The intricate nature of carbohydrates, particularly monosaccharides, stems from the existence of several chiral centers within their tertiary structures. Predicting and characterizing the molecular geometries and electrostatic landscapes of these substances is difficult due to their complex electrical properties. Moreover, these structures can display a substantial degree of conformational flexibility due to the presence of many rotatable bonds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReceptor-interacting protein 1 (RIP1) is a key regulator of multiple signaling pathways that mediate inflammatory responses and cell death. RIP1 kinase activity mediates apoptosis and necroptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Toll-like receptors, and ischemic tissue damage. RIP1 has been implicated in several human pathologies and consequently, RIP1 inhibition may represent a therapeutic approach for diseases dependent on RIP1-mediated inflammation and cell death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoft polymeric gels are susceptible to buckling-induced instabilities due to their great compliance to surface deformations. The instability patterns at soft interfaces have great potential in engineering functional materials with unique surface properties. In this work, we systematically investigated how swelling-induced instability patterns effectively improved the adhesive properties of soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) gels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenome-wide association studies have identified common genetic variants impacting human diseases; however, there are indications that the functional consequences of genetic polymorphisms can be distinct depending on cell type-specific contexts, which produce divergent phenotypic outcomes. Thus, the functional impact of genetic variation and the underlying mechanisms of disease risk are modified by cell type-specific effects of genotype on pathological phenotypes. In this study, we extend these concepts to interrogate the interdependence of cell type- and stimulation-specific programs influenced by the core autophagy gene and its T300A coding polymorphism identified by genome-wide association studies as linked with increased risk of Crohn's disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA soft photoluminescent composite, prepared using a nematic liquid crystal and a fluorescent gelator, exhibits a nearly two orders of magnitude increase in fluorescence on addition of superparamagnetic nanoparticles. The internal magnetic field generated leading to an increase in the population of singlet excitons which affects the radiative efficiency, and enhanced ordering of the LC environment are proposed to be responsible for the large increase seen in fluorescence. Also, the nematic nature of the host liquid crystal medium aids in switching of the fluorescence intensity between its anisotropic limits on application of an external electric field with the switch-off time being faster compared to the field-driven switch-on time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymorphisms in are associated with increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the function of C1orf106 and the consequences of disease-associated polymorphisms are unknown. Here we demonstrate that C1orf106 regulates adherens junction stability by regulating the degradation of cytohesin-1, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that controls activation of ARF6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNod2 is a cytosolic, innate immune receptor responsible for binding to bacterial cell wall fragments such as muramyl dipeptide (MDP). Upon binding, subsequent downstream activation of the NF-κB pathway leads to an immune response. Nod2 mutations are correlated with an increased susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD) and ultimately result in a misregulated immune response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo-component signal transduction (TCST) pathways play crucial roles in many cellular functions such as stress responses, biofilm formation, and sporulation. The histidine phosphotransferase (HPt), which is an intermediate phosphotransfer protein in a two-component system, transfers a phosphate group to a phosphorylatable aspartate residue in the target protein(s), and up-regulates stress-activated MAP kinase cascades. Most fungal genomes carry a single copy of the gene coding for HPt, which are potential antifungal targets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFXenophagy is a form of selective autophagy that involves the targeting and elimination of intracellular pathogens through several recognition, recruitment, and ubiquitination events. E3 ubiquitin ligases control substrate selectivity in the ubiquitination cascade; however, systematic approaches to map the role of E3 ligases in antibacterial autophagy have been lacking. We screened more than 600 putative human E3 ligases, identifying E3 ligases that are required for adaptor protein recruitment and LC3-bacteria colocalization, critical steps in antibacterial autophagy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPapillary and follicular thyroid carcinomas, together known as differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTC), are among the most curable of cancers. Distant metastases are rare events at the onset of DTC. Among these presentations, metastasis to the liver is even more unusual.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld J Nucl Med
September 2015
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that is mainly characterized by the asymmetric erosive synovitis, particularly affecting peripheral joints. Radiation synovectomy or radiosynovectomy (RSV), also known as radiosynoviorthesis was first described in 1950's as an adjuvant treatment for RA. RSV is based on the irradiation of the joint synovium by the intra-articular administration of various β-emitting radiopharmaceuticals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (Nod2) is an intracellular receptor that can sense the bacterial peptidoglycan component, muramyl dipeptide. Upon activation, Nod2 induces the production of various inflammatory molecules such as cytokines and chemokines. Genetic linkage analysis identified and revealed three major mutations in Nod2 that are associated with the development of Crohn's disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndian J Nucl Med
