Reduced expression of the genes encoding chloroplast-localized proteins in a cold-resistant bri1 (brassinosteroid-insensitive 1) mutant.

We showed that constitutive activation of the stress-inducible genes led to the endogenous difference to cold tolerance in the bri1-9 mutant and in the BRI1-GFP plants compared to the wild type. In order to get more insight into the balance between growth and stress resistance, we analyzed the cellular localization of the proteins encoded by the genes previously reported as up or downregulated in the bri1-9 and BRI1-GFP plants. We found that the genes responsible for the chloroplast-localized proteins are markedly downregulated in bri1-9, and the proteins encoded by them are involved with chloroplast development, metabolism, and the photosynthetic regulation that is an essential function of chloroplast in the plants cells during active growing periods.

Lignans from the tuber-barks of Colocasia antiquorum var. esculenta and their antimelanogenic Activity.

Colocasia antiquorum var. esculenta , a variant of C. antiquorum , commonly known as "Imperial Taro", is an edible vegetable in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

Targeting abnormal airway vascularity as a therapeutical strategy in asthma.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of airways, characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and airflow limitation with acute bronchoconstriction, swelling of the airway wall, chronic mucus plug formation and airway wall remodelling. Functional and structural changes in the vasculature of asthmatic airways have been documented, and the signalling mechanisms are complex and have recently attracted much attention. The vascular changes may affect inflammatory cell recruitment, airway hyperresponsiveness and the regulation of airway calibre, and further, the level of disease control.

Ginsenoside rb1 and rg3 attenuate glucocorticoid-induced neurotoxicity.

Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones, increased in response to stress, can cause neuronal loss. We tested the effect of GC hormone on cell viability of neural SHSY-5Y cells and protective effects of ginsenoside Rb1 and Rg3 on the action of GC. We treated SHSY-5Y cells with increasing concentrations of synthetic GC dexamethasone (DEX; 10, 25, 50, and 100 nM) for 24 and 48 h, and then determined cell viability by using MTT assay.

Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of gastric cancer patients with isolated para-aortic lymph node involvement.

Background: Although gastric cancer with isolated para-aortic lymph node (PAN) involvement is considered an advanced disease, the clinical characteristics of it have not been comprehensively elucidated.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 1,277 patients received palliative chemotherapy with advanced gastric cancer according to metastatic sites: PAN-only metastasis, single organ metastasis other than PAN, and multiple organ metastasis. Time to other organ metastasis (TTOM) was determined only in PAN-only metastasis group as the time interval between initial diagnosis of recurrence or de novo metastasis and confirming distant metastasis beyond PAN area.

Protective effects of Cinnamomum cassia Blume in the fibrogenesis of activated HSC-T6 cells and dimethylnitrosamine-induced acute liver injury in SD rats.

Cinnamomum cassia Blume (CC) is one of the world's oldest natural spices, and is commonly used in traditional oriental medicine. We investigated the protective effect of ethanol extract from Cinnamomum cassia Blume (CCE) on the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). In addition, we examined the effects of CC powder in Sprague-Dawley rats with acute liver injury induced by dimethylnitrosamine (DMN).

Mulberry fruit protects dopaminergic neurons in toxin-induced Parkinson's disease models.

Parkinson's disease (PD), one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders, is characterised by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) to the striatum (ST), and involves oxidative stress. Mulberry fruit from Morus alba L. (Moraceae) is commonly eaten, and has long been used in traditional oriental medicine.

Primary cardiac angiosarcoma presenting with cardiac tamponade.

Primary cardiac angiosarcoma is a very rare disease with a poor prognosis. We report a case of a patient with a primary cardiac angiosarcoma who presented with cardiac tamponade; the angiosarcoma was successfully resected surgically.

A comparative optical aggregometry study of antiplatelet activity of taxanes from Taxus cuspidata.

Platelets are highly reactive components of the circulatory system. The cytoskeleton of a platelet is an important structure for platelet aggregation as stimulated by several agonists. An anticancer agent, taxol, has been suggested to exert platelet anti-aggregating activity by stabilizing microtubules during the aggregation process.

BAK7 displays unequal genetic redundancy with BAK1 in brassinosteroid signaling and early senescence in Arabidopsis.

BRI1-Associated kinase 1 (BAK1), a five leucine-rich-repeat containing receptor-like serine/threonine kinase, has been shown to have dual functions: mediating brassinosteroid (BR) signaling and acting in the BR-independent plant defense response. Sequence analysis has revealed that BAK1 has two homologs, BAK7 and BAK8. Because BAK8 deviates from the canonical RD kinase motif, we focused on the functional analysis of BAK7.

Rhodium(I)-catalyzed cycloisomerization of 1,6-enynes to bicyclo[4.1.0]heptenes.

Efficient rhodium(I)-catalyzed cyclopropanation reactions of nitrogen-tethered 1,6-enynes to azabicyclo[4.1.0]heptenes are reported.

Leptin reduces plasma ANP level via nitric oxide-dependent mechanism.

Leptin is a circulating adipocyte-derived hormone that influences blood pressure (BP) and metabolism. This study was designed to define the possible role of leptin in regulation of the atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) system using acute and chronic experiments. Intravenous infusion of rat leptin (250 microg/kg injection plus 2 microg.

