Involvement of cortical dysfunction in frequent falls in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Gait and balance disorders are common clinical features of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although falls significantly affect the activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) of patients with PD, the underlying neural mechanisms associated with frequent falls in PD patients are still unclear.

Methods: Hypothesizing that the cerebral cortex would contribute to frequent falls in PD, we obtained 3D T1-weighted images from 91 non-dementia patients with PD and performed voxel-based morphometric analysis (VBM).

Critical role for constitutive type I interferon signaling in the prevention of cellular transformation.

Interferons-alpha/beta, which are produced upon viral infection, are key soluble factors for the establishment of an antiviral state, but are also produced at low levels in the absence of infection. Herein, we demonstrate that a weak signal by these constitutively produced IFN-alpha/beta show a preventive role in cellular transformation. Ifnar1-deficient (Ifnar1(-/-)) MEF, which are devoid of IFN-alpha/beta signal, undergo a spontaneous transformation during long-term cell culture.