Role of JNK and NF-κB pathways in Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS-induced vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression in human aortic endothelial cells.

An increasing number of studies have shown a correlation between Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) infection and atherosclerosis. A recent study demonstrated that the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) was induced by P.

Treatment of scalar-relativistic effects on nuclear magnetic shieldings using a spin-free exact-two-component approach.

A cost-effective treatment of scalar-relativistic effects on nuclear magnetic shieldings based on the spin-free exact-two-component theory in its one-electron variant (SFX2C-1e) is presented. The SFX2C-1e scheme gains its computational efficiency, in comparison to the four-component approach, from a focus on spin-free contributions and from the elimination of the small component. For the calculation of nuclear magnetic shieldings, the separation of spin-free and spin-dependent terms in the parent four-component theory is carried out here for the matrix representation of the Dirac equation in terms of a restricted-magnetically balanced gauge-including atomic orbital basis.

Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide activates canonical Wnt/β-catenin and p38 MAPK signalling in stem cells from the apical papilla.

As dental precursor cells, stem cells from the apical papilla (SCAP) are capable of forming roots and undergoing apexogenesis, which are impaired upon exposure to bacterial infection. Porphyromonas gingivalis is a common Gram-negative bacterium that is involved in pulpal and periapical infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of P.

Hyperfine interactions and electric dipole moments in the [16.0]1.5(v = 6), [16.0]3.5(v = 7), and X2Δ(5/2) states of iridium monosilicide, IrSi.

The (6,0)[16.0]1.5-X(2)Δ(5/2) and (7,0)[16.

Routine exposure of recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroid surgery can prevent nerve injury.

To determine the value of dissecting the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery with respect to preventing recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, we retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 5 344 patients undergoing thyroidectomy. Among these cases, 548 underwent dissection of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, while 4 796 did not. There were 12 cases of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury following recurrent laryngeal nerve dissection (injury rate of 2.

Communication: Extension of a universal explicit electron correlation correction to general complete active spaces.

We present the extension of a recently proposed universal explicit electron correlation (F12) correction for multi-reference perturbation theories to general complete active spaces and arbitrary choices of complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) orbitals. This F12 correction is applied to Mukherjee's multi-reference second-order perturbation theory (Mk-MRPT2). Pilot examples show the expected reduction of the basis sets incompleteness error of about two cardinal numbers.

[Effects of rhAm on attachment, proliferation and immigration of human fibroblasts].

Purpose: To compare the effects of 25 kDa full-length rhAm and porcine EMPs on cell behaviors of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (HPDLF) and foreskin fibroblasts(HFF).

Methods: rhAm was induced by BL21/pET28a-His-SUMO-rhAm express system, and 25 kDa full-length rhAm was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. EMPs were extracted by acetic acid method.

Smoothened is a fully competent activator of the heterotrimeric G protein G(i).

Smoothened (Smo) is a 7-transmembrane protein essential to the activation of Gli transcription factors (Gli) by hedgehog morphogens. The structure of Smo implies interactions with heterotrimeric G proteins, but the degree to which G proteins participate in the actions of hedgehogs remains controversial. We posit that the G(i) family of G proteins provides to hedgehogs the ability to expand well beyond the bounds of Gli.

Subsequent development of fibroatheromas with inflamed fibrous caps can be predicted by intracoronary near infrared spectroscopy.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate whether the development of fibroatheromas exhibiting features of potential instability can be detected and predicted by serial invasive imaging.

Methods And Results: Multivessel intravascular ultrasound and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) were performed in diabetic/hypercholesterolemic pigs 3, 6, and 9 months after induction. Animals were euthanized at 9 months and histological/immunohistochemical evaluation of the arteries was performed (n=304 arterial segments).

The route to high accuracy in ab initio calculations of Cu quadrupole-coupling constants.

We report nonrelativistic and scalar-relativistic coupled-cluster calculations of the copper quadrupole-coupling constants for eleven small copper-containing compounds. It is shown to be necessary to treat both electron-correlation and scalar-relativistic effects on the same footing even for a qualitatively correct description, because both effects are significant and are strongly coupled in the case of Cu electric-field gradients. We show that the three scalar-relativistic schemes employed in the present study--the leading order of direct perturbation theory, the spin-free exact two-component theory in its one-electron variant, and the spin-free Dirac-Coulomb approach--provide accurate treatments of scalar-relativistic effects for the copper compounds under study.

