Chitinase enzyme activity in CSF is a powerful biomarker of Alzheimer disease.

Objective: DNA damage accumulation in brain is associated with the development of Alzheimer disease (AD), but newly identified protein markers of DNA damage have not been evaluated in the diagnosis of AD and other forms of dementia.

Methods: Here, we analyzed the level of novel biomarkers of DNA damage and telomere dysfunction (chitinase activity, N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity, stathmin, and EF-1α) in CSF of 94 patients with AD, 41 patients with non-AD dementia, and 40 control patients without dementia.

Results: Enzymatic activity of chitinase (chitotriosidase activity) and stathmin protein level were significantly increased in CSF of patients with AD and non-AD dementia compared with that of no dementia control patients.

Telomere shortening impairs regeneration of the olfactory epithelium in response to injury but not under homeostatic conditions.

Atrophy of the olfactory epithelium (OE) associated with impaired olfaction and dry nose represents one of the most common phenotypes of human aging. Impairment in regeneration of a functional olfactory epithelium can also occur in response to injury due to infection or nasal surgery. These complications occur more frequently in aged patients.

WNT signaling, in synergy with T/TBX6, controls Notch signaling by regulating Dll1 expression in the presomitic mesoderm of mouse embryos.

Notch signaling in the presomitic mesoderm (psm) is critical for somite formation and patterning. Here, we show that WNT signals regulate transcription of the Notch ligand Dll1 in the tailbud and psm. LEF/TCF factors cooperate with TBX6 to activate transcription from the Dll1 promoter in vitro.

The mouse rib-vertebrae mutation is a hypomorphic Tbx6 allele.

Rib-vertebrae (rv) is an autosomal recessive mutation in mouse that affects somite formation, morphology, and patterning. Expression of Notch pathway components is affected in the paraxial mesoderm of rv mutant embryos, and rv and a null allele of the Notch ligand delta1 show non-allelic non-complementation. By fine genetic mapping and complementation testing we have identified Tbx6, a gene essential for paraxial mesoderm formation, as the gene mutated in rv.

Telomerase activity, telomere length, and apoptosis: a comparison between acquired cholesteatoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Cholesteatoma disease is characterized by accumulation of keratinizing epithelium. Several molecular markers of tumor formation have been found in cholesteatoma (e.g.