Serum Soluble Corin is Decreased in Stroke.

Background And Purpose: Soluble corin was decreased in coronary heart disease. Given the connections between cardiac dysfunction and stroke, circulating corin might be a candidate marker of stroke risk. However, the association between circulating corin and stroke has not yet been studied in humans.

Transcriptional upregulation of microtubule-associated protein 2 is involved in the protein kinase A-induced decrease in the invasiveness of glioma cells.

Background: Malignant glioma is the most lethal primary tumor of the central nervous system, with notable cell invasion causing significant recurrence. Suppression of glioma invasion is very important for improving clinical outcomes. Drugs that directly disrupt the cytoskeleton have been developed for this purpose; however, drug resistance and unsatisfactory selectivity have limited their clinical use.

An open, parallel, randomized, comparative, multicenter investigation evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of Mepilex Ag versus silver sulfadiazine in the treatment of deep partial-thickness burn injuries.

Background: Partial-thickness burns are among the most frequently encountered types of burns, and numerous dressing materials are available for their treatment. A multicenter, open, randomized, and parallel study was undertaken to determine the efficacy and tolerability of silver sulfadiazine (SSD) compared with an absorbent foam silver dressing, Mepilex Ag, on patients aged between 5 years and 65 years with deep partial-thickness thermal burn injuries (2.5-25% total body surface area).

Relative Importance of the Arcuate and Anteroventral Periventricular Kisspeptin Neurons in Control of Puberty and Reproductive Function in Female Rats.

Kisspeptin plays a critical role in pubertal timing and reproductive function. In rodents, kisspeptin perikarya within the hypothalamic arcuate (ARC) and anteroventral periventricular (AVPV) nuclei are thought to be involved in LH pulse and surge generation, respectively. Using bilateral microinjections of recombinant adeno-associated virus encoding kisspeptin antisense into the ARC or AVPV of female rats at postnatal day 10, we investigated the relative importance of these two kisspeptin populations in the control of pubertal timing, estrous cyclicity, and LH surge and pulse generation.

The extent of inflammatory infiltration in primary cancer tissues is associated with lymphomagenesis in immunodeficient mice.

Xenotransplantation of human cancers into immunodeficient mice is a very useful approach for studying human tumor biology. However, the occasional occurrence of lymphomagenesis in some mice can spoil the model and must be investigated in detail. We found that a high percentage (32.

PF-06463922 is a potent and selective next-generation ROS1/ALK inhibitor capable of blocking crizotinib-resistant ROS1 mutations.

Oncogenic c-ros oncogene1 (ROS1) fusion kinases have been identified in a variety of human cancers and are attractive targets for cancer therapy. The MET/ALK/ROS1 inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori, PF-02341066) has demonstrated promising clinical activity in ROS1 fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer. However, emerging clinical evidence has shown that patients can develop resistance by acquiring secondary point mutations in ROS1 kinase.

Associations of serum adipocyte fatty acid binding protein with body composition and fat distribution in nondiabetic Chinese women.

Context: Previous studies have demonstrated evidence of a positive relationship between serum adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) and obesity. However, associations of A-FABP with body composition and ectopic fat accumulation remain unclear.

Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the effect of body composition, visceral fat area (VFA), and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) on serum A-FABP levels in a cohort of Chinese women without diabetes mellitus.

Using standard first-pass perfusion computed tomographic data to evaluate collateral flow in acute ischemic stroke.

Background And Purpose: The study aims to determine whether volume transfer constant (K(trans)) maps calculated from first-pass perfusion computed tomographic data are a biomarker of cerebral collateral circulation and predict the clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke caused by proximal arterial occlusion.

Methods: Consecutive patients with acute occlusion of the middle cerebral artery who received endovascular treatment were enrolled. Digital subtraction angiography, computed tomographic angiography with maximum intensity projection, and K(trans) maps were used to assess their collateral circulation.

Curcumin attenuates opioid tolerance and dependence by inhibiting Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II α activity.