[Application of computer assisted navigation system in endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery].

Objective: To evaluate the applicative value of computer assisted navigation system in endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery.

Method: Forty-nine endoscopic surgery procedures were performed with the help of computer assisted navigation system, among which there were 25 cases of recurrent sinusitis and nasal polyps, 9 cases of nasal and sinus tumour, 7 cases of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea, 2 cases of meningoencephalocele, 4 cases of congenital choanal atresia, 1 case of pituitary tumor and 1 case of foreign body in middle cranial fossa.

Result: The preoperative time was 5-13 minutes for preparation, 7 minutes in average.

Myocardin regulates BMP10 expression and is required for heart development.

Myocardin is a muscle lineage-restricted transcriptional coactivator that has been shown to transduce extracellular signals to the nucleus required for SMC differentiation. We now report the discovery of a myocardin/BMP10 (where BMP10 indicates bone morphogenetic protein 10) signaling pathway required for cardiac growth, chamber maturation, and embryonic survival. Myocardin-null (Myocd) embryos and embryos harboring a cardiomyocyte-restricted mutation in the Myocd gene exhibited myocardial hypoplasia, defective atrial and ventricular chamber maturation, heart failure, and embryonic lethality.

Myocardin-like protein 2 regulates TGFβ signaling in embryonic stem cells and the developing vasculature.

The molecular mechanisms that regulate and coordinate signaling between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cells contributing to the developing vasculature are complex and poorly understood. Myocardin-like protein 2 (MKL2) is a transcriptional co-activator that in response to RhoA and cytoskeletal actin signals physically associates with serum response factor (SRF), activating a subset of SRF-regulated genes. We now report the discovery of a previously undescribed MKL2/TGFβ signaling pathway in embryonic stem (ES) cells that is required for maturation and stabilization of the embryonic vasculature.

Dynamic regulation of the cerebral cavernous malformation pathway controls vascular stability and growth.

Cardiovascular growth must balance stabilizing signals required to maintain endothelial connections and network integrity with destabilizing signals that enable individual endothelial cells to migrate and proliferate. The cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) signaling pathway utilizes the adaptor protein CCM2 to strengthen endothelial cell junctions and stabilize vessels. Here we identify a CCM2 paralog, CCM2L, that is expressed selectively in endothelial cells during periods of active cardiovascular growth.

Evaluation of nanoarchitectured collagen type II molecules on cartilage engineering.

Scaffold architecture, including the geometry and dimension of scaffolds, is an important parameter in cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. Following the characterization of collagen type II nanoarchitectured molecules, collagen fibrils (CNFs) and collagen spheres (CNPs) prepared using a high-voltage electric field in our laboratory, we proposed to use these nanoarchitectured molecules to assess their influence on the culturing of chondrocytes in stirred bioreactors. The results demonstrate that chondrocytes rapidly formed more and larger chondrocyte pellets (spheroids) after the addition of nanoarchitectured molecules into the culture medium.

Rotational spectra of rare isotopic species of fluoroiodomethane: determination of the equilibrium structure from rotational spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations.

Supported by accurate quantum-chemical calculations, the rotational spectra of the mono- and bi-deuterated species of fluoroiodomethane, CHDFI and CD(2)FI, as well as of the (13)C-containing species, (13)CH(2)FI, were recorded for the first time. Three different spectrometers were employed, a Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer, a millimeter/submillimter-wave spectrometer, and a THz spectrometer, thus allowing to record a huge portion of the rotational spectrum, from 5 GHz up to 1.05 THz, and to accurately determine the ground-state rotational and centrifugal-distortion constants.

Loss of αT-catenin alters the hybrid adhering junctions in the heart and leads to dilated cardiomyopathy and ventricular arrhythmia following acute ischemia.

It is generally accepted that the intercalated disc (ICD) required for mechano-electrical coupling in the heart consists of three distinct junctional complexes: adherens junctions, desmosomes and gap junctions. However, recent morphological and molecular data indicate a mixing of adherens junctional and desmosomal components, resulting in a 'hybrid adhering junction' or 'area composita'. The α-catenin family member αT-catenin, part of the N-cadherin-catenin adhesion complex in the heart, is the only α-catenin that interacts with the desmosomal protein plakophilin-2 (PKP2).