July 2015
Total knee arthroplasty has witnessed a significant increase in recent years. Despite the advantages of this surgical procedure, it has some complications, the most serious of which is prosthetic infection. The discrimination of bacterial infections from sterile inflammatory processes is of great importance in the management of periprosthetic infection (PPI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld J Nucl Med
June 2015
Tumoral calcinosis (TC) is an uncommon ectopic calcification syndrome. TC is a benign condition characterized by the presence of large calcific soft tissue deposits occurring predominantly in a periarticular location. It generally occurs as a complication of renal dialysis or trauma, and is rarely seen in familial and sporadic cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNatural modifications of peptidoglycan modulate the innate immune response. Peptidoglycan derivatives activate this response via the intracellular innate immune receptor, Nod2. To probe how these modifications alter the response, a novel and efficient carbohydrate synthesis was developed to allow for late-stage modification of the amine at the 2-position.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEctopic thyroid tissue primarily occurs along the course of the embryologic migration of the thyroid gland. Mediastinal thyroid may be differentiated into primary and secondary form. Primary mediastinal goiters are quite rare, occurring in <1% of all goiters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDifferentiated thyroid cancer is, usually, associated with an excellent prognosis and indolent course. Distant metastases are rare events at the onset of thyroid cancer. Among these presentations, metastasis to the axillary lymph nodes is even more unusual.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGliomatosis cerebri (GC) is a rare condition in which an infiltrative glial neoplasm spreads through the brain with preservation of the underlying structure. F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) has an important role in demonstrating the appropriate metabolism and differentiating pathologies mimicking GC on CT and magnetic resonance imaging. We describe imaging findings of FDG PET/CT in GC in a 9-year-old male child mimicking encephalitis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndian J Nucl Med
January 2015
Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) is a rare, relatively benign, intra-articular lesion characterized by a slowly progressive proliferation of synovial tissue. Knee is the most frequently involved joint. Localized and diffuse forms of synovial involvement were reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndian J Nucl Med
October 2014
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that is mainly characterized by asymmetric erosive synovitis, particularly affecting the peripheral joints. Radiation synovectomy or radiosynovectomy, also known as radiosynoviorthesis was first described in 1950's as a adjuvant treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Radiosynovectomy is based on the irradiation of the joint synovium by the intra-articular administration of various β-emitting radiopharmaceuticals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndian J Nucl Med
October 2014
Pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS), although rare, must be considered in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). This tumor is highly malignant and the prognosis is very poor. As much as the standardized uptake values (SUVs) at fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) have helped in differentiating between benign and malignant tumors, visualization of a low-attenuation filling defect within a pulmonary artery on contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) can be suggestive of a malignancy, such as PAS, if the lesion shows high FDG uptake at PET.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary sclerosing hemangioma (PSH), or the alternative name of "sclerosing pneumocytoma," is a rare benign neoplasm. PSH is often asymptomatic and presents as a solitary or multiple pulmonary nodules on radiologic imaging studies. Few articles have been reported to describe the fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) findings about PSH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrobes are detected by the pathogen-associated molecular patterns through specific host pattern recognition receptors. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 (NOD2) is an intracellular pattern recognition receptor that recognizes fragments of the bacterial cell wall. NOD2 is important to human biology; when it is mutated it loses the ability to respond properly to bacterial cell wall fragments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrilateral retinoblastoma (TRb) is a rare syndrome associating hereditary bilateral or unilateral retinoblastoma (Rb) with an intracranial neuroblastic tumor. The latter arises in the midline, most often in the pineal gland, less frequently in the suprasellar or parasellar region. The outcome is usually fatal because of secondary spinal dissemination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndian J Nucl Med
January 2014
Cases of primary neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the breast have been reported, though rare. We report the case of a 45-year-old woman presented with jaundice and evaluated to have liver metastasis from neuroendocrine origin. She underwent whole body positron emission tomography/computed tomography, which showed left breast lesion and bone metastasis.
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