Calcium channel blocker in patients with chronic kidney disease

[Background] Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is involved in a progressive deterioration in renal function over the years and is now a global public health problem. Currently, reducing the number of patients progressing to end-stage renal failure is urgently necessary. Hypertension and CKD interact with each other, and good control of blood pressure (BP) can improve CKD patients’ prognosis. With the current global trend for more strict BP control, the importance of BP management and the need for medication to achieve this strict goal are increasing. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs), which target voltage-dependent calcium channels, are frequently used in combination with renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitors for CKD patients because of their strong BP-lowering properties and relatively few adverse side effects. Calcium channels have several subtypes, including L, N, T, P/Q, and R, and three types of CCBs, L-type CCBs, L-/T-type CCBs, and L-/N-type CCBs, that are available. Nowadays, the new functions and effects of the CCBs are being elucidated. [Conclusion] We should use different types of CCBs properly depending on their pharmacological effects, such as the strength of antihypertensive effects and the organ protection effects, taking into account the pathophysiology of the patients. In this article, the role and the use of CCBs in CKD patients are reviewed

Generation of a squeezed vacuum resonant on Rubidium D_1 line with periodically-poled KTiOPO_4

We report generation of a continuous-wave squeezed vacuum resonant on the Rb D_1 line (795 nm) using periodically poled KTiOPO_4 (PPKTP) crystals. With a frequency doubler and an optical parametric oscillator based on PPKTP crystals, we observed a squeezing level of -2.75 +- 0.14 dB and an anti-squeezing level of +7.00 +- 0.13 dB. This system could be utilized for demonstrating storage and retrieval of the squeezed vacuum, which is important for the ultra-precise measurement of atomic spins as well as quantum information processing.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Storage and Retrieval of a Squeezed Vacuum

Storage and retrieval of a squeezed vacuum was successfully demonstrated using electromagnetically induced transparency. 930ns of the squeezed vacuum pulse was incident on the laser cooled 87Rb atoms with an intense control light in a coherent state. When the squeezed vacuum pulse was slowed and spatially compressed in the cold atoms, the control light was switched off. After 3us of storage, the control light was switched on again and the squeezed vacuum was retrieved, as was confirmed using the time-domain homodyne method.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review Letter

A thymus-specific noncoding RNA, Thy-ncR1, is a cytoplasmic riboregulator of MFAP4 mRNA in immature T-cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Postgenomic transcriptome analyses have identified large numbers of noncoding (nc)RNAs in mammalian cells. However, the biological function of long ncRNAs in mammalian cells remains largely unknown. Our recent expression profiling of selected human long ncRNAs revealed that a majority were expressed in an organ-specific manner, suggesting their function was linked to specific physiological phenomena in each organ. We investigated the characteristics and function of ncRNAs that were specifically expressed in the thymus, the site of T-cell selection and maturation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expression profiling of 10 thymus-specific ncRNAs in 17 T-cell leukemia cell lines derived from various stages of T-cell maturation revealed that HIT14168 ncRNA, named Thy-ncR1, was specifically expressed in cell lines derived from stage III immature T cells in which the neighbouring CD1 gene cluster is also specifically activated. The Thy-ncR1 precursor exhibited complex alternative splicing patterns and differential usage of the 5' terminus leading to the production of an estimated 24 isoforms, which were predominantly located in the cytoplasm. Selective RNAi knockdown of each Thy-ncR1 isoform demonstrated that microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 (MFAP4) mRNA was negatively regulated by two major Thy-ncR1 isoforms. Intriguingly, the MFAP4 mRNA level was controlled by a hUPF1-dependent mRNA degradation pathway in the cytoplasm distinct from nonsense-mediated decay.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study identified Thy-ncR1 ncRNA to be specifically expressed in stage III immature T cells in which the neighbouring CD1 gene cluster was activated. Complex alternative splicing produces multiple Thy-ncR1 isoforms. Two major Thy-ncR1 isoforms are cytoplasmic riboregulators that suppress the expression of MFAP4 mRNA, which is degraded by an uncharacterized hUPF1-dependent pathway.</p

Establishment and Characterization of a Human Cell Line Derived from a Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue

A cell line designated as OSC-19 was established from the metastatic tumor which was found in a cervical lymph node of a male patient suffering squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of tongue. OSC-19 cells were polygonal in shape and grew in a cobblestone pattern. Desmosomes and microvilli were observed by electron microscopic examination, but tonofilament bundles were scarce. However, immunofluorescence studies showed cytokeratins in the cytoplasms of OSC-19 cells. When inoculated into nude mice, OSC-19 cells had many distinctive desmosomes and plenty of tonofilament bundles. These observations suggested strongly that OSC-19 cell line was SCC in origin. OSC-19 cells had receptors of epidermal growth factor (EGF), but the growth of the cells in dish culture was inhibited by 1 to 100 ng/ml EGF in dose-dependent manners. OSC-19 cells could not grow in soft agar, suggesting that they were strongly anchorage dependent. However, in contrast to dish culture, EGF stimulated colony formation of OSC-19 cells in soft agar. These results suggested that EGF has complex effects on the cell growth

Mechanisms of nuclear content loading to exosomes.

Exosome cargoes are highly varied and include proteins, small RNAs, and genomic DNA (gDNA). The presence of gDNA suggests that different intracellular compartments contribute to exosome loading, resulting in distinct exosome subpopulations. However, the loading of gDNA and other nuclear contents into exosomes (nExo) remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the relationship between cancer cell micronuclei (MN), which are markers of genomic instability, and nExo formation. Imaging flow cytometry analyses reveal