Notch pathway targets proangiogenic regulator Sox17 to restrict angiogenesis.

Rationale: The Notch pathway stabilizes sprouting angiogenesis by favoring stalk cells over tip cells at the vascular front. Because tip and stalk cells have different properties in morphology and function, their transcriptional regulation remains to be distinguished. Transcription factor Sox17 is specifically expressed in endothelial cells, but its expression and role at the vascular front remain largely unknown.

Mechanism of erythropoietin regulation by angiotensin II.

Erythropoietin (EPO) is the primary regulator of red blood cell development. Although hypoxic regulation of EPO has been extensively studied, the mechanism(s) for basal regulation of EPO are not well understood. In vivo studies in healthy human volunteers and animal models indicated that angiotensin II (Ang II) and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors regulated blood EPO levels.

Uric acid induces endothelial dysfunction by vascular insulin resistance associated with the impairment of nitric oxide synthesis.

Endothelial dysfunction is defined as impairment of the balance between endothelium-dependent vasodilation and constriction. Despite evidence of uric acid-induced endothelial dysfunction, a relationship with insulin resistance has not been clearly established. In this study, we investigated the role of vascular insulin resistance in uric acid-induced endothelial dysfunction.

Quantitative determination of absorption and first-pass metabolism of apicidin, a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor.

Apicidin, a potential oral chemotherapeutic agent, possesses potent anti-histone-deacetylase activity. After oral administration, the total bioavailability of apicidin is known to be low (14.2%-19.

Regulation of acetylation of histone deacetylase 2 by p300/CBP-associated factor/histone deacetylase 5 in the development of cardiac hypertrophy.

Rationale: Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are closely involved in cardiac reprogramming. Although the functional roles of class I and class IIa HDACs are well established, the significance of interclass crosstalk in the development of cardiac hypertrophy remains unclear.

Objective: Recently, we suggested that casein kinase 2α1-dependent phosphorylation of HDAC2 leads to enzymatic activation, which in turn induces cardiac hypertrophy.

Differentiation of acute osteoporotic and malignant compression fractures of the spine: use of additive qualitative and quantitative axial diffusion-weighted MR imaging to conventional MR imaging at 3.0 T.

Purpose: To retrospectively determine the value of adding qualitative and quantitative axial diffusion-weighted (DW) imaging to standard spine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to differentiate between acute osteoporotic and malignant compression fractures at 3.0 T.

Materials And Methods: The institutional ethics committee approved this retrospective study and waived the requirement to obtain informed consent.

Extensive leukoaraiosis is associated with high early risk of recurrence after ischemic stroke.

Background And Purpose: The integrity of white matter tracts connecting different parts of the brain is important for rapid compensation for the lost function from ischemic stroke. Impaired white matter reserve capacity secondary to leukoaraiosis may facilitate detection of new symptomatic ischemic events that would otherwise remain inconspicuous after an initial ischemic stroke. We sought to identify whether the extent of leukoaraiosis was a predictor of risk of early stroke recurrence.

Detection of prefracture hip lesions in atypical subtrochanteric fracture with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry images.

Purpose: To retrospectively assess how often and how early hip dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images show prefracture lesions in patients with atypical subtrochanteric fracture (ASF) and determine whether DXA images with assessment of prodromal symptoms could be used for early ASF prediction.

Materials And Methods: The retrospective research protocol complied with HIPAA and was institutional review board approved, with waiver of informed consent. Among 62 women with ASF, nine without hip DXA images and seven without clear documentation of prodromal symptoms were excluded.

Association of low-grade albuminuria with adverse cardiac mechanics: findings from the hypertension genetic epidemiology network (HyperGEN) study.

Background: Albuminuria is a marker of endothelial dysfunction and has been associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. The reasons for this association are unclear but may be attributable to the relationship between endothelial dysfunction and intrinsic myocardial dysfunction.

Methods And Results: In the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN) Study, a population- and family-based study of hypertension, we examined the relationship between urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and cardiac mechanics (n=1894, all of whom had normal left ventricular ejection fraction and wall motion).

MONNA, a potent and selective blocker for transmembrane protein with unknown function 16/anoctamin-1.

Transmembrane protein with unknown function 16/anoctamin-1 (ANO1) is a protein widely expressed in mammalian tissues, and it has the properties of the classic calcium-activated chloride channel (CaCC). This protein has been implicated in numerous major physiological functions. However, the lack of effective and selective blockers has hindered a detailed study of the physiological functions of this channel.

AtABCA9 transporter supplies fatty acids for lipid synthesis to the endoplasmic reticulum.

Fatty acids, the building blocks of biological lipids, are synthesized in plastids and then transported to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) for assimilation into specific lipid classes. The mechanism of fatty acid transport from plastids to the ER has not been identified. Here we report that AtABCA9, an ABC transporter in Arabidopsis thaliana, mediates this transport.

Detection of a unique fibrinolytic enzyme in Aeromonas sp. JH1.

A fibrinolytic enzyme was found in a Gram-negative bacterium, Aeromonas sp. JH1. SDS-PAGE and fibrinzymography showed that it was a 36 kDa, monomeric protein.

