Monthly Archives: March 2019

MIBG uptake into the myocardium reflects the density of postganglionic sympathetic nerve endings

The degree of cardiac sympathetic denervation in PD patients is positively associated with disease progression. The relative ratio of radioisotope uptake into the heart to that in the apparent discrepancy adora2b kinetics function mediastinum in MIBG scintigraphy is effective for making a differential diagnosis between PD and MSA in the early stage of the disease. Comparing the diagnostic accuracy of the cardiac MIBG test and that of the putaminal ADC test, it is reported that the latter is superior for differential diagnosis between MSA-P and PD ; however, this has not been investigated in the early stage of the disease. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of these tests when applied to early-stage patients. The most discriminative cut-off points for ADC and MIBG scintigraphy in MSA-P and PD patients were determined, and the diagnostic accuracy of the tests was assessed by applying these cut-off points to patients with disease duration #3 years. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate diagnostic accuracy of the putaminal ADC test for MSA-P and cardiac MIBG test for PD. Referral standard diagnosis of PD and MSA-P was made according to the United Kingdom Parkinson’s Disease Society Brain Bank Clinical Diagnostic Criteria and the second consensus clinical diagnostic criteria, respectively. According to these criteria, the referral diagnosis was made carefully by three expert neurologists who were masked to the result of ADC and MIBG tests. Collecting all medical records until December 2012 for the referral diagnostic tests, the diagnosis was made when the diagnoses by three experts were consistent, and the diagnosis was undetermined when they were inconsistent. Based on the referral diagnostic criteria, the specificity, sensitivity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and the area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve of the two index tests, the putaminal ADC test and cardiac MIBG test, were obtained and the most discriminating cut-off points were determined using the ROC curves. When applying these cut-off points to test results obtained from early patients with disease duration of #3 years, the diagnostic accuracy was calculated to investigate early diagnostic usefulness. We enrolled 260 consecutive patients with muscular rigidity, hand or leg tremor, or slowed movements who had undergone both ADC and MIBG scintigraphy at the Department of Neurology of Utano National Hospital between January 2001 and October 2010. Patients with a history of diabetes mellitus, myocardial infarction, current heart diseases including heart failure and cardiomyopathy, and current use of monoamine oxidase B inhibitors, droxidopa or tricyclic antidepressants were excluded, which can interfere with MIBG imaging, and patients with MRI findings of other putaminal lesions were also excluded, which can influence the ADC test. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of Utano National Hospital, and written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Patients’ characteristics including age at study enrollment, sex, age of onset, disease duration, disease severity, presence of orthostatic hypotension, and levodopa daily dose were collected. The definition of orthostatic hypotension was according to UPDRS IV. To determine the normal range of the putaminal ADC in our hospital, age-matched controls were recruited. Concerning the cardiac MIBG test, we referred to our previous study due to the risk of radiation exposure and estimated the mean H/M ratio to be 2.45 in control patients. The putaminal ADC test is based on the diffuse rarefaction of the putamen, and consistent with previous studies, the putaminal diffusivity was significantly elevated in patients with MSA-P. The cardiac MIBG test is based on peripheral sympathetic nerve terminals, and cardiac accumulation of MIBG was significantly reduced in patients with PD.

Results revealed the prevalence of SXT element and the absenceof integrons in these isolates

