Association analyses of apolipoprotein E genotypes and cognitive performance in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Cognitive impairment is a common non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 genotype increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the effect of APOEε4 on cognitive function of PD patients remains unclear.

Carpets with visual cues can improve gait in Parkinson's disease patients: may be independent of executive function.

Background: Gait impairment is common in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, which greatly reduces their quality of life. Executive dysfunction is associated with gait impairment. Compensatory strategies, including visual cues, have been shown to be effective in improving PD gait.

Isolated unilateral oculomotor palsy caused by pure midbrain infarction: a case report.

Multiple etiologies may cause oculomotor nerve palsies. Identification of different etiologies is very important for subsequent treatment. Midbrain infarction is a rare cause of oculomotor nerve palsy.

Neck pain and absence of cranial nerve symptom are clues of cervical myelopathy mimicking stroke: Two case reports.

Background: Cervical myelopathy is a potential stroke imitator, for which intravenous thrombolysis would be catastrophic.

Case Summary: We herein present two cases of cervical myelopathy. The first patient presented with acute onset of right hemiparesis and urinary incontinence, and the second patient presented with sudden-onset right leg monoplegia.

Case report: Blepharospasm in peak-dose dyskinesia may benefit from amantadine in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Blepharospasm is uncommon in Parkinson's disease, especially in the peak-dose dyskinesia period.

Case Presentation: We herein present the case of a patient with PD who developed blepharospasm in the peak-dose dyskinesia period. The symptom was improved by taking amantadine.

Parkinsonism-Hyperpyrexia Syndrome and Dyskinesia-Hyperpyrexia Syndrome in Parkinson's Disease: Two Cases and Literature Review.

Parkinsonism-hyperpyrexia syndrome (PHS) and dyskinesia-hyperpyrexia syndrome (DHS) are rare but exhibit life-threatening complications in Parkinson's disease (PD). We herein presented two cases of PD patients and performed a comprehensive and comparative literature review for these two syndromes. The first case was diagnosed as PHS with cerebral salt wasting syndrome caused by abrupt withdrawal of antiparkinsonian medication.

Diterpenoids from Euphorbia helioscopia and their enhancement of NK cell-mediated killing of NSCLC cells.

Fourteen previously undescribed diterpenoids, including an unusual diterpenoid (1) with a 9,10-seco-jatrophane skeleton, ten jatrophane-type diterpenoids (2-11), two lathyrane-type diterpenoids (12, 13), and an abietane-type diterpenoid (14), together with thirty-six known ones (15-50), were isolated from the whole plants of Euphorbia helioscopia L. The structures of the new isolates were characterized by spectroscopic methods, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and computational prediction of ECD and chemical shifts. Thirty-nine abundant diterpenoids were evaluated for their enhancement of NK cell-mediated killing of NSCLC cells.

Cystathionine β-synthase mediated PRRX2/IL-6/STAT3 inactivation suppresses Tregs infiltration and induces apoptosis to inhibit HCC carcinogenesis.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by inflammation and immunopathogenesis. Accumulating evidence has shown that the cystathionine β-synthase/hydrogen sulfide (CBS/HS) axis is involved in the regulation of inflammation. However, roles of CBS in HCC development and immune evasion have not been systematically investigated, and their underlying mechanisms remain elusive.

Ze-Qi-Tang Formula Induces Granulocytic Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Apoptosis via STAT3/S100A9/Bcl-2/Caspase-3 Signaling to Prolong the Survival of Mice with Orthotopic Lung Cancer.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the most common malignancy with the highest morbidity and mortality worldwide. In our previous study, we found that a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula Ze-Qi-Tang (ZQT), which has been used in the treatment of respiratory diseases for thousands of years, could directly inhibit the growth of human NSCLC cells via the p53 signaling pathway. In this study, we explored the immunomodulatory functions of ZQT.

The cis-Regulatory Element of SNCA Intron 4 Modulates Susceptibility to Parkinson's Disease in Han Chinese.

A novel functional cis-regulatory element (CRE) located at intron 4 has recently been identified in association with Parkinson's disease (PD) risk in European descendants. We aimed to investigate whether this CRE is associated with PD in Han Chinese ethnicity. A Chinese cohort comprising 513 sporadic PD patients and 517 controls was recruited.

Repeat and Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms Are Associated With Depression and Rest Tremor in Parkinson's Disease: An Exploratory Study.

