Alpha-1 antitrypsin is a potential biomarker for hepatitis B

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Function exertion of specific proteins are key factors in disease progression, thus the systematical identification of those specific proteins is a prerequisite to understand various diseases. Though many proteins have been verified to impact on hepatitis, no systematical protein screening has been documented to hepatitis B virus (HBV) induced hepatitis, hindering the comprehensive understanding to this severe disease.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To identify the major proteins in the progression of HBV infection from mild stage to severe stage.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed an integrated strategy by combining two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) analysis, and tissue microarray techniques to screen the functional proteins and detect the localization of those proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Interestingly, MS/MS identification revealed the expression level of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) was significantly elevated in serum samples from patients with severe chronic hepatitis. Immunoblotting with a specific AAT antibody confirmed that AAT is highly expressed in serum samples from patients with hepatic carcinoma and severe chronic hepatitis. Furthermore, we observed that AAT is with highest expression in normal tissue and cells, but lowest in hepatic carcinoma and severe chronic hepatitis tissues and cells, suggesting the specific secretion of AAT from tissues and cells to serum.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest the possibility of AAT as a potential biomarker for hepatitis B in diagnosis.</p

Temperature and impurity effects of the polaron in an asymmetric quantum dot

We study the temperature and impurity effects of the ground state energy and the ground state binding energy in an asymmetric quantum dot by using the liner combination operator method. It is found that the ground state energy and the ground state binding energy will increase with increasing the temperature. The ground state ener-gy is a decreasing function of the Coulomb bound potential, whereas the ground state binding energy is an in-creasing one of it

Significance of the lipid profile and endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in the pathogenesis of microvascular angina

Background: To investigate the significance of lipid disorders and endothelial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of microvascular angina. Methods: Levels of plasma lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins were assessed in 21 patients with microvascular angina and 24 healthy subjects as controls. Also, the endothelium-dependent vasodilatation function was determined with high-resolution ultrasound in both groups. Results: Levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB100) and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] in microvascular angina group were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects (each p < 0.05). The flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in brachial arteries in patients with microvascular angina declined significantly as compared with that in control subjects (4.7 &#177; 1.9% vs. 12.8 &#177; 3.7%, p < 0.001). However, no significant difference was observed in response to nitroglycerin between groups (19.7 &#177; 8.1% vs. 21.2 &#177; 6.6%; p > 0.05). Linear correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the FMD of brachial arteries and the serum levels of LDL-C and Lp(a) in the microvascular angina group (r = -0.5125 and -0.4271, respectively, both p < 0.001). Subsequently, all subjects were pooled and divided into two groups (groups A and B) according to the degree of FMD in brachial arteries (A &#163; 4% and B > 4%). The serum LDL-C level was found to be significantly higher in group A than in group B (4.09 &#177; 0.65 mmol/L vs. 2.59 &#177; 0.49 mmol/L; p < 0.05). Conclusions: Plasma lipid disorders and vascular endothelial dysfunction may play important roles in the development of microvascular angina. The dysfunction of endothelium-dependent vasodilation was mainly associated with anomalies in LDL-C and Lp(a), and myocardial endothelial dysfunction was aggravated by lipid abnormalities in patients with microvascular angina

Polaron Rashba effect in an asymmetric quantum dot

We study the influence of polaron Rashba effect in an asymmetric quantum dot. Using variational method, we derive the expression of the polaron ground state energy. We also discuss the dependencies of the ground state energy on the wave vector and the transverse (longitudinal) effective confinement length. It is found that the ground state energy splits into two branches due to the Rashba effect. The spin splitting energy is an increasing function of the wave vector and the Rashba SO parameter

Temperature and impurity effects of the polaron in an asymmetric quantum dot

We study the temperature and impurity effects of the ground state energy and the ground state binding energy in an asymmetric quantum dot by using the liner combination operator method. It is found that the ground state energy and the ground state binding energy will increase with increasing the temperature. The ground state ener-gy is a decreasing function of the Coulomb bound potential, whereas the ground state binding energy is an in-creasing one of it

Efficacy and safety of nanohybrids comprising silver nanoparticles and silicate clay for controlling Salmonella infection

Developing effective and safe drugs is imperative for replacing antibiotics and controlling multidrug-resistant microbes. Nanoscale silicate platelet (NSP) and its nanohybrid, silver nanoparticle/NSP (AgNP/NSP), have been developed, and the nanohybrids show a strong and general antibacterial activity in vitro. Here, their efficacy for protecting Salmonella-infected chicks from fatality and septicemia was evaluated. Both orally administrated NSP and AgNP/NSP, but not AgNPs alone, effectively reduced the systemic Salmonella infection and mortality. In addition, quantitative Ag analyses demonstrated that Ag deposition from AgNP/NSP in the intestines was less than that from conventional AgNPs, indicating that the presence of NSP for immobilizing AgNPs reduced Ag accumulation in tissue and improved the safety of AgNPs. These in vivo results illustrated that both NSP and AgNP/NSP nanohybrid represent potential agents for controlling enteric bacterial infections

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies ALDH7A1 as a Novel Susceptibility Gene for Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a major public health problem. It is mainly characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD) and/or low-trauma osteoporotic fractures (OF), both of which have strong genetic determination. The specific genes influencing these phenotypic traits, however, are largely unknown. Using the Affymetrix 500K array set, we performed a case-control genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 700 elderly Chinese Han subjects (350 with hip OF and 350 healthy matched controls). A follow-up replication study was conducted to validate our major GWAS findings in an independent Chinese sample containing 390 cases with hip OF and 516 controls. We found that a SNP, rs13182402 within the ALDH7A1 gene on chromosome 5q31, was strongly associated with OF with evidence combined GWAS and replication studies (P = 2.08×10−9, odds ratio = 2.25). In order to explore the target risk factors and potential mechanism underlying hip OF risk, we further examined this candidate SNP's relevance to hip BMD both in Chinese and Caucasian populations involving 9,962 additional subjects. This SNP was confirmed as consistently associated with hip BMD even across ethnic boundaries, in both Chinese and Caucasians (combined P = 6.39×10−6), further attesting to its potential effect on osteoporosis. ALDH7A1 degrades and detoxifies acetaldehyde, which inhibits osteoblast proliferation and results in decreased bone formation. Our findings may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of osteoporosis

Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru Telescope: Overview, recent progress, and future perspectives

PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ~1.6-2.7A. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project is now going into the construction phase aiming at undertaking system integration in 2017-2018 and subsequently carrying out engineering operations in 2018-2019. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Proceeding of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 201