Enhanced vascular production of superoxide in OLETF rat after the onset of hyperglycemia.

This study was aimed to characterize the vascular production of superoxide in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat, a model of type 2 diabetes. The nitroblue tetrazolium staining in the aorta from old (30 weeks) OLETF rat was more prominent than that of age-matched control (LETO) rat, which was significantly inhibited by diphenyleneiodonium (10 micromol/l), but not by inhibitors for other oxidases such as xanthine oxidase, mitochondrial oxidase, nitric oxide synthase, and cyclooxygenase. In the aorta from old OLETF rat with hyperglycemia, the enhanced NADH oxidase activity in association with upregulated expression of p22phox and gp91phox was observed, but not in both LETO and young (10 weeks) OLETF rats without hyperglycemia.

Role of dietary fat type in the development of adiposity from dietary obesity-susceptible Sprague-Dawley rats.

The present study was designed to define how dietary fat type regulates body adiposity in dietary obesity-susceptible (DOS) Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Eighty-three SD rats received a purified diet containing 50 g maize oil (MO)/kg for 3 weeks and then thirty-nine of the rats, designated as the DOS rats, were allotted to diets containing 160 g MO (DOS-MO), beef tallow (DOS-BT) or fish oil (DOS-FO)/kg for 9 weeks. As a result of the experiment, the DOS-FO rats had significantly (P<0.

Prevention of impairment of cerebral blood flow autoregulation during acute stage of subarachnoid hemorrhage by gene transfer of Cu/Zn SOD-1 to cerebral vessels.

The present study determined whether gene transfer of human copper/zinc superoxide dismutase-1 (Cu/Zn SOD-1) prevented the autoregulatory impairment of CBF induced by subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). After application of recombinant adenovirus (100 microL of 1 x 10(10) pfu/mL, intracisternally) encoding human Cu/Zn SOD-1 3 days before experiments, Cu/Zn SOD-1 activity significantly increased in association with increase in Cu/Zn SOD-1 mRNA and protein expression in the cerebral vasculature of both sham-operated and SAH rats as determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry, and SAH-induced increase in superoxide anion was markedly reduced in accordance with increased nitric oxide production. In line with these findings, rats that received human Cu/Zn SOD-1 therapy showed the prominent restoration of blunted vasodilation of the pial artery in response to calcitonin gene-related peptide and levcromakalim, and the recovery of impaired autoregulatory vasodilation in response to acute hypotension, thereby leading to significant restoration of CBF autoregulation.

The molecular characteristics of circumsporozoite protein gene subtypes from Plasmodium vivax isolates in Republic of Korea.

The circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium vivax has two sequence types, VK210 and VK247, each of which has a characteristic tandem amino acid repetition. Previous studies report that a resurgent Korean strain has unique amino acid sequences in tandem repeats and post-repeat areas compared to other strains of P. vivax.

Constitutive activation of p70S6k in cancer cells.

The mitogen-stimulated serine/threonine kinase p70S6k plays an important role in the progression of cells from G0/G1 to S phase of the cell cycle by translational up-regulation of a family of mRNA transcripts family of mRNA transcripts which contain polypyrimidine tract at their 5 transcriptional start site. Here, we report that p70S6k was constitutively phosphorylated and activated to various degrees in serum-deprived AGS, A2058, HT-1376, MG63, MCF7, MDA-MB-435S, MDA-MB-231 and MB-157. Rapamycin treatment induced a significant dephosphorylation and inactivation of p70S6k in all cancer cell lines, while wortmannin, a specific inhibitor of PI3-K, caused a mild dephosphorylation of p70S6k in AGS, MDA-MB-435S and MB-157.

Oligosaccharide-linked acyl carrier protein, a novel transmethylase inhibitor, from porcine liver inhibits cell growth.

We have previously reported on the identification of the endogenous transmethylation inhibitor oligosaccharide-linked acyl carrier protein (O-ACP). In this study, the role of the transmethylation reaction on cell cycle progression was evaluated using various transmethylase inhibitors, including O-ACP. O-ACP significantly inhibited the growth of various cancer cell lines, including NIH3T3, ras-transformed NIH3T3, MDA-MB-231, HT-1376, and AGS.

Effects of Juglans sinensis Dode extract and antioxidant on mercury chloride-induced acute renal failure in rabbits.

This study was undertaken to determine if Juglans sinensis Dode, an oriental medicinal herb, extract (JSE) and antioxidant exert beneficial effect against mercury-induced acute renal failure in rabbits. Acute renal failure was induced by subcutaneous injection of mercury chloride (10 mg/kg), and animals were pretreated with JSE (0.1 g/kg, orally) for 7 days or N,N'-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (0.

Differential role of reactive oxygen species in chemical hypoxia-induced cell injury in opossum kidney cells and rabbit renal cortical slices.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation in chemical hypoxia in opossum kidney (OK) cells and rabbit renal cortical slices. Chemical hypoxia was induced by incubating cells or slices with antimycin A, an inhibitor of mitochondrial electron transport. Exposure of OK cells to chemical hypoxia resulted in a time-dependent cell death and parallel depletion of intracellular ATP.