Chronic use of opioid analgesics has been hindered by the development of opioid addiction and tolerance. We have reported that curcumin, a natural flavonoid from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, attenuated opioid tolerance, although the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that curcumin may inhibit Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II α (CaMKIIα), a protein kinase that has been previously proposed to be critical for opioid tolerance and dependence.

Protein kinase A-dependent phosphorylation of Dock180 at serine residue 1250 is important for glioma growth and invasion stimulated by platelet derived-growth factor receptor α.

Background: Dedicator of cytokinesis 1 (Dock1 or Dock180), a bipartite guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rac1, plays critical roles in receptor tyrosine kinase-stimulated cancer growth and invasion. Dock180 activity is required in cell migration cancer tumorigenesis promoted by platelet derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and epidermal growth factor receptor.

Methods: To demonstrate whether PDGFRα promotes tumor malignant behavior through protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent serine phosphorylation of Dock180, we performed cell proliferation, viability, migration, immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, colony formation, and in vivo tumorigenesis assays using established and short-term explant cultures of glioblastoma cell lines.

The kiss/kissr systems are dispensable for zebrafish reproduction: evidence from gene knockout studies.

The kiss1/gpr54 signaling system is considered to be a critical regulator of reproduction in most vertebrates. However, this presumption has not been tested vigorously in nonmammalian vertebrates. Distinct from mammals, multiple kiss1/gpr54 paralogous genes (kiss/kissr) have been identified in nonmammalian vertebrates, raising the possibility of functional redundancy among these genes.

Targeted gene disruption in zebrafish reveals noncanonical functions of LH signaling in reproduction.

The pivotal role of gonadotropin signaling in regulating gonadal development and functions has attracted much research attention in the past 2 decades. However, the precise physiological role of gonadotropin signaling is still largely unknown in fish. In this study, we have established both LH β-subunit (lhb) and LH receptor (lhr) knockout zebrafish lines by transcription activator-like effector nucleases.

CD82 restrains pathological angiogenesis by altering lipid raft clustering and CD44 trafficking in endothelial cells.

Background: Angiogenesis is crucial for many pathological processes and becomes a therapeutic strategy against diseases ranging from inflammation to cancer. The regulatory mechanism of angiogenesis remains unclear. Although tetraspanin CD82 is widely expressed in various endothelial cells (ECs), its vascular function is unknown.

Associations between estimated glomerular filtration rate and stroke outcomes in diabetic versus nondiabetic patients.

Background And Purpose: Low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is known to be associated with clinical adverse outcomes. However, whether diabetes mellitus influences the association between eGFR and prognosis of stroke is still not elucidated.

Methods: Prospective cohort of 17,280 (nondiabetic 12,498 and diabetic 4782) Chinese patients with acute stroke from the China National Stroke Registry and from abnormal glucose regulation in patients with acute stroke across China (ACROSS) between 2007 and 2009 were followed-up for 1 year for all-cause mortality, stroke recurrence, and stroke disability related to baseline eGFR in the presence and absence of diabetes mellitus.

Overexpression of corticotropin releasing factor in the central nucleus of the amygdala advances puberty and disrupts reproductive cycles in female rats.

Prolonged exposure to environmental stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and generally disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Because CRF expression in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) is a key modulator in adaptation to chronic stress, and central administration of CRF inhibits the hypothalamic GnRH pulse generator, we tested the hypothesis that overexpression of CRF in the CeA of female rats alters anxiety behavior, dysregulates the HPA axis response to stress, changes pubertal timing, and disrupts reproduction. We used a lentiviral vector to increase CRF expression site specifically in the CeA of preweaning (postnatal day 12) female rats.

Bioactive tyrosine-derived cytochalasins from fungus Eutypella sp. D-1.

Three new cytochalasins Z24 , Z25 , Z26 (1-3, resp.) and one known compound, scoparasin B (4), were isolated from the fungus Eutypella sp. D-1 isolated from the soil of high latitude of the Arctic.

Neurokinin B signaling in the female rat: a novel link between stress and reproduction.

