503 research outputs found
Prostate cancer and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: systematic review and meta-analysis
Expression profile of microRNAs in young stroke patients
10.1371/journal.pone.0007689PLoS ONE41
f(R) theories
Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of
the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review
various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as
inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations,
and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational
backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from
General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the
extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and
Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and
local gravity constraints.Comment: 156 pages, 14 figures, Invited review article in Living Reviews in
Relativity, Published version, Comments are welcom
Crystal structure and biochemical analyses reveal Beclin 1 as a novel membrane binding protein
The Beclin 1 gene is a haplo-insufficient tumor suppressor and plays an
essential role in autophagy. However, the molecular mechanism by which Beclin 1
functions remains largely unknown. Here we report the crystal structure of the
evolutionarily conserved domain (ECD) of Beclin 1 at 1.6 Å
resolution. Beclin 1 ECD exhibits a previously unreported fold, with three
structural repeats arranged symmetrically around a central axis. Beclin 1 ECD
defines a novel class of membrane-binding domain, with a strong preference for
lipid membrane enriched with cardiolipin. The tip of a surface loop in Beclin 1
ECD, comprising three aromatic amino acids, acts as a hydrophobic finger to
associate with lipid membrane, consequently resulting in the deformation of
membrane and liposomes. Mutation of these aromatic residues rendered Beclin 1
unable to stably associate with lipid membrane in vitro and unable to
fully rescue autophagy in Beclin 1-knockdown cells in vivo. These
observations form an important framework for deciphering the biological
functions of Beclin 1
Comparative analysis of inflamed and non-inflamed colon biopsies reveals strong proteomic inflammation profile in patients with ulcerative colitis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Accurate diagnostic and monitoring tools for ulcerative colitis (UC) are missing. Our aim was to describe the proteomic profile of UC and search for markers associated with disease exacerbation. Therefore, we aimed to characterize specific proteins associated with inflamed colon mucosa from patients with acute UC using mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Biopsies were sampled from rectum, sigmoid colon and left colonic flexure from twenty patients with active proctosigmoiditis and from four healthy controls for proteomics and histology. Proteomic profiles of whole colonic biopsies were characterized using 2D-gel electrophoresis, and peptide mass fingerprinting using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was applied for identification of differently expressed protein spots.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 597 spots were annotated by image analysis and 222 of these had a statistically different protein level between inflamed and non-inflamed tissue in the patient group. Principal component analysis clearly grouped non-inflamed samples separately from the inflamed samples indicating that the proteomic signature of colon mucosa with acute UC is strong. Totally, 43 individual protein spots were identified, including proteins involved in energy metabolism (triosephosphate isomerase, glycerol-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase, alpha enolase and L-lactate dehydrogenase B-chain) and in oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase, thioredoxins and selenium binding protein).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A distinct proteomic profile of inflamed tissue in UC patients was found. Specific proteins involved in energy metabolism and oxidative stress were identified as potential candidate markers for UC.</p
Body mass index and risk of pancreatic cancer in a Chinese population
10.1371/journal.pone.0085149PLoS ONE91-POLN
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