Malaria downmodulates mRNA expression and catalytic activities of CYP1A2, 2E1 and 3A11 in mouse liver.

It has been reported that malaria reduces cytochrome-P450 (CYP) content and monooxygenase activities in the mammalian host liver. The mechanism by which malaria modulates CYP activities, however, remains unclear. In this study we found that activities of ethoxy- and benzyloxy-resorufin-O-dealkylases, p-nitrophenol-hydroxylase and erythromycin-N-demethylase (mediated by CYP1A, 2B, 2E1 and 3A, respectively) were depressed, while uridine-glucuronosyl-transferase (a phase 2 enzyme) was unaltered in liver microsomes of Plasmodium berghei-infected (parasitemia >20%) male Swiss Webster mice.

Comparative genomic hybridization-based oncogenetic tree model for genetic classification of breast cancer.

Objective: To describe a genetic progression pathway in breast cancer by a maximum likelihood-based tree model representing the dependencies between chromosomal imbalances.

Study Design: One hundred six cases were studied by comparative genomic hybridization, followed by maximum likelihood estimation of an oncogenetic tree model.

Results: The tree model identified 3 clusters with correlated chromosomal imbalances.

Signal transduction--receptors, mediators, and genes.

The 2008 annual meeting of the Signal Transduction Society covered a broad spectrum of topics, with signaling in immune cells as the special focus of the meeting. Many of the immune signaling talks concerned B and T lymphocytes in particular; the role of inflammatory cytokines in cancer progression was also addressed. Neoplastic development was also discussed with regard to aspects of cell cycle control, aging, and transformation.

Heroin-associated myocardial damages--conventional and immunohistochemical investigations.

Well-known complications related to drug abuse are myocardial insufficiency, myocardial infarction, endocarditis, myocarditis, aortic dissection, neurologic damages, ischemic colitis, thrombotic phenomenons, renal infarction and acute liver failure. Furthermore, microfocal fibrosis of the myocardium is found in stimulant abuse. The origin of myocardial fibrosis associated with opiate abuse (endocarditis, myocarditis, embolism) is still unclear.

Is PillCam COLON capsule endoscopy ready for colorectal cancer screening? A prospective feasibility study in a community gastroenterology practice.

Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with colonoscopy was introduced into the National Cancer Prevention Program in Germany in 2002. As compliance for screening is low (around 3% per year), colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) could be an alternative approach. In this study, feasibility and performance of CCE were evaluated in comparison with colonoscopy in ambulatory patients with special attention to a short colon transit time.

A standardized protocol for the prevention of clinically relevant venous air embolism during neurosurgical interventions in the semisitting position.

Objective: We report the results and complications associated with standardized intraoperative management designed for the prevention of hemodynamically relevant venous air embolism during surgery performed in the semisitting position.

Methods: A protocol for preoperative evaluation and intraoperative monitoring was developed and applied in 187 consecutive patients who underwent surgery in the semisitting position between 1999 and 2004. The protocol included preoperative transesophageal echocardiography examination (TEE), intraoperative TEE monitoring, catheterization of the right atrium and a combination of fluid input, positive end expiratory pressure, and standardized positioning aiming at a positive pressure in the transverse and sigmoid sinuses.

In vivo 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging of the wrist and hand: technical aspects and applications.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 7.0 T has the potential for higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), improved spectral resolution, and faster imaging compared with 1.5-T and 3.

Conservation of epiphyte diversity in an Andean landscape transformed by human land use.

Epiphytes are diverse and important elements of tropical forests, but as canopy-dwelling organisms, they are highly vulnerable to deforestation. To assess the effect of deforestation on epiphyte diversity and the potential for epiphyte conservation in anthropogenically transformed habitats, we surveyed the epiphytic vegetation of an Ecuadorian cloud forest reserve and its surroundings. Our study was located on the western slopes of the Andes, a global center of biodiversity.

Signal transduction in the footsteps of goethe and schiller.

The historical town of Weimar in Thuringia, the "green heart of Germany" was the sphere of Goethe and Schiller, the two most famous representatives of German literature's classic era. Not yet entirely as influential as those two cultural icons, the Signal Transduction Society (STS) has nevertheless in the last decade established within the walls of Weimar an annual interdisciplinary Meeting on "Signal Transduction - Receptors, Mediators and Genes", which is well recognized as a most attractive opportunity to exchange results and ideas in the field.The 12th STS Meeting was held from October 28 to 31 and provided a state-of-the-art overview of various areas of signal transduction research in which progress is fast and discussion lively.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Objective: To evaluate whether diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is a reliable technique to quantify microstructural differences between head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and tumour-free soft tissue.

Materials And Methods: DWI was obtained from 20 patients with histologically proven, untreated head and neck SCC. DWI was acquired using a diffusion-weighted, navigated echo-planar imaging sequence with a maximum b-value of 800 s/mm2.

Diffusion-weighted imaging for the follow-up of patients after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation.

Objective: To evaluate the use of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for the assessment of cartilage maturation in patients after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT).

Materials And Methods: Fifteen patients after MACT were examined by 3.0-T magnetic-resonance-tomography; the examination was up to 13 month after surgery in group 1, and later than 13 month after surgery in group 2.

Core classification of lung cancer: correlating nuclear size and mitoses with ploidy and clinicopathological parameters.

