The effect of taurine and enriched environment on behaviour, memory and hippocampus of diabetic rats.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been studied recently as a major cause of cognitive deficits, memory and neurodegenerative damage. Taurine and enriched environment have stood out for presenting neuroprotective and stimulating effects that deserve further study. In this paper, we examined the effects of taurine and enriched environment in the context of diabetes, evaluating effects on behaviour, memory, death and cellular activity.

The potential role of extracellular regulatory kinase in the survival of patients with early stage adenocarcinoma.

Background: Lung cancer is among the most common types of neoplasias, and adenocarcinoma is the most frequent histological type. There is currently an extensive search for prognostic biomarkers of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: We analyzed the correlation of clinical data and patient survival with the levels of activated extracellular regulatory kinase (ERK) in histological samples of surgically resected early stage lung adenocarcinoma.

MYC amplification is associated with poor survival in small cell lung cancer: a chromogenic in situ hybridization study.

Purpose: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive tumor, and few studies have examined the amplification status of the MYC gene in tumor samples using chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH). Emerging target treatments associated with MYC status in SCLC necessitates the evaluation of MYC using current methodologies, such as CISH. In this study, we evaluated tissue samples from untreated patients to determine the relation between MYC amplification and clinical and pathological factors, including survival.

Evaluation of the expression of C-kit (CD117) in ependymomas and oligodendrogliomas.

C-kit is a proto-oncogene located on the long arm of chromosome 4. Its product, CD117, is a specific immunohistochemical (IHQ) marker that is associated with response to a potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy with STI-571 (Gleevec®) in chronic myelogenous leukemia and GISTs. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the expression of CD117 in glial tumors as this finding may guide therapeutic approaches for these brain tumors.

Comparison between proliferative and neuron-like SH-SY5Y cells as an in vitro model for Parkinson disease studies.

The molecular mechanisms underlying the cellular lost found in the nigrostriatal pathway during the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) are not completely understood. Human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y challenged with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) has been widely used as an in vitro model for PD. Although this cell line differentiates to dopaminergic neuron-like cells in response to low serum and retinoic acid (RA) treatment, there are few studies investigating the differences between proliferative and RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells.

Immunohistochemical expression of markers Ki-67, neun, synaptophysin, p53 and HER2 in medulloblastoma and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters.

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor in childhood. The alterations found include: presence of oncoproteins p53 and HER2, elevated mitotic index, and presence of neuronal differentiation. The aim of this study was to determine the immunohistochemical expression of markers Ki-67, NeuN, synaptophysin, HER2 and p53 in 40 MB samples and their correlation with clinicopathologic parameters and survival.