G Protein-Coupled Receptor Heteromers in Brain: Functional and Therapeutic Importance in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest family of plasma membrane proteins targeted for therapeutic development. For decades, GPCRs were investigated as monomeric entities during analysis of their pharmacology or signaling and during drug development. However, a considerable body of evidence now indicates that GPCRs function as dimers or higher-order oligomers.

Weakened Cd toxicity to fungi under coexistence of Pb in solution.

The coexistence of heavy metals in aquatic systems causes complex toxicity in microorganisms. In this study, we explored the influences of Pb addition on Cd toxicity in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (Rho). Cd toxicity alone was tested with up to 200 mg/L Cd to induce stress.

Functional Conservation and Divergence of Five -like Genes in Marigold ( L.).

Members of subfamily genes play an essential role in the regulation of floral meristem transition, floral organ identity, and fruit ripping. At present, there have been insufficient studies to explain the function of the -like subfamily genes in Asteraceae. Here, we cloned two clade genes and , and three clade genes , , and from marigold ( L.

Uncovering phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity of water dropwort using phenotypic traits and SNP markers.

The water dropworts Oenanthe linearis Wall. ex DC. and O.

Microlenses arrays: Fabrication, materials, and applications.

Microlenses have become an indispensable optical element in many optical systems. The advancement of technology has led to a wider variety of microlenses fabrication methods, but these methods suffer from, more or less, some limitations. In this article, we review the manufacturing technology of microlenses from the direct and indirect perspectives.

Genetic diversity and population structure of eddoe taro in China using genome-wide SNP markers.

Taro () is an important root and tuber crop cultivated worldwide. There are two main types of taro that vary in morphology of corm and cormel, 'dasheen' and 'eddoe'. The eddoe type () is predominantly distributed throughout China.

A review of theories and models applied in studies of social media addiction and implications for future research.

With the increasing use of social media, the addictive use of this new technology also grows. Previous studies found that addictive social media use is associated with negative consequences such as reduced productivity, unhealthy social relationships, and reduced life-satisfaction. However, a holistic theoretical understanding of how social media addiction develops is still lacking, which impedes practical research that aims at designing educational and other intervention programs to prevent social media addiction.

Differential Activation of P-TEFb Complexes in the Development of Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy following Activation of Distinct G Protein-Coupled Receptors.

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is driven by neurohormonal activation of specific G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in cardiomyocytes and is accompanied by large-scale changes in cardiomyocyte gene expression. These transcriptional changes require activity of positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb), which is recruited to target genes by the bromodomain protein Brd4 or the super elongation complex (SEC). Here, we describe GPCR-specific regulation of these P-TEFb complexes and a novel mechanism for activating Brd4 in primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes.

Application of Pb(II) to probe the physiological responses of fungal intracellular vesicles.

Vesicles (Ves) within fungal cells are the critical linkage between intracellular and extracellular systems. This study explored the application of Pb to probe the physiology of intracellular Ves in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (Rho). At low Pb levels (0-500 mg/L), there was no evident change in the content of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) or microbial activity.

The effect of π-Conjugation on the self-assembly of micelles and controlled cargo release.

Here we presented a novel micelle self-assembled from amphiphiles with π-conjugated moieties (OEG-DPH). The π-conjugated structural integrity of the micelles enabled stable encapsulation of Nile Red (NR, model drug). The self-assembly behaviour of the amphiphiles and the release profile of NR loaded micelles were investigated.

Novel polymeric micelles as enzyme-sensitive nuclear-targeted dual-functional drug delivery vehicles for enhanced 9-nitro-20(S)-camptothecin delivery and antitumor efficacy.

9-Nitro-20(S)-camptothecin (9-NC) is a broad-spectrum antitumor drug used in tumor treatments, but its clinical applications and antitumor efficacy are limited by its structural instability, poor solubility, and extremely low drug utilization in tumor tissues. In this study, enzyme-sensitive nuclear-targeted dual-functional polymeric micelles were developed for 9-NC delivery with a high drug loading content (12.93 ± 0.

Integrated Metalloproteinase, pH and Glutathione Responsive Prodrug-Based Nanomedicine for Efficient Target Chemotherapy.

Prodrug self-assembled nanomedicines with cleavable moieties sensitive to intracellular stimuli have attracted great interest to pharmacists. In this paper, a docetaxel-hyaluronic acid (DTX-HA) conjugate with peptide, hydrazone bonds and disulfide in sequence, which were cleavable catalyzed by metalloproteinase (MMP), weak acidity and glutathione (GSH), respectively, were involved in a moiety as the linker to immobilize DTX on HA chains, the prodrugs were self-assembled into nanoparticles and utilized for cancer chemotherapy. The synthesis of conjugate was characterized by H NMR, ESI-TOF and GPC.