We attempted to establish a microscopy based tumour characterization providing insight into the genetics of cancer cells and in particular their DNA ploidy. The core classification defined semi-quantitative criteria for scoring the nuclear size ranging from small (core score 1) to giant nuclei (core score 4). By listing all nuclear sizes according to their relative frequencies it provided a measure for core size variability as a correlate of nuclear pleomorphism.

Quantitative T2 mapping during follow-up after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT): full-thickness and zonal evaluation to visualize the maturation of cartilage repair tissue.

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the potential of in vivo zonal T2-mapping as a noninvasive tool in the longitudinal visualization of cartilage repair tissue maturation after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT). Fifteen patients were treated with MACT and evaluated cross-sectionally, with a baseline MRI at a follow-up of 19.7 +/- 12.

Reference data for in vivo magnetic resonance imaging properties of meniscoids in the cervical zygapophyseal joints.

Study Design: Prospective in vivo study of meniscoids in the cervical zygapophyseal joints.

Objective: To generate reference data for in vivo magnetic resonance (MR) imaging properties of meniscoids in the cervical zygapophyseal joints.

Summary Of Background Data: Meniscoids, also called synovial folds, are tiny anatomic structures within the zygapophyseal joints.

BRCA1-associated protein-1 is a tumor suppressor that requires deubiquitinating activity and nuclear localization.

BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP1), a deubiquitinating enzyme of unknown cellular function, is mutated in breast and lung cancers. In this study, we have shown for the first time that BAP1 has tumor suppressor activity in vivo by showing that BAP1 can suppress tumorigenicity of lung cancer cells in athymic nude mice. We show that BAP1 fulfills another criterion of a genuine tumor suppressor because cancer-associated BAP1 mutants are deficient in deubiquitinating activity.

Signal transduction around thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in atopic asthma.

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a novel interleukin-7-like cytokine, triggers dendritic cell-mediated inflammatory responses ultimately executed by T helper cells of the Th2 subtype. TSLP emerged as a central player in the development of allergic symptoms, especially in the airways, and is a prime regulatory cytokine at the interface of virus- or antigen-exposed epithelial cells and dendritic cells (DCs). DCs activated by epithelium-derived TSLP can promote naïve CD4+ T cells to adopt a Th2 phenotype, which in turn recruite eosinophilic and basophilic granulocytes as well as mast cells into the airway mucosa.

Energy- and CO2-reduction potentials by anaerobic treatment of wastewater and organic kitchen wastes in consideration of different climatic conditions.

The classical municipal wastewater treatment in Germany consists of an aerobic carbon and nitrogen elimination and mostly an anaerobic sludge treatment. Organic kitchen wastes from separate waste collection as well as yard wastes are converted mostly in composting plants to soil conditioner. With these conventional types of treatment, the energy potential in waste and wastewater is lost due to aerobic material conversion.

Microsatellite instability and loss of heterozygosity in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Background: Microsatellite instability (MSI) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has been reported with a wide range of frequencies. The aim of our study was to disclose the frequency and basis of MSI in HNSCC and to correlate MSI and findings on loss of heterozygosity (LOH) with the clinical data.

Methods: We analyzed MSI and LOH in 91 tumors.

The head nodding syndrome--clinical classification and possible causes.

Purpose: In the 1960s in Tanzania, L. Jilek-Aall observed a seizure disorder characterized by head nodding (HN). Decades later, "nodding disease," reminiscent of what was seen in Tanzania, was reported from Sudan.

MDCT angiography for detection of pulmonary emboli: comparison between equi-iodine doses of iomeprol 400 mgI/mL and iodixanol 320 mgI/mL.

Objectives: To compare iomeprol 400 and iodixanol 320 in pulmonary artery MDCTA in subjects with suspected pulmonary embolism.

Methods: Eighty randomized subjects received equi-iodine intravenous doses (48 g) of iomeprol 400 (n=40) or iodixanol 320 (n=40), via power injector at 4 mL/s. Four-row (35 subjects) and 64-row (45 subjects) scanners were used.

Watching molecules talking to each other.

Not long ago, molecular processes underlying intracellular signal transduction could only be made accessible to the eye by means of cartoons and artwork. Due to enormous technical processes within recent times, the dream of researchers of faithfully visualizing intracellular signal transduction events has now become a reality. While covering a wide range of basic and applied disciplines, the 2007 Signal Transduction Society's annual meeting focused on results obtained using state-of-the-art imaging methodologies.

Vascular endothelial cadherin promotes breast cancer progression via transforming growth factor beta signaling.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important event during carcinoma progression and leads to increased tumor cell malignancy. Here, we show that vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin is induced during EMT in mammary tumor cells and is aberrantly expressed in invasive human breast carcinomas. VE-cadherin enhanced the capacity of fibroblastoid tumor cells to proliferate, form cord-like invasive structures, and adhere to endothelial cells, characteristics that are key contributors to their increased malignancy and metastatic potential.

Interleukin-13 acts as an apoptotic effector on lung epithelial cells and induces pro-fibrotic gene expression in lung fibroblasts.

Background: IL-13 promotes acute allergic asthma and is discussed to play a role in late asthmatic features such as fibrotic processes and airway remodelling. The contributions of IL-13-mediated mechanisms to subepithelial events related to fibrosis are not yet settled.

Objective: We investigated the impact of IL-13 on lung epithelial cells as apoptotic effector and on lung fibroblasts as inducer of pro-fibrotic gene expression.