Anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulatory activities of caffeic acid and ellagic acid in cardiac tissue of diabetic mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Caffeic acid (CA) and ellagic acid (EA) are phenolic acids naturally occurring in many plant foods. Cardiac protective effects of these compounds against dyslipidemia, hypercoagulability, oxidative stress and inflammation in diabetic mice were examined.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Diabetic mice were divided into three groups (15 mice per group): diabetic mice with normal diet, 2% CA treatment, or 2% EA treatment. One group of non-diabetic mice with normal diet was used for comparison. After 12 weeks supplement, mice were sacrificed, and the variation of biomarkers for hypercoagulability, oxidative stress and inflammation in cardiac tissue of diabetic mice were measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The intake of CA or EA significantly increased cardiac content of these compounds, alleviated body weight loss, elevated plasma insulin and decreased plasma glucose levels in diabetic mice (<it>p </it>< 0.05). These treatments also significantly enhanced plasma antithrombin-III and protein C activities (<it>p </it>< 0.05); and decreased triglyceride content in cardiac tissue and plasma (<it>p </it>< 0.05), in which the hypolipidemic effects of EA were significantly greater than that of CA (<it>p </it>< 0.05). CA or EA significantly lowered cardiac levels of malondialdehyde, reactive oxygen species, interleukin (IL)-beta, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 (<it>p </it>< 0.05); and retained cardiac activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (<it>p </it>< 0.05). These compounds also significantly up-regulated cardiac mRNA expression of GPX1, SOD and catalase; and down-regulated IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha and MCP-1 mRNA expression in diabetic mice (<it>p </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results support that CA and EA could provide triglyceride-lowering, anti-coagulatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-inflammatory protection in cardiac tissue of diabetic mice. Thus, the supplement of these agents might be helpful for the prevention or attenuation of diabetic cardiomyopathy.</p

Single-sided lateral-field and phototransistor-based optoelectronic tweezers

Described herein are single-sided lateral-field optoelectronic tweezers (LOET) devices which use photosensitive electrode arrays to create optically-induced dielectrophoretic forces in an electric field that is parallel to the plane of the device. In addition, phototransistor-based optoelectronic tweezers (PhOET) devices are described that allow for optoelectronic tweezers (OET) operation in high-conductivity physiological buffer and cell culture media

Inference of hierarchical regulatory network of estrogen-dependent breast cancer through ChIP-based data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Global profiling of in vivo protein-DNA interactions using ChIP-based technologies has evolved rapidly in recent years. Although many genome-wide studies have identified thousands of ERα binding sites and have revealed the associated transcription factor (TF) partners, such as AP1, FOXA1 and CEBP, little is known about ERα associated hierarchical transcriptional regulatory networks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we applied computational approaches to analyze three public available ChIP-based datasets: ChIP-seq, ChIP-PET and ChIP-chip, and to investigate the hierarchical regulatory network for ERα and ERα partner TFs regulation in estrogen-dependent breast cancer MCF7 cells. 16 common TFs and two common new TF partners (RORA and PITX2) were found among ChIP-seq, ChIP-chip and ChIP-PET datasets. The regulatory networks were constructed by scanning the ChIP-peak region with TF specific position weight matrix (PWM). A permutation test was performed to test the reliability of each connection of the network. We then used DREM software to perform gene ontology function analysis on the common genes. We found that FOS, PITX2, RORA and FOXA1 were involved in the up-regulated genes.</p> <p>We also conducted the ERα and Pol-II ChIP-seq experiments in tamoxifen resistance MCF7 cells (denoted as MCF7-T in this study) and compared the difference between MCF7 and MCF7-T cells. The result showed very little overlap between these two cells in terms of targeted genes (21.2% of common genes) and targeted TFs (25% of common TFs). The significant dissimilarity may indicate totally different transcriptional regulatory mechanisms between these two cancer cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study uncovers new estrogen-mediated regulatory networks by mining three ChIP-based data in MCF7 cells and ChIP-seq data in MCF7-T cells. We compared the different ChIP-based technologies as well as different breast cancer cells. Our computational analytical approach may guide biologists to further study the underlying mechanisms in breast cancer cells or other human diseases.</p

Adrenal computed tomography and NP-59 usefulness for diagnosing aldosterone-producing adenomas and idiopathic hyperaldosteronism in primary hyperaldosteronism

AbstractObjectivesTwo major causes of primary aldosteronism are aldosterone-producing adenomas (APA) and idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA). In this study, we attempted to determine the role of NP-59 in identifying APA prior to adrenalectomy, especially when diagnostic computer tomography (CT) is equivocal.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis in patients with a clinical diagnosis of primary aldosteronism. The medical records of 36 patients were reviewed, which included 25 patients who had received adrenalectomy. All patients underwent adrenal CT alone or a combination of adrenal CT and NP-59 prior to surgery for the subtyping of primary aldosteronism, based on the protocols established in our institution. The accuracy of the adrenal CT and NP-59 findings was determined by a comparison with the pathologic findings and postoperative outcomes.ResultsTwenty-three patients received unilateral adrenalectomy under the diagnosis of APA. The diagnoses were based on CT findings in 11 patients and on CT and NP-59 findings in 12 patients. The results of pathology were adrenal cortical adenoma in these 23 patients and the positive predictive value was 100%. Blood pressure and potassium levels significantly improved after surgery in these patients (p < 0.01). Serum biochemistry and adrenal size of the limbs and bodies of patients with IHA were not significantly different from those of patients with APA.ConclusionFor the subtyping of primary aldosteronism, the imaging modality of adrenal CT alone or the combination of adrenal CT and NP-59 adrenal scan has a high positive predictive value for APAs. We suggest that all patients undergo an adrenal CT as their initial study, after confirming the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism, and to use NP-59 when adrenal CT findings are atypical or inconclusive. Lateralization by this modality prior to adrenalectomy can reduce unnecessarily invasive examinations such as adrenal venous sampling and also provide excellent treatment outcomes

Estrogen induces global reorganization of chromatin structure in human breast cancer cells

In the cell nucleus, each chromosome is confined to a chromosome territory. This spatial organization of chromosomes plays a crucial role in gene regulation and genome stability. An additional level of organization has been discovered at the chromosome scale: the spatial segregation into open and closed chromatins to form two genome-wide compartments. Although considerable progress has been made in our knowledge of chromatin organization, a fundamental issue remains the understanding of its dynamics, especially in cancer. To address this issue, we performed genome-wide mapping of chromatin interactions (Hi-C) over the time after estrogen stimulation of breast cancer cells. To biologically interpret these interactions, we integrated with estrogen receptor α (ERα) binding events, gene expression and epigenetic marks. We show that gene-rich chromosomes as well as areas of open and highly transcribed chromatins are rearranged to greater spatial proximity, thus enabling genes to share transcriptional machinery and regulatory elements. At a smaller scale, differentially interacting loci are enriched for cancer proliferation and estrogen-related genes. Moreover, these loci are correlated with higher ERα binding events and gene expression. Taken together these results reveal the role of a hormone--estrogen--on genome organization, and its effect on gene regulation in cancer

Genetic population structure of the alpine species Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum sensu lato (Ericaceae) inferred from chloroplast and nuclear DNA

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A complex of incipient species with different degrees of morphological or ecological differentiation provides an ideal model for studying species divergence. We examined the phylogeography and the evolutionary history of the <it>Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum </it>s. l.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Systematic inconsistency was detected between gene genealogies of the cpDNA and nrDNA. Rooted at <it>R. hyperythrum </it>and <it>R. formosana</it>, both trees lacked reciprocal monophyly for all members of the complex. For <it>R. pseudochrysanthum </it>s.l., the spatial distribution of the cpDNA had a noteworthy pattern showing high genetic differentiation (F_ST= 0.56-0.72) between populations in the Yushan Mountain Range and populations of the other mountain ranges.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both incomplete lineage sorting and interspecific hybridization/introgression may have contributed to the lack of monophyly among <it>R. hyperythrum</it>, <it>R. formosana </it>and <it>R. pseudochrysanthum </it>s.l. Independent colonizations, plus low capabilities of seed dispersal in current environments, may have resulted in the genetic differentiation between populations of different mountain ranges. At the population level, the populations of Central, and Sheishan Mountains may have undergone postglacial demographic expansion, while populations of the Yushan Mountain Range are likely to have remained stable ever since the colonization. In contrast, the single population of the Alishan Mountain Range with a fixed cpDNA haplotype may have experienced bottleneck/founder's events.</p

Tuberculosis in Children and Adolescents, Taiwan, 1996–2003

Analysis of data from Taiwan’s National Tuberculosis (TB) Registry showed that incidence of TB in persons <20 years of age was 9.61/100,000 person-years, biphasic, and age-relevant, with a major peak in persons slightly >12 years. Aboriginal children were 8.1–17.4× more likely to have TB than non-Aboriginal children