Exosomes and Exosomal miRNA in Respiratory Diseases

Exosomes are nanosized vesicles released from every cell in the body including those in the respiratory tract and lungs. They are found in most body fluids and contain a number of different biomolecules including proteins, lipids, and both mRNA and noncoding RNAs. Since they can release their contents, particularly miRNAs, to both neighboring and distal cells, they are considered important in cell-cell communication. Recent evidence has shown their possible importance in the pathogenesis of several pulmonary diseases. The differential expression of exosomes and of exosomal miRNAs in disease has driven their promise as biomarkers of disease enabling noninvasive clinical diagnosis in addition to their use as therapeutic tools. In this review, we summarize recent advances in this area as applicable to pulmonary diseases

A review of routing protocols in wireless body area networks

Recent technological advancements in wireless communication, integrated circuits and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMs) has enabled miniaturized, low-power, intelligent, invasive/ non-invasive micro and nano-technology sensor nodes placed in or on the human body for use in monitoring body function and its immediate environment referred to as Body Area Networks (BANs). BANs face many stringent requirements in terms of delay, power, temperature and network lifetime which need to be taken into serious consideration in the design of different protocols. Since routing protocols play an important role in the overall system performance in terms of delay, power consumption, temperature and so on, a thorough study on existing routing protocols in BANs is necessary. Also, the specific challenges of BANs necessitates the design of new routing protocols specifically designed for BANs. This paper provides a survey of existing routing protocols mainly proposed for BANs. These protocols are further classified into five main categories namely, temperature based, cross-layer, cluster based, cost-effective and QoS-based routing, where each protocol is described under its specified category. Also, comparison among routing protocols in each category is given. © 2013 ACADEMY PUBLISHER

What Immunological Defects Predispose to Non-tuberculosis Mycobacterial Infections?

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are categorized as one of the large and diverse groups of environmental organisms which are abundant in water and soil.  NTM cause a variety of diseases in humans that mainly affect the lung. A predisposition to pulmonary NTM is evident in patients with parenchymal structural diseases including bronchiectasis, emphysema, tuberculosis (TB), cystic fibrosis (CF), rheumatologic lung diseases and other chronic diseases with pulmonary manifestations. Lung infections are not the only consequences of being infected by NTM as they can also infect skin and soft tissue and may also cause lymphadenitis (predominantly in young children) and disseminated disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients or those with severely compromised immune system. NTM are also found in many subjects without any known risk factors.  Although the recent advances in imaging and microbiologic techniques including gene sequencing have provided a better view of the problems caused by NTM and has enhanced our understanding of the disease, many uncertainties regarding the immunologic response to NTM still exist. There is also limited data on the immunogenetics of NTM infection. Here, the authors reviewed the main immunogenetic defects as well as other immunological conditions which are associated with an increased the risk of NTM infections

Convergent and Biomimetic Enantioselective Total Synthesis of (−)-Communesin F

The first biomimetic enantioselective total synthesis of (-)-communesin F based on a late-stage heterodimerization and aminal exchange is described. Our synthesis features the expedient diazene-directed assembly of two advanced fragments to secure the congested C3a-C3a′ linkage in three steps, followed by a highly efficient biogenetically inspired aminal reorganization to access the heptacyclic communesin core in only two additional steps. Enantioselective syntheses of the two fragments were developed, with highlights including the catalytic asymmetric halocyclization and diastereoselective oxyamination reactions of tryptamine derivatives, a stereoselective sulfinimine allylation, and an efficient cyclotryptamine-C3a-sulfamate synthesis by either a new silver-promoted nucleophilic amination or a rhodium-catalyzed C-H amination protocol. The versatile syntheses of the fragments, their stereocontrolled assembly, and the efficient aminal exchange as supported by in situ monitoring experiments, in addition to the final stage N1′-acylation of the communesin core, provide a highly convergent synthesis of (-)-communesin F.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (GM089732)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CHE1212527)Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award ((F32GM097776)Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (PGS D3 Scholarship

Exploiting unknown dynamics in communications amongst coexisting wireless body area networks

© 2015 IEEE. In this paper, we propose a prediction algorithm for dynamic channel allocation amongst coexisting Wireless body area networks (WBANs). Variations in channel assignment due to mobility scenarios within each WBAN as well as the movement of WBANs towards each other is investigated. The proposed scheme is further optimized to allocate the optimum transmission time with synchronous and parallel transmissions such that interference is fully avoided. This reduces the number of interfering nodes and leads to better usage of the scarce limitation of resources in these networks, larger network lifetime, higher energy savings and higher throughput. In fact, the aim of this protocol is to mitigate interference along with maintaining minimum power consumption in order to maximize network lifetime and increase the spatial reuse and throughput of each WBAN. Simulation results show that our approach achieves a much higher spatial reuse using the smart spectrum allocation scheme for interference mitigation in collocated WBANs. We conduct extensive simulations for coexistence prediction in different mobility scenarios using the NS-2 simulator. Consequently, we demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed protocol in providing interference-free channel assignments and higher energy savings

