Chondroprotective Activity of Murraya exotica through Inhibiting β -Catenin Signaling Pathway.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that affects millions of people. Currently, there is no effective drug treatment for it. The purpose of this study is to investigate the chondroprotective effects of Murraya exotica (L.

Selective Excitation of Atomic-Scale Dynamics by Coherent Exciton Motion in the Non-Born-Oppenheimer Regime.

Time-domain investigations of the nonadiabatic coupling between electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom have focused primarily on the formation of electronic superpositions induced by atomic motion. The effect of electronic nonstationary-state dynamics on atomic motion remains unexplored. Here, phase-coherent excitation of the two lowest electronic transitions in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes by broadband <5-fs pulses directly triggers coherent exciton motion along the axis of the nanotubes.

Inhibition of mouse SP2/0 myeloma cell growth by the B7-H4 protein vaccine.

B7-H4 is a member of B7 family of co-inhibitory molecules and B7-H4 protein is found to be overexpressed in many human cancers and which is usually associated with poor survival. In this study, we developed a therapeutic vaccine made from a fusion protein composed of a tetanus toxoid (TT) T-helper cell epitope and human B7-H4IgV domain (TT-rhB7-H4IgV). We investigated the anti-tumor effect of the TT-rhB7-H4IgV vaccine in BALB/c mice and SP2/0 myeloma growth was significantly suppressed in mice.

FOXP3 inhibits NF-κB activity and hence COX2 expression in gastric cancer cells.

Gastric cancer remains the main cause of cancer related deaths all over the world, and upregulated COX2 is a key player in its development. The mechanism as to how COX2 is regulated during the gastric cancer development is largely unknown. In this study, we found that the expression of COX2 was closely correlated with NF-κB activity.

Association between the RAD51 135 G>C polymorphism and risk of cancer: a meta-analysis of 19,068 cases and 22,630 controls.

Background: RAD51 135G>C can modify promoter activity and the penetrance of BRCA1/2 mutations, which plays vital roles in the etiology of various cancer. To date, previous published data on the association between RAD51 135G>C polymorphism and cancer risk remained controversial. Recent meta-analysis only analyzed RAD51 135G>C polymorphism with breast cancer risk, but the results were also inconsistent.

Impacts of mariculture on the diversity of bacterial communities within intertidal sediments in the Northeast of China.

Mariculture is one of the major seafood supplies worldwide and has caused serious environmental concerns on the coastal zone. Its rapid development has been shown to disrupt the sediment ecosystems and thus influence the benthic bacterial communities. Bacterial diversity and community structure within both adjacent farms and non-cultured zones intertidal sediments along the coasts of Qinhuangdao and Dalian, China, were investigated using full-length 16S rRNA gene-based T-RFLP analyses and clone library construction.

Keto acid-supplemented low-protein diet for treatment of adult patients with hepatitis B virus infection and chronic glomerulonephritis.

Objectives: An open-label, randomized, controlled, single-centre clinical trial to evaluate the effects of low-protein intake, with or without keto acid supplementation, on nutritional status and proteinuria, in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and early stage chronic glomerulonephritis.

Methods: Patients with chronic glomerulonephritis and HBV infection were randomized to receive a low-protein diet (0.6-0.

Association between the XRCC3 T241M polymorphism and risk of cancer: evidence from 157 case-control studies.

The T241M polymorphism in the X-ray cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) had been implicated in cancer susceptibility. The previous published data on the association between XRCC3 T241M polymorphism and cancer risk remained controversial. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association between cancer susceptibility and XRCC3 T241M (61,861 cases and 84,584 controls from 157 studies) polymorphism in different inheritance models.

Detection of amyloid plaques targeted by bifunctional USPIO in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice using magnetic resonance microimaging.

Amyloid plaques are a key pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The detection of amyloid plaques in the brain is important for the diagnosis of AD, as well as for following potential amyloid targeting therapeutic interventions. Our group has developed several contrast agents to detect amyloid plaques in vivo using magnetic resonance microimaging (µMRI) in AD transgenic mice, where we used mannitol to enhance blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability.

TGFβ1 treatment reduces hippocampal damage, spontaneous recurrent seizures, and learning memory deficits in pilocarpine-treated rats.

Studies have demonstrated the neuroprotective activity of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFβ1), protecting neurons against different kinds of insults. However, the role of exogenous TGFβ1 in the neuronal damage following status epilepticus (SE) and the related spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) is unknown. The present study aimed to determine the effect of intranasal TGFβ1 administration on SRS and cognitive function following lithium-pilocarpine-induced SE and associated hippocampal damage.

Efficacy of a therapeutic vaccine using mutated β-amyloid sensitized dendritic cells in Alzheimer's mice.

Despite FDA suspension of Elan's AN-1792 amyloid beta (Aβ) vaccine in phase IIb clinical trials, the implications of this study are the guiding principles for contemporary anti-Aβ immunotherapy against Alzheimer's disease (AD). AN-1792 showed promising results with regards to Aβ clearance and cognitive function improvement, but also exhibited an increased risk of Th1 mediated meningoencephalitis. As such, vaccine development has continued with an emphasis on eliciting a notable anti-Aβ antibody titer, while avoiding the unwanted Th1 pro-inflammatory response.

