Paxillin facilitates timely neurite initiation on soft-substrate environments by interacting with the endocytic machinery.

Neurite initiation is the first step in neuronal development and occurs spontaneously in soft tissue environments. Although the mechanisms regulating the morphology of migratory cells on rigid substrates in cell culture are widely known, how soft environments modulate neurite initiation remains elusive. Using hydrogel cultures, pharmacologic inhibition, and genetic approaches, we reveal that paxillin-linked endocytosis and adhesion are components of a bistable switch controlling neurite initiation in a substrate modulus-dependent manner. On soft substrates, most paxillin binds to endocytic factors and facilitates vesicle invagination, elevating neuritogenic Rac1 activity and expression of genes encoding the endocytic machinery. By contrast, on rigid substrates, cells develop extensive adhesions, increase RhoA activity and sequester paxillin from the endocytic machinery, thereby delaying neurite initiation. Our results highlight paxillin as a core molecule in substrate modulus-controlled morphogenesis and define a mechanism whereby neuronal cells respond to environments exhibiting varying mechanical properties

Effects of natto extract on endothelial injury in a rat model

Vascular endothelial damage has been found to be associated with thrombus formation, which is considered to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A diet of natto leads to a low prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of natto extract on vascular endothelia damage with exposure to laser irradiation. Endothelial damage both in vitro and in vivo was induced by irradiation of rose bengal using a DPSS green laser. Cell viability was determined by MTS assay, and the intimal thickening was verified by a histological approach. The antioxidant content of natto extract was determined for the free radical scavenging activity. Endothelial cells were injured in the presence of rose bengal irradiated in a dose-dependent manner. Natto extract exhibits high levels of antioxidant activity compared with purified natto kinase. Apoptosis of laser-injured endothelial cells was significantly reduced in the presence of natto extract. Both the natto extract and natto kinase suppressed intimal thickening in rats with endothelial injury. The present findings suggest that natto extract suppresses vessel thickening as a synergic effect attributed to its antioxidant and anti-apoptosis properties

Using Rare Earth Elements to Constrain Particulate Organic Carbon Flux in the East China Sea

Fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the East China Sea (ECS) have been reported to decrease from the inner continental shelf towards the outer continental shelf. Recent research has shown that POC fluxes in the ECS may be overestimated due to active sediment resuspension. To better characterize the effect of sediment resuspension on particle fluxes in the ECS, rare earth elements (REEs) and organic carbon (OC) were used in separate two-member mixing models to evaluate trap-collected POC fluxes. The ratio of resuspended particles from sediments to total trap-collected particles in the ECS ranged from 82-94% using the OC mixing model, and 30-80% using the REEs mixing model, respectively. These results suggest that REEs may be better proxies for sediment resuspension than OC in high turbidity marginal seas because REEs do not appear to undergo degradation during particle sinking as compared to organic carbon. Our results suggest that REEs can be used as tracers to provide quantitative estimates of POC fluxes in marginal sea

Multiple Bony Injuries on Bone Scan in a Case of Unsuspected Child Abuse

This case is described of an eleven-month-old infant with lower limbs swelling and the left elbow skeletal malformation following a fall. The radionuclide bone scan was performed to exclude bone infection or congenital skeletal anomaly. The images unexpectedly showed multiple increased radioactive foci throughout the whole body. It was a strong probability of child abuse. All lesions are readily apparent on the following plain film radiographs and MRI

Novel Application of Immunomodulatory Mushroom Polysaccharide (β-Glucan) and Triterpenes for Diabetic Wound Care

β-Glucan and triterpenes are two important derivative compounds from traditional medicinal mushroom, such as Ganoderma lucidum and Antrodia cinnamomea. β-glucan and triterpenes are considered to have immunoregulatory properties in disease treatment for long years. The immunoregulatory effects are usually activated through some transcription of pro-inflammatory genes and possess immunomodulatory activity. Difficulty in healing wound now is a common condition that occurred in diabetic patients, and the physiological hyperglycemic status of diabetic patients resulting in the wounds continue to produce an inflammatory response. Thus, we hope to use β-glucan and triterpenes for difficult wound healing that possess immunomodulatory activity on the wound micro-environment and stimulate the positive effects on healing. In this chapter, these two important derivative compounds from traditional medicinal mushroom were examined by diabetic mammal’s wound healing models. In these models, the skin wounds’ microenvironment is expected close to diabetic foot, suffering in hyperglycemic and inflammatory status. The results are clearly presented, with the immunomodulatory effects from mushroom β-glucan and triterpenes that involved in modulating the cell-mediated immune system to cause cellular proliferation and further to introduce healing performance of the chronic inflammation wounds

