SUCI02 inhibits the erbB-2 tyrosine kinase receptor signaling pathway and arrests the cell cycle in G 1 phase in breast cancer cells

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73321/1/j.1349-7006.2006.00143.x.pd

Cytomegalovirus Infection of the Cervix Detected By Cytology and Histology: A Report of Five Cases

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72846/1/j.1365-2303.1993.tb00094.x.pd

Altered differentiation of endometrial mesenchymal stromal fibroblasts is associated with endometriosis susceptibility.

Cellular development is tightly regulated as mature cells with aberrant functions may initiate pathogenic processes. The endometrium is a highly regenerative tissue, shedding and regenerating each month. Endometrial stromal fibroblasts are regenerated each cycle from mesenchymal stem cells and play a pivotal role in endometriosis, a disease characterised by endometrial cells that grow outside the uterus. Why the cells of some women are more capable of developing into endometriosis lesions is not clear. Using isolated, purified and cultured endometrial cells of mesenchymal origin from 19 women with (n = 10) and without (n = 9) endometriosis we analysed the transcriptome of 33,758 individual cells and compared these to clinical characteristics and in vitro growth profiles. We show purified mesenchymal cell cultures include a mix of mesenchymal stem cells and two endometrial stromal fibroblast subtypes with distinct transcriptomic signatures indicative of varied progression through the differentiation processes. The fibroblast subgroup characterised by incomplete differentiation was predominantly (81%) derived from women with endometriosis and exhibited an altered in vitro growth profile. These results uncover an inherent difference in endometrial cells of women with endometriosis and highlight the relevance of cellular differentiation and its potential to contribute to disease susceptibility

Social disorganization and history of child sexual abuse against girls in sub-Saharan Africa : a multilevel analysis

Background: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a considerable public health problem. Less focus has been paid to the role of community level factors associated with CSA. The aim of this study was to examine the association between neighbourhood-level measures of social disorganization and CSA. Methods: We applied multiple multilevel logistic regression analysis on Demographic and Health Survey data for 6,351 adolescents from six countries in sub-Saharan Africa between 2006 and 2008. Results: The percentage of adolescents that had experienced CSA ranged from 1.04% to 5.84%. There was a significant variation in the odds of reporting CSA across the communities, suggesting 18% of the variation in CSA could be attributed to community level factors. Respondents currently employed were more likely to have reported CSA than those who were unemployed (odds ratio [OR] = 2.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.48 to 2.83). Respondents from communities with a high family disruption rate were 57% more likely to have reported CSA (OR=1.57, 95% CI 1.14 to 2.16). Conclusion: We found that exposure to CSA was associated with high community level of family disruption, thus suggesting that neighbourhoods may indeed have significant important effects on exposure to CSA. Further studies are needed to explore pathways that connect the individual and neighbourhood levels, that is, means through which deleterious neighbourhood effects are transmitted to individuals

Endothelin receptor B antagonists decrease glioma cell viability independently of their cognate receptor

Background: Endothelin receptor antagonists inhibit the progression of many cancers, but research into their influence on glioma has been limited. Methods: We treated glioma cell lines, LN-229 and SW1088, and melanoma cell lines, A375 and WM35, with two endothelin receptor type B (ETRB)-specific antagonists, A-192621 and BQ788, and quantified viable cells by the capacity of their intracellular esterases to convert non-fluorescent calcein AM into green-fluorescent calcein. We assessed cell proliferation by labeling cells with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester and quantifying the fluorescence by FACS analysis. We also examined the cell cycle status using BrdU/propidium iodide double staining and FACS analysis. We evaluated changes in gene expression by microarray analysis following treatment with A-192621 in glioma cells. We examined the role of ETRB by reducing its expression level using small interfering RNA (siRNA). Results: We report that two ETRB-specific antagonists, A-192621 and BQ788, reduce the number of viable cells in two glioma cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We describe similar results for two melanoma cell lines. The more potent of the two antagonists, A-192621, decreases the mean number of cell divisions at least in part by inducing a G2/M arrest and apoptosis. Microarray analysis of the effects of A-192621 treatment reveals up-regulation of several DNA damage-inducible genes. These results were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Importantly, reducing expression of ETRB with siRNAs does not abrogate the effects of either A-192621 or BQ788 in glioma or melanoma cells. Furthermore, BQ123, an endothelin receptor type A (ETRA)-specific antagonist, has no effect on cell viability in any of these cell lines, indicating that the ETRB-independent effects on cell viability exhibited by A-192621 and BQ788 are not a result of ETRA inhibition. Conclusion: While ETRB antagonists reduce the viability of glioma cells in vitro, it appears unlikely that this effect is mediated by ETRB inhibition or cross-reaction with ETRA. Instead, we present evidence that A-192621 affects glioma and melanoma viability by activating stress/DNA damage response pathways, which leads to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This is the first evidence linking ETRB antagonist treatment to enhanced expression of DNA damage-inducible genes

Circumstellar discs: What will be next?

This prospective chapter gives our view on the evolution of the study of circumstellar discs within the next 20 years from both observational and theoretical sides. We first present the expected improvements in our knowledge of protoplanetary discs as for their masses, sizes, chemistry, the presence of planets as well as the evolutionary processes shaping these discs. We then explore the older debris disc stage and explain what will be learnt concerning their birth, the intrinsic links between these discs and planets, the hot dust and the gas detected around main sequence stars as well as discs around white dwarfs.Comment: invited review; comments welcome (32 pages

Comparison of life quality of pregnant adolescents with that of pregnant adults in Turkey

Objectives. This study aimed to determine the quality of life of pregnant adolescents aged < 20 years and pregnant adults aged between 20-29 years, to evaluate the effects of gestational periods on the quality of life, and to compare the quality of life scores of pregnant adolescents and adults

SPECULOOS exoplanet search and its prototype on TRAPPIST

One of the most significant goals of modern science is establishing whether life exists around other suns. The most direct path towards its achievement is the detection and atmospheric characterization of terrestrial exoplanets with potentially habitable surface conditions. The nearest ultracool dwarfs (UCDs), i.e. very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs with effective temperatures lower than 2700 K, represent a unique opportunity to reach this goal within the next decade. The potential of the transit method for detecting potentially habitable Earth-sized planets around these objects is drastically increased compared to Earth-Sun analogs. Furthermore, only a terrestrial planet transiting a nearby UCD would be amenable for a thorough atmospheric characterization, including the search for possible biosignatures, with near-future facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope. In this chapter, we first describe the physical properties of UCDs as well as the unique potential they offer for the detection of potentially habitable Earth-sized planets suitable for atmospheric characterization. Then, we present the SPECULOOS ground-based transit survey, that will search for Earth-sized planets transiting the nearest UCDs, as well as its prototype survey on the TRAPPIST telescopes. We conclude by discussing the prospects offered by the recent detection by this prototype survey of a system of seven temperate Earth-sized planets transiting a nearby UCD, TRAPPIST-1.Comment: Submitted as a chapter in the "Handbook of Exoplanets" (editors: H. Deeg & J.A. Belmonte; Section Editor: N. Narita). 16 pages, 4 figure