Critical regulation of inflammation via class A scavenger receptor.

Background: Inflammation is an important cause of COPD. Alveolar macrophages are the major innate immune cells that have an important role in COPD pathology. Class A scavenger receptor (SR-A) is a pattern recognition receptor expressed on macrophages.

Association of SNP rs1867277 in FOXE1 Gene and Cleft Lip with or without Cleft Palate in a Han Chinese Population.

Background: The genetic factors causing cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL ± P) are still unclear. The SNPs in FOXE1 gene were associated with CL ± P. However, the results have been inconsistent.

IGF-I induced phosphorylation of PTH receptor enhances osteoblast to osteocyte transition.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) regulates bone remodeling by activating PTH type 1 receptor (PTH1R) in osteoblasts/osteocytes. Insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF-1) stimulates mesenchymal stem cell differentiation to osteoblasts. However, little is known about the signaling mechanisms that regulates the osteoblast-to-osteocyte transition.

Inhibition of overactive TGF-β attenuates progression of heterotopic ossification in mice.

Acquired heterotopic ossification (HO) is a painful and debilitating disease characterized by extraskeletal bone formation after injury. The exact pathogenesis of HO remains unknown. Here we show that TGF-β initiates and promotes HO in mice.

Aberrant TGF-β activation in bone tendon insertion induces enthesopathy-like disease.

Enthesopathy is a disorder of bone, tendon, or ligament insertion. It represents one-fourth of all tendon-ligament diseases and is one of the most difficult tendon-ligament disorders to treat. Despite its high prevalence, the exact pathogenesis of this condition remains unknown.

Dioxygen and Metabolism; Dangerous Liaisons in Cardiac Function and Disease.

The heart must consume a significant amount of energy to sustain its contractile activity. Although the fuel demands are huge, the stock remains very low. Thus, in order to supply its daily needs, the heart must have amazing adaptive abilities, which are dependent on dioxygen availability.

The AlkB Family of Fe (II)/Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenases Modulates Embryogenesis through Epigenetic Regulation.

Background: The study of epigenetic regulation has made substantial progress in recent years. The AlkB family in E. coli was identified as a type of DNA repair enzyme that removes alkyl adducts from nucleobases.

Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) Protein Signaling Participates in Development of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Rats.

BACKGROUND Previous studies revealed physiological and pathogenetic similarity between vascular smooth muscles cells with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension and tumors. The DNA damage response was found in both pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cells and tumors. The ataxia-telangiectasia mutated proteins (ATM) pathway is considered an important factor in the DNA damage response of tumor formation, but its function in the development of PAH remains unknown.

Histone Modifications in Aging: The Underlying Mechanisms and Implications.

Background: Aging is characterized by time-dependent functional decline, which results in the reduced ability to cope with physiological challenges. The aging process can be affected by genetic factors, environment factors, epigenetic factors, and several stochastic factors. Epigenetic marker alteration during aging has been widely monitored and studied recently, since these epigenetic alterations are theoretically reversible.

Exogenous administration of mitochondrial DNA promotes ischemia reperfusion injury via TLR9-p38 MAPK pathway.

Previous studies have shown a role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in innate immunity. However, the specific role of mtDNA in acute myocardial infarction remains elusive. This study was designed to examine the damaging effect of mtDNA on cardiomyocytes.

Genes involved in leukotriene synthesis pathway are dynamically regulated during lung development in Rhesus monkeys.

Background: Leukotrienes play critical roles in many inflammatory lung diseases and several antagonists of their receptors have been used in the clinical settings. However, the physiological functions of leukotrienes in lung development are still unclear.

Method: The expression levels of 34 genes involved in leukotriene synthesis and function pathway in the lungs of Rhesus monkey during different developmental time points were determined on a MiSeq platform and analyzed by the reads per kilobase of transcript per million mapped reads (RPKM) method.

Lower Expression of Enhances Intramuscular Fat Deposition in Chicken via Down-Regulated Fatty Acid Oxidation Mediated by .

Intramuscular fat (IMF) is recognized as the predominant factor affecting meat quality due to its positive correlation with tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. Chicken IMF deposition depends on the balance among lipid synthesis, transport, uptake, and subsequent metabolism, involving a lot of genes and pathways, however, its precise molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study, the breast muscle tissue of female Wenchang chickens (WC) (higher IMF content, 1.

Cholesterol Levels and Hemorrhagic Stroke Risk in East Asian Versus Non-East Asian Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The aim of this work was to evaluate the relationships between cholesterol levels and risk of hemorrhagic stroke [including intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)] in East Asian versus non-East Asian populations.

Materials And Methods: Relevant prospective studies were identified from systematic searches of PubMed and EMBASE. A random-effects model was used to calculate summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) that were used to compare the relationships between cholesterol levels and risk of hemorrhagic stroke in East Asian versus non-East Asian populations.

Development of a computer-aided design and finite-element analysis combined method for customized Nuss bar in pectus excavatum surgery.

Pectus excavatum (PEX) is the most common chest deformity in children, which is usually corrected by using the minimally invasive Nuss method. The orthopedic effect of the Nuss operation is mainly evaluated by both the Haller index and the appearance of the chest wall configuration, which is dependent on the operator's clinical experience to a great extent. To improve the orthopedic effect, we proposed a novel method to individually design and optimize the shape of the Nuss bar and to advise its location as well as the incisions.

LRP1-Dependent BMPER Signaling Regulates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Vascular Inflammation.

Objective: Bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide)-mediated sepsis involves dysregulated systemic inflammation, which injures the lung and other organs, often fatally. Vascular endothelial cells act as both targets and mediators of lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory responses. Dysfunction of endothelium results in increases of proinflammatory cytokine production and permeability leakage.

[Preparing for Quantitative Detections].

Objectives: To compare different preparation methods for quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) detection of .

Methods: Standard strains of were prepared with concentration gradients using strain DNA, PCR product amplification and purification, and plasmid DNA methods. The concentrations of were determined with ultraviolet spectrophotometer and real-time quantitative PCR.

Unfolded protein response plays a critical role in heart damage after myocardial ischemia/reperfusion in rats.

The unfolded protein response (UPR) plays a critical role in cell death mediated by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, little is known about the exact mechanism of UPR signaling pathways after myocardial I/R injury in rats. An attempt was therefore made to assess whether the myocardial I/R induced UPR, and which branch of UPR (ATF6, IRE1 and PERK) signal pathway was activated.

Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1 Signaling in Angiogenesis.

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1 (LRP1) plays multifunctional roles in lipid homeostasis, signaling transduction, and endocytosis. It has been recognized as an endocytic receptor for many ligands and is involved in the signaling pathways of many growth factors or cytokines. Dysregulation of LRP1-dependent signaling events contributes to the development of pathophysiologic processes such as Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, inflammation, and coagulation.

Endothelial LRP1 regulates metabolic responses by acting as a co-activator of PPARγ.

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) regulates lipid and glucose metabolism in liver and adipose tissue. It is also involved in central nervous system regulation of food intake and leptin signalling. Here we demonstrate that endothelial Lrp1 regulates systemic energy homeostasis.

Discovery and Pharmacological Characterization of JNJ-42756493 (Erdafitinib), a Functionally Selective Small-Molecule FGFR Family Inhibitor.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling plays critical roles in key biological processes ranging from embryogenesis to wound healing and has strong links to several hallmarks of cancer. Genetic alterations in FGF receptor () family members are associated with increased tumor growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, and decreased survival. JNJ-42756493, erdafitinib, is an orally active small molecule with potent tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity against all four FGFR family members and selectivity versus other highly related kinases.

Aberrant Transforming Growth Factor-β Activation Recruits Mesenchymal Stem Cells During Prostatic Hyperplasia.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the overgrowth of prostate tissues with high prevalence in older men. BPH pathogenesis is not completely understood, but it is believed to be a result of de novo overgrowth of prostatic stroma. In this study, we show that aberrant activation of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) mobilizes mesenchymal/stromal stem cells (MSCs) in circulating blood, which are recruited for the prostatic stromal hyperplasia.

[The Regulation Effects of Carbon Monoxide in Cardiovascular Systems].

As a famous toxic gas, the toxicological mechanism of carbon monoxide has been elucidated. However, carbon monoxide can be synthesized endogenously in human body and play important roles in cardiovascular systems. The results from previous researches of carbon monoxide suggested that carbon monoxide could be an intervention target of many cardiovascular diseases.

Unsupervised Topic Hypergraph Hashing for Efficient Mobile Image Retrieval.

Hashing compresses high-dimensional features into compact binary codes. It is one of the promising techniques to support efficient mobile image retrieval, due to its low data transmission cost and fast retrieval response. However, most of existing hashing strategies simply rely on low-level features.

Factors controlling fetal echocardiography determine the diagnostic accuracy of isolated ventricular septal defect.

Background: Fetal echocardiography (FECG) is a key screening tool for prenatal cardiac abnormalities. Herein, we examined the ultrasonic factors determining prenatal ultrasonic diagnosis of isolated ventricular septal defect (IVSD).

Methods: The diagnostic role of ultrasonic factors was investigated in patients in middle or late pregnancy, diagnosed with IVSD by FECG and confirmed using postnatal echocardiography.