Intranasal administration of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

This short review outlines the rationale, challenges, and opportunities for intranasal acetylcholinesterases, in particular galantamine. An in vitro screening model facilitated the development of a therapeutically viable formulation. In vivo testing confirmed achievement of therapeutically relevant drug levels that matched or exceeded those for oral dosing, with a dramatic reduction in undesired emetic responses. Intranasal drug delivery is an effective option for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other central nervous system disorders

c-ABL tyrosine kinase stabilizes RAD51 chromatin association

金沢大学がん研究所がん分子細胞制御The assembly of RAD51 recombinase on DNA substrates at sites of breakage is essential for their repair by homologous recombination repair (HRR). The signaling pathway that triggers RAD51 assembly at damage sites to form subnuclear foci is unclear. Here, we provide evidence that c-ABL, a tyrosine kinase activated by DNA damage which phosphorylates RAD51 on Tyr-315, works at a previously unrecognized, proximal step to initiate RAD51 assembly. We first show that c-ABL associates with chromatin after DNA damage in a manner dependent on its kinase activity. Using RAD51 mutants that are unable to oligomerize to form a nucleoprotein filament, we separate RAD51 assembly on DNA to form foci into two steps: stable chromatin association followed by oligomerization. We show that phosphorylation on Tyr-315 by c-ABL is required for chromatin association of oligomerization-defective RAD51 mutants, but is insufficient to restore oligomerization. Our findings suggest a new model for the regulation of early steps of HRR. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The attachments of the anteromedial and posterolateral fibre bundles of the anterior cruciate ligament: Part 1: tibial attachment.

Accepted versio

Remission of Behcet's disease with anti-tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody therapy: a case report

BACKGROUND: Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic relapsing multisystem inflammatory disorder with mucocutaneous, ocular, articular, vascular, gastrointestinal and central nervous system manifestations. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha is believed to play a pivotal role in BD. Therapeutic blockade of the activity of TNF has been successfully given in a short course of therapy with favorable effects in patients with BD refractory to conventional immunosuppressive drugs. We aimed to find out whether a 12-month treatment with infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody to TNF-alpha, had any beneficial effect in reducing relapses of a patient with long-standing BD refractory to conventional immunosuppressive drugs. CASE PRESENTATION: A 54 year-old-woman with a 35-year history of BD with orogenital ulcerations, arthritis in the right knee and retinal lesions compatible with vasculitis received infliximab, 5 mg/kg by a two-hour intravenous infusion. Symptoms improved within 24 hours and eight days later the genital and oral ulcers healed as well as the arthritis in the right knee subsided. The retinal infiltrates completely resolved within 10 days. The infusions were repeated at weeks 2, 6, 14, 22 and then every 8 weeks. The patient was able to return to her domestic daily life. No exacerbation of the mucocutaneous ocular or arthritic symptoms occurred during the treatment period. CONCLUSIONS: Previous studies have suggested that infliximab given in a short course of treatment is effective in inducing remission of severe mucocutaneous, gastrointestinal and ocular manifestations of BD. Our patient received a 12-month infliximab treatment showing a favorable effect on remission of BD manifestations. The long-term infliximab treatment appears as a new therapeutic option for patients with active BD who failed to respond to conventional immunosuppressive agents

Live Imaging of Xwnt5A-ROR2 Complexes

Secreted molecules of the Wnt family regulate key decisions in embryogenesis and adult tissue homeostasis by activating a complex network of Wnt signaling pathways. Although the different branches of Wnt signaling have been studied for more than 25 years, fluorophore tagged constructs for live cell imaging of Wnt molecules activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway have become available only recently. We have generated a fluorophore tagged Wnt construct of the Xenopus Wnt5a protein (Xwnt5A) with the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), Xwnt5A-EGFP. This construct activates non-canonical Wnt pathways in an endocytosis dependent manner and is capable of compensating for the loss of endogenous Xwnt5A in Xenopus embryos. Strikingly, non-canonical Wnt pathway activation was restricted to short-range signaling while an inhibitory effect was observed in transwell cell cultures taken as long-range signaling model sytem. We used our Xwnt5A-EGFP construct to analyze in vivo binding of Wnt5A to its co-receptor ROR2 on the microscopic and on the molecular level. On the microscopic level, Xwnt5A-EGFP clusters in the membrane and recruits ROR2-mCherry to these clusters. Applying dual-colour dual-focus line-scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy on dorsal marginal zone explants, we identified membrane tethered Xwnt5A-EGFP molecules binding to ROR2-mCherry molecules. Our data favour a model, in which membrane-tethered Wnt-5A recruits ROR2 to form large ligand/receptor clusters and signals in an endocytosis-dependent manner

