as antihypertensive drugs has been compared in 47 patients with IgA nephropathy. The deterioration rate was calculated from the regression line of 51Cr-EDTA clearance and expressed in ml/min/year. The annual loss in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was greater in patients treated with different beta-blocking agents (-4.

Effects of dietary treatment with clofibrate, nafenopin or WY-14.643 on mitochondria and DNA in mouse liver.

Male C57bl/6 mice were administered clofibrate (0.5%, w/w), nafenopin (0.125%, w/w) or WY-14.

Intracellular distribution of gentamicin within the rat kidney cortex: a cell fractionation study.

The present study demonstrates that during the first 1.5-3 min after a single intraperitoneal administration of [3H]gentamicin to rats, most of the radioactivity in the kidney cortex is recovered in the cytosolic and microsomal fractions upon subcellular fractionation. Subsequently, the level of radioactivity recovered in the cytosolic fraction decreases markedly, whereas this level remains relatively unchanged in microsomes and increases somewhat in the nuclear and mitochondrial fractions.

Development of hypertension in IgA nephropathy as a marker of a poor prognosis.

We have studied 209 patients with IgA nephropathy. 26 were hypertensive at the time of renal biopsy, and 59 patients developed hypertension during follow-up. Survival statistics show that only 45% of the patients will remain normotensive 10 years after renal biopsy.