Roles of PTEN with DNA Repair in Parkinson’s Disease

Oxidative stress is considered to play key roles in aging and pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, which could bring DNA damage by cells. The DNA damage may lead to the cell apoptosis, which could contribute to the degeneration of neuronal tissues. Recent evidence suggests that PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome 10) may be involved in the pathophysiology of the neurodegenerative disorders. Since PTEN expression appears to be one dominant determinant of the neuronal cell death, PTEN should be a potential molecular target of novel therapeutic strategies against Parkinson’s disease. In addition, defects in DNA damage response and DNA repair are often associated with modulation of hormone signaling pathways. Especially, many observations imply a role for estrogen in a regulation of the DNA repair action. In the present review, we have attempted to summarize the function of DNA repair molecules at a viewpoint of the PTEN signaling pathway and the hormone related functional modulation of cells, providing a broad interpretation on the molecular mechanisms for treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Particular attention will be paid to the mechanisms proposed to explain the health effects of food ingredients against Parkinson’s disease related to reduce oxidative stress for an efficient therapeutic intervention

Alveolar Bone Microstructure Surrounding Orthodontic Anchor Screws with Plasma Surface Treatment in Rats

A lateral load was applied to anchor screws that had undergone surface treatment, and the structure, cellular dynamics, and quality of the bone surrounding anchor screws were analyzed to investigate the effect of this surface treatment on the peri-implant jawbone. In addition, bone microstructural characteristics were quantitatively evaluated for each site of loading on the bone around the anchor screw. Rats were euthanized after observation on days 3, 5, or 7, and bone quality analyses were performed. Bone–implant contact rate increased more rapidly at an early stage in the treated surface group than in the untreated surface group. Bone lacuna morphometry showed that the measured values adjacent to the screw at the screw neck on the compressed side (A) and at the screw tip on the uncompressed side (D) were significantly lower than those at the screw tip on the compressed side (B) and at the screw neck on the uncompressed side (C). Collagen fiber bundle diameter showed that the measured values adjacent to regions A and D were significantly higher than those at regions B and C. Anchor screw surface activation facilitates initial bone contact of the screw, suggesting that early loading may be possible in clinical practice.Okawa K., Matsunaga S., Kasahara N., et al. Alveolar Bone Microstructure Surrounding Orthodontic Anchor Screws with Plasma Surface Treatment in Rats. Journal of Functional Biomaterials 14, 356 (2023); https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb14070356

Use of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) pulse sequences for differential diagnosis of hepatic hemangiomas and hepatic cysts

Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging of hepatic hemangiomas (10 patients, 16 lesions) and hepatic cysts (8 patients, 10 lesions) was performed. All hemangiomas were hypointense on T1-weighted images and hyperintense on T2-weighted images. With Gd-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg), all hemangiomas were enhanced but not all cysts. It was necessary to perform contrast enhanced imaging to differentiate hepatic hemangiomas from hepatic cysts. However, on FLAIR imaging, hepatic hemangiomas were strongly hyperintense and 9 of the 10 hepatic cysts were isointense. One of the hepatic cysts was slightly hyperintense. FLAIR images were useful in differential diagnosis of hepatic hemangiomas and hepatic cysts without using Gd-DTPA.</p

Detection of subependymal veins using high-resolution magnetic resonance venography

High-resolution magnetic resonance venography (HR-MRV) of intracranial subependymal veins using a two-dimensional Fourier-transform time-of-flight technique was performed on normal volunteers and clinical cases of cerebral disease. For the pulse sequence, fast-field-echo sequence was used with the following parameters: TR/TE/ flip angle = 34ms/12ms/50deg., 256 x 256 matrix, 1 mm effective slice thickness, 150mm field of view, and one signal acquisition. Sequential vertical coronal sections were taken against the skull base. The anterior septal vein, the medial atrial vein, the anterior caudate vein and thalamostriate vein were detected in all subjects. In all clinical cases, HR-MRV was equal in diagnostic capability to conventional cerebral angiography.</p

COMT Val158Met, but not BDNF Val66Met, is associated with white matter abnormalities of the temporal lobe in patients with first-episode, treatment-naïve major depressive disorder: a diffusion tensor imaging study

We investigated the association between the Val158Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, the Val66Met polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, and white matter changes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy subjects using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We studied 30 patients with MDD (17 males and 13 females, with mean age ± standard deviation [SD] =44±12 years) and 30 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (17 males and 13 females, aged 44±13 years). Using DTI analysis with a tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) approach, we investigated the differences in fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity distribution among the three groups (patients with the COMT gene Val158Met, those with the BDNF gene Val66Met, and the healthy subjects). In a voxel-wise-based group comparison, we found significant decreases in fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity within the temporal lobe white matter in the Met-carriers with MDD compared with the controls (P<0.05). No correlations in fractional anisotropy, axial diffusivity, or radial diffusivity were observed between the MDD patients and the controls, either among those with the BDNF Val/Val genotype or among the BDNF Met-carriers. These results suggest an association between the COMT gene Val158Met and the white matter abnormalities found in the temporal lobe of patients with MDD

Magnetization and transport properties in the superconducting Pr2_{2}Ba4_{4}Cu7_{7}O15−δ_{15-\delta} with metallic double-chain

We have reported the effect of pressure on the magnetization, and transport properties in the nominal composition Pr$_{2}$Ba$_{4}$Cu$_{7}$O$_{15-\delta}$ synthesized by a sol-gel technique. A reduction treatment of the as-sintered sample in vacuum causes higher superconductivity achieving $T_{c,on}=\sim 30$ K for $\delta =0.94$. Application of hydrostatic pressure on the oxygen depleted sample enhances its onset temperature up to 36 K at 1.2 GPa, indicating the nearly optimum doping level of the charge carrier in comparison to the pressure dependence of lower $T_{c}$ samples with $\delta =0.45$. Seebeck coefficient of the superconducting sample shows a metallic conduction, followed by a clear drop below $T_{c,on}$ and is in its temperature dependence below 100 K quite different from that of the non-superconducting one. This finding strongly suggests a dramatic change of the electronic state along the CuO double chain due to the reduction treatment for the appearance of superconductivity .Comment: 5 pages,4 figure