Liver X receptor α contribution to neuroinflammation and glial cells activation induced by MPTP: Implications for Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder whose etiology remains unknown. The immune system has been implicated in hallmarks of PD including aggregation of α-synuclein and death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. As a core regulator of immune response and inflammation, liver X receptors (LXRs) have been shown to have protective effects in a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mouse model of PD.

Frequent loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 12q in non-small-cell lung carcinomas.

Chromosomal aberrations in non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs) are common events. In our study, the lung cancer cell lines (NCI-H446 and SPC-A-1) displayed numerous numerical and structural alterations in their chromosomes by G-banded karyotypic analysis, and abnormalities of chromosome 12 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Sequentially, we used 14 microsatellite markers within 12q to analyze loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in lung cancer cell lines and NSCLCs.