125 research outputs found
Proteomic Analysis of Anti-inflammatory Effects of a Kampo (Japanese Herbal) Medicine “Shoseiryuto (Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang)” on Airway Inflammation in a Mouse Model
Effects of a Kampo (Japanese herbal) medicine “shoseiryuto (SST, xiao-qing-long-tang in Chinese)”, which has been used for the treatment of allergic bronchial asthma clinically, were examined on ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized allergic airway inflammation model (i.e., bronchial asthma) in a mouse. When SST was orally administered at 0.5 g kg−1 day−1 from day 1 to 6 after OVA inhalation, SST reduced the inflammation in lung tissue, the number of eosinophils and the OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody titer in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids at 7 days after the OVA inhalation. SST also reduced the airway hyperreactivity at 6 days after the OVA inhalation. Proteomic analysis with the agarose two-dimensional electrophoresis showed that the expression of spectrin α2 was reduced in the lung tissue of OVA-sensitized mice and SST recovered the expression. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses of lung tissue also confirmed this result. When prednisolone was orally administered at 3 mg kg−1 day−1 from day 1 to 6 after OVA inhalation, the inflammation in lung tissue, the number of eosinophils in BAL fluids and airway hyperreactivity were reduced in the OVA-sensitized mice. However, prednisolone did not reduce the OVA-specific IgE antibody titer in BAL fluids and did not recover the expression of spectrin α2 in lung tissue. These results suggest that at least a part of action mechanism of SST against OVA-sensitized allergic airway inflammation in a mouse model is different from that of prednisolone
Feasibility and reference values of left atrial longitudinal strain imaging by two-dimensional speckle tracking
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The role of speckle tracking in the assessment of left atrial (LA) deformation dynamics is not established. We sought to determine the feasibility and reference ranges of LA longitudinal strain indices measured by speckle tracking in a population of normal subjects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 60 healthy individuals, peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) and time to peak longitudinal strain (TPLS) were measured using a 12-segment model for the left atrium. Values were obtained by averaging all segments (global PALS and TPLS) and by separately averaging segments measured in the two apical views (4- and 2-chamber average PALS and TPLS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Adequate tracking quality was achieved in 97% of segments analyzed. Inter and intra-observer variability coefficients of measurements ranged between 2.9% and 5.4%. Global PALS was 42.2 ± 6.1% (5–95° percentile range 32.2–53.2%), and global TPLS was 368 ± 30 ms (5–95° percentile range 323–430 ms). The 2-chamber average PALS was slightly higher than the 4-chamber average PALS (44.3 ± 6.0% vs 40.1 ± 7.9%, p < 0.0001), whereas no differences in TPLS were found (p = 0.93).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Speckle tracking is a feasible technique for the assessment of longitudinal myocardial LA deformation. Reference ranges of strain indices were reported.</p
Natural Products from the Lithistida: A Review of the Literature since 2000
Lithistid sponges are known to produce a diverse array of compounds ranging from polyketides, cyclic and linear peptides, alkaloids, pigments, lipids, and sterols. A majority of these structurally complex compounds have very potent and interesting biological activities. It has been a decade since a thorough review has been published that summarizes the literature on the natural products reported from this amazing sponge order. This review provides an update on the current taxonomic classification of the Lithistida, describes structures and biological activities of 131 new natural products, and discusses highlights from the total syntheses of 16 compounds from marine sponges of the Order Lithistida providing a compilation of the literature since the last review published in 2002
Genomic view of the evolution of the complement system
The recent accumulation of genomic information of many representative animals has made it possible to trace the evolution of the complement system based on the presence or absence of each complement gene in the analyzed genomes. Genome information from a few mammals, chicken, clawed frog, a few bony fish, sea squirt, fruit fly, nematoda and sea anemone indicate that bony fish and higher vertebrates share practically the same set of complement genes. This suggests that most of the gene duplications that played an essential role in establishing the mammalian complement system had occurred by the time of the teleost/mammalian divergence around 500 million years ago (MYA). Members of most complement gene families are also present in ascidians, although they do not show a one-to-one correspondence to their counterparts in higher vertebrates, indicating that the gene duplications of each gene family occurred independently in vertebrates and ascidians. The C3 and factor B genes, but probably not the other complement genes, are present in the genome of the cnidaria and some protostomes, indicating that the origin of the central part of the complement system was established more than 1,000 MYA
Analysis of C3 Suggests Three Periods of Positive Selection Events and Different Evolutionary Patterns between Fish and Mammals
BACKGROUND: The third complement component (C3) is a central protein of the complement system conserved from fish to mammals. It also showed distinct characteristics in different animal groups. Striking features of the fish complement system were unveiled, including prominent levels of extrahepatic expression and isotypic diversity of the complement components. The evidences of the involvement of complement system in the enhancement of B and T cell responses found in mammals indicated that the complement system also serves as a bridge between the innate and adaptive responses. For the reasons mentioned above, it is interesting to explore the evolutionary process of C3 genes and to investigate whether the huge differences between aquatic and terrestrial environments affected the C3 evolution between fish and mammals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Analysis revealed that these two groups of animals had experienced different evolution patterns. The mammalian C3 genes were under purifying selection pressure while the positive selection pressure was detected in fish C3 genes. Three periods of positive selection events of C3 genes were also detected. Two happened on the ancestral lineages to all vertebrates and mammals, respectively, one happened on early period of fish evolutionary history. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Three periods of positive selection events had happened on C3 genes during history and the fish and mammals C3 genes experience different evolutionary patterns for their distinct living environments
Search for the lepton flavour violating decays () at Belle
We present a search for the lepton-flavour-violating decays , with , using the full data sample of pairs recorded by the Belle detector at the KEKB
asymmetric-energy collider. We use events in which one meson is
fully reconstructed in a hadronic decay mode. We find no evidence for decays and set upper limits on their branching fractions
at the 90% confidence level in the - range. The obtained
limits are the world's best results.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Measurement of Differential Distributions of and Implications on
We present a measurement of the differential shapes of exclusive ( and ) decays with
hadronic tag-side reconstruction for the full Belle data set of
integrated luminosity. We extract the
Caprini-Lellouch-Neubert (CLN) and Boyd-Grinstein-Lebed (BGL) form factor
parameters and use an external input for the absolute branching fractions to
determine the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element and find
and with the zero-recoil lattice QCD point
. We also perform a study of the impact of
preliminary beyond zero-recoil lattice QCD calculations on the
determinations. Additionally, we present the lepton flavor universality ratio
, the electron and muon
forward-backward asymmetry and their difference , and the electron and muon longitudinal polarization fraction and
their difference . The
uncertainties quoted correspond to the statistical and systematic
uncertainties, respectively
Study of the lineshape of using decays to
We present a study of the lineshape in the decay using a data sample of
pairs collected at the resonance with the Belle
detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy collider. The peak near the
threshold in the invariant mass spectrum is fitted
using a relativistic Breit-Wigner lineshape. We determine the mass and width
parameters to be and , respectively. The branching fraction is found to be
. The signal from decays is observed for the first
time with significance, and the ratio of branching fractions
between charged and neutral decays is measured to be . The peak is also studied using a Flatt\'{e}
lineshape. We determine the lower limit on the coupling
constant to be at 95% credibility in the parameter region where the
ratio of to the mass difference from the threshold
is equal to , as measured by LHCb.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev
First Simultaneous Determination of Inclusive and Exclusive
The first simultaneous determination of the absolute value of the
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element using inclusive and exclusive
decays is performed with the full Belle data set at the
resonance, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 711 fb. We
analyze collision events in which one meson is fully reconstructed in
hadronic modes. This allows for the reconstruction of the hadronic system
of the semileptonic decay. We separate exclusive
decays from other inclusive and backgrounds with a two-dimensional fit, that
utilizes the number of charged pions in the system and the four-momentum
transfer between the and system. Combining our measurement with
information from lattice QCD and QCD calculations of the inclusive partial rate
as well as external experimental information on the shape of the form factor, we determine
and , respectively, with the uncertainties
being the statistical error, systematic errors, and theory errors. The ratio of
is compatible with unity.Comment: 7 pages, 3 captioned figures, including supplemental materia
- …