Comparison of three different lactic acid bacteria-fermented proteins on RAW 264.7 osteoclast and MC3T3-E1 osteoblast differentiation.

Osteoporosis is a state of bone weakening caused by an imbalance in osteoblast and osteoclast activity. In this study, the anti-osteoporotic effects of three proteins fermented by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were assessed. Commercial proteins sodium caseinate (SC), whey protein isolate (WPI), and soy protein isolate (SPI) were fermented by LAB strains for 48 h.

Effect of Probiotic-Fortified Infant Formula on Infant Gut Health and Microbiota Modulation.

Compared to infant formula, breast milk is the best source of nutrition for infants; it not only improves the neonatal intestinal function, but also regulates the immune system and gut microbiota composition. However, probiotic-fortified infant formula may further enhance the infant gut environment by overcoming the limitations of traditional infant formula. We investigated the probiotic formula administration for one month by comparing 118 Korean infants into the following three groups: infants in each group fed with breast milk (50), probiotic formula (35), or placebo formula-fed group (33).

Screening for Lactic Acid Bacterial Strains as Probiotics Exhibiting Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidative Characteristic Via Immune Modulation in HaCaT Cell.

In this study, the basic probiotic characteristics and functional properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were investigated using two in vitro models of inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and HO. Fifteen strains were prescreened out of 60 LAB candidates based on their radical scavenging activity to determine the antioxidant capacity of the strains. The top 15 candidates were further investigated to evaluate their survival rate under low pH and bile salt conditions that mimic the intestinal environment.

Selection and Characterization of Probiotic Bacteria Exhibiting Antiadipogenic Potential in 3T3-L1 Preadipocytes.

Abnormal adipocyte growth, distinguished by an increase in cell numbers and cellular differentiation, is regarded as a major pathological characteristic of obesity. Thus, inhibition of adipogenic differentiation in adipocytes could prevent obesity. Recently, certain probiotic stains have been reported to regulate lipid metabolism in vitro and/or in vivo.

Antiobesity Effect of Novel Probiotic Strains in a Mouse Model of High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity.

Obesity is one of the major causes of the development of metabolic diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases and type-2 diabetes mellitus. Increased lipid accumulation and abnormal adipocyte growth, which is an increase in cell numbers and differentiation, have been documented as major pathological characteristics of obesity. Thus, the inhibition of adipogenic differentiation prevents and suppresses obesity.

Anti-inflammatory and Anti-osteoporotic Potential of Lactobacillus plantarum A41 and L. fermentum SRK414 as Probiotics.

This study involves an investigation on the probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria and their potential applications in an in vitro model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated inflammation and dexamethasone-induced osteoporosis. Nine strains were pre-screened from 485 lactic acid bacteria based on their survival at a low pH and in a solution containing bile salts. All candidates were capable of surviving in an environment with low pH and with bile salts and could successfully colonize the intestine.

Prophylactic use of probiotic chocolate modulates intestinal physiological functions in constipated rats.

Background: This study investigated the in vivo prophylactic effect of probiotic chocolate on constipation. Rats were administered chocolate containing 2.5 × 10  CFU g of probiotics daily for 4 weeks and treated with loperamide (5 mg kg ) daily at the fourth week of treatment.

Botulinum Toxin Treatment on Upper Limb Function in School Age Children With Bilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy: One Year Follow-up.

Objective: To prospectively investigate the long-term effects of botulinum toxin treatment on the upper limb function and performance of school age children with spastic bilateral cerebral palsy, who have limitations in performing activities of daily living and school activities, due to spasticity of the upper extremities.

Methods: Botulinum type A toxin (BoNT-A) was injected into 24 spastic upper limbs of 15 children. We used a Modified Ashworth Scale and a Modified Tardieu Scale for the evaluation of upper limb spasticity, and Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST), Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), and Test of Visual-Motor Skills-Revised (TVMS-R) for the evaluation of upper limb function and performance.

Mammary gland-specific expression of biologically active human osteoprotegerin in transgenic mice.

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a secreted glycoprotein that regulates bone resorption by inhibiting differentiation and activation of osteoclast, thereby potentially useful for the treatment of many bone diseases associated with increased bone loss. In this study, we designed a novel cDNA expression cassette by modifying the potent and mammary gland-specific goat β-casein/hGH hybrid gene construct and examined human OPG (hOPG) cDNA expression in transgenic mice. Six transgenic mice all successfully expressed hOPG in their milk at the level of 0.

Efficient production of transgenic mice by intracytoplasmic injection of streptolysin-O-treated spermatozoa.

Many methods for efficient production of transgenic animals for biomedical research have been developed. Despite great improvements in transgenesis rates resulting from the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), the ICSI-based sperm-mediated gene-transfer (iSMGT) technique is still not optimal in terms of sperm permeabilization efficiency and subsequent development. Here, we demonstrate that streptolysin-O (SLO) can efficiently permeabilize mouse spermatozoa, leading to improved developmental competence and high transgenesis rates in iSMGT embryos and pups.

