Simultaneous Detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes at a Very Low Level Using Simultaneous Enrichment Broth and Multichannel SPR Biosensor.

Unlabelled: Detection of foodborne pathogens at very low levels is still a challenge. A custom-built multichannel surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor and simultaneous enrichment broth (SEB) were used to develop a simultaneous detection method for 3 important foodborne pathogens, Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157:H7), Salmonella enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes, at a very low level. These 3 foodborne pathogens at a very low level (14, 6, and 28 CFU/25 g (mL) for O157:H7, S.

Bone marrow stromal cells promote neurite extension in organotypic spinal cord slice: significance for cell transplantation therapy.

Objective: Recent reports have indicated that bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) have the potential to improve neurological function when transplanted into models of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including traumatic spinal cord injury. In this study, the authors aimed to clarify the underlying mechanism through which BMSCs supported CNS regeneration in the spinal cord.

Methods: The authors topically applied mouse BMSCs expressing green fluorescence protein (0.

Downbeat positioning nystagmus is a common clinical feature despite variable phenotypes in an FHM1 family.

Clinical examinations and mutational analyses were carried out in three patients of a Japanese familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) pedigree. Each affected member demonstrated a broad clinical spectrum that included hemiplegic migraine with progressive cerebellar ataxia, migraine without aura, and episodic ataxia. Despite this variability, all members exhibited marked downbeat positioning nystagmus, and magnetic resonance images (MRI) all showed cerebellar atrophy predominantly of the cerebellar vermis.

[Idiopathic intracranial hypertension without headache detected during a routine health check].

A 47-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with an optic disc edema detected during a routine health check. On admission, she exhibited bilateral optic disc edema without headache and no visual disturbance. Her cerebrospinal pressure was 440 mmH2O, but we detected no abnormalities in the CSF, blood tests, brain MRI or MRV.

Transient subacute cerebellar ataxia in a patient with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome after intracranial aneurysm surgery.

Several reports have presented patients with subacute cerebellar ataxia (CA) and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). Some clinical features of those patients have been described in the previous reports, manifestation of subacute CA prior to LEMS or a co-existence of both diseases, a high incidence of malignancy, and less efficacy of the treatment for subacute CA compared with that for LEMS. Cerebellar ataxia in some patients with LEMS has been suggested to be caused by antibodies to P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs).

Secretion of DJ-1 into the serum of patients with Parkinson's disease.

DJ-1 was initially identified by us as a novel oncogene and has later been found to be a causative gene for familial Parkinson's disease PARK7. DJ-1 plays role in transcriptional regulation and in oxidative stress function, and loss of its function is thought to be related to onset age, mode of progression and clinical severity of both familial and sporadic forms of Parkinson's disease (PD). DJ-1 is localized both in the cytoplasm and nucleus, and it has been reported to be secreted into the serum or plasma of patients with breast cancer, melanoma, familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy and stroke.

X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMTX) in a severely affected female patient with scattered lesions in cerebral white matter.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy (CMT) is an inherited degenerative disorder of the peripheral nervous system that results in slowly progressive distal muscle weakness, atrophy and loss of proprioception in the affected areas. X-linked CMT (CMTX) has been localized to the pericentric region of the X chromosome. CMTX neuropathy is usually associated with mutations in exon 2 of the gap junction protein beta1 (GJB1) gene.

Scapular winging as a symptom of cervical flexion myelopathy.

A 23-year-old man complained of weakness of the right arm that he first noted six years prior to his visit. Neurological examination revealed atrophy and weakness of the triceps and serratus anterior muscle on the right side, which resulted in scapular winging on that side. MRI with neck flexion revealed compression of the cervical cord enabling a diagnosis of flexion myelopathy.

Abnormal brain MRI signals in the splenium of the corpus callosum, basal ganglia and internal capsule in a suspected case with tuberculous meningitis.

A 34-year-old man visited the hospital with chief complaints of headache, fever, and disturbance of consciousness. In view of his clinical condition, the course of the disease, and results of examination, he was diagnosed with viral meningitis and treated accordingly. However, his clinical condition worsened, and MRI revealed abnormal signals in the splenium of the corpus callosum, in the basal ganglia and in the internal capsule, as well as the presence of severe inflammation in the base of the brain.

Role of p53 in neurotoxicity induced by the endoplasmic reticulum stress agent tunicamycin in organotypic slice cultures of rat spinal cord.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is important for maintaining the quality of cellular proteins. Various stimuli can disrupt ER homeostasis and cause the accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins, i.e.

Proteasome inhibition induces selective motor neuron death in organotypic slice cultures.

A dysfunctional ubiquitin-proteasome system recently has been proposed to play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We have shown previously that spinal motor neurons are more vulnerable to proteasome inhibition-induced neurotoxicity, using a dissociated culture system. To confirm this toxicity, we used organotypic slice cultures from rat neonatal spinal cords, which conserve the structure of the spinal cord in a horizontal plane, enabling us to identify motor neurons more accurately than in dissociated cultures.

Effect of proteasome inhibitor on cultured mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons.

Proteasomal dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). We examined the effect of a selective proteasomal inhibitor, epoxomicin, on primary cultured mesencephalic neurons. Exposing rat cultured mesencephalic neurons to epoxomicin for 24 h resulted in neurotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner.

Brefeldin A-induced neurotoxicity in cultured spinal cord neurons.

Brefeldin A (BFA) is a fungus metabolite that is known to cause the disassembly of the Golgi complex and apoptosis in exposed cells, both of which have been suggested as playing roles in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This study showed that BFA caused neurotoxicity and apoptotic nuclear changes in cultured spinal neurons of rat spinal cord in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The spinal motor neurons were more vulnerable to this neurotoxicity.

Detection of N epsilon-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) and non-CML advanced glycation end-products in the anterior horn of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis spinal cord.

Introduction: The involvement of glycation in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was recently indicated. We previously reported the existence of an Amadori product, 1-hexitol-lysine (1-HL), which is formed in the early glycation reaction, in axonal spheroids of the anterior horn of the ALS spinal cord.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to confirm the occurrence of the later-stage glycation reaction that follows the early glycation reaction and leads to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

Effect of geranylgeranylaceton on cellular damage induced by proteasome inhibition in cultured spinal neurons.

We investigated the effect of two proteasome inhibitors, lactacystin and epoxomicin, on cultured spinal cord neurons. The incubation of spinal neurons with proteasome inhibitors for 24 hr induced neurotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner. We found motor neurons to be more vulnerable to proteasome-induced neurotoxicity than nonmotor neurons.