Spectroscopic investigation of polystyrene surface grafting on natural rubber.

This paper investigates the structural characteristics of polystyrene (PS) grafted on a natural rubber (NR) surface using Raman scattering spectroscopy. The nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) technique was used to achieve the graft copolymerization of PS onto the surface of NR film using 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) as a nitroxide mediator. The reversible reaction between propagating radical and TEMPO of the NMRP process leads to a controlled radical polymerization of styrene on the NR surface.

Combined action of celecoxib and ionizing radiation in prostate cancer cells is independent of pro-apoptotic Bax.

Background And Purpose: The cyclooxygenase-2-inhibitor celecoxib has been shown to inhibit cell growth and to reduce prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia in mice. The drug was suggested to increase efficacy of ionizing radiation. However, extent and mechanisms of the suggested benefit of celecoxib on the radiation response are still unclear.

Loss of nuclear p27 expression and its prognostic role in relation to cyclin E and p53 mutation in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Purpose: Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET) are classified by the WHO, yet its prognostic value needs to be confirmed. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prognostic role of cell cycle key regulatory genes p53, p27kip1 (p27), and cyclin E in this tumor entity.

Experimental Design: Tumor specimen from 89 patients with a complete follow-up were studied immunohistochemically for p27 and cyclin E expression and for p53 mutations.

Serum leptin, adiponectin, and resistin concentration in colorectal adenoma and carcinoma (CC) patients.

Introduction: Leptin, adiponectin, and resistin are the proteins secreted by adipocytes, which affects the metabolism. While the role of leptin in colon carcinogenesis is documented, the effect of adiponectin and resistin remains unclear. It has been indicated that while leptin may potentiate the cancer cells growth, adiponectin and resistin may act oppositely.

Cooperative effect of p21Cip1/WAF-1 and 14-3-3sigma on cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction by p14ARF.

P14(ARF) (p19(ARF) in the mouse) plays a central role in the regulation of cellular proliferation. Although the capacity of p14(ARF) to induce a cell cycle arrest in G1 phase depends on a functional p53/p21-signaling axis, the G2 arrest triggered by p14(ARF) is p53/p21-independent. Using isogeneic HCT116 cells either wild-type or homozygously deleted for p21, 14-3-3sigma or both, we further investigated the cooperative effect of p21 and 14-3-3sigma on cell cycle regulation and apoptosis induction by p14(ARF).

Tissue-type plasminogen activator requires a co-receptor to enhance NMDA receptor function.

Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter of the CNS. Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is recognized as a modulator of glutamatergic neurotransmission. This attribute is exemplified by its ability to potentiate calcium signaling following activation of the glutamate-binding NMDA receptor (NMDAR).

Identification of chemosensory sensilla mediating antennular flicking behavior in Panulirus argus, the Caribbean spiny lobster.

Crustaceans sample odorants by a rapid series of flicks of the two flagella composing the distal segments of each of the paired antennules. The lateral flagella contain aesthetasc sensilla that house unimodal chemosensory neurons. Nine types of nonaesthetasc setae with putative chemosensory and mechanosensory functions are distributed on the lateral and medial flagella.

MDM2 SNP309 is associated with poor outcome in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Purpose: A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position 309 in the promoter region of MDM2 leading to increased expression of MDM2 and attenuated function of p53 has been negatively associated with onset and outcome of disease in solid tumors. Because inactivation of p53 by deletion and/or mutations also impacts on the clinical course of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), we assessed the role of the SNP309 genotype in B-CLL.

Patients And Methods: The frequency of SNP309 T/T, T/G, or G/G genotypes and the p53 status (wild type, mutated, or deleted) were assessed and correlated with clinical outcome in 140 B-CLL patients and a second independent cohort.

Mcl-1 determines the Bax dependency of Nbk/Bik-induced apoptosis.

B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) homology domain 3 (BH3)-only proteins of the Bcl-2 family are important functional adaptors that link cell death signals to the activation of Bax and/or Bak. The BH3-only protein Nbk/Bik induces cell death via an entirely Bax-dependent/Bak-independent mechanism. In contrast, cell death induced by the short splice variant of Bcl-x depends on Bak but not Bax.

Directional functional coupling of cerebral rhythms between anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal areas during rare stimuli: a directed transfer function analysis of human depth EEG signal.

