Growth Hormone Action as a Target in Cancer: Significance, Mechanisms and Possible Therapies.

Growth hormone (GH) is a pituitary derived endocrine hormone required for normal post-natal growth and development. Hypo or hypersecretion of endocrine GH results in two pathologic conditions, namely GH deficiency (GHD) and acromegaly. Additionally, GH is also produced in non-pituitary and tumoral tissues where it acts rather as a cellular growth factor with an autocrine/paracrine mode of action.

Sensitive Detection of Hg and l-Cysteine through Optical Asymmetry-Tuned Fluorescence Switch Off-On Behavior in N-Doped Chiral Carbon Dot.

Blue-emissive nitrogen-doped chiral carbon dots (d-NCD230 and l-NCD230) exhibiting antipodal chiroptical activity, synthesized from the thermal pyrolysis of citric acid and d/l-aspartic acid in 1:2 molar ratios, have been explored as chirality-based fluorescent turn-off/on probes for the detection of Hg and l-cysteine (l-Cys). Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed that the chiroptical activity originates from a synergy among intrinsic chirality, chiral precursors on the NCD surface, and hybridization of lower energy levels within the embedded chiral chromophore. Quantitative analysis of optical asymmetry using the Kuhn asymmetry factor () at the CD signal of 312 nm showed a higher value for d-NCD230 (1.

Bactericidal antibiotic treatment induces damaging inflammation via TLR9 sensing of bacterial DNA.

The immunologic consequences of using bactericidal versus bacteriostatic antibiotic treatments are unclear. We observed a bacteriostatic (growth halting) treatment was more protective than a bactericidal (bacteria killing) treatment in a murine peritonitis model. To understand this unexpected difference, we compared macrophage responses to bactericidal treated bacteria or bacteriostatic treated bacteria.

The homeostasis of AtMYB4 is maintained by ARA4, HY5, and CAM7 during Arabidopsis seedling development.

Calmodulin7 (CAM7) is a key transcription factor of Arabidopsis seedling development. CAM7 works together with HY5 bZIP protein to promote photomorphogenesis at various wavelengths of light. In this study, we show that AtMYB4, identified from a yeast two-hybrid screen, physically interacts with CAM7 and works as a positive regulator of photomorphogenesis at various wavelengths of light.