Nox4-dependent H2O2 production contributes to chronic glutamate toxicity in primary cortical neurons.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can trigger neuronal cell death and has been implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases as well as brain ischemia. Here, we demonstrate that chronic (but not acute) glutamate toxicity in primary cortical neuronal cultures is associated with hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) accumulation in the culture medium and that neurotoxicity can be eliminated by external catalase treatment. Neuronal cultures in Ca(2+)-free medium or treated with BAPTA showed reduced glutamate-induced H(2)O(2) generation, indicating that H(2)O(2) generation is Ca(2+)-dependent.

Chronic glutamate toxicity in mouse cortical neuron culture.

Two pathways for glutamate toxicity have been described, receptor-mediated excitotoxicity and non-receptor mediated oxidative glutamate toxicity. Here, we show that two distinct forms of receptor-mediated primary cortical neuronal death exist, chronic and acute glutamate toxicity, and that these depend on exposure time. In vitro, neuronal sensitivity to chronic glutamate exposure increased as neurons matured and the initial plating medium contributed as well.

Transient decrease in F-actin may be necessary for translocation of proteins into dendritic spines.

It remains poorly understood as to how newly synthesized proteins that are required to act at specific synapses are translocated into only selected subsets of potentiated dendritic spines. Here, we report that F-actin, a major component of the skeletal structure of dendritic spines, may contribute to the regulation of synaptic specificity of protein translocation. We found that the stabilization of F-actin blocked the translocation of GFP-CaMKII and inhibited the diffusion of 3-kDa dextran into spines (in 2-3 weeks cultures).

Lentiviral transduction of murine oligodendrocytes in vivo.

Lentiviral vectors are used widely to direct efficient gene transfer in vivo. We examined cell-specific expression in adult murine white matter after stereotaxic microinjection of four lentiviral constructs. We synthesized vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) pseudotyped lentiviruses with combinations of two promoters, cytomegalovirus (CMV) or myelin basic protein (MBP), and two reporter sequences, cytosolic enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) or a plasma membrane-targeted eGFP (human lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase [Lck]-eGFP).

Epac1-mediated Rap1 activation is not required for the production of nitric oxide in BV2, murine microglial cells.

This study demonstrates that cyclic AMP (cAMP) production is induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation and activates two different pathways in murine BV2 microglial cells. Two principal effector proteins for cAMP are protein kinase A (PKA) and cAMP-responsive guanine nucleotide exchange factor (Epac), a Rap GDP exchange factor. When cells were treated with various cAMP level modulators, nitric oxide (NO) production increased as the result of posttreatment with Type IV phosphodiesterase (PDE4) inhibitor, rolipram or dibutyryl-cAMP (dbcAMP), at 2 hr after LPS stimulation.

Transplantation of embryonic stem cells overexpressing Bcl-2 promotes functional recovery after transient cerebral ischemia.

The study tested the hypothesis that transplantation of embryonic stem (ES) cells into rat cortex after a severe focal ischemia would promote structural repair and functional recovery. Overexpression of the human anti-apoptotic gene bcl-2 in ES cells was tested for increasing survival and differentiation of transplanted cells and promoting functional benefits. Mouse ES cells, pretreated with retinoic acid to induce differentiation down neural lineages, were transplanted into the post-infarct brain cavity of adult rats 7 days after 2-h occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA).

Neurotrophin and GDNF family ligands promote survival and alter excitotoxic vulnerability of neurons derived from murine embryonic stem cells.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are genetically manipulable pluripotential cells that can be differentiated in vitro into neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes. Given their potential utility as a source of replacement cells for the injured nervous system and the likelihood that transplantation interventions might include co-application of growth factors, we examined the effects of neurotrophin and GDNF family ligands on the survival and excitotoxic vulnerability of ES cell-derived neurons (ES neurons) grown in vitro. ES cells were differentiated down a neural lineage in vitro using the 4-/4+ protocol (Bain et al.

A proteasomal stress response: pre-treatment with proteasome inhibitors increases proteasome activity and reduces neuronal vulnerability to oxidative injury.

We report here that exposure to low concentrations of proteasome inhibitors (e.g. 10-100 nm MG-132, 0.

Retinoic acid response element in HOXA-7 regulatory region affects the rate, not the formation of anterior boundary expression.

Since it is known that a 307 bp fragment of the position specific regulatory element of human HOXA-7 contains two (DR3 and DR5) retinoic acid response elements (RAREs) at its 3' end, we constructed several deletion constructs containing different numbers of RAREs and examined their effects in vitro and in vivo. The 5' deletion constructs, BM112 and OM213, retaining both RAREs, were highly responsible (about 8 fold induction) for RA in F9 teratocarcinoma cells, versus NM307 (4-5 fold). The construct NS218, with both RAREs deleted but retaining the 5' sequences lost RA responsibility completely, whereas NR271, with one RARE(DR5) deleted retained a 50% inducibility (2.