What is the neural substrate of our capability to properly react to changes in the environment? It can be hypothesized that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) manages repetitive stimuli in routine conditions and alerts the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) when stimulation unexpectedly changes. To provide evidence in favor of this hypothesis, intracerebral stereoelectroencephalographic (SEEG) data were recorded from the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral PFC of eight epileptic patients in a standard visual oddball task during presurgical monitoring. Two types of stimuli (200 ms duration) such as the letters O (frequent stimuli; 80% of probability) and X (rare stimuli) were presented in random order, with an interstimulus interval between 2 and 5 s.

Assessment of free light chains in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with lymphomatous meningitis - a pilot study.

Background: Lymphomatous meningitis (LM) represents a severe complication of malignant lymphomas. While clinical suspicion is raised by symptoms ranging from mild disturbances of sensation to severe pain or impaired consciousness, the definite diagnosis of LM is often difficult to obtain. Since B-cell lymphomas are clonally restricted to express either kappa or lambda immunoglobulin light chain, we hypothesised that analysis of free light chain (FLC) ratios might facilitate the diagnosis of LM.

The cystine/cysteine cycle: a redox cycle regulating susceptibility versus resistance to cell death.

The glutathione-dependent system is one of the key systems regulating cellular redox balance, and thus cell fate. Cysteine, typically present in its oxidized form cystine in the extracellular space, is regarded as the rate-limiting substrate for glutathione (GSH) synthesis. Cystine is transported into cells by the highly specific amino-acid antiporter system xc-.

Modifications of cognitive and motor tasks affect the occurrence of event-related potentials in the human cortex.

This study concerns the question of how task modification affects the frequency occurrence of event-related potentials (ERP) inside the active cortical areas. In 13 candidates for epilepsy surgery, 156 sites in the temporal (74), frontal (73), and parietal (9) cortices were recorded by means of depth and subdural electrodes. Four modifications of the somatosensory evoked P3-like potentials were performed; (i) an oddball paradigm with silent counting of target stimuli (P3c); (ii) an oddball paradigm with a hand movement in response to target stimuli (P3m); (iii) an S1-S2 paradigm, ERP in the P300 time window after the S2 stimulus, with silent counting of target stimuli (S2c), and (iv) an S1-S2 paradigm with a hand movement in response to target stimuli (S2m).

Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cell-mediated recognition of human solid tumors. Potential for immunotherapy of hepatocellular and colorectal carcinomas.

Introduction: Vgamma9Vdelta2 T lymphocytes are reported to participate in the anti-tumor immune surveillance in human. They are known to recognize phosphoantigens and molecules expressed on cells undergoing neoplasic transformation. In this study, we investigated phenotype and anti-tumor cytotoxicity of ex vivo expanded Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells in view of adoptive immunotherapy.

Activation of the mitochondrial death pathway is commonly mediated by a preferential engagement of Bak.

Among the members of the Bcl-2 family, the multidomain proteins Bax and Bak are crucial for the activation of mitochondria. However, it is still unclear whether they act in a unique and distinct manner or whether they exhibit redundant functions. To systematically investigate their activation on a single-cell level, we established MCF-7 cell lines stably expressing GFP-fusion variants of these proteins.

[Resistin-- a new laboratory marker useful in diagnosis of acute pancreatitis?].

Unlabelled: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is the severe disease with high mortality and morbidity which pathomechanism is still not clearly elucidated yet. Serum pro-inflammatory cytokines like Interleukin-18, TNF alpha, and C-reactive protein (CRP) are elevated in patients with AP, particularly of severe clinical course. Adipocytes hyperplasia is a trigger factor that initiates chronic inflammatory state which release adipocytokines, like TNF alpha or leptin or resistin.

Frequent loss of expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Bim in renal cell carcinoma: evidence for contribution to apoptosis resistance.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is resistant to chemotherapy, and this resistance is mirrored by a high apoptosis resistance of many RCC lines in vitro. Here, we report the loss of the pro-apoptotic BH3-only protein Bim in a large part of clinical RCC cases and provide evidence for a functional relevance of this loss. Immunohistochemistry of clear cell renal cell carcinoma cases and corresponding normal kidney showed strong Bim reactivity in renal tubules of all cases but loss of Bim in 35 of 45 RCC samples.

