Prebiotic potential of green banana flour: impact on gut microbiota modulation and microbial metabolic activity in a murine model.

Introduction: Green banana flour can be used as a prebiotic due to its ability to promote gut health and provide several health benefits. In this study, we investigated whether feeding mice green banana flour at different doses would alter intestinal microbiota composition.

Methods: We fed C57BL/6N mice either a Low-dose (500 mg/kg/day) or High-dose (2000 mg/kg/day) of green banana flour daily for 3 weeks, and fecal samples were collected on days 0, 14, and 21 for microbiota analysis.

Korean red ginseng decreases 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium-induced mitophagy in SH-SY5Y cells.

Objective: Mitophagy is known to contribute towards progression of Parkinson's disease. Korean red ginseng (KRG) is a widely used medicinal herb in East Asia, and recent studies have reported that KRG prevents 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP)-induced cell death. This study was undertaken to investigate whether KRG suppresses MPP-induced apoptosis and mitophagy.

Acupuncture stimulation at GB34 suppresses 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-induced oxidative stress in the striatum of mice.

Recent studies have suggested that increased oxidative stress is a potential etiology in Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we investigated whether acupuncture regulates antioxidants in the striatum (ST) of a PD mouse model. Male C57BL/6 mice were administered 30 mg/kg of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intraperitoneally once a day for 5 days and given acupuncture stimulation at SI3 or GB34 (Yanglingquan) was for 12 consecutive days.

Distinct regulations of ARF1 by two Sec7 isoforms.

Sec7 protein is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor in the ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) family of small GTP-binding proteins. Sec7 proteins (ApSec7s) play many roles in neurite outgrowth and synaptic facilitation in neurons. However, the binding property of ARF1 by ApSec7 isoforms has not been examined.

Differential expression of the epigenetic methylation-related protein DNMT1 by breast cancer molecular subtype and stromal histology.

Background: We assessed the expression of methylation-related proteins 5-meC, DNMT1, and ISL-1 in breast cancer and evaluated their relationship to clinicopathological factors.

Methods: Immunohistochemical staining for ER, PR, HER-2, Ki-67, 5-meC, DNMT1, and ISL-1 were performed on 348 breast cancer samples in tissue microarray. Samples were subgrouped into luminal A, luminal B, HER-2, or triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) according to immunohistochemical staining for ER, PR, HER-2, and Ki-67.

TMEM106B, a frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD) modifier, associates with FTD-3-linked CHMP2B, a complex of ESCRT-III.

Background: Transmembrane protein 106B (TMEM106B) has been identified as a risk factor for frontotemporal lobar degeneration, which is the second most common form of progressive dementia in people under 65 years of age. Mutations in charged multivesicular body protein 2B (CHMP2B), which is involved in endosomal protein trafficking, have been found in chromosome 3-linked frontotemporal dementia. Despite the number of studies on both CHMP2B and TMEM106B in the endolysosomal pathway, little is known about the relationship between CHMP2B and TMEM106B in the endosomal/autophagy pathway.

Adipocytes can induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells.

Adipocytes are known to be involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in several cancers. However, the role of adipocytes in the EMT of breast cancer cells is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the involvement of adipocytes in the EMT in breast cancer.

Differential expression of lipid metabolism-related proteins in different breast cancer subtypes.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the expression and clinical significance of proteins that are involved in lipid metabolism in human breast tumors.

Methods: Tumors from 476 breast cancer patients were used to construct tissue microarrays. Then, immunohistochemistry (IHC) for hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), Perilipin 1 (PLIN1), fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), carnitine palmitoyltransferase IA (CPT-1A), acyl-CoA oxidase 1 (ACOX-1), and fatty acid synthase (FASN) was performed on these microarrays.

UNC119a bridges the transmission of Fyn signals to Rab11, leading to the completion of cytokinesis.

Src family kinases (SFKs) regulate the completion of cytokinesis through signal transduction pathways that lead to the Rab11-dependent phosphorylation of ERK and its localization to the midbody of cytokinetic cells. We find that UNC119a, a known activator of SFKs, plays essential roles in this signaling pathway. UNC119a localizes to the centrosome in interphase cells and begins to translocate from the spindle pole to the spindle midzone after the onset of mitosis; it then localizes to the intercellular bridge in telophase cells and to the midbody in cytokinetic cells.

Usefulness of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for the Evaluation of Bone Marrow Involvement in Patients with High-Grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Purpose: To assess the usefulness of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in the detection of bone marrow (BM) involvement of high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

Methods: One hundred twenty patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or peripheral T-cell lymphoma between January 2007 and June 2011, who received BM trephine biopsy and (18)F-FDG PET/CT before chemotherapy, were included in this retrospective study. We reviewed their (18)F-FDG PET/CT images and bone marrow biopsy (BMB) results.

