Regulation of p53 tetramerization and nuclear export by ARC.

Inactivation of the transcription factor p53 is central to carcinogenesis. Yet only approximately one-half of cancers have p53 loss-of-function mutations. Here, we demonstrate a mechanism for p53 inactivation by apoptosis repressor with caspase recruitment domain (ARC), a protein induced in multiple cancer cells.

Transformation of avoidance response functions in accordance with same and opposite relational frames.

Research on the emergence of human avoidance behavior in the absence of direct contact with an aversive event is somewhat limited. Consistent with work on derived relational responding, the present study sought to investigate the transformation of avoidance response functions in accordance with the relational frames of Same and Opposite. Participants were first exposed to nonarbitrary and arbitrary relational training and testing in order to establish Same and Opposite relations among arbitrary stimuli.

Nipping at cardiac remodeling.

Much of the mortality following myocardial infarction results from remodeling of the heart after the acute ischemic event. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis has been thought to play a key role in this remodeling process. In this issue of the JCI, Diwan and colleagues present evidence that Bnip3, a proapoptotic Bcl2 family protein, mediates cardiac enlargement, reshaping, and dysfunction in mice without influencing infarct size.

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 inhibits colitis-induced carcinogenesis.

Purpose: Chronic inflammation in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease is thought to result in altered epithelial cell growth regulation and ultimately carcinogenesis. This loss in cell growth regulation may be partially caused by a decrease in circulating intact insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IFGB-3) as a result of chronic inflammation. This study evaluates the effect of IFGB-3 on carcinogenesis in the setting of colitis.

Initial repair of iatrogenic colon perforation using laparoscopic methods.

Background: Iatrogenic perforation of the colon during elective colonoscopy is a rare but serious complication. Treatment using laparoscopic methods is a novel approach, only described in the recent literature. We hypothesized that laparoscopic treatment of iatrogenic colon perforation would result in equal therapeutic efficacy, less perioperative morbidity, smaller incisions and decreased length of stay, and an overall better short-term outcome compared to open methods.

Urban plants as genetic reservoirs or threats to the integrity of bushland plant populations.

Remnant plants in urban fringes and native plants in gardens have the potential to contribute to the conservation of threatened plants by increasing genetic diversity, effective size of populations, and levels of genetic connectedness. But they also pose a threat through the disruption of locally adapted gene pools. At Hyams Beach, New South Wales, Australia, four bushland stands of the rare shrub, Grevillea macleayana McGillivray, surround an urban area containing remnant and cultivated specimens of this species.

Myxovirus-1 and protein kinase haplotypes and fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C virus.

Unlabelled: Candidate genes, including myxovirus resistance-1 (Mx1), protein kinase (PKR), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), were evaluated for associations with liver fibrosis in 374 treatment-naive patients with genotype-1 chronic HCV infection [194 Caucasian Americans (CAs) and 180 African Americans (AAs)], using a genetic haplotype approach. Among the 18 haplotypes that occurred with a frequency >or=5% in the cohort overall, the Mx1-(-123C)-(+6886A)-(+19820G(379V))-(+38645T) (abbreviated Mx1-CAGT), and PKR-(+110T)-(+7949G)-(+13846A)-(+22937T)-(+40342T) (abbreviated PKR-TGATT) haplotypes were independently associated with less severe hepatic fibrosis (Ishak >or= 3 versus <3). These associations persisted after adjustment for potential confounders such as alcohol use, sex, age (which is strongly correlated with the estimated duration of HCV infection [Spearman's correlation coefficient (r(s)) = 0.

Robotically assisted small intestinal strictureplasty in dogs: a survival study involving 16 Heineke-Mikulicz strictureplasties.

Background: Robotically assisted surgery offers the advantages of improved dexterity and elimination of tremor over conventional laparoscopic surgery. There have been few studies to date, however, examining the role of robotics in intestinal surgery. This study was undertaken to determine the feasibility and safety of using a robotic surgical system in the performance of intracorporeal small bowel strictureplasties in dogs.

Perioperative sargramostim (recombinant human GM-CSF) induces an increase in the level of soluble VEGFR1 in colon cancer patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery.

Introduction: Experimentally, laparotomy is associated with increased tumor growth. In humans, abdominal surgery is associated with immunosuppression and elevated plasma VEGF levels that might stimulate tumor growth early after surgery. Avoidance of these surgery-related changes and their consequences may be advantageous.

Drug evaluation: adecatumumab, an engineered human anti-EpCAM antibody.

Micromet Inc, in collaboration with Merck Serono SA, is developing adecatumumab for the potential treatment of adenocarcinomas, including breast and prostate cancer. Adecatunmumab is a fully human antibody targeting epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). Adecatumumab is currently undergoing phase II clinical trials in breast and prostate cancer.