Two conserved regions within the tissue-type plasminogen activator gene promoter mediate regulation by brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) has recently been identified as a modulator of neuronal plasticity and can initiate conversion of the pro-form of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) into its mature form. BDNF also increases t-PA gene expression implicating t-PA as a downstream effector of BDNF function. Here we demonstrate that BDNF-mediated induction of t-PA mRNA requires an increase in t-PA gene transcription.

Transforming growth factor beta 1 and metalloproteinase-9 overexpression in colorectal cancer (CC) and adenoma.

Background And Aims: Although the role of transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) 1 and metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is well documented in colorectal cancer (CC), there is a little evidence supporting its role in early carcinogenesis. The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of immunohistochemical expression of TGFbeta1, MMP-9, and Ki-67 in CC and adenomatous polyps.

Patient/methods: The study group comprised 50 patients with colorectal polyps and 33 patients with CC.

Exhaled nitric oxide in healthy young children during tidal breathing through a facemask.

The aim of this study was to establish reference values and to examine day-to-day and within-day variations of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) during tidal breathing in healthy children using a newly described method. Exhaled NO was measured on-line and off-line during tidal breathing through a facemask. In a subgroup of children measurements were repeated during the course of a single day and on the same time on three consecutive days.

Oncostatin M is a neuroprotective cytokine that inhibits excitotoxic injury in vitro and in vivo.

Oncostatin M (OsM) is a member of the interleukin (IL)-6 family of cytokines and is well known for its role in inflammation, cell proliferation, and hematopoiesis. OsM, together with its glycoprotein 130 containing receptor complex, is expressed and regulated in most cells of the central nervous system (CNS), yet the function of OsM within this compartment is poorly understood. Here we have investigated the effect of OsM using in vitro and in vivo models of excitotoxic injury.

Inorganic selenium sensitizes prostate cancer cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis through superoxide/p53/Bax-mediated activation of mitochondrial pathway.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been shown to induce apoptosis in prostate cancer cells through DR4 and DR5 death receptors, but not in normal prostate cells, which do not express these receptors. Therefore, TRAIL has excellent potential to be a selective prostate cancer therapeutic agent with minimal toxic side effects. However, prostate cancer cells, as many other cancer types, develop resistance to TRAIL, and the underlying molecular mechanisms require further investigation.

Bak functionally complements for loss of Bax during p14ARF-induced mitochondrial apoptosis in human cancer cells.

In contrast to the initial notion that the biological activity of p14(ARF) strictly depends on a functional mdm-2/p53 signaling axis, we recently demonstrated that p14(ARF) mediates apoptosis in a p53/Bax-independent manner. Here, we show that p14(ARF) induces breakdown of the mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c release before triggering caspase-9- and caspase-3/7-like activities in p53/Bax-deficient DU145 prostate cancer cells expressing wild-type Bak. Re-expression of Bax in these cells failed to further enhance p14(ARF)-induced apoptosis, suggesting that p14(ARF)-induced apoptosis primarily depends on Bak but not Bax in these cells.

Genetic dissection of apoptosis and cell cycle control in response of colorectal cancer treated with preoperative radiochemotherapy.

Background: In previous analyses we identified therapy-induced upregulation of the CDK inhibitor p21CIP/WAF-1 and consequently decreased tumor cell proliferation or loss of Bax as adverse factors for survival in rectal cancer treated with radiochemotherapy. Here, we address the individual role of p53 and its transcriptional targets, p21CIP/WAF-1 and Bax, on apoptosis induced by individual components of multimodal anticancer therapy, i.e.

Combined treatment of colorectal tumours with agonistic TRAIL receptor antibodies HGS-ETR1 and HGS-ETR2 and radiotherapy: enhanced effects in vitro and dose-dependent growth delay in vivo.

We and others have demonstrated already that TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) is a very promising candidate for molecular targeted anticancer therapy, especially when combined with ionizing radiation or other DNA-damaging agents. Agonist monoclonal antibodies that activate and are specific for the death signaling TRAIL receptors are an alternative method to stimulate the programmed cell death pathway. Phase 1 clinical trials have subsequently been conducted and shown a very good tolerability of these antibodies.