100 Gbit/s electro-optic modulator and 56 Gbits/s wavelength converter for DQPSK data in silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) technology

CMOS-compatible silicon photonics combined with covers of chi (2) or chi (3)-nonlinear organic material allows electro-optic modulators and all-optical wavelength converters for data rates of 100 Gbit/s and beyond. The devices are not impaired by free carriers

Prevention of Wear Particle-Induced Osteolysis by a Novel V-ATPase Inhibitor Saliphenylhalamide through Inhibition of Osteoclast Bone Resorption

Wear particle-induced peri-implant loosening (Aseptic prosthetic loosening) is one of the most common causes of total joint arthroplasty. It is well established that extensive bone destruction (osteolysis) by osteoclasts is responsible for wear particle-induced peri-implant loosening. Thus, inhibition of osteoclastic bone resorption should prevent wear particle induced osteolysis and may serve as a potential therapeutic avenue for prosthetic loosening. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that saliphenylhalamide, a new V-ATPase inhibitor attenuates wear particle-induced osteolysis in a mouse calvarial model. In vitro biochemical and morphological assays revealed that the inhibition of osteolysis is partially attributed to a disruption in osteoclast acidification and polarization, both a prerequisite for osteoclast bone resorption. Interestingly, the V-ATPase inhibitor also impaired osteoclast differentiation via the inhibition of RANKL-induced NF-κB and ERK signaling pathways. In conclusion, we showed that saliphenylhalamide affected multiple physiological processes including osteoclast differentiation, acidification and polarization, leading to inhibition of osteoclast bone resorption in vitro and wear particle-induced osteolysis in vivo. The results of the study provide proof that the new generation V-ATPase inhibitors, such as saliphenylhalamide, are potential anti-resorptive agents for treatment of peri-implant osteolysis

Investigation of Multiple Susceptibility Loci for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in an Italian Cohort of Patients

BACKGROUND: Recent GWAs and meta-analyses have outlined about 100 susceptibility genes/loci for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In this study we aimed to investigate the influence of SNPs tagging the genes/loci PTGER4, TNFSF15, NKX2-3, ZNF365, IFNG, PTPN2, PSMG1, and HLA in a large pediatric- and adult-onset IBD Italian cohort. METHODS: Eight SNPs were assessed in 1,070 Crohn's disease (CD), 1,213 ulcerative colitis (UC), 557 of whom being diagnosed at the age of ≤16 years, and 789 healthy controls. Correlations with sub-phenotypes and major variants of NOD2 gene were investigated. RESULTS: The SNPs tagging the TNFSF15, NKX2-3, ZNF365, and PTPN2 genes were associated with CD (P values ranging from 0.037 to 7×10(-6)). The SNPs tagging the PTGER4, NKX2-3, ZNF365, IFNG, PSMG1, and HLA area were associated with UC (P values 0.047 to 4×10(-5)). In the pediatric cohort the associations of TNFSF15, NKX2-3 with CD, and PTGER4, NKX2-3, ZNF365, IFNG, PSMG1 with UC, were confirmed. Association with TNFSF15 and pediatric UC was also reported. A correlation with NKX2-3 and need for surgery (P  =  0.038), and with HLA and steroid-responsiveness (P  =  0.024) in UC patients was observed. Moreover, significant association in our CD cohort with TNFSF15 SNP and colonic involvement (P  =  0.021), and with ZNF365 and ileal location (P  =  0.024) was demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed in a large Italian cohort the associations with CD and UC of newly identified genes, both in adult and pediatric cohort of patients, with some influence on sub-phenotypes

Molecular effects of gallium on osteoclastic differentiation of mouse and human monocytes

International audienceWe had previously reported that gallium (Ga) inhibited both the differentiation and resorbing activity of osteoclasts in a dose-dependent manner. To provide new insights into Ga impact on osteoclastogenesis, we investigated here the molecular mechanisms of Ga action on osteoclastic differentiation of monocytes upon Rankl treatment. We first observed that Ga treatment inhibited the expression of Rankl-induced early differentiation marker genes, while the same treatment performed subsequently did not modify the expression of late differentiation marker genes. Focusing on the early stages of osteoclast differentiation, we observed that Ga considerably disturbed both the initial induction as well as the autoamplification step of Nfatc1 gene. We next demonstrated that Ga strongly up-regulated the expression of Traf6, p62 and Cyld genes, and we observed concomitantly an inhibition of IκB degradation and a blockade of NFκB nuclear translocation, which regulates the initial induction of Nfatc1 gene expression. In addition, Ga inhibited c-Fos gene expression, and subsequently the auto-amplification stage of Nfatc1 gene expression. Lastly, considering calcium signaling, we observed upon Ga treatment an inhibition of calcium-induced Creb phosphorylation, as well as a blockade of gadolinium-induced calcium entry through TRPV-5 calcium channels. We identify for the first time Traf6, p62, Cyld, IκB, NFκB, c-Fos, and the calcium-induced Creb phosphorylation as molecular targets of Ga, this tremendously impacting the expression of the master transcription factor Nfatc1. In addition, our results strongly suggest that the TRPV-5 calcium channel, which is located within the plasma membrane, is a target of Ga action on human osteoclast progenitor cells

Co-regulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1, and the 90-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase in PC12 cells. Distinct effects of the neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor, and the mitogenic factor, epidermal growth factor.

