Cortical α4β2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Autopsy and molecular imaging studies suggest altered binding of the α4β2-nicotinic cholinergic receptor (α4β2-nAChR) with cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objective: To determine the relationship between cortical and hippocampal binding of the α4β2-nAChR with [F]XTRA PET, a high-affinity radiotracer that enables quantification of α4β2-nAChR in these regions, and cognitive function in individuals with PD.

Methods: Individuals with PD (N = 32) and age-similar, controls without PD or dementia (N = 10) completed a cognitive assessment and one 90-min, [F]XTRA PET scan.

Serotonin Degeneration and Amyloid-β Deposition in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Relationship to Cognitive Deficits.

Background: Neuropathological and neuroimaging studies have demonstrated degeneration of the serotonin system in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Neuroimaging studies have extended these observations to the preclinical stages of AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Serotonin degeneration has been observed also in transgenic amyloid mouse models, prior to widespread cortical distribution of amyloid-β (Aβ).

Regional amyloid correlates of cognitive performance in ageing and mild cognitive impairment.

Beta-amyloid deposition is one of the earliest pathological markers associated with Alzheimer's disease. Mild cognitive impairment in the setting of beta-amyloid deposition is considered to represent a preclinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease. imaging studies are unique in their potential to advance our understanding of the role of beta-amyloid deposition in cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease and in mild cognitive impairment.

An investigation of doubt in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Clinicians have long considered doubt to be a fundamental characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the clinical relevance of doubt in OCD has not been addressed.

Methods: Participants included 1182 adults with OCD who had participated in family and genetic studies of OCD.

Integrating Biological Covariates into Gene Expression-Based Predictors of Radiation Sensitivity.

The use of gene expression-based classifiers has resulted in a number of promising potential signatures of patient diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy. However, these approaches have also created difficulties in trying to use gene expression alone to predict a complex trait. A practical approach to this problem is to integrate existing biological knowledge with gene expression to build a composite predictor.

Excess PLAC8 promotes an unconventional ERK2-dependent EMT in colon cancer.

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) transcriptional program is characterized by repression of E-cadherin (CDH1) and induction of N-cadherin (CDH2), and mesenchymal genes like vimentin (VIM). Placenta-specific 8 (PLAC8) has been implicated in colon cancer; however, how PLAC8 contributes to disease is unknown, and endogenous PLAC8 protein has not been studied. We analyzed zebrafish and human tissues and found that endogenous PLAC8 localizes to the apical domain of differentiated intestinal epithelium.

Quantitative single cell analysis of cell population dynamics during submandibular salivary gland development and differentiation.

Epithelial organ morphogenesis involves reciprocal interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cell types to balance progenitor cell retention and expansion with cell differentiation for evolution of tissue architecture. Underlying submandibular salivary gland branching morphogenesis is the regulated proliferation and differentiation of perhaps several progenitor cell populations, which have not been characterized throughout development, and yet are critical for understanding organ development, regeneration, and disease. Here we applied a serial multiplexed fluorescent immunohistochemistry technology to map the progressive refinement of the epithelial and mesenchymal cell populations throughout development from embryonic day 14 through postnatal day 20.

Validation of a radiosensitivity molecular signature in breast cancer.

Purpose: Previously, we developed a radiosensitivity molecular signature [radiosensitivity index (RSI)] that was clinically validated in 3 independent datasets (rectal, esophageal, and head and neck) in 118 patients. Here, we test RSI in radiotherapy (RT)-treated breast cancer patients.

Experimental Design: RSI was tested in 2 previously published breast cancer datasets.

A typical working-day breakfast among children, adolescents and adults belonging to the middle and upper socio-economic classes in Mumbai, India - challenges and implications for dietary change.

Objective: Breakfast has been linked to several aspects of health, yet breakfast skipping is rampant across the globe. Studies in India have focused mostly on children. Hence the present study examined breakfast behaviour across different age and gender groups.

Loss of Rab25 promotes the development of intestinal neoplasia in mice and is associated with human colorectal adenocarcinomas.

Transformation of epithelial cells is associated with loss of cell polarity, which includes alterations in cell morphology as well as changes in the complement of plasma membrane proteins. Rab proteins regulate polarized trafficking to the cell membrane and therefore represent potential regulators of this neoplastic transition. Here we have demonstrated a tumor suppressor function for Rab25 in intestinal neoplasia in both mice and humans.

Metastasis-Associated Gene Expression Changes Predict Poor Outcomes in Patients with Dukes Stage B and C Colorectal Cancer.

PURPOSE: Colorectal cancer prognosis is currently predicted from pathologic staging, providing limited discrimination for Dukes stage B and C disease. Additional markers for outcome are required to help guide therapy selection for individual patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A multisite single-platform microarray study was done on 553 colorectal cancers.

Toward a measure of classification complexity in gene expression signatures.

Gene expression signatures identify important genes that predict a specified outcome. In several notable diseases such as leukemia and breast cancer, the results have been encouraging. In these datasets, many techniques work well when discriminating particular outcomes.

Towards a framework for analysis of biophotonic images of mouse models of cancer.

Biophotonic imaging can be used to characterize tumor growth in animal models. Estimation of the numbers and location of target cells is dependent on accurate segmentation of a target region from the background luminescence of the animal body. Existing software systems extract general regions of interest in complex images but can fail to detect details or faint regions of interest in the presence of higher luminescent activity.

Acute subdural effusion in vasculitis.

We report a 29-year-old man with a unique presentation of vasculitis as acute unilateral subdural effusion and meningoencephalitis. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a brainstem lesion that spread to the thalamus over time. There were no systemic features of vasculitis other than a positive pathergy test.