HBV replication is significantly reduced by IL-6

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine with pivotal functions in the regulation of the biological responses of several target cells including hepatocytes. The level of serum IL-6 has been reported to be elevated in patients with chronic hepatitis B, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and represents the best marker of HBV-related clinical progression as compared with several other cytokines. In this study, we found that IL-6 was able to effectively suppress hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication and prevent the accumulation of HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in a human hepatoma cell line. We also demonstrated that the suppression of HBV replication by IL-6 requires concurrently a moderate reduction of viral transcripts/core proteins and a marked decrease in viral genome-containing nucleocapsids. Studies on the stability of existing viral capsids suggest that the IL-6 effect on the reduction of genome-containing nucleocapsids is mediated through the prevention of the formation of genome-containing nucleocapsids, which is similar to the effect of interferons. However, IFN-α/β and IFN-γ did not participate in the IL-6-induced suppression of HBV replication. Taken together, our results will provide important information to better understand the role of IL-6 in the course of HBV infection

Biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of 188Re-liposomes and their comparative therapeutic efficacy with 5-fluorouracil in C26 colonic peritoneal carcinomatosis mice

Chia-Che Tsai1, Chih-Hsien Chang1, Liang-Cheng Chen1, Ya-Jen Chang1, Keng-Li Lan2, Yu-Hsien Wu1, Chin-Wei Hsu1, I-Hsiang Liu1, Chung-Li Ho1, Wan-Chi Lee1, Hsiao-Chiang Ni1, Tsui-Jung Chang1, Gann Ting3, Te-Wei Lee11Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan, 2Cancer Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 3National Health Research Institutes, Taipei, Taiwan, ROCBackground: Nanoliposomes are designed as carriers capable of packaging drugs through passive targeting tumor sites by enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effects. In the present study the biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, micro single-photon emission computed tomography (micro-SPECT/CT) image, dosimetry, and therapeutic efficacy of 188Re-labeled nanoliposomes (188Re-liposomes) in a C26 colonic peritoneal carcinomatosis mouse model were evaluated.Methods: Colon carcinoma peritoneal metastatic BALB/c mice were intravenously administered 188Re-liposomes. Biodistribution and micro-SPECT/CT imaging were performed to determine the drug profile and targeting efficiency of 188Re-liposomes. Pharmacokinetics study was described by a noncompartmental model. The OLINDA|EXM® computer program was used for the dosimetry evaluation. For therapeutic efficacy, the survival, tumor, and ascites inhibition of mice after treatment with 188Re-liposomes and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), respectively, were evaluated and compared.Results: In biodistribution, the highest uptake of 188Re-liposomes in tumor tissues (7.91% ± 2.02% of the injected dose per gram of tissue [%ID/g]) and a high tumor to muscle ratio (25.8 ± 6.1) were observed at 24 hours after intravenous administration. The pharmacokinetics of 188Re-liposomes showed high circulation time and high bioavailability (mean residence time [MRT] = 19.2 hours, area under the curve [AUC] = 820.4%ID/g*h). Micro-SPECT/CT imaging of 188Re-liposomes showed a high uptake and targeting in ascites, liver, spleen, and tumor. The results were correlated with images from autoradiography and biodistribution data. Dosimetry study revealed that the 188Re-liposomes did not cause high absorbed doses in normal tissue but did in small tumors. Radiotherapeutics with 188Re-liposomes provided better survival time (increased by 34.6% of life span; P < 0.05), tumor and ascites inhibition (decreased by 63.4% and 83.3% at 7 days after treatment; P < 0.05) in mice compared with chemotherapeutics of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).Conclusion: The use of 188Re-liposomes for passively targeted tumor therapy had greater therapeutic effect than the currently clinically applied chemotherapeutics drug 5-FU in a colonic peritoneal carcinomatosis mouse model. This result suggests that 188Re-liposomes have potential benefit and are safe in treating peritoneal carcinomatasis of colon cancer.Keywords: biodistribution, dosimetry, 5-fluorouracil, micro-SPECT/CT, 188Re-liposome

Low Cost Seismic Network Practical Applications for Producing Quick Shaking Maps in Taiwan

Two major earthquakes of ML greater than 6.0 occurred in Taiwan in the first half of 2013. The vibrant shaking brought landslides, falling rocks and casualties. This paper presents a seismic network developed by National Taiwan University (NTU) with 401 Micro-Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) accelerators. The network recorded high quality strong motion signals from the two events and produced delicate shaking maps within one minute after the earthquake occurrence. The high shaking regions of the intensity map produced by the NTU system suggest damage and casualty locations. Equipped with a dense array of MEMS accelerometers, the NTU system is able to accommodate 10% signals loss from part of the seismic stations and maintain its normal functions for producing shaking maps. The system also has the potential to identify the rupture direction which is one of the key indices used to estimate possible damage. The low cost MEMS accelerator array shows its potential in real-time earthquake shaking map generation and damage avoidance