Antibiotic resistance traits and their transferability by conjugation also corroborated the presence of this mobile genetic element. Interestingly, Double-MismatchAmplification Mutation Assay showed the presence of classical, El Tor as well as Haitian ctxB variants in these isolates. Mutations in topoisomerase genes gyrA and parC governed the quinolone resistance phenotype in these isolates. With the dismal scenario of an alarming increase in the drug resistance of various infectious pathogens, continuous surveillance becomes imperative to understand the pathogens and their changing drug resistance profiles for an effective treatment. The present study was undertaken to determine the drug resistance profiles of one hundred and nineteen clinical isolates of V. cholerae O1 El Tor Ogawa from Kolkata, in 2009, and unravel some of the mechanisms that could be responsible for their observed drug resistance phenotypes. Presence of SXT element in majority of the isolates and their resistance to drugs characteristic of SXT element clearly showed the circulation of this genetic factor in the clinical isolates of V. cholerae. Sequences of topoisomerases from the representative isolates in this Indian population indicated the presence of a mutation in GyrA and another mutation in ParC. Though the mutation Ser83R Ileu in GyrA accounted for the observed nalidixic acid resistance in 100% of the isolates, the effect of the other mutation in ParC could not be explained as the isolates were not resistant to fluoroquinolones like ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin for which this mutation is known to contribute. Resistance profile of these isolates was very similar to the one described earlier for V. cholerae strains circulating in India from the year 2004�C2007 and also in Haiti. A recent report has described DMAMAPCR as an effective tool to study the emergence and dissemination of Haitian ctxB allele in India. Our study using the DMAMAPCR also established that the 2009 V. cholerae isolates had 46.2% of the Haitian ctxB allele corresponding to genotype 7, a new variant of ctxB that has been reported from Orissa, India, in 2007 and later in Kolkata from 2006�C2011. Though there are few reports describing different number of V. cholerae clinical isolates from India in recent years, our report adds another dimension to these finding from India and abroad to once again show that a large number of the Indian strains as recent as 2009 had similar characteristics of the strain that caused Haiti outbreak. It is established now that UN peacekeepers from Nepal were the actual carriers of the pathogen in Haiti but such isolates have also been circulating in the Southeast Asian regions like India and Bangladesh since last few years. An earlier report had established the genetic relatedness of the ICEVchHAI 1, an ICE element from the strain that caused Haiti outbreak, with that of ICEVchInd5, an ICE from an Indian isolate from Sevagram, India, in 1994. BLAST search of the sequence of SXT integrase in our study showed 99% identity with ICEVchHAI, ICEVchInd5, ICEVflInd1 and ICEVchBan5; all belonging to the same group 2 of SXT/R391 ICEs. Only 95% identity with ICEVchInd4 with origin in Kolkata and no relation/ identity was observed with the third group of ICEs containing the Matlab variant/ICEVchBan9. Persistence of this ICEVchInd5 element in India till 2005 has also been documented.

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These platelets contain normal numbers of both a-granules and dense granules

Therefore that myosin Va expression is also not required for normal trafficking and packaging of secretory granules into platelets at the level of the megakaryocyte. It is likely that, for this role, myosin II is the predominant motor protein involved. On the other hand, it is also possible that other related myosins are expressed or over-expressed in the Myo5a2/2 platelet, and that redundancy of function with these myosins is such that there is no observable phenotype in the single Myo5a2/2 mouse. Myosin Vb is involved actin-dependent vesicle transport and plasma membrane recycling in various cells, including neurons and oocytes. Myosin Vc localises with membrane compartments involved in transferrin trafficking in epithelial cells and has been shown to function as a molecular motor driving secretory granule transport in lacrimal gland acinar cells and the MCF-7 cell line. To examine the expression of myosin Vb, Vc, and VI, we immunoblotted for these proteins in human, wild-type, and Myo5a2/2 platelets. Myosin Vb and Vc could not be detected in any platelet sample, suggesting that the absence of a platelet defect in myosin Va-deficient mice is not a consequence of normal expression or compensatory upregulation of myosin Vb or Vc. The absence of these proteins is consistent with mRNA analysis of human and mouse platelets. Recently, it has been found that myosin VI regulates fusion pores formed between secretory vesicles and the plasma membrane. In contrast to myosin Vb and Vc, myosin VI was present in human, wild-type and Myo5a2/2 platelets. There was no upregulation of myosin VI detected in myosin Va-deficient platelets, suggesting that its expression does not change in the absence of myosin Va. However, the presence of myosin VI in platelets, and its recently reported role in exocytosis, provides the possibility that this protein is involved in platelet granule secretion, and that there may be redundancy of function between this motor protein and myosin Va in the control of granule secretion. This may be more important in mouse platelets than in human platelets, as mRNA analysis indicates a greater abundance of myo6 mRNA in mouse platelets. The possible role of myosin VI in mouse platelet exocytosis deserves further attention. Epidermis, the outermost part of the skin composed mainly of keratinocytes, is a self-renewing, multilayered, stratified and keratinized squamous epithelium. It provides a physical barrier protecting an organism from dehydration and a variety of environmental insults. To generate the protective barrier continuously, keratinocytes should be well balanced in their proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis programs. The mechanism to control keratinocyte differentiation depend on many factors such as calcium, vitamin D, and reactive oxygen species. Many of intracellular signaling cascades and transcription factors are coordinately regulated by these factors, thereby ensuring the proper expression of differentiation-related genes in a spatiotemporal fashion. For example, p63 is expressed in the basal layer of epidermis and supports the proliferation of keratinocytes. In contrast, Notch signaling is activated in spinous layer and induces keratinocyte differentiation. Also, PKC associated AP1 and C/EBP transcription factors are involved in the induction of keratinocyte differentiation. Although a number of genes required for keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation have been investigated.