Role of FDG-PET/CT in detecting lymphomatous bone marrow involvement in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

To evaluate the role of FDG-PET/CT in detecting bone marrow (BM) involvement, pre-treatment bilateral bone marrow biopsies (BMBs) and FDG-PET/CT scans of 89 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with rituximab-CHOP were reviewed and analyzed. Fourteen patients (15.7%) had lymphomatous involvement based on BMB (BMB+), and 17 patients (19.

Usefulness of F-18 FDG PET/CT in Assessment of Recurrence of Cervical Cancer After Treatment.

Objective: Until now, serum tumor markers, physical examination, and conventional imaging modalities, such as CT or MRI, have been used in assessment of recurrence of cervical cancer after treatment. However, CT and MRI provide only anatomical data, which makes analysis of post-treatment change difficult. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of PET/CT, a new scanning device that combines PET and CT, in evaluation of cervical cancer lesions in patients with suspected recurrence.

Is this Red Spot the Blue Spot (locus ceruleus)?

The authors report brain images of 18F-FDG-PET in a case of schizophrenia. The images showed strikingly increased bilateral uptake in the locus ceruleus. The locus ceruleus is called the blue spot and known to be a center of the norepinephrinergic system.

Antibacterial activity of a disaccharide isolated from Streptomyces sp. strain JJ45 against Xanthomonas sp.

Of the 316 actinomycetes strains isolated from various habitats, Streptomyces sp. strain JJ45 showed the strongest antibiotic activity against the plant pathogenic bacteria Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris and was thus chosen for further study.

Span, CRUNCH, and beyond: working memory capacity and the aging brain.

Neuroimaging data emphasize that older adults often show greater extent of brain activation than younger adults for similar objective levels of difficulty. A possible interpretation of this finding is that older adults need to recruit neuronal resources at lower loads than younger adults, leaving no resources for higher loads, and thus leading to performance decrements [Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis; e.g.

Neuroanatomical correlates of aging, cardiopulmonary fitness level, and education.

Fitness and education may protect against cognitive impairments in aging. They may also counteract age-related structural changes within the brain. Here we analyzed volumetric differences in cerebrospinal fluid and gray and white matter, along with neuropsychological data, in adults differing in age, fitness, and education.

Binding study of AfsK, a Ser/Thr kinase from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and S-adenosyl-L-methionine.

Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) produces an antibiotic, actinorhodin, which belongs to the aromatic polyketides and which can function as an acid/base indicator. Its production results in the death of microorganisms in the vicinity of S. coelicolor A3(2), and this phenomenon can be used in concert with biopesticides.

Quantitative analysis of gated SPECT images using an efficient physical deformation model.

In this paper, we present quantitative analysis of cardiac images using an efficient physical deformation model to evaluate ventricular function. By using this model we can accurately and efficiently compute ventricular volume, myocardial mass, endo- and epi-cardial wall motions and wall thickness over a full cardiac cycle. Patients with cardiac diseases were studied in our modeling and measurement framework using gated single-photon emission computed tomographic images.

Papaverine blocks hKv1.5 channel current and human atrial ultrarapid delayed rectifier K+ currents.

Papaverine, 1-[(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)methyl]-6,-7-dimethoxyisoquinoline, has been used as a vasodilator agent and a therapeutic agent for cerebral vasospasm, renal colic, and penile impotence. We examined the effects of papaverine on a rapidly activating delayed rectifier K(+) channel (hKv1.5) cloned from human heart and stably expressed in Ltk(-) cells as well as a corresponding K(+) current (the ultrarapid delayed rectifier, I(Kur)) in human atrial myocytes.

Open channel block by KCB-328 [1-(2-amino-4-methanesulfonamidophenoxy)-2-[N-(3,4-dimethoxyphenethyl)-N-methylamino]ethane hydrochloride] of the heterologously expressed human ether-a-go-go-related gene K+ channels.

KCB-328 [1-(2-amino-4-methanesulfonamidophenoxy)-2-[N-(3,4-dimethoxyphenethyl)-N-methylamino]ethane hydrochloride] is a newly synthesized class III antiarrhythmic drug and is known to be highly effective against various types of arrhythmias induced by coronary artery ligation, reperfusion, and programmed electrical stimulation. To understand the potential ionic mechanisms, we examined the effects of KCB-328, which encodes the rapidly activating delayed rectifier K(+) current in cardiac tissues, on human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes. The amplitudes of steady-state currents and tail currents of HERG were decreased by KCB-328 dose dependently.