C-SH2 point mutation converts p85β regulatory subunit of phosphoinositide 3-kinase to an anti-aging gene.

Insulin interacts with the insulin receptor, and the activated receptor promotes activity of the phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) enzyme. A decrease in insulin or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling increases the lifespan in mammalian species. We found that a point mutation in the C-SH2 domain of the p85β regulatory subunit of PI3K results in a prolonged lifespan.

Cognitive functions in Parkinson's disease: relation to disease severity and hallucination.

Objective: We wished to relate severity of Parkinson's disease (PD) with cognitive function in relation to cerebral blood flow (CBF).

Methods: Eighty-one consecutive PD patients were enrolled in this study. We used Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third edition (WAIS-III) to evaluate cognitive functions, and three-dimensional stereotactic ROI template (3DSRT) and Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) 8 to evaluate single photon emission CT (SPECT) recordings of regional CBF.

Molecular cloning, sequencing, and gene expression analysis of tributyltin-binding protein type 1 in Japanese medaka fish, Oryzias latipes.

The full-length cDNA sequence of tributyltin-binding protein type 1 in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) (Olat.TBT-bp1) was determined by means of rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) of liver tissue. Analysis of the structure of the gene encoding Olat.

Exercise exerts neuroprotective effects on Parkinson's disease model of rats.

Recent studies demonstrate that rehabilitation ameliorates physical and cognitive impairments of patients with stroke, spinal cord injury, and other neurological diseases and that rehabilitation also has potencies to modulate brain plasticity. Here we examined the effects of compulsive exercise on Parkinson's disease model of rats. Before 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA, 20 microg) lesion into the right striatum of female SD rats, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected to label the proliferating cells.

Identification of glioma-specific RFX4-E and -F isoforms and humoral immune response in patients.

For regulatory factor X4 (RFX4), two alternatively spliced variants, RFX4-A and -B, were reported in the testis. In this study, we identified transcript variants RFX4-C, -D, -E, and -F, and demonstrated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that RFX4-A, -B and -C mRNAs were expressed only in the testis, and RFX4-D mRNA was expressed only in normal brain tissues. In tumors, RFX4-E and -F in addition to RFX4-D mRNA were expressed in gliomas by rapid amplification of cDNA ends and RT-PCR analyses.

[Clinical application of Japan Stroke Scale Higher Cortical Function (JSS-H)].

To clarify the characteristics of Japan Stroke Scale Higher Cortical Function (JSS-H), we compared the results of JSS-H with those of Revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS-R), on the 47 patients with cerebrovascular disease visiting to the day-care center of the Yoshinaga Municipal Hospital. The scores of the two scales significantly correlated. Especially, among the patients who gained over 21 points (non-dementia) in HDS-R, the results of both scales were almost parallel, but among those who gained less than 20 points(dementia), the scores showed some discrepancy.

Heat shock induces neurite outgrowth in PC12m3 cells via the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

We investigated the role of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in heat-shock-induced neurite outgrowth of PC12 mutant cells in which nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced neurite outgrowth is impaired. When cultures of the PC12 mutant (PC12m3) cells were exposed to heat stress at 44 degrees C for 10 min, activity of p38 MAPK increased and neurite outgrowth was greatly enhanced. The neurite extension was inhibited by the p38 MAPK inhibitor BS203580.

Radiation damage to the normal monkey brain: experimental study induced by interstitial irradiation.

Radiation damage to normal brain tissue induced by interstitial irradiation with iridium-192 seeds was sequentially evaluated by computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and histological examination. This study was carried out in 14 mature Japanese monkeys. The experimental area received more than 200-260 Gy of irradiation developed coagulative necrosis.

[Pituitary adenoma associated with neurofibromatosis type 1: case report].

A case of pituitary adenoma associated is neurofibromatosis type 1 is reported. On June 6, 2000, a 49-year-old man was admitted to the Department of Neurological Surgery, Okayama University Hospital, for bitemporal hemianopsia. Twenty-nine years previously, he had been operated on for a left inguinal tumor that proved to be a neurofibroma.

[Peduncular hallucinosis due to a small hemorrhage around the substantia nigra: a case report].

An 81-year-old female developed peduncular hallucination due to a small hemorrhage around the right substantia nigra is reported. Her hallucination was visual, not accompanying any other type of hallucination. It was vivid, colorful, well described, and recognized as unreal by herself.