Elevated serum CA-125 levels in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung disease.

Unlabelled: The clinical significance of serum CA-125 measurements in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease has not been investigated. This study showed that serum CA-125 levels were elevated in some patients with NTM pulmonary disease. Further studies are needed to investigate the usefulness of serum CA-125 measurements in patients with NTM pulmonary disease.

Physiological roles of ERD10 in abiotic stresses and seed germination of Arabidopsis.

While screening for genes affected by cold, we found that Early Responsive to Dehydration 10 (ERD10)was induced by cold treatment. To further investigate the physiological functions of ERD10, we analyzed the T-DNA insertion mutant of ERD10 as well as the expression of ERD10 in response to various stress conditions. The erd10 mutant showed reduced stress tolerance relative to wild-type plants.

Constitutive activation of stress-inducible genes in a brassinosteroid-insensitive 1 (bri1) mutant results in higher tolerance to cold.

Many plant hormones are involved in coordinating the growth responses of plants under stress. However, not many mechanistic studies have explored how plants maintain the balance between growth and stress responses. Brassinosteroids (BRs), plant-specific steroid hormones, affect many aspects of plant growth and development over a plant's lifetime.

Prognostic impact of peritonealisation in rectal cancer treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy: extraperitoneal versus intraperitoneal rectal cancer.

Background And Purpose: The oncologic outcomes of extraperitoneal (EP) rectal cancer are known to differ from those of intraperitoneal (IP) rectal cancer; however, these differences have not been studied in rectal patients treated by preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT). The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic impact of peritonealisation in rectal patients treated by preoperative CRT.

Materials And Methods: This study analyzed the data of 362 patients who received preoperative CRT and underwent curative surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer at 3-9 cm above the anal verge.

Inhibitory effects of 1,3-thiazine derivatives on melanogenesis.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify a novel skin-depigmenting agent from synthetic 1,3-thiazine derivatives.

Methods: We investigated the inhibitory effects of six kinds of 1,3-thiazine derivative on melanogenesis by examining their effects on tyrosinase activity and melanin biosynthesis in melan-a cells and the zebrafish model.

Key Findings: Of the six compounds, 4-hydroxy-2,6-dimethyl-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine (TZ-6) had the strongest anti-melanogenic effects in cultured melan-a cells (30.

Neolignans from Piper kadsura and their anti-neuroinflammatory activity.

Bioassay-guided column chromatographic separation of the methanolic extract of dried aerial parts of Piper kadsura (Piperaceae) led to the isolation of a new neolignan, piperkadsin C (1), together with eight known neolignans (2-9). The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by combined spectroscopic methods. The anti-neuroinflammatory activities of these compounds were evaluated by assessing nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-activated BV-2 cells, a microglia cell line.

Simple, realistic models of complex biological processes: positive feedback and bistability in a cell fate switch and a cell cycle oscillator.

Here we review some of our work over the last decade on Xenopus oocyte maturation, a cell fate switch, and the Xenopus embryonic cell cycle, a highly dynamical process. Our approach has been to start with wiring diagrams for the regulatory networks that underpin the processes; carry out quantitative experiments to describe the response functions for individual legs of the networks; and then construct simple analytical models based on chemical kinetic theory and the graphical rate-balance formalism. These studies support the view that the all-or-none, irreversible nature of oocyte maturation arises from a saddle-node bifurcation in the regulatory system that drives the process, and that the clock-like oscillations of the embryo are built upon a hysteretic switch with two saddle-node bifurcations.

New observations on the choreotrich ciliate Strombidinopsis acuminata Fauré-Fremiet 1924, and comparison with Strombidinopsis jeokjo Jeong et al., 2004.

A choreotrich ciliate collected in waters off Geoje Island, on the eastern coast of the South Sea of the southern coastal water of Korea was morphologically and biometrically investigated through observations of permanent preparations after protargol impregnations. Morphological data and ciliary patterns indicated that the ciliate should be identified as Strombidinopsis acuminata based on the number of somatic kineties. The vertical distribution of the population abundance was also examined in relation to environmental conditions: higher abundances occurred in surface water with higher temperature (22-23 degrees C), lower salinity (32 psu), and higher concentration (ca 10 microg/L) of chlorophyll a.

Elevated plasma concentration of NO and cGMP may be responsible for the decreased platelet aggregation and platelet leukocyte conjugation in platelets hypo-responsive to catecholamines.

Impaired responsiveness to epinephrine and other catecholamines (CA) were previously reported in platelets of 20 approximately 30% healthy Japanese and Koreans. In the present study, the possible mechanisms of different responsiveness to CA in platelets of CA hypo-responders (CA-HY) and CA good-responders (CA-GR) were investigated. Increased platelet-leukocyte conjugate (PLC) formations were observed with whole blood of CA-GR than with that of CA-HY in both non-stimulated [mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values: 1.

T2 relaxation time mapping of proximal tibiofibular cartilage by 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: The proximal tibiofibular joint (PTFJ) can be considered the fourth compartment of the knee joint. However, there have been no studies of the T2 values (T2 relaxation time) of PTFJ cartilage.

Purpose: To assess the T2 values of PTFJ cartilage at 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to show the clinical utility of T2 values of PTFJ cartilage for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA).