Mechanisms of angiotensin II signaling on cytoskeleton of podocytes

Podozytzen sind essentiell für die selektive Permeabilität des glomerulären Filters. Die fortwährende Aktivierung des renalen Angiotensin-Systems ist entscheidend bei der Pathogenese der Podozytenschädigung und der Proteinurie. In dieser Arbeit konnte eine erhöhte Expressionen von Rac-1 und phosphorylierten ERM Proteinen (ezrin/radixin/moesin) in kultivierten Mauspodozyten, die Ang II Typ1 Rezeptor (AT1R) stabil überexprimieren und in Glomerula von AT1R transgenen Ratten gezeigt werden. In Mauspodozyten führte die Ang II Stimulation zu einer Sauerstoffradikal abhängigen Umstrukturierung des kortikalen F-Aktins. Zudem konnte nach Stimulation mit Ang II in Podozyten intrazellulär und an den fokalen Adhäsionen eine erniedrigte Expression von alpha Actinin-4 beobachtet werden. Der Ang II-induzierte Phänotypwechsel von einer stabilen, statischen Zelle zu einer migratorisch aktiven Zelle ist wahrscheinlich die Ursache für die Schädigung des Podozyten und führt somit zur Glomerulosklerose

Engineering Colloidal Metal-Semiconductor Nanorods Hybrid Nanostructures for Photocatalysis

Comprehensive Summary Emerging engineering strategies of colloidal metal-semiconductor nanorod hybrid nanostructures spanning from type, size, dimension, and location of both metal nanoparticles and semiconductors, co-catalyst, band gap structure, surface ligand to hole scavenger are elaborated symmetrically to rationalize the design of this type of intriguing materials for efficient photocatalytic applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Left ventricular rotational mechanics in Tanzanian children with sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a common inherited hemoglobinopathy. Adults with SCD manifest both systolic and diastolic cardiac dysfunction, though the age of onset of dysfunction has not been defined. Left ventricular (LV) rotational mechanics have not been studied in children with SCD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cardiac rotational mechanics differed between children with SCD and age-matched controls. METHODS: Basal and apical LV short-axis images were acquired prospectively in 213 patients with SCD (mean age, 14.1 ± 2.6 years) and 49 controls (mean age, 13.3 ± 2.8 years) from the Muhimbili Sickle Cohort in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The magnitude of basal and apical rotation, net twist angle, torsion, and untwist rate were obtained by two-dimensional speckle-tracking. The timing of events was normalized to aortic valve closure. RESULTS: Mean basal rotation was significantly lower in patients with SCD compared with controls (P = .012), although no difference was observed in apical rotation (P = .37). No statistically significant differences in torsion or net twist angle were detected. Rotation rate at the apex (P = .001) and base (P = .0004) were significantly slower in subjects with SCD compared with controls. Mean peak untwisting rate was also significantly slower in patients with SCD (P = .006). No associations were found between hemoglobin concentration and apical rotation, basal rotation, net twist, and torsion. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates alterations in LV rotational mechanics in children with SCD, including lower basal rotation, peak differential twist, and untwist rate. These abnormalities denote subclinical changes in LV systolic and diastolic performance in children with SCD. Future work may reveal an association between rotational metrics and long-term patient outcomes

Interacting Agegraphic Dark Energy

A new dark energy model, named "agegraphic dark energy", has been proposed recently, based on the so-called K\'{a}rolyh\'{a}zy uncertainty relation, which arises from quantum mechanics together with general relativity. In this note, we extend the original agegraphic dark energy model by including the interaction between agegraphic dark energy and pressureless (dark) matter. In the interacting agegraphic dark energy model, there are many interesting features different from the original agegraphic dark energy model and holographic dark energy model. The similarity and difference between agegraphic dark energy and holographic dark energy are also discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, revtex4; v2: references added; v3: accepted by Eur. Phys. J. C; v4: published versio

Entropy-Corrected New Agegraphic Dark Energy Model in Horava-Lifshitz Gravity

In this work, we have considered the entropy-corrected new agegraphic dark energy (ECNADE) model in Horava-Lifshitz gravity in FRW universe. We have discussed the correspondence between ECNADE and other dark energy models such as DBI-essence,Yang-Mills dark energy, Chameleon field, Non-linear electrodynamics field and hessence dark energy in the context of Horava-Lifshitz gravity and reconstructed the potentials and the dynamics of the scalar field theory which describe the ECNADE.Comment: 12 page

Quantitative determination of interlayer electronic coupling at various critical points in bilayer Mo S 2

Tailoring interlayer coupling has emerged as a powerful tool to tune the electronic structure of van der Waals (vdW) bilayers. One example is the usage of the “moiré pattern” to create controllable two-dimensional electronic superlattices through the configurational dependence of interlayer electronic couplings. This approach has led to some remarkable discoveries in twisted graphene bilayers, and transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) homo- and hetero-bilayers. However, a largely unexplored factor is the interlayer distance, d, which can impact the interlayer coupling strength exponentially. In this letter, we quantitatively 2 determine the coupling strengths as a function of interlayer spacing at various critical points of the Brillouin zone in bilayer MoS2. The exponential dependence of the coupling parameter on the gap distance is demonstrated. Most significantly, we achieved a 280% enhancement of K-valley coupling strength with an 8% reduction of the vdW gap, pointing to a new strategy in designing a novel electronic system in vdW bilayers. gning a unique electronic system in vdW bilayers.This research was primarily supported by the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) under DMR-1720595. We also acknowledge support from the Welch Foundation (F-1672 and F-1662), the US NSF (DMR-1808751) and the U.S. Air Force (FA2386-18-1-4097). C.-R.P., P.-J.C., and M.-Y.C. acknowledge the support from Academia Sinica, Taiwan. W.-H.C. acknowledges the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST-110-2119-M-A49-001-MBK) and the support from the Center for Emergent Functional Matter Science (CEFMS) of NYCU supported by the Ministry of Education of Taiwan. W.-T.H. acknowledges the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST-110-2112-M-007-011-MY3) and the Yushan Young Scholar Program from the Ministry of Education of Taiwan. C.K.S. also acknowledge the Yushan Scholar Program from the Ministry of Education of Taiwan.Center for Dynamics and Control of Material

Estimation of Parent Specific DNA Copy Number in Tumors using High-Density Genotyping Arrays

Chromosomal gains and losses comprise an important type of genetic change in tumors, and can now be assayed using microarray hybridization-based experiments. Most current statistical models for DNA copy number estimate total copy number, which do not distinguish between the underlying quantities of the two inherited chromosomes. This latter information, sometimes called parent specific copy number, is important for identifying allele-specific amplifications and deletions, for quantifying normal cell contamination, and for giving a more complete molecular portrait of the tumor. We propose a stochastic segmentation model for parent-specific DNA copy number in tumor samples, and give an estimation procedure that is computationally efficient and can be applied to data from the current high density genotyping platforms. The proposed method does not require matched normal samples, and can estimate the unknown genotypes simultaneously with the parent specific copy number. The new method is used to analyze 223 glioblastoma samples from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, giving a more comprehensive summary of the copy number events in these samples. Detailed case studies on these samples reveal the additional insights that can be gained from an allele-specific copy number analysis, such as the quantification of fractional gains and losses, the identification of copy neutral loss of heterozygosity, and the characterization of regions of simultaneous changes of both inherited chromosomes