The crystal structure of an HSL-homolog EstE5 complex with PMSF reveals a unique configuration that inhibits the nucleophile Ser144 in catalytic triads.

The esterase/lipase family (EC 3.1.1.

Crystal structure of an EfPDF complex with Met-Ala-Ser based on crystallographic packing.

PDF (peptide deformylase) plays a critical role in the production of mature proteins by removing the N-formyl polypeptide of nascent proteins in the prokaryote cell system. This protein is essential for bacterial growth, making it an attractive target for the design of new antibiotics. Accordingly, PDF has been evaluated as a drug target; however, architectural mechanism studies of PDF have not yet fully elucidated its molecular function.

Fast multivoxel two-dimensional spectroscopic imaging at 3 T.

The utility of multivoxel two-dimensional chemical shift imaging in the clinical environment will ultimately be determined by the imaging time and the metabolite peaks that can be detected. Different k-space sampling schemes can be characterized by their minimum required imaging time. The use of spiral-based readout gradients effectively reduces the minimum scan time required due to simultaneous data acquisition in three k-space dimensions (k(x), k(y) and k(f(2))).

Evidence of the neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF) interaction with Sp3 and its synergic repression to the mu opioid receptor (MOR) gene.

Previously, we reported that the neuron-restrictive silencer element (NRSE) of mu opioid receptor (MOR) functions as a critical regulator to repress the MOR transcription in specific neuronal cells, depending on neuron-restriction silence factor (NRSF) expression levels [C.S.Kim, C.

High-resolution DTI of a localized volume using 3D single-shot diffusion-weighted STimulated echo-planar imaging (3D ss-DWSTEPI).

Diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) using conventional single-shot (SS) 2D diffusion-weighted (DW)-EPI is subject to severe susceptibility artifacts. Multishot DW imaging (DWI) techniques can reduce these distortions, but they generally suffer from artifacts caused by motion-induced phase errors. Parallel imaging can also reduce the distortions if the sensitivity profiles of the receiver coils allow a sufficiently high reduction factor for the desired field of view (FOV).

Thermolysis of tert-butyl phenylperacetates: delicate control of the rates through contributions from translational and rotational entropy.

The first-order rate constants (k(Y)) at several temperatures in CDCl(3) were measured for thermal decompositions of YC(6)H(4)CH(2)CO(3)C(CH(3))(3) with Y being p-OCH(3), p-OPh, p-CH(3), p-Ph, p-H, p-Cl, m-Cl, and p-NO(2). The relative rates (k(Y)/k(H)) exhibit excellent rho(+)/sigma(+) Hammett correlations with rho(+) < 0, indicating a polar TS. Activation parameters (DeltaH()(Y) and DeltaS()(Y)) and their differential terms (DeltaDeltaH()(Y)(-)(H) and DeltaDeltaS()(Y)(-)(H)) were obtained from the Eyring plot.

Purification and characterization of calobin II, a second type of thrombin-like enzyme from Agkistrodon caliginosus (Korean viper).

In our previous report, we purified and cloned the gene of a thrombin-like enzyme, calobin, from the venom of Agkistrodon caliginosus (Hahn, B.S., Yang, K.

Thermal isomerizations of ketenimines to nitriles: evaluations of sigma-Dot (sigma(*)) constants for spin-delocalizations.

Rate constants (k(Y)) of the isomerizations of 11 diphenyl N-(substituted benzyl) ketenimines were measured at 40, 50, 60, and 70 degrees C. Activation parameters DeltaH()(Y) and DeltaS()(Y) were obtained using the Eyring equation. The relative rates (k(Y)/k(H)) were fitted into Hammett single correlations (log k(Y)/k(H) = rhosigma and log k(Y)/k(H) = rho(*)sigma(*)).

Determination of functional domains in the C subunit of the CCAAT-binding factor (CBF) necessary for formation of a CBF-DNA complex: CBF-B interacts simultaneously with both the CBF-A and CBF-C subunits to form a heterotrimeric CBF molecule.

The mammalian CCAAT-binding factor (CBF; also called NF-Y and CP1) is a heterotrimeric protein consisting of three subunits, CBF-A, CBF-B, and CBF-C, all of which are required for DNA binding and all of which are present in the CBF-DNA complex. In this study using cross-linking and immunoprecipitation methods, we first established that CBF-B interacts simultaneously with both subunits of the CBF-A-CBF-C heterodimer to form a heterotrimeric CBF molecule. We then performed a mutational analysis of CBF-C to define functional interactions with the other two CBF subunits and with DNA using several in vitro assays and an in vivo yeast two-hybrid system.

Primate model for the evaluation of vaginal contraceptives.

A good animal model that simulates the human subject has not been available for the evaluation of the in vivo effectiveness of vaginal contraceptives. After careful consideration. The stumptailed macaque (Macaca arctoides) was studied for its applicability since it has a reproductive tract similar to that of the woman, is easy to handle, does not require tranquilization or anesthesia when the contraceptive is deposited, and breeds and conceives readily under caged conditions.