Reduction in ischemic brain injury following the administration of pentoxifylline after transient global ischemia/reperfusion in a rat model

Background: It is well known that the hippocampus, the CA1 Pyramidal cells in particular, is selectively vulnerable during global cerebral ischemia. Recently, it is observed that pentoxifylline has a neuroprotective effect. This study explored the pharmacological relationship between ischemiainduced cell death of the hippocampus and the efficacy of a vasodilator agent (pentoxifylline) in the prevention of delayed neuronal death. Methods: This experimental study was performed on 4 groups: control, ischemia, experimental (200mg/kg pentoxifylline injection one hour prior to and one hour following ischemia) and vehicle (normal saline). Transient global ischemia was induced by bilateral common carotid arteries occlusion. To investigate the apoptotic bodies and caspase-3 activities as a central role in the execution phase of apoptosis, the brains were prepared for the TUNEL technique. Results: Pentoxifylline administration limited apoptosis and caspase-3 activities in rats' hippocampi. Our data showed no significant difference between the number of apoptotic bodies in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in the control and pentoxifylline -treated groups (p= 0.994). The results of one- way ANOVA revealed that that ischemia significantly increased caspase-3 levels in the hippocampus (p< 0.05); however, the level of caspase-3 in pentoxifylline -treated rats was less than the ischemic group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the neuroprotective effect of pentoxifylline (200mg/kg) may be accompanied by a reduction in ischemic damage within the CA1 region of the hippocampus in rats subjected to transient global cerebral ischemia

Biogenetically-Inspired Total Synthesis of Epidithiodiketopiperazines and Related Alkaloids

Natural products chemistry has historically been the prime arena for the discovery of new chemical transformations and the fountain of insights into key biological processes. It remains a fervent incubator of progress in the fields of chemistry and biology and an exchange mediating the flow of ideas between these allied fields of science. It is with this ethos that our group has taken an interest in and pursued the synthesis of a complex family of natural products termed the dimeric epipolythiodiketopiperazine (ETP) alkaloids. We present here an Account of the highly complex target molecules to which we pegged our ambitions, our systematic and relentless efforts toward those goals, the chemistry we developed in their pursuit, and the insight we have gained for their translational potential as potent anticancer molecules.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (Grant GM089732)Amgen Inc

Effect of Cyperus rotundus on ischemia-induced brain damage and memory dysfunction in rats

Objective(s): Global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury causes loss of pyramidal cells in CA1 region of hippocampus. In this study, we investigated the possible neuroprotective effects of the ethanol extract of Cyperus rotundus (EECR) on a model of global transient ischemia in rat, by evaluating the pathophysiology of the hippocampal tissue and spatial memory. Materials and Methods: Treatment group (EECR, 100 mg/kg/day) was gavaged from 4 days before, to 3 days after ischemia. Morris water maze test was performed 1 week after ischemia for 4 days. Brain tissue was prepared for Nissl staining. Results: Our data showed no statistical difference between the treatment and ischemia groups in water maze task. So, treatment of ischemia with EECR cannot improve spatial learning and memory. On the contrary EECR ameliorated the CA1 pyramidal cell loss due to transient global ischemia/ reperfusion injury. Conclusion: These results suggest that EECR cannot reduce the ischemia-induced, cognitive impairments seen after transient, global cerebral ischemia but can prevent pyramidal cell loss in CA1 region of hippocampus. © 2015, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Conjugated Alpha-Alumina nanoparticle with vasoactive intestinal peptide as a Nano-drug in treatment of allergic asthma in mice

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by airway inflammation, bronchoconstriction, airway hyperresponsiveness and recurring attacks of impaired breathing. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) has been proposed as a novel anti-asthma drug due to its effects on airway smooth muscle relaxation, bronchodilation and vasodilation along with its immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. In the current study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of VIP when conjugated with α-alumina nanoparticle (α-AN) to prevent enzymatic degradation of VIP in the respiratory tract. VIP was conjugated with α-AN. Balb/c mice were sensitized and challenges with ovalbumin (OVA) or PBS and were divided in four groups; VIP-treated, α-AN-treated, α-AN-VIP-treated and beclomethasone-treated as a positive control group. Specific and total IgE level, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), bronchial cytokine expression and lung histology were measured. α-AN-VIP significantly reduced the number of eosinophils (Eos), serum IgE level, Th2 cytokines and AHR. These effects of α-AN-VIP were more pronounced than that seen with beclomethasone or VIP alone (P<0.05). The current data indicate that α-AN-VIP can be considered as an effective nano-drug for the treatment of asthma