Live attenuated smallpox vaccine candidate (KVAC103) efficiently induces protective immune responses in mice.

Smallpox, caused by the variola virus belonging to the genus Orthopoxvirus, is an acute contagious disease that killed 300 million people in the 20th century. Since it was declared to be eradicated and the national immunization program against it was stopped, the variola virus has become a prospective bio-weapon. It is necessary to develop a safe vaccine that protects people from terrorism using this biological weapon and that can be administered to immunocompromised people.

Substance P preserves pancreatic β-cells in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice.

Preservation of the pancreatic β-cell population is required for the development of therapies for diabetes, which is caused by a decrease in β-cells. Here, we demonstrate the antidiabetic effects of substance P (SP) in type 1 diabetes (T1D) mice induced with streptozotocin. SP enhanced the compensatory proliferation of β-cells in order to restore β-cells in response to acute injury induced by a single high-dose of streptozotocin.

Agouti Related Peptide Secreted Via Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Upregulates Proteasome Activity in an Alzheimer's Disease Model.

The activity of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is downregulated in aggregation diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of the Agouti-related peptide (AgRP), which is secreted by human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), in terms of its effect on the regulation of proteasome activity in AD. When SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were co-cultured with MSCs isolated from human Wharton's Jelly (WJ-MSC), their proteasome activity was significantly upregulated.

Substance P enhances the activation of AMPK and cellular lipid accumulation in 3T3‑L1 cells in response to high levels of glucose.

The rescue of glucose tolerance and insulin‑sensitivity in peripheral tissues, including adipose tissue, is essential in therapeutic strategies for diabetes. The present study demonstrated that substance P (SP) increases the accumulation of lipids in 3T3‑L1 cells during their differentiation into adipocytes in response to a high concentration of glucose. SP reciprocally regulated the activities of AMP‑activated protein kinase (AMPK) and Akt: SP enhanced the activation of AMPK, although the activity of Akt was downregulated.