The clinical significance of aldosterone synthase deficiency: report of a novel mutation in the CYP11B2 gene

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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Progression of spontaneous lymphomas in SJL mice: Monitoring in vivo clonal evolution with molecular markers in sequential splenic samples

SJL mice are an inbred strain with a high incidence of spontaneous lymphomas of the B-cell type. We used molecular markers of clonality to study the process of tumor progression of SJL lymphomas in vivo. This was accomplished at time intervals ranging from 2 to 116 days by initial partial splenectomy (biopsy) followed by spleen sampling at the time of killing (autopsy). Immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangement and murine leukemia virus (MuLV) proviral integration patterns were used to study the clonal identities of the sequential tumor pairs in 11 informative mice by Southern blot hybridization. Of these 11 mice, 5 showed the same number of IgH gene rearrangement bands in the matched biopsy-autopsy samples, indicating the persistence of the original lesions. In 2 of 11 mice, a decrease in the number of IgH gene rearrangement bands was seen, consistent with a process of clonal selection in the original oligoclonal population. Another 2 of 11 mice showed an increase in the IgH gene rearrangement bands, indicating the emergence of either a new unrelated clone or, less likely, a subclone with secondary IgH gene rearrangement. The remaining two mice showed differences between the patterns in biopsy and autopsy samples, as assessed by IgH gene rearrangement and the proviral integration analysis. This finding suggests that the biopsied tumor had regressed and new clones had emerged. Tumor development was also associated with an increase in the number of clonal MuLV insertions in all mice except one, in which no non-germline integration band was detected. Of 11 mice, 5 showed an increase in the extent of tumor involvement by microscopic examination of the biopsy and autopsy samples; 3 showed a decrease, whereas 2 showed no change. A change in tumor morphology toward a more dedifferentiated appearance was found in only 1 of 11 mice. Overall, the results did not show a single paradigm that tumor progression followed, rather they indicated a complex and dynamic process of clonal evolution, which is likely to be a major feature of lymphoma progression in vivo.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Non-genomic activation of adenylyl cyclase and protein kinase G by 17β-estradiol in vascular smooth muscle of the rat superior mesenteric artery

The aim of the present study was to investigate the signaling mechanisms underlying the non-genomic effects of estrogen in rat superior mesenteric arteries. Isometric tension was recorded in rings with or without endothelium. Changes in cyclic nucleotide levels and protein kinase (PK) activities were measured. Localization of estrogen receptors (ER) and caveolin-1 were visualized by confocal microscopy. 17β-Estradiol elicited a concentration-dependent relaxation. The relaxation was reduced by SQ 22536 (adenylyl cyclase inhibitor) and KT 5823 (PKG inhibitor) while ODQ (guanylyl cyclase inhibitor) and KT 5720 (PKA inhibitor) had no effect. At the physiological concentration of 1 nM, 17β-estradiol had no significant effect on relaxation but enhanced the relaxation to sodium nitroprusside. The enhancement of relaxation by 17β-estradiol was blocked by SQ 22536 and KT 5823. Although 1 nM 17β-estradiol or 10 nM sodium nitroprusside given alone had minimal effects on PKG activity, in their combined presence, a significant increase in PKG activity was observed. Confocal microscopy demonstrated that ERα and ERβ colocalized with caveolin-1 and PKG in vascular smooth muscle cells. The present findings suggest that 17β-estradiol enhances relaxation of vascular smooth muscle of the rat superior mesenteric artery by activating adenylyl cyclase, leading to an increase in cAMP which cross activates PKG in the caveolae. No detectable increase in total cAMP level was detected as these changes occurred in the caveolae. These results are consistent with the notion that 17β-estradiol mediates its effect in the distinct microdomains of the caveolae of the plasma membrane with colocalization of adenylyl cyclase and PKG. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.link_to_subscribed_fulltex