N-Glycan Branching Affects the Subcellular Distribution of and Inhibition of Matriptase by HAI-2/Placental Bikunin.

The gene product of SPINT 2, that encodes a transmembrane, Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor independently designated as HAI-2 or placenta bikunin (PB), is involved in regulation of sodium absorption in human gastrointestinal track. Here, we show that SPINT 2 is expressed as two species of different size (30-40- versus 25-kDa) due to different N-glycans on Asn-57. The N-glycan on 25-kDa HAI-2 appears to be of the oligomannose type and that on 30-40-kDa HAI-2 to be of complex type with extensive terminal N-acetylglucosamine branching.

MicroRNA396-Targeted SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE Is Required to Repress Flowering and Is Related to the Development of Abnormal Flower Symptoms by the Phyllody Symptoms1 Effector.

Leafy flowers are the major symptoms of peanut witches' broom (PnWB) phytoplasma infection in Catharanthus roseus. The orthologs of the phyllody symptoms1 (PHYL1) effector of PnWB from other species of phytoplasma can trigger the proteasomal degradation of several MADS box transcription factors, resulting in leafy flower formation. In contrast, the flowering negative regulator gene SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) was up-regulated in PnWB-infected C.

Safe limits of contrast vary with hydration volume for prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy after coronary angiography among patients with a relatively low risk of contrast-induced nephropathy.

Background: Few studies have investigated the safe limits of contrast to prevent contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) based on hydration data. We aimed to investigate the relative safe maximum contrast volume adjusted for hydration volume in a population with a relatively low risk of CIN.

Methods And Results: The ratios of contrast volume-to-creatinine clearance (V/CrCl) and hydration volume to body weight (HV/W) were determined in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization.

The Effect of Oxidation on Berberine-Mediated CYP1 Inhibition: Oxidation Behavior and Metabolite-Mediated Inhibition.

The protoberberine alkaloid berberine carries methylenedioxy moiety and exerts a variety of pharmacological effects, such as anti-inflammation and lipid-lowering effects. Berberine causes potent CYP1B1 inhibition, whereas CYP1A2 shows resistance to the inhibition. To reveal the influence of oxidative metabolism on CYP1 inhibition by berberine, berberine oxidation and the metabolite-mediated inhibition were determined.

The conserved endoribonuclease YbeY is required for chloroplast ribosomal RNA processing in Arabidopsis.

Maturation of chloroplast ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) comprises several endoribonucleolytic and exoribonucleolytic processing steps. However, little is known about the specific enzymes involved and the cleavage steps they catalyze. Here, we report the functional characterization of the single Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) gene encoding a putative YbeY endoribonuclease.

Prognostic Value of Cervical Nodal Necrosis in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Analysis of 1800 Patients with Positive Cervical Nodal Metastasis at MR Imaging.

Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic value of cervical nodal necrosis (CNN) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

Materials And Methods: This was an institutional review board-approved retrospective study of 1800 patients with newly diagnosed stage T1, 4N1, 3M0 NPC who were treated with definitive radiation therapy, with or without chemotherapy, between January 2007 and December 2009; the requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. MR images were reviewed to assess lymph node status, and patients were divided into CNN and non-CNN groups.

Comparison of the Responsiveness of the Long-Form and Simplified Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement: Group- and Individual-Level Analysis.

Background: The group-level responsiveness of the original, 30-item Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement measure (STREAM-30) is similar to that of the simplified STREAM (STREAM-15), even though the STREAM-30 has twice as many items as those of the STREAM-15.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the responsiveness of the STREAM-30 and STREAM-15 at both group and individual levels in patients with stroke. For the latter level, the Rasch-calibrated 27-item STREAM (STREAM-27) was used because the individual-level indexes of the STREAM-30 could not be estimated.

Assessment of atherosclerosis in chronic granulomatous disease.

Background: Patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) experience immunodeficiency because of defects in the phagocyte NADPH oxidase and the concomitant reduction in reactive oxygen intermediates. This may result in a reduction in atherosclerotic injury.

Methods And Results: We prospectively assessed the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, biomarkers of inflammation and neutrophil activation, and the presence of magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography quantified subclinical atherosclerosis in the carotid and coronary arteries of 41 patients with CGD and 25 healthy controls in the same age range.

TD-19, an erlotinib derivative, induces epidermal growth factor receptor wild-type nonsmall-cell lung cancer apoptosis through CIP2A-mediated pathway.

Some patients with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations still respond to gefitinib and erlotinib, suggesting that there may be a mechanism(s) other than the EGFR pathway that mediates the tumoricidal effects. In the current study, we tested the efficacy of TD-19, a novel compound chemically modified from erlotinib, which has more potent apoptotic effects than erlotinib in EGFR wild-type NSCLC cell lines. TD-19 induced significant cell death and apoptosis in H358, H441, H460, and A549 cells, as evidenced by increased caspase-3 activity and cleavage of procaspase-9 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase.

The impact of acute kidney injury on the long-term risk of stroke.

Background: The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring dialysis in hospitalized patients is increasing; however, information on the long-term incidence of stroke in patients surviving to discharge after recovering from AKI after dialysis has not been reported.

Methods And Results: Patients that survived after recovery from dialysis-requiring AKI during index hospitalizations from 1999 to 2008 were identified in nationwide administrative registries. The risk of de novo stroke and death were analyzed with time-varying Cox proportional hazard models.

Imaging across the life span: innovations in imaging and therapy for gynecologic cancer.

The focus of this article is radiation therapy for gynecologic cancers, with emphasis on imaging-based treatment planning and delivery. For the various gynecologic cancers, radiation oncologists rely on essential clinical information to triage treatment options, and various imaging studies are performed for treatment planning and radiation therapy delivery. A practical approach is provided to help radiologists tailor their reports for the needs of their radiation oncology and gynecologic oncology colleagues, to optimize multidisciplinary care for patients with gynecologic cancer.

