This proof-of-concept study looked at the feasibility of using a thiol-water proton exchange (i.e., CEST) MRI contrast to detect in vivo hepatic -acetylcysteine (NAC) uptake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) signal at -1.6 ppm is attributed to the choline methyl on phosphatidylcholines and results from the relayed nuclear Overhauser effect (rNOE), that is, rNOE(-1.6).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDandelion ( species) is a wild plant with over 2500 species. Flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saponins, sesquiterpenes, and sugars have been detected in the organs of , and for centuries it has been used in traditional medicine for the relief and treatment of various diseases. However, details of its working mechanism remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe developed a new probe, Gd-DO3A-Am-PBA, for imaging tumors. Our results showed active targeting of Gd-DO3A-Am-PBA to sialic acid (SA) moieties, with increased cellular labeling in vitro and enhanced tumor accumulation and retention in vivo, compared to the commercial Gadovist. The effectiveness of our newly synthesized probe lies in its adequate retention phase, which is expected to provide a suitable time window for tumor diagnosis and a faster renal clearance, which will reduce toxicity risks when translated to clinics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is extensively used in clinical and basic biomedical research. However, MRI detection of pH changes still poses a technical challenge. Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging is a possible solution to this problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMost biological functions involve protein-protein interactions. Our understanding of these interactions is based mainly on those of structured proteins, because encounters between intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) or proteins with intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) are much less studied, regardless of the fact that more than half eukaryotic proteins contain IDRs. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are a large family whose members almost all have IDRs in addition to RNA binding domains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) whose biophysical properties have yet to be explored to the same extent as those of the folded RNA interacting domains. These IDRs are essential to the formation of biomolecular condensates, such as stress and RNA granules, but dysregulated assembly can be pathological. Because of their structural heterogeneity, IDRs are best studied by NMR spectroscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochim Biophys Acta Proteins Proteom
February 2018
The TAR DNA-binding protein of 43kDa (TDP-43) has been identified as the main component of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cytoplasmic inclusions. The link between this proteinopathy and TDP-43's intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain is well known, but recently also, this domain has been shown to be involved in the formation of the membraneless organelles that mediate TDP-43's functions. The mechanisms that underpin the liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of these membraneless organelles undergo remain elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF. To evaluate the effectiveness of acupressure on the Taichong acupoint in lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients. .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn NMR experiments, the chemical shift is typically the first parameter measured and is a source of structural information for biomolecules. Indeed, secondary chemical shifts, the difference between the measured chemical shifts and those expected for a randomly oriented sequence of peptides (the "random coil"), are correlated with the secondary structure of proteins; secondary shift analysis is thereby a standard approach in structural biology. For intrinsically disordered or denatured proteins furthermore, secondary chemical shifts reveal the propensity of particular segments to form different secondary structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvid Based Complement Alternat Med
October 2014
Background. Guilu Erxian Jiao (GEJ) is a widely used Chinese herbal remedy for knee osteoarthritis, but its clinical efficacy is unknown. Methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate and compare the predictive value of the physical signs mentioned by ZHANG Zhong-jing in Treatise on Cold Damaged Diseases (Shang Han Lun), together with other clinically determined diagnostic scores and laboratory values in modern medicine on 28-day mortality in septic patients.
Methods: Three-year prospective observation was conducted in medical intensive care unit in two local community hospitals. In all, 126 patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock were consecutively enrolled.
Background: This study was designed to examine the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) without nasal polyps.
Methods: Patients with CRS without nasal polyps were enrolled in the study. Before treatment, they were evaluated by the Taiwanese version of the 20-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (TWSNOT-20), nasal endoscopy, saccharin test, and bacterial culture.
Four iridium(III)-containing coordination polymers 1-4 using Ir(ppy)(2)(H(2)dcbpy)PF(6) (L-H(2), ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, H(2)dcbpy = 4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine) as the bridging ligand, [ZnL(2)]·3DMF·5H(2)O (1), [CdL(2)(H(2)O)(2)]·3DMF·6H(2)O (2), [CoL(2)(H(2)O)(2)]·2DMF·8H(2)O (3) and [NiL(2)(H(2)O)(2)]·3DMF·6H(2)O (4), have been synthesized and structurally characterized. The emissions from 1-4 are ascribed to a metal-to-ligand charge transfer transition (MLCT). The absolute emission quantum yields for 1-4 in single crystals were measured in air to be 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A number of herbal preparations have been reported being used as adjunctive treatment of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). This study was designed to examine the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in the postoperative care of post-FESS patients.
Methods: Patients with CRS who underwent FESS were prospectively enrolled in the study.