124 research outputs found
Interaction between the p75 neurotrophin receptor and a novel adaptor protein
The neurotrophin plays an important role in the
development, differentiation and survival of the nervous
system in vertebrates. It exerts its cellular effects through
two different receptors, the Trk receptor tyrosine kinase
neurotrophin receptor and the p75 neurotrophin receptor, a
member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily.
Trk and p75 neurotrophin receptors utilize specific target
proteins to transmit signals into the cell. An ankyrin-rich
membrane spanning protein (ARMS) was identified as a
new p75 interacting protein and serves as a novel
downstream target of p75 neurotrophin receptor. We
sought to delineate the interaction between p75 and ARMS
by deletion constructs of p75 and green fluorescent protein
(GFP)-tagged ARMS. We examined the interaction
between these two proteins after overexpressing them in
HEK-293 cells. Using both Western blot analysis and
immunocytochemistry followed by confocal laser scanning
microscopy, we found out that the intracellular domain of
the p75 neurotrophin receptor was important for the
interaction with ARMS. The results from this study suggest
that ARMS may play an important role for mediating the
signals from p75 neurotrophin receptor into the cell
Primary Malignant Pericardial Mesothelioma Presenting as Acute Pericarditis
We report on a 21-year-old man with fever, dyspnea, and pleuritic chest pain. An electrocardiography showed ST elevation in multiple lead and thoracic echocardiography revealed moderate pericardial effusion. He was initially diagnosed with acute pericarditis, and treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and colchicines with clinical and laboratory improvement. After 1 month of medication, his symptoms recurred. An echocardiography showed constrictive physiology and the patient was treated with steroid on the top of current medication. The patient had been well for 7 months until dyspnea and edema developed, when an echocardiography showed marked increased pericardial thickness and constriction. Pericardial biopsy was performed and primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma was diagnosed. Malignancy should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent pericarditis
Doinseunggitang Ameliorates Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetic Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis, a chronic and progressive disease characterized by vascular inflammation, is a leading cause of death in diabetes patients. Doinseunggitang (DYSGT), traditional prescription, has been used for promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the beneficial effects of DYSGT on endothelial dysfunction in diabetic atherosclerosis animal model. Apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE KO) mice fed on a Western diet were treated with DYSGT (200 mg/kg/day). DYSGT significantly lowered blood glucose level and glucose tolerance as well as systolic blood pressure. Metabolic parameter showed that DYSGT markedly decreased triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol levels. In the thoracic aorta, the impairment of vasorelaxation response to acetylcholine and atherosclerotic lesion was attenuated by DYSGT. Furthermore, DYSGT restored the reduction of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression, leading to the inhibition of intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) expression. In conclusion, DYSGT improved the development of diabetic atherosclerosis via attenuation of the endothelial dysfunction, possibly by inhibiting ET-1, cell adhesion molecules, and lesion formation. Therefore, these results suggest that Korean traditional prescription Doinseunggitang may be useful in the treatment and prevention of diabetic vascular complications
Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation patterns in horse
Background: DNA methylation is an epigenetic regulatory mechanism that plays an essential role in mediating biological processes and determining phenotypic plasticity in organisms. Although the horse reference genome and whole transcriptome data are publically available the global DNA methylation data are yet to be known.
Results: We report the first genome-wide DNA methylation characteristics data from skeletal muscle, heart, lung, and cerebrum tissues of thoroughbred (TH) and Jeju (JH) horses, an indigenous Korea breed, respectively by methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing. The analysis of the DNA methylation patterns indicated that the average methylation density was the lowest in the promoter region, while the density in the coding DNA sequence region was the highest. Among repeat elements, a relatively high density of methylation was observed in long interspersed nuclear elements compared to short interspersed nuclear elements or long terminal repeat elements. We also successfully identified differential methylated regions through a comparative analysis of corresponding tissues from TH and JH, indicating that the gene body regions showed a high methylation density.
Conclusions: We provide report the first DNA methylation landscape and differentially methylated genomic regions (DMRs) of thoroughbred and Jeju horses, providing comprehensive DMRs maps of the DNA methylome. These data are invaluable resource to better understanding of epigenetics in the horse providing information for the further biological function analyses.open1
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