Noncanonical Hedgehog signaling.

The notion of noncanonical hedgehog (Hh) signaling in mammals has started to receive support from numerous observations. By noncanonical, we refer to all those cellular and tissue responses to any of the Hh isoforms that are independent of transcriptional changes mediated by the Gli family of transcription factors. In this chapter, we discuss the most recent findings that suggest that Patched1 can regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis independently of Smoothened (Smo) and Gli and the reports that Smo modulates actin cytoskeleton-dependent processes such as fibroblast migration, endothelial cell tubulogenesis, axonal extension, and neurite formation by diverse mechanisms that exclude any involvement of Gli-dependent transcription.

A spin-adapted size-extensive state-specific multi-reference perturbation theory with various partitioning schemes. II. Molecular applications.

Following the theoretical development of a spin-adapted state-specific multi-reference second-order perturbation theory (SA-SSMRPT2) as expounded in the preceding publication, we discuss here its implementation and the results of its applications to potential energy curves (PECs) of various electronic states of small molecules. In particular, we illustrate its efficacy in states of various spin multiplicities and varying multi-reference character. Both Møller-Plesset (MP) and Epstein-Nesbet (EN) type of partitions have been explored.

A spin-adapted size-extensive state-specific multi-reference perturbation theory. I. Formal developments.

We present in this paper a comprehensive formulation of a spin-adapted size-extensive state-specific multi-reference second-order perturbation theory (SA-SSMRPT2) as a tool for applications to molecular states of arbitrary complexity and generality. The perturbative theory emerges in the development as a result of a physically appealing quasi-linearization of a rigorously size-extensive state-specific multi-reference coupled cluster (SSMRCC) formalism [U. S.

Loss of cadherin-binding proteins β-catenin and plakoglobin in the heart leads to gap junction remodeling and arrhythmogenesis.

Arrhythmic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a hereditary heart muscle disease that causes sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young people. Almost half of ARVC patients have a mutation in genes encoding cell adhesion proteins of the desmosome, including plakoglobin (JUP). We previously reported that cardiac tissue-specific plakoglobin (PG) knockout (PG CKO) mice have no apparent conduction abnormality and survive longer than expected.

Analytic second derivatives for the spin-free exact two-component theory.

The formulation and implementation of the spin-free (SF) exact two-component (X2c) theory at the one-electron level (SFX2c-1e) is extended in the present work to the analytic evaluation of second derivatives of the energy. In the X2c-1e scheme, the four-component one-electron Dirac Hamiltonian is block diagonalized in its matrix representation and the resulting "electrons-only" two-component Hamiltonian is then used together with untransformed two-electron interactions. The derivatives of the two-component Hamiltonian can thus be obtained by means of simple manipulations of the parent four-component Hamiltonian integrals and derivative integrals.

Role of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide-induced VCAM-1 expression in human aortic endothelial cells.

Background: Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been reported to induce the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in vascular endothelial cells. This finding suggests the potential roles for Pg in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, the mechanism involved in Pg LPS-induced VCAM-1 production in endothelial cells remains unclear.

Direct perturbation theory in terms of energy derivatives: scalar-relativistic treatment up to sixth order.

A formulation of sixth-order direct perturbation theory (DPT) to treat relativistic effects in quantum-chemical calculations is presented in the framework of derivative theory. Detailed expressions for DPT6 are given at the Hartree-Fock level in terms of the third derivative of the energy with respect to the relativistic perturbation parameter defined as λ(rel)=c(-2). They were implemented for the computation of scalar-relativistic energy corrections.

[Prevention of platelet transfusion refractoriness and HLA alloimmunization by leukocyte filtered platelet transfusion: a meta analysis].

Objective: To compare and assess the effectiveness of leukocyte-filtered platelet and standard platelet concentrates transfusion in preventing platelet transfusion refractoriness (PTR) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-alloimmunization.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs comparing leukocyte-filtered platelet with standard platelet concentrates transfusion (up to December 31, 2009) were searched and identified from Medline, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, and CBM. A meta-analysis was conducted with Cochrane Collaboration's RevMan 5.