Mode specific photodissociation of CS2(+) via the A2Π(u) state: a time-sliced velocity map imaging study.

The vibrationally mediated photodissociation of CS(2)(+) cations via the A(2)Π(u)(ν(1),ν(2),0) state has been studied by means of the velocity map ion imaging technique. The measurements were made with a double resonance strategy. The CS(2)(+) cations were prepared by a (3 + 1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization method.

Urinary excretion of liver-type fatty acid-binding protein as a marker of progressive kidney function deterioration in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis.

Background: To evaluate the value of basal urinary L-FABP (uL-FABP) excretion as a prognostic indicator of the progression of kidney function impairment in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN).

Methods: One hundred twenty-three patients with newly diagnosed, biopsy-proven primary CGN were included. In all patients, and in 28 healthy subjects, uL-FABP was measured using an ELISA.

[Microbial diversity of sediments from the coasts of Dalian Changshan Islands].

Objective: To understand the impacts of anthropogenic activities on structure and composition of bacterial communities and to evaluate how bacterial communities respond to environmental gradients at coastal sediments.

Methods: The diversity of bacterial communities in sediments from tourist and mariculture zones at coastal area of Dalian Changshan Islands was assessed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (t-RFLP) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) approaches. Meanwhile, 16S rRNA clone library was constructed to reveal the composition and structure of bacterial communities in the most seriously polluted site (D4).

[1 + 1] photodissociation of CS(2)(+)(X̃2Π(g)) via the vibrationally mediated B̃2Σ(u)+ state: multichannels exhibiting and mode specific dynamics.

Dissociation dynamics of CS(2)(+) vibrationally mediated via its B̃(2)Σ(u)(+) state, was studied using the time-sliced velocity map imaging technique. The parent CS(2)(+) cation was prepared in its X̃(2)Π(g) ground state through a [3 + 1] resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization process, via the 4pσ(3)Π(u) intermediate Rydberg state of neutral CS(2) molecule at 483.14 nm.

Upregulation of scavenger receptor class B type I expression by activation of FXR in hepatocyte.

Objective: The farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, has been proposed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases by regulating the metabolism and transport of cholesterol and triglyceride. Scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI), a high-density lipoprotein receptor, plays an important role in decreasing lipid metabolism-associated cardiovascular diseases by regulating reverse cholesterol transport. Recent studies have shown that SR-BI expression is upregulated by several nuclear receptors.

Expression and purification of the fusion protein HMGB1Abox-TMD1, a novel HMGB1 antagonist.

High mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1) is a lethal mediator of systemic inflammation, and its A box domain is isolated as an antagonist of HMGB1. To enhance its expression level and its anti-HMGB1 effect, the A box cDNA was coupled with the sequence encoding lectin-like domain of thrombomodulin (TMD1). The fusion DNA fragment was ligated into the prokaryotic expression vector pQE-80L to construct the recombinant plasmid pQE80L-A/TMD1.

Speckle reduction and lesion segmentation of OCT tooth images for early caries detection.

The significance of identifying early non-cavitated carious lesions and monitoring the lesion extent has led to increasing prospects for prevention, early diagnosis, and implementation of conservative treatments. This paper emphasizes the importance of speckle reduction and possible lesion segmentation options of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images prior to caries detection. First, a comparison of popular speckle reduction filters is presented.

[Nitrifying bacteria and nitrification in sediment at the adjacent sea area of Yangtze River Estuary in summer].

The influence factors and environmental effects of nitrification process were discussed based on the measurements of nitrifier quantities and nitrification rates at eight sites off Yangtze River Estuary in June 2006. Using FISH (Fluorescence in situ hybridization) method, the nitrifying bacteria were counted as 1.87 x 10(5) -3.

OPUS-Dom: applying the folding-based method VECFOLD to determine protein domain boundaries.

In this article, we present a de novo method for predicting protein domain boundaries, called OPUS-Dom. The core of the method is a novel coarse-grained folding method, VECFOLD, which constructs low-resolution structural models from a target sequence by folding a chain of vectors representing the predicted secondary-structure elements. OPUS-Dom generates a large ensemble of folded structure decoys by VECFOLD and labels the domain boundaries of each decoy by a domain parsing algorithm.

[The serum levels of cytokines in patients with rheumatoid arthritis associated interstitial lung disease and their clinical significance].

Objective: To study the clinical significance of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) in the serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) associated interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with RA only (the RA group) and 28 patients with RA associated ILD (the RA-ILD group) were included in the study. Patients in the RA-ILD group were divided into 2 subgroups, 16 in the early RA-ILD group and 12 in the late RA-ILD group.

Surface-directed phase separation via a two-step quench process in binary polymer mixture films with asymmetry compositions.

Surface-directed phase separation via a two-step quench process in asymmetry polymer mixtures is numerically investigated by coupling the Flory-Huggins-de Gennes equation with the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook equation. Two distinct situations, i.e.

Three-dimensional numerical simulations of lamellar structure via two-step surface-directed phase separation in polymer blend films.

Lamellar structure via two-step surface-directed phase separation in polymer blend films is numerically investigated in three-dimensional (3D) space, which is more physically appropriate for the experimental situation than that in two-dimensional (2D) space [L.-T. Yan and X.