Acute systemic stress disrupts reproductive function by inhibiting pulsatile gonadotropin secretion. The underlying mechanism involves stress-induced suppression of the GnRH pulse generator, the functional unit of which is considered to be the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin A neurons. Agonists of the neurokinin B (NKB) receptor (NK3R) have been shown to suppress the GnRH pulse generator, in a dynorphin A (Dyn)-dependent fashion, under hypoestrogenic conditions, and Dyn has been well documented to mediate several stress-related central regulatory functions.

Human cancer cells retain modest levels of enzymatically active matriptase only in extracellular milieu following induction of zymogen activation.

The type 2 transmembrane serine protease matriptase is broadly expressed in human carcinomas and hematological cancers. The proteolytic activity of matriptase is a potential target of drugs and imaging probes. We assessed the fate of active matriptase following the induction of matriptase zymogen activation.

Prehypertension and the risk of stroke: a meta-analysis.

Objective: In this meta-analysis, we sought to evaluate the association between prehypertension and the risk of stroke.

Methods: We searched PubMed and EMBASE databases for studies with data on prehypertension and stroke. Two independent reviewers assessed the reports and extracted data.

Efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of an enterovirus 71 vaccine in China.

Background: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the major causative agents of outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease or herpangina worldwide. This phase 3 trial was designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of an EV71 vaccine.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial in which 10,007 healthy infants and young children (6 to 35 months of age) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive two intramuscular doses of either EV71 vaccine or placebo, 28 days apart.

Hepatic glucuronidation of isoneochamaejasmin a from the traditional Chinese medicine Stellera chamaejasme L. Root.

Isoneochamaejasmin A (INCA), a biflavonoid, is one of main active ingredients in the dried root of Stellera chamaejasme L., a widely used traditional Chinese medicine. In the present study, we identified the glucuronidation metabolite of INCA and characterized the UDP glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) responsible for INCA glucuronidation.

Associations of serum sclerostin and polymorphisms in the SOST gene with bone mineral density and markers of bone metabolism in postmenopausal Chinese women.

Objective: The aims of this study were as follows: 1) to evaluate the association of serum sclerostin with bone mineral density (BMD) and markers of bone metabolism in postmenopausal Chinese women and 2) to observe the relationships of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the sclerostin (SOST) gene with serum sclerostin, BMD, and markers of bone metabolism.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 703 postmenopausal Chinese women. Ten tagging SNPs (rs1234612, rs1513670, rs1634330, rs1708635, rs2023794, rs7220711, rs74252774, rs851057, rs851058, and rs865429) of the SOST gene were genotyped.

Association between insomnia symptoms and mortality: a prospective study of U.S. men.

Background: Insomnia complaints are common in older adults and may be associated with mortality risk. However, evidence regarding this association is mixed. Thus, we prospectively examined whether men with insomnia symptoms had an increased risk of mortality during 6 years of follow-up.

Essential role of the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP2A5 in olfactory mucosal toxicity of naphthalene.

Naphthalene (NA), a ubiquitous environmental pollutant that can cause pulmonary and nasal toxicity in laboratory animals, requires cytochrome P450 (P450)-mediated metabolic activation to cause toxicity. Our recent study using a Cyp2f2-null mouse showed that CYP2F2 plays an essential role in NA-induced lung toxicity, but not in NA-induced nasal toxicity. The aim of this study was to determine whether mouse CYP2A5, abundantly expressed in nasal olfactory mucosa (OM) and the liver, but less in the lung, plays a major role in the bioactivation and toxicity of NA in the OM.

CSF biomarkers cutoffs: the importance of coincident neuropathological diseases.

The effects of applying clinical versus neuropathological diagnosis and the inclusion of cases with coincident neuropathological diagnoses have not been assessed specifically when studying cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker classification cutoffs for patients with neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia. Thus, 142 neuropathologically diagnosed neurodegenerative dementia patients [71 Alzheimer's disease (AD), 29 frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), 3 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 7 dementia with Lewy bodies, 32 of which cases also had coincident diagnoses] were studied. 96 % had enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) CSF data and 77 % had Luminex CSF data, with 43 and 46 controls for comparison, respectively.