Level of serotonin is mainly regulated by the serotonin reuptake transporter encoded by . The promoter region of bears a repeat polymorphism 5-HTTLPR and a single nucleotide polymorphism rs25531. We have previously studied the association between these two variants and sporadic PD.

Eutypenoids A-C: Novel Pimarane Diterpenoids from the Arctic Fungus Eutypella sp. D-1.

Eutypenoids A-C (1-3), pimarane diterpenoid alkaloid and two ring A rearranged pimarane diterpenoids, were isolated from the culture of Eutypella sp. D-1 obtained from high-latitude soil of the Arctic. Their structures, including absolute configurations, were authenticated on the basis of the mass spectroscopy (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray crystallography, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) analysis.

BRD7, a novel bromodomain gene, inhibits G1-S progression by transcriptionally regulating some important molecules involved in ras/MEK/ERK and Rb/E2F pathways.

Bromodomain is a 110 amino acid domain. It is evolutionally conserved and is found in proteins strongly implicated in signal-dependent transcriptional regulation. BRD7 is a novel bromodomain gene and it is downexpressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) biopsies and cell lines; its function is poorly understood.

Poly(L-lysine)-modified silica nanoparticles for the delivery of antisense oligonucleotides.

Silica nanoparticles were prepared in a microemulsion system, using polyoxyethylene nonylphenyl ether/cyclohexane/ammonium hydroxide. The surface charge of the particle was modified with PLL [poly(L-lysine)]. PAGE demonstrated the ability of PMS-NP (PLL-modified silica nanoparticles) to bind and protect antisense ODNs (oligonucleotides).

A susceptibility locus at chromosome 3p21 linked to familial nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) poses one of the serious health problems in southern Chinese, with an incidence rate ranging from 15 to 50/100,000. Chromosome translocation t(1;3) and frequent loss of heterogeneity on short arms of chromosome 3 and 9 have been reported to be associated with NPC, and a genome-wide scan identified an NPC susceptibility locus on chromosome 4p15.1-q12 recently.

[Biocompatibility of poly-l-lysine-modified silica nanoparticles].

Background & Objective: Poly-l-lysine-modified silica nanoparticle(PMS-NP) was a novel non-viral vector for gene delivery. The current study was designed to evaluate the biocompatibility of PMS-NP for its further utilization in vivo.

Methods: Cell transfection and flow cytometry were used to elucidate the delivery efficiency of plasmid DNA and antisense ODN mediated by PMS-NP in the presence of serum-containing medium.

IONP-PLL: a novel non-viral vector for efficient gene delivery.

Background: Non-viral methods of gene delivery have been an attractive alternative to virus-based gene therapy. However, the vectors that are currently available have drawbacks limiting their therapeutic application.

Methods: We have developed a self-assembled non-viral gene carrier, poly-L-lysine modified iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP-PLL), which is formed by modifying poly-L-lysine to the surface of iron oxide nanoparticles.

[Polymorphism of two novel SNPs, which locate on chromosome 9p21-22, in Han Chinese of Hunan].

Objective: To search novel SNPs in exons and regulatory regions of CDKN2A and two novel putative tumor suppressor genes NGX6 and UBAP1, which all reside on chromosome 9p21-22.

Methods: The exons and regulatory regions of those genes were amplified and sequenced in 96 subjects.

Results: Two novel SNPs were found, one resides on the sixth exon of UBAP1 gene and the other on the fourth exon of CDKN2A gene.

[Analysis of splicing variants in NASG 3'UTR, down-regulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and its expression in multiple cancer tissues].

Background & Objective: NASG gene, a tissue-specific gene of human nasopharyngeal epithelium was isolated by suppression subtractive hybridization. This study was designed to analyze splicing variants in NASG 3'untranslated region (UTR) and its expression profiling in multiple cancer tissues.

Methods: The PCR primers were designed in NASG 3'UTR around the splicing variants and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed.

[Expression of BRD7-interacting proteins,BRD2 and BRD3, in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues].

Background & Objective: BRD7 is a novel gene tightly associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) cloned by cDNA representational difference analysis (cDNA RDA). Two proteins,BRD2 and BRD3, including bromodomain and interacting with BRD7 protein had been screened from human fetal brain cDNA library by yeast two-hybrid system. This study was designed to further identify the interactions of BRD2 and BRD3 with BRD7 respectively and to investigate the expression and action pattern of BRD2 and BRD3 in NPC.