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Cell adhesion mediated drug resistance has become an active area of more metastatic

We also reported that the normal murine mammary NMuMG cells lack of mAChR expression, similarly to human MCF-10A cells, and here we showed that they are not VEGF-A producers. Similarly, we reported that human MCF-7 tumor cells, express mAChR, meanwhile human mammary normal cells MCF-10A do not. There is an important parallel between cancer and the systemic autoimmune diseases, both are characterized by a diverse collection of autoAbs directed against different antigens. Most of the antigens identified in human tumors are self-proteins without mutations but inappropriately expressed or AbMole Aristolochic-acid-A over-expressed. We had previously described the presence of autoAbs in the sera of mice LM3 tumor bearers. These autoAbs recognize and activate mAChR over-express in tumor cells, and promote tumor growth and angiogenesis, revealing that mAChR could be acting as autoantigens. Recently, we identified a similar population of autoAbs in the IgG fraction purified from the sera of breast cancer patients in stage I. Up to now, these autoAbs that interact with mAChR have been detected in all female patients studied with breast cancer in T1N0Mx. T1N0Mx-IgGs promote MCF-7 cell proliferation in vitro mainly through the activation of M3 receptor subtype that triggers phospholipase C/ nitric oxide synthase metabolic pathway. In addition, T1N0Mx-IgGs increased MCF-7 cell migration and invasion by up-regulating metalloproteinase-9 activity in tumor cell supernatants. The roles of MMPs in metastasis are multifold. They allow tumor cells to invade, intravasate and extravasate. They also allow tumor cell migration in the extracellular matrix of distant site, as well as growth and angiogenesis of secondary tumors. Regarding angiogenesis, here we demonstrate that the same autoAbs that increased MMP-9 activity in MCF-7 cell supernatants can trigger VEGF-A expression and tumor-induced angiogenesis. On line with these results, Hawinkels et al. reported that MMP-9 mRNA in gastric cancer tissues was upregulated and coincided with VEGF expression and microvascular density. These findings support an emerging notion that MMP-9 is a positive regulator of tumor angiogenesis. Moreover, the latter authors showed that neutrophil-derived MMP-9 was able to release the biologically active VEGF165 from the extracellular matrix of colon cancer. It is important to note that the stimulation of MCF-7 cellsinduced neovascular response triggered by T1N0Mx-IgG was not totally reduced in the presence of atropine, indicating that these autoAbs could be exerting pro-angiogenic actions independently of mAChR activation, and thus deepening the effects that favor tumor growth. Our results demonstrate that T1N0Mx-IgG were also able to up-regulate VEGF-A expression and angiogenesis induced by LMM3 cells in a more potent manner than in MCF-7 cells via muscarinic activation. This could be due the differences in the subtypes and amounts of mAChR express in both types of tumor cells as we reported previously: LMM3 cells express high amounts of the five subtypes of mAChR while MCF-7 cells only express M3 and M4 receptor subtypes. In conclusion our results indicate that T1N0Mx-IgG from breast cancer patients in stage I potentiate VEGF-A production and neovascular response induced by MCF-7 tumor cells by activating mAChR express in them. These autoAbs could be considered as risk factors in breast cancer progression. Development of resistance to chemotherapy in epithelial ovarian cancers involves multiple mechanisms.

We identified the PP2A phosphatase as a component modulating exocytosis through its Cdc55p

Phoprotein with sites of phosphorylation on residues S8, S11, S201, S204. In this study, we have made use of mutations at these sites to examine the biological consequences of Sec4p phosphorylation. Replacement of the identified phosphorylation sites with glutamic or aspartic acid residues eliminates Sec4p functionality, while introduction of alanine residues at these positions does not impact function. In this context, we interpret glutamic and aspartic acid residues to be acting as phosphomimetics. This interpretation is reinforced by the finding that substitutions of similar sized but neutral residues have no effect in these positions, and also by the fact that mutations at a selective subset of these sites gave rise to conditional sec4 mutants that accumulate vesicles at the restrictive temperature. These data suggest that phosphorylation is not necessary for Sec4p function but rather suggest that it serves to sensitize Sec4p function. To understand the mechanistic consequences of Sec4p phosphorylation we examined the ability of the protein with phosphomimetic substitutions in the positions of phosphorylated serines to undergo nucleotide binding and hydrolysis. We did not observe any significant impact of these mutations on the GTPase cycle, either intrinsically or under the influence of its known direct regulators Dss4p, Sec2p and Gyp1p. This conclusion is supported by structural considerations: the peptide regions containing the phosphorylated residues are on the opposite side of the protein to the nucleotide binding cleft and are not part of the molecule that engages the activators Sec2p and Dss4p. In contrast, our data suggest that one mechanistic consequence of in vivo Sec4p phosphorylation is to block interaction with the exocyst component effector MicroRNAs likely influence these processes by negative regulation through binding to messenger RNA targets Sec15p as phosphomimetic substitutions in these positions rendered the protein unable to interact with Sec15p but still retained interaction with another regulator, RabGDI. Sec15p action is essential for polarized exocytosis and is the only known effector of Sec4p that is necessary for viability, suggesting that the inability of the phosphomimetic Sec4p to provide function is a direct consequence of its lack of interaction with Sec15p. The exact mode of interaction between Sec4p, its effector Sec15p and other Sec15p interacting components, including the polarity establishment protein Bem1p, the Sec4p exchange factor Sec2p, the unconventional myosin Myo2p, the other seven subunits of the exocyst and the other Ras-related small GTPases that bind to the exocyst, remain to be understood. The crystal structure of the exocytic ortholog of Sec4p, Rab3A, in complex with its effector Rabphillin, demonstrates a binding mode made up of noncontiguous regions of Rab3A that includes the extended NH2terminus. In a similar fashion, the extended regions at either or both of the termini of Sec4p may constitute a binding determinant for Sec15p that can be blocked in a regulated manner by phosphorylation. Replacement of the phosphorylated residues with the negatively charged phosphomimetics may lock Sec4p in an inactive state because it can no longer form productive interactions with its effector. When not engaged in effector or other protein-protein interactions, these particular residues will be physically accessible to the action of phosphoregulatory enzymes, being located in unstructured regions that protrude from the core GTPase domain. In support of phosphorylation as a negative regulatory event on Sec4p-mediated trafficking.