International audienceWe recently characterized the association of the 44-kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase, also known as extracellular-regulated kinase 1 (ERK1), with the 90-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase (pp90rsk), one of its putative substrates in intact PC12 cells. Using antibodies to ERK1 that precipitate a functional ERK1.pp90rsk phosphoprotein complex, we demonstrate here the regulation of both kinases by various stimuli. In mouse fibroblasts expressing human insulin receptors, insulin and vanadate swiftly stimulated ERK1 activity within 5 min. While the hormonal effect was short-lived, vanadate led to a first peak followed by a progressively increasing second phase. In PC12 cells, epidermal growth factor, which is a growth promoting factor, provokes a rapid but evanescent activation of ERK1. In contrast, nerve growth factor (NGF), which acts as a neuronal differentiation factor for PC12 cells, induced a swift monophasic response followed by a sustained second phase. This strikingly different pattern of ERK1 stimulation by NGF and epidermal growth factor was associated to a contrasting effect on ERK1 cellular translocation. Thus, NGF induced a nuclear translocation of ERK1, while epidermal growth factor was without noticeable effect on ERK1 localization. In both cell systems all effectors tested stimulated ERK1 phosphorylation on both threonine and tyrosine residues in an 1:1 ratio. During ERK1 inactivation, phosphothreonine and phosphotyrosine were dephosphorylated in a similar fashion. Concurrent with ERK1 activation was the de novo appearance of phosphothreonine and an increase in phosphoserine on pp90rsk. The pp90rsk phosphothreonine content paralleled the ERK1 activity more closely than the phosphoserine level. These results provide compelling evidence that in fibroblasts and PC12 cells ERK1 plays a direct role in the phosphorylation of pp90rsk and that pp90rsk represents a physiologically relevant substrate of extracellular-regulated kinases. Finally, we would like to suggest that the differentiating action of NGF in PC12 cells might be due, at least in part, to the conjunction of its sustained and robust stimulation of ERK1 and pp90rsk, and of its induction of ERK1 nuclear translocation

Gallium impact on signaling pathways governing osteoclastogenesis

39th Annual Congress of the European-Calcified-Tissue-Society (ECTS), Stockholm, SWEDEN, MAY 19-23, 201

Differential activation of p44mapk (ERK1) by alpha-thrombin and thrombin-receptor peptide agonist.

alpha-Thrombin (thrombin), a potent mitogen for CCL39 hamster lung fibroblasts, stimulates phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) and inhibits adenylate cyclase via cleavage of a specific G-protein-coupled receptor (TH-R), recently cloned from human and hamster cells. This action can be entirely mimicked by the synthetic peptide SFFLRNP, referred to here as TMP (thrombin-mimicking peptide). TMP corresponds to the first seven amino acids of the new N-terminus generated by thrombin cleavage of the hamster TH-R. Although thrombin and TMP apparently generate identical early transmembrane signals, only thrombin is mitogenic on its own. TMP needs to be associated with fibroblast growth factor (FGF), a tyrosine kinase-activating growth factor, to induce cell-cycle re-entry. Here, we have examined the early and late phase of p44 MAP kinase (p44mapk) activation in G0-arrested CCL39 cells after stimulation by thrombin, TMP, FGF or TMP+FGF. We found that: (i) both thrombin and TMP rapidly activate p44mapk in a dose-dependent manner with maximum activation at around 5 min, (ii) after the initial burst of activation, a second and long-lasting wave of activation is observed in response to thrombin (10-100 nM) but not to TMP (up to 300 microM), (iii) FGF alone (25 ng/ml), like thrombin, rapidly and persistently activates p44mapk (20-fold at 5 min and about 3-fold after 2 h), (iv) TMP added together with FGF strongly potentiates the second and sustained phase of p44mapk activation. From these results we propose that: (1) thrombin-induced mitogenesis is mediated only in part by the TH-R recently cloned and (2) activation of p44mapk, in particular the long-lasting phase that correlates with DNA synthesis, is an obligatory event for cell-cycle re-entry