Contrasting the Pb (II) and Cd (II) tolerance of Enterobacter sp. via its cellular stress responses.

Successful application of microorganisms to heavy metal remediation depends on their resistance to toxic metals. This study contrasted the differences of tolerant mechanisms between Pb and Cd in Enterobacter sp. Microbial respiration and production of formic acid showed that Enterobacter sp.

Consumer Evaluation of the Quality of Online Health Information: Systematic Literature Review of Relevant Criteria and Indicators.

Background: As the quality of online health information remains questionable, there is a pressing need to understand how consumers evaluate this information. Past reviews identified content-, source-, and individual-related factors that influence consumer judgment in this area. However, systematic knowledge concerning the evaluation process, that is, why and how these factors influence the evaluation behavior, is lacking.

Recent progress in synergistic chemotherapy and phototherapy by targeted drug delivery systems for cancer treatment.

Although it's pharmacological effect for cancer therapy, conventional chemotherapy has been compromised by a series of shortcomings such as limited stability, nonspecific tumour targeting ability and severe toxic side effects. To overcome these limitations, multifunctional targeted drug delivery systems for combinatorial therapeutics have been widely explored as novel cancer therapy strategies, showing encouraging results in many pre-clinical animal experiments. Among them, synergistic phototherapy and chemotherapy have demonstrated their abilities to enhance therapeutic efficacies and reduce unwanted side effects via a variety of mechanisms.

Receptor- and cellular compartment-specific activation of the cAMP/PKA pathway by α-adrenergic and ETA endothelin receptors.

The signalling functions of many G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) expressed in the myocardium are incompletely understood. Among these are the endothelin receptor (ETR) family and α-adrenergic receptor (α-AR), which are thought to couple to the G protein Gαq. In this study, we used transcriptome analysis to compare the signalling networks downstream of these receptors in primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes.

Characterization and Functional Analysis of Five MADS-Box B Class Genes Related to Floral Organ Identification in Tagetes erecta.

According to the floral organ development ABC model, B class genes specify petal and stamen identification. In order to study the function of B class genes in flower development of Tagetes erecta, five MADS-box B class genes were identified and their expression and putative functions were studied. Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analyses indicated that there were one PI-like gene-TePI, two euAP3-like genes-TeAP3-1 and TeAP3-2, and two TM6-like genes-TeTM6-1 and TeTM6-2 in T.

A meta-analysis of XPD/ERCC2 Lys751Gln polymorphism and melanoma susceptibility.

We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis to determine the association between XPD/ERCC2 Lys751Gln polymorphism and melanoma susceptibility. Based on comprehensive searches of the MEDLINE, EMBASE and ISI Web of knowledge, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang Database, we identified eligible studies about the association between XPD/ERCC2 Lys751Gln polymorphism and melanoma risk. A total of 5,961 cases and 8,669 controls in studies were included in this meta-analysis.

Exploration of the association rules mining technique for the signal detection of adverse drug events in spontaneous reporting systems.

Background: The detection of signals of adverse drug events (ADEs) has increased because of the use of data mining algorithms in spontaneous reporting systems (SRSs). However, different data mining algorithms have different traits and conditions for application. The objective of our study was to explore the application of association rule (AR) mining in ADE signal detection and to compare its performance with that of other algorithms.

Predictive factors for intraoperative balloon dilation in semirigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy.

Purpose: To analyze preoperative predictive factors for intraoperative balloon dilation in semirigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from 397 consecutive semirigid ureteroscopic lithotripsies performed in 389 patients with ureteral stones at our institution during the calendar year 2010. Preoperative patient-related variables (age, sex, body mass index, history of urinary tract infection, previous stent placement, and time from initial presentation to intervention) and stone-related variables (laterality, numbers, location, width, and degree of hydronephrosis) were collected.

A computerized system for detecting signals due to drug-drug interactions in spontaneous reporting systems.

Unlabelled: WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THE SUBJECT: * Concomitant use of different drugs may yield excessive risk for adverse drug reactions and it is a challenging task to do surveillance on the safety profile of the interaction between different drugs. * Currently, several methods are used by pharmacoepidemiologists and statisticians to detect possible drug-drug interactions in spontaneous reporting systems. * However, with the increasing number of reports in the system, there is a growing need for a computerized system that could facilitate the process of data arrangement and detection of drug interaction.

Pharmacovigilance in Traditional Chinese Medicine safety surveillance.

Purpose: To give an overview of the current status including problems and efforts about pharmacovigilance in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) safety surveillance.

Methods: It is based on literature review and publicly available data in China.

Results: TCM led to several adverse drug reactions (ADRs) during the past few years and pharmacovigilance about TCM remained as a problem though great effort had been made to improve it.