Extensive longitudinal acute transverse myelitis complicated by pulseless ventricular tachycardia and recent shingles vaccination.

This case describes a 50-year-old male with a history of psoriatic arthritis who presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of ascending bilateral lower extremity paresthesia one week following a shingles vaccine. MRI of the patient's spine was significant for longitudinally extensive T2 hyperintensity involving the lower cervical spine with extension into the upper thoracic spine suggestive of acute transverse myelitis (ATM). The patient's hospital course was complicated by a self-limiting episode of pulseless ventricular tachycardia accompanied by a brief loss of consciousness.

Matrix stiffness induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition via Piezo1-regulated calcium flux in prostate cancer cells.

Cells utilize calcium channels as one of the main signaling mechanisms to sense changes in the extracellular space and convert these changes to intracellular signals. Calcium regulates several key signaling networks, such as the induction of EMT. The current study expands on the understanding of how EMT is controlled via the mechanosensitive calcium channel Piezo1 in cancerous cells, which senses changes in the extracellular matrix stiffness.

A simplified method for the efficient purification and refolding of recombinant human TRAIL.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) belongs to the TNF cytokine superfamily that specifically induces apoptosis in a broad spectrum of human cancer cell lines but not in most healthy cells. The antitumor potential of recombinant human TRAIL (rhTRAIL) has attracted great attention among biologists and oncologists. However, attempts to express rhTRAIL in Escherichia coli often results in limited yield of bioactive protein due to the formation of inclusion bodies (IBs), which are dense insoluble particulate protein aggregates inside cells.