Parasite burden and severity of malaria in Tanzanian children.

Background: Severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria is a major cause of death in children. The contribution of the parasite burden to the pathogenesis of severe malaria has been controversial.

Methods: We documented P.

Proteinase-activated receptor 1 contributed to up-regulation of enkephalin in keratinocytes of patients with obstructive jaundice.

Background: Skin synthesis of endogenous opioids such as enkephalin is considered to be increased in cholestatic rodents, which may induce antinociception in cholestatic liver disease. No studies have reported yet the expression of skin enkephalin in patients with cholestasis.

Methods: Electrical pain threshold, postoperative morphine consumption, and skin enkephalin expression were measured in patients with jaundice (n = 18) and control patients (n = 16).

Angiotensin inhibition enhances drug delivery and potentiates chemotherapy by decompressing tumour blood vessels.

Cancer and stromal cells actively exert physical forces (solid stress) to compress tumour blood vessels, thus reducing vascular perfusion. Tumour interstitial matrix also contributes to solid stress, with hyaluronan implicated as the primary matrix molecule responsible for vessel compression because of its swelling behaviour. Here we show, unexpectedly, that hyaluronan compresses vessels only in collagen-rich tumours, suggesting that collagen and hyaluronan together are critical targets for decompressing tumour vessels.

CT angiography findings in carotid blowout syndrome and its role as a predictor of 1-year survival.

Background And Purpose: Carotid blowout is a serious late complication of prior treatment of advanced head and neck cancer. We evaluate the efficacy of CTA in the diagnosis of impending carotid blowout syndrome in patients with head and neck cancer, and its capability to predict clinical outcome.

Materials And Methods: The clinical data of 29 patients with impending carotid blowout who underwent CTA were collected and analyzed.

A versatile, highly efficient, and potentially safer piggyBac transposon system for mammalian genome manipulations.

The piggyBac transposon is one of the most attractive nonviral tools for mammalian genome manipulations. Given that piggybac mobilizes in a "cut-and-paste" fashion, integrant remobilization could potentially damage the host genome. Here, we report a novel piggyBac transposon system with a series of recombinant transposases.

The individual and combined effects of deoxynivalenol and aflatoxin B₁on primary hepatocytes of Cyprinus carpio.

Aflatoxin B(1) (AFB(1)) and deoxynivalenol (DON) are important food-borne mycotoxins that have been implicated in animal and human health. In this study, individual and combinative effects of AFB(1) and DON were tested in primary hepatocytes of Cyprinus carpio. The results indicated that the combinative effects of AFB(1) and DON (0.

Constitutive expression of Thermobifida fusca thermostable Acetylxylan Esterase gene in Pichia pastoris.

A gene encoding the thermostable acetylxylan esterase (AXE) in Thermobifida fusca NTU22 was amplified by PCR, sequenced and cloned into the Pichia pastoris X-33 host strain using the vector pGAPZαA, allowing constitutive expression and secretion of the protein. Recombinant expression resulted in high levels of extracellular AXE production, as high as 526 U/mL in the Hinton flask culture broth. The purified enzyme showed a single band at about 28 kDa by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after being treated with endo-β-N-acetylglycosaminidase H; this agrees with the predicted size based on the nucleotide sequence.

Ion trap collision-induced dissociation of locked nucleic acids.

Gas-phase dissociation of model locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotides and functional LNA-DNA chimeras have been investigated as a function of precursor ion charge state using ion trap collision-induced dissociation (CID). For the model LNA 5 and 8 mer, containing all four LNA monomers in the sequence, cleavage of all backbone bonds, generating a/w-, b/x-, c/y-, and d/z-ions, was observed with no significant preference at lower charge states. Base loss ions, except loss of thymine, from the cleavage of N-glycosidic bonds were also present.

Collision-induced dissociation of intact duplex and single-stranded siRNA anions.

A tandem mass spectrometry approach is demonstrated for complete sequencing of a model small interfering RNA (siRNA) based on ion trap collisional activation of intact single-stranded anions. Various charge states of the siRNA duplex and the individual strands were generated by nanoelectrospray (nano-ESI). The siRNA duplex anions were predominantly dissociated into the sense and antisense strands by collisional activation.

Ion trap collision-induced dissociation of multiply deprotonated RNA: c/y-ions versus (a-B)/w-ions.

The dissociation of model RNA anions has been studied as a function of anion charge state and excitation amplitude using ion trap collisional activation. Similar to DNA anions, the precursor ion charge state of an RNA anion plays an important role in directing the preferred dissociation channels. Generally, the complementary c/y-ions from 5' P-O bond cleavage dominate at low to intermediate charge states, while other backbone cleavages appear to a limited extent but increase in number and relative abundance at higher excitation energies.

Effects of mechanical compression on metabolism and distribution of oxygen and lactate in intervertebral disc.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of mechanical compression on metabolism and distributions of oxygen and lactate in the intervertebral disc (IVD) using a new formulation of the triphasic theory. In this study, the cellular metabolic rates of oxygen and lactate were incorporated into the newly developed formulation of the mechano-electrochemical mixture model [Huang, C.-Y.

Testis-specific expression and genomic multiplicity of the rat Rtdpoz genes that encode bipartite TRAF- and POZ/BTB-domain proteins.

Based on bioinformatics analysis, we previously hypothesized the existence of a bipartite TDPOZ protein family members of which carry the TRAF domain (TD) and POZ/BTB [Huang, C.-J., Chen, C.

RETRACTED: Selective targeting of checkpoint kinase 1 in tumor cells with a novel potent oncolytic adenovirus.

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