Laparoscopic assisted distal rectal cancer resection with preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Purpose: Anatomy of deep pelvis, narrow distal margin and tumor invasion into neighbor organ are obstacles for curative radical resection for advanced cancer of distal rectum. Technically, laparoscopic application after downstaging the tumor with preoperative concurrent chemotherapy (CCRT) may give a solution to overcome the anatomical difficulties. We compared the results of laparoscopic surgery in the patients who received CCRT with those of patients who had conventional surgery.

Multiplexed detection of protein-peptide interaction and inhibition using capillary electrophoresis.

High-speed capillary electrophoresis (CE) was employed to detect binding and inhibition of SH2 domain proteins using fluorescently labeled phosphopeptides as affinity probes. Single SH2 protein-phosphopeptide complexes were detected and confirmed by competition and fluorescence anisotropy. The assay was then extended to a multiplexed system involving separation of three SH2 domain proteins: Src, SH2-Bbeta, and Fyn.

The transformation of consequential functions in accordance with the relational frames of more-than and less-than.

Across three experiments, the transformation of consequential functions in accordance with a seven-member relational network (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) was investigated. In this network, the relational rankings ranged from A, ranked the least, to G, ranked the most. In the first phase, contextual cues for more-than and less-than were established by training participants across multiple exemplars to select comparisons containing larger quantities in the presence of the former cue, and fewer quantities in the presence of the latter cue.

Major surgical trauma induces proteolysis of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in transgenic mice and is associated with a rapid increase in circulating levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9.

Background: The authors previously demonstrated a significant decrease in plasma levels of intact insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) after major open but not after laparoscopic-assisted surgery in humans. They postulated that this decrease may have an effect on postoperative tumor growth. It also has been shown that plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a protease capable of degrading IGFBP-3, are transiently increased after open colectomy in humans.

Major abdominal surgery increases plasma levels of vascular endothelial growth factor: open more so than minimally invasive methods.

Introduction: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent inducer of angiogenesis that is necessary for wound healing and also promotes tumor growth. It is anticipated that plasma levels would increase after major surgery and that such elevations may facilitate tumor growth. This study's purpose was to determine plasma VEGF levels before and early after major open and minimally invasive abdominal surgery.

Dormancy and the fire-centric focus: germination of three Leucopogon species (Ericaceae) from South-eastern Australia.

Background And Aims: Germination studies of species from fire-prone habitats are often focused on the role that fire plays in breaking dormancy. However, for some plant groups in these habitats, such as the genus Leucopogon (Ericaceae), dormancy of fresh seeds is not broken by fire cues. In the field, these same species display a flush of seedling emergence post-fire.

Perioperative immunomodulation with Flt3 kinase ligand or a whole tumor cell vaccine is associated with a reduction in lung metastasis formation after laparotomy in mice.

Introduction: Laparotomy has been associated with temporary postoperative immunosuppression and accelerated tumor growth in experimental models. In a previous murine study, a whole cell vaccine plus the adjuvant monophosphoryl-lipid A was shown to be effective in decreasing the number of lung metastases that develop after laparotomy. This study was conducted to assess the impact of the adjuvant fetal liver tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) ligand on perioperative tumor growth when used alone or with a tumor cell vaccine.

The von Hippel-Lindau tumour-suppressor protein interaction with protein kinase Cdelta.

The VHL (von Hippel-Lindau) tumour-suppressor protein forms a multi-protein complex [VCB (pVHL-elongin C-elongin B)-Cul-2 (Cullin-2)] with elongin C, elongin B, Cul-2 and Rbx1, acting as a ubiquitin-ligase (E3) and directing proteasome-dependent degradation of targeted proteins. The alpha-subunit of Hif1alpha (hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha) is the principal substrate for the VCB-Cul-2 complex; however, other substrates such as aPKC (atypical protein kinase C) have been reported. In the present study, we show with FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) analysis measured by FLIM (fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy) that PKCdelta and pVHL (VHL protein) interact directly in cells.

Relating derived relations as a model of analogical reasoning: reaction times and event-related potentials.

The current study aimed to test a Relational Frame Theory (RFT) model of analogical reasoning based on the relating of derived same and derived difference relations. Experiment 1 recorded reaction time measures of similar-similar (e.g.

Derived stimulus relations, semantic priming, and event-related potentials: testing a behavioral theory of semantic networks.

Derived equivalence relations, it has been argued, provide a behavioral model of semantic or symbolic meaning in natural language, and thus equivalence relations should possess properties that are typically associated with semantic relations. The present study sought to test this basic postulate using semantic priming. Across three experiments, participants were trained and tested in two 4-member equivalence relations using word-like nonsense words.

Citation Analysis of Skinner's Verbal Behavior: 1984-2004.

The present study undertook an updated citation analysis of Skinner's (1957)Verbal Behavior. All articles that cited Verbal Behavior between 1984 and 2004 were recorded and content analyzed into one of five categories; four empirical and one nonempirical. Of the empirical categories, studies that employed a verbal operant from Skinner's analysis were assigned to either basic, applied, or observational categories.