Effects of exercise training on patients with lung cancer who underwent lung resection: a meta-analysis.

Background: The efficacy of exercise training in patients with lung cancer after lung resection has not been well established yet. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the efficiency of exercise training in patients with lung cancer after lung resection.

Methods: Several databases were searched for eligible randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors contribute to the beneficial effects of hydrogen sulfide on cognitive and synaptic plasticity deficits in APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of clinical dementia. Previous studies have demonstrated that hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is implicated with the pathology of AD, and exogenous H2S attenuates spatial memory impairments in AD animal models. However, the molecular mechanism by which H2S improves cognition in AD has not been fully explored.

The flavonoid baicalein rescues synaptic plasticity and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Increasing evidence suggests that disruptions of synaptic functions correlate with the severity of cognitive deficit in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our previous study demonstrated that baicalein enhances long-term potentiation (LTP) in acute rat hippocampal slices and improves hippocampus-dependent contextual fear conditioning in rats. Given that baicalein possess various biological activities, especially its effects on synaptic plasticity and cognitive function, we examined the effect of baicalein on synaptic function both in vitro and in vivo in AD model.

Transfer of the IL-37b gene elicits anti-tumor responses in mice bearing 4T1 breast cancer.

Aim: IL-37b has shown anti-cancer activities in addition to its anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we investigated the effects of IL-37b on breast carcinoma growth in mice and to determine the involvement of T cell activation in the effects.

Methods: IL-37b gene was transferred into mouse breast carcinoma cell line 4T1 (4T1-IL37b cells), the expression of secretory IL-37b by the cells was detected, and the effects of IL-37b expression on the cell proliferation in vitro was evaluated.

Meta-analysis of the risks of hypertension and QTc prolongation in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who were receiving vandetanib.

Background: A meta-analysis of published data was conducted to investigate the overall risks of hypertension and QTc prolongation in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were receiving vandetanib.

Methods: A computerized search through electronic databases, including PubMed and Embase (until Dec 2014), was performed to obtain eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared hypertension and/or QTc prolongation profile of vandetanib alone or plus chemotherapy with control groups (placebo, single targeted therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of them) in patients with advanced NSCLC. The outcome measures were the overall risks of hypertension and QTc prolongation.

Prolonged Alzheimer-like tau hyperphosphorylation induced by simultaneous inhibition of phosphoinositol-3 kinase and protein kinase C in N2a cells.

Co-injection of wortmannin (inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, PI3K) and GF109203X (inhibitor of protein kinase C, PKC) into the rat brain was found to induce spatial memory deficiency and enhance tau hyperphosphorylation in the hippocampus of rat brain. To establish a cell model with durative Alzheimer-like tau hyperphosphorylation in this study, we treated N2a neuroblastoma cells with wortmannin and GF109203X separately and simultaneously, and measured the glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) activity by gamma-32P-labeling and the level of tau phosphorylation by Western blotting. It was found that the application of wortmannin alone only transitorily increased the activity of GSK-3 (about 1 h) and the level of tau hyperphosphorylation at Ser396/Ser404 and Ser199/Ser202 sites (no longer than 3 h); however, a prolonged and intense activation of GSK-3 (over 12 h) and enhanced tau hyperphosphorylation (about 24 h) were observed when these two selective kinase inhibitors were applied together.

Effects of melatonin on wortmannin-induced tau hyperphosphorylation.

Aim: To explore the underlying mechanism of tau hyperphosphorylation in an Alzheimeros-affected brain and the possible arresting strategies.

Methods: MTT(3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide), crystal violet assay, phase-contrast, dead end colorimetric apoptosis detection system (TUNEL) and electron microscopy were used to detect cell viability, morphology and apoptosis. Western blot, 32P-labeling and the detection of malondialdehyde level and superoxide dismutase activity were used respectively for the phosphorylation level of tau, the activity of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3), and oxidative stress measurement.