Protein-losing enteropathy detected on Tc-99m HSA and Tc-99m MDP scintigraphy.

The authors describe a patient with protein-losing enteropathy in whom abnormal intestinal accumulation of tracer occurred during Tc-99m human serum albumin scintigraphy. Abnormal leakage of the radiotracer was observed in the left upper abdomen and was confirmed by Tc-99m MDP scintigraphy. Both Tc-99m HSA scintigraphy and Tc-99m MDP scintigraphy are useful in the detection of protein-losing enteropathy.

Alterations in behavior, amyloid beta-42, caspase-3, and Cox-2 in mutant PS2 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) occurs when neurons in the memory and cognition regions of the brain are accompanied by an accumulation of the long amyloid beta-proteins of the 39 to 43 amino acids derived from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by cleavage with beta- and gamma-secretase. An increased production of Abeta-42 by mutation of PS2 genes promotes caspase expression and is associated with the Cox-2 found in the brain of AD patients. To address this question in vivo, we expressed the human mutant PS2 (hPS2m) (N141I) as well as wild PS2 (hPS2w) as a control in transgenic (Tg) mice under control of the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) promoter.

Autotaxin promotes motility via G protein-coupled phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma in human melanoma cells.

Autotaxin (ATX), an exo-nucleotide pyrophosphatase and phosphodiesterase, stimulates tumor cell motility at sub-nanomolar levels and augments invasiveness and angiogenesis. We investigated the role of G protein-coupled phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma (PI3Kgamma) in ATX-mediated tumor cell motility stimulation. Pretreatment of human melanoma cell line A2058 with wortmannin or LY294002 inhibited ATX-induced motility.

5-FU Induces Apoptosis of Fas (+), HepG2 Cells Via Activation of Fas-mediated Caspase and Mitochondria Dysfunction.

Purpose: In order to investigate the role of Fas on the chemosensitivity of cancer cells in regards to chemotherapeutic agents, the Fas/FasL signaling pathway of apoptosis was explored in human hepatoma cells.

Materials And Methods: Fas expression of hepatoma cells including Chang, Huh7, HepG2, and Hep3B cells, was determined by RT-PCR and flow cytometry analysis. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay and apoptosis was assessed by DNA fragmentation assay.

Inhibitory zinc-enriched terminals in the mouse cerebellum: double-immunohistochemistry for zinc transporter 3 and glutamate decarboxylase.

In the present study, we showed for the first time the presence of inhibitory zinc-enriched neuron terminals in the mouse cerebellar cortex by means of double-immunohistochemistry for zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3) and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD). The co-localization of ZnT3 and GAD in the cerebellar cortex was analyzed by confocal microscopy. Strong, punctuate ZnT3-immunoreactivity (Ir) was predominantly distributed in the granule cell layer, while GAD-Ir was seen throughout the cerebellar cortical layers.

Vascular NADH oxidase is involved in impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation in OLETF rats, a model of type 2 diabetes.

Superoxide anion can modulate vascular smooth muscle tone and is potentially involved in diabetic vascular complications. The present study was undertaken to characterize both vascular production and the enzymatic source of superoxide anion in type 2 diabetic rats. In the thoracic aorta of OLETF rats, endothelium-dependent relaxation was markedly attenuated compared with that of control (LETO) rats in association with a significant increase in superoxide production (2,421.

Tc-99m MIBI, Tc-99m tetrofosmin, and Tc-99m (V) DMSA accumulation in recurrent malignant thymoma.

Thymoma is the most common primary tumor of the anterior mediastinum, accounting for 20% to 30% of all mediastinal tumors. The recurrence rate after total resection of the thymoma ranges from 8% to 18%. The authors describe a patient with recurrent malignant thymoma imaged with Tc-99m MIBI, Tc-99m tetrofosmin, and Tc-99m (V) DMSA.

Apicidin, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, induces apoptosis and Fas/Fas ligand expression in human acute promyelocytic leukemia cells.

We previously reported that apicidin arrested human cancer cell growth through selective induction of p21(WAF1/Cip1). In this study, the apoptotic potential of apicidin and its mechanism in HL60 cells was investigated. Treatment of HL60 cells with apicidin caused a decrease in viable cell number in a dose-dependent manner and an increase in DNA fragmentation, nuclear morphological change, and apoptotic body formation, concomitant with progressive accumulation of hyperacetylated histone H4.

[A comparative study on hydrolase activities in Acanthamoeba culbertsoni and A. royreba].

Specific or non-specific cytolytic processes of free-living amoebae causing meningoencephalitis have been emphasized and the cytolytic ability related to hydrolases in Entamoeba sp. and Naegleria sp. has also been reported since the latter half of 1970's.