Endothelial Actions of ANP Enhance Myocardial Inflammatory Infiltration in the Early Phase After Acute Infarction.

Rationale: In patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the initial extent of necrosis and inflammation determine clinical outcome. One early event in AMI is the increased cardiac expression of atrial natriuretic peptide (NP) and B-type NP, with their plasma levels correlating with severity of ischemia. It was shown that NPs, via their cGMP-forming guanylyl cyclase-A (GC-A) receptor and cGMP-dependent kinase I (cGKI), strengthen systemic endothelial barrier properties in acute inflammation.

Hypercapnia Suppresses the HIF-dependent Adaptive Response to Hypoxia.

Molecular oxygen and carbon dioxide are the primary gaseous substrate and product of oxidative metabolism, respectively. Hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypercapnia (high carbon dioxide) are co-incidental features of the tissue microenvironment in a range of pathophysiologic states, including acute and chronic respiratory diseases. The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is the master regulator of the transcriptional response to hypoxia; however, little is known about the impact of hypercapnia on gene transcription.

Rapamycin blocks the antidepressant effect of ketamine in task-dependent manner.

Objective: The aim of our study was to test whether ketamine produces an antidepressant effect in animal model of olfactory bulbectomy and assess the role of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway in ketamine's antidepressant effect.

Methods: Bulbectomized (OBX) rats and sham controls were assigned to four subgroups according to the treatment they received (ketamine, saline, ketamine + rapamycin, and saline + rapamycin). The animals were subjected to open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM), passive avoidance (PA), Morris water maze (MWM), and Carousel maze (CM) tests.

Cross-modal comparisons of stimulus specificity and commonality in phonological processing.

Phonological processing is a fundamental ability which underlies language comprehension. Functional neuroanatomy of phonology constitutes a matter of ongoing debate. In the present study, subjects performed visual (rhyme detection) and auditory (identification of spoken words starting with a given consonant) tasks that were contrasted with matched nonverbal tasks.

Assessment of acoustic characteristics of voice in patients after injection laryngoplasty with hyaluronan.

Background: Glottal incompetence is one of the most common contributing factors in patients who suffer from dysphonia. One of the different treatment approaches is injection laryngoplasty. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of voice in patients who were treated with hyaluronic acid injection into the vocal fold in the long-term follow-up.

Beta-1-Selective Beta-Blockers and Cognitive Functions in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The association between current beta-1-selective beta-blocker use and cognitive function was evaluated in 722 patients with coronary artery disease without dementia. Beta-1-selective beta-blocker use was associated with worse incidental learning independently of sociodemographic characteristics, clinical coronary artery disease severity, and depression/anxiety.

Cryo-slicing Blue Native-Mass Spectrometry (csBN-MS), a Novel Technology for High Resolution Complexome Profiling.

Blue native (BN) gel electrophoresis is a powerful method for protein separation. Combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), it enables large scale identification of protein complexes and their subunits. Current BN-MS approaches, however, are limited in size resolution, comprehensiveness, and quantification.

Effects of Exercise and Nutrition on the Coagulation System During Bedrest Immobilization.

Immobilization in hospitalized medical patients or during simulation of spaceflight induced deconditioning has been shown to be associated with loss of muscle mass and bone. Resistance vibrating exercise (RVE) and/or high protein diet are countermeasures, which are capable of mitigating the adverse effects of immobilization. We investigated the effect of these countermeasures on the coagulation system.

Structural Insight into Specificity of Interactions between Nonconventional Three-finger Weak Toxin from Naja kaouthia (WTX) and Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors.

Weak toxin from Naja kaouthia (WTX) belongs to the group of nonconventional "three-finger" snake neurotoxins. It irreversibly inhibits nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and allosterically interacts with muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs). Using site-directed mutagenesis, NMR spectroscopy, and computer modeling, we investigated the recombinant mutant WTX analogue (rWTX) which, compared with the native toxin, has an additional N-terminal methionine residue.

Meningitis and encephalitis in Poland in 2013.

Aim Of The Study: The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiology of meningitis and/or encephalitis in Poland in 2013.

Introduction: In the last three years in Poland, about 3000 cases of meningitis and/or encephalitis of viral or bacterial etiology were recorded annually.

Materials And Methods: Assessment of the epidemiological situation of meningitis and/or encephalitis in Poland in 2013, was based on the results of the analysis of epidemiological reports sent to the NIZP-PZH by the Regional Sanitary-Epidemiological Stations published in the annual bulletin "Infectious diseases and poisonings in Poland in 2013" and "Preventive immunizations in Poland in 2013".

Two N-glycosylation Sites in the GluN1 Subunit Are Essential for Releasing N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) Receptors from the Endoplasmic Reticulum.

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) comprise a subclass of neurotransmitter receptors whose surface expression is regulated at multiple levels, including processing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), intracellular trafficking via the Golgi apparatus, internalization, recycling, and degradation. With respect to early processing, NMDARs are regulated by the availability of GluN subunits within the ER, the presence of ER retention and export signals, and posttranslational modifications, including phosphorylation and palmitoylation. However, the role of N-glycosylation, one of the most common posttranslational modifications, in regulating NMDAR processing has not been studied in detail.

Streptozotocin Stimulates the Ion Channel TRPA1 Directly: INVOLVEMENT OF PEROXYNITRITE.

Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes is the most commonly used animal model of diabetes. Here, we have demonstrated that intraplantar injections of low dose STZ evoked acute polymodal hypersensitivities in mice. These hypersensitivities were inhibited by a TRPA1 antagonist and were absent in TRPA1-null mice.

A globin domain in a neuronal transmembrane receptor of Caenorhabditis elegans and Ascaris suum: molecular modeling and functional properties.

We report the structural and biochemical characterization of GLB-33, a putative neuropeptide receptor that is exclusively expressed in the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This unique chimeric protein is composed of a 7-transmembrane domain (7TM), GLB-33 7TM, typical of a G-protein-coupled receptor, and of a globin domain (GD), GLB-33 GD. Comprehensive sequence similarity searches in the genome of the parasitic nematode, Ascaris suum, revealed a chimeric protein that is similar to a Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-amide neuropeptide receptor.

Erythromelalgia mutation Q875E Stabilizes the activated state of sodium channel Nav1.7.

The human voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.7 plays a crucial role in transmission of noxious stimuli. The inherited pain disorder erythromelalgia (IEM) has been linked to Nav1.

Irritant volatile anesthetics induce neurogenic inflammation through TRPA1 and TRPV1 channels in the isolated mouse trachea.

Background: Irritating effects of volatile general anesthetics on tracheal nerve endings and resulting spastic reflexes in the airways are not completely understood with respect to molecular mechanisms. Neuropeptide release and neurogenic inflammation play an established role.

Methods: The basal and stimulated calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) release from the isolated superfused mouse trachea was analyzed as an index of sensory neuron activation, applying irritant (desflurane and isoflurane) and nonirritant (sevoflurane) volatile anesthetics as stimuli.

Reduced resting-state brain activity in the default mode network in children with (central) auditory processing disorders.

Background: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in Central Auditory Processing Disorder (C)APD. However, the neural correlates of (C)APD are poorly understood. Previous neuroimaging experiments have shown changes in the intrinsic activity of the brain in various cognitive deficits and brain disorders.

Application of the Gradient Boosted method in randomised clinical trials: Participant variables that contribute to depression treatment efficacy of duloxetine, SSRIs or placebo.

Background: Randomised, placebo-controlled trials of treatments for depression typically collect outcomes data but traditionally only analyse data to demonstrate efficacy and safety. Additional post-hoc statistical techniques may reveal important insights about treatment variables useful when considering inter-individual differences amongst depressed patients. This paper aims to examine the Gradient Boosted Model (GBM), a statistical technique that uses regression tree analyses and can be applied to clinical trial data to identify and measure variables that may influence treatment outcomes.

Atrial natriuretic peptide locally counteracts the deleterious effects of cardiomyocyte mineralocorticoid receptor activation.

Background: The endocrine balance between atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is critical for the maintenance of arterial blood pressure and volume homeostasis. This study investigated whether a cardiac imbalance between ANP and aldosterone, toward increased mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) signaling, contributes to adverse left ventricular remodeling in response to pressure overload.

Methods And Results: We used the MR-selective antagonist eplerenone to test the role of MRs in mediating pressure overload-induced dilatative cardiomyopathy of mice with abolished local, cardiac ANP activity.

Endothelial sodium channels trigger endothelial salt sensitivity with aging.

The epithelial sodium channel is also expressed in vascular endothelium (endothelial sodium channel [EnNaC]). Depending on ambient sodium concentration, EnNaC is associated with mechanical stiffening of the endothelial cell cortex, leading to endothelial dysfunction. Because the incidence of both salt sensitivity and endothelial dysfunction increases with age, we investigated the abundance of EnNaC in aging mice.

On-line dialysate infusion to estimate absolute blood volume in dialysis patients.

It was the aim to measure the distribution volume and the elimination of ultra-pure dialysate in stable hemodialysis patients during on-line hemodiafiltration (HDF). Dialysate was automatically infused as a volume indicator using standard on-line HDF equipment. Indicator concentration was noninvasively measured in the arterial blood-line (using the blood volume monitor, Fresenius Medical Care, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany), and its time course was analyzed to obtain the elimination rate and the distribution volume V(t) at the time of dilution.

Role of the EF-hand-like motif in the 14-3-3 protein-mediated activation of yeast neutral trehalase Nth1.

Trehalases hydrolyze the non-reducing disaccharide trehalose amassed by cells as a universal protectant and storage carbohydrate. Recently, it has been shown that the activity of neutral trehalase Nth1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae is mediated by the 14-3-3 protein binding that modulates the structure of both the catalytic domain and the region containing the EF-hand-like motif, whose role in the activation of Nth1 is unclear. In this work, the structure of the Nth1·14-3-3 complex and the importance of the EF-hand-like motif were investigated using site-directed mutagenesis, hydrogen/deuterium exchange coupled to mass spectrometry, chemical cross-linking, and small angle x-ray scattering.

Critical role of aquaporins in interleukin 1β (IL-1β)-induced inflammation.

Rapid changes in cell volume characterize macrophage activation, but the role of water channels in inflammation remains unclear. We show here that, in vitro, aquaporin (AQP) blockade or deficiency results in reduced IL-1β release by macrophages activated with a variety of NLRP3 activators. Inhibition of AQP specifically during the regulatory volume decrease process is sufficient to limit IL-1β release by macrophages through the NLRP3 inflammasome axis.