Promoting Effect of Layered Titanium Phosphate on the Electrochemical and Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We reported a composite electrolyte prepared by incorporating layered α-titanium phosphate (α-TiP) into an iodide-based electrolyte using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate(EmimBF4) ionic liquid as solvent. The obtained composite electrolyte exhibited excellent electrochemical and photovoltaic properties compared to pure ionic liquid electrolyte. Both the diffusion coefficient of triiodide (I3−) in the electrolyte and the charge-transfer reaction at the electrode/electrolyte interface were improved markedly. The mechanism for the enhanced electrochemical properties of the composite electrolyte was discussed. The highest conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was obtained for the composite electrolyte containing 1wt% α-TiP, with an improvement of 58% in the conversion efficiency than the blank one, which offered a broad prospect for the fabrication of stable DSSCs with a high conversion efficiency

An extended set of PRDM1/BLIMP1 target genes links binding motif type to dynamic repression

The transcriptional repressor B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 (BLIMP1) regulates gene expression and cell fate. The DNA motif bound by BLIMP1 in vitro overlaps with that of interferon regulatory factors (IRFs), which respond to inflammatory/immune signals. At such sites, BLIMP1 and IRFs can antagonistically regulate promoter activity. In vitro motif selection predicts that only a subset of BLIMP1 or IRF sites is subject to antagonistic regulation, but the extent to which antagonism occurs is unknown, since an unbiased assessment of BLIMP1 occupancy in vivo is lacking. To address this, we identified an extended set of promoters occupied by BLIMP1. Motif discovery and enrichment analysis demonstrate that multiple motif variants are required to capture BLIMP1 binding specificity. These are differentially associated with CpG content, leading to the observation that BLIMP1 DNA-binding is methylation sensitive. In occupied promoters, only a subset of BLIMP1 motifs overlap with IRF motifs. Conversely, a distinct subset of IRF motifs is not enriched amongst occupied promoters. Genes linked to occupied promoters containing overlapping BLIMP1/IRF motifs (e.g. AIM2, SP110, BTN3A3) are shown to constitute a dynamic target set which is preferentially activated by BLIMP1 knock-down. These data confirm and extend the competitive model of BLIMP1 and IRF interaction

Candida albicans AGE3, the Ortholog of the S. cerevisiae ARF-GAP-Encoding Gene GCS1, Is Required for Hyphal Growth and Drug Resistance

BACKGROUND: Hyphal growth and multidrug resistance of C. albicans are important features for virulence and antifungal therapy of this pathogenic fungus. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we show by phenotypic complementation analysis that the C. albicans gene AGE3 is the functional ortholog of the yeast ARF-GAP-encoding gene GCS1. The finding that the gene is required for efficient endocytosis points to an important functional role of Age3p in endosomal compartments. Most C. albicans age3Delta mutant cells which grew as cell clusters under yeast growth conditions showed defects in filamentation under different hyphal growth conditions and were almost completely disabled for invasive filamentous growth. Under hyphal growth conditions only a fraction of age3Delta cells shows a wild-type-like polarization pattern of the actin cytoskeleton and lipid rafts. Moreover, age3Delta cells were highly susceptible to several unrelated toxic compounds including antifungal azole drugs. Irrespective of the AGE3 genotype, C-terminal fusions of GFP to the drug efflux pumps Cdr1p and Mdr1p were predominantly localized in the plasma membrane. Moreover, the plasma membranes of wild-type and age3Delta mutant cells contained similar amounts of Cdr1p, Cdr2p and Mdr1p. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results indicate that the defect in sustaining filament elongation is probably caused by the failure of age3Delta cells to polarize the actin cytoskeleton and possibly of inefficient endocytosis. The high susceptibility of age3Delta cells to azoles is not caused by inefficient transport of efflux pumps to the cell membrane. A possible role of a vacuolar defect of age3Delta cells in drug susceptibility is proposed and discussed. In conclusion, our study shows that the ARF-GAP Age3p is required for hyphal growth which is an important virulence factor of C. albicans and essential for detoxification of azole drugs which are routinely used for antifungal therapy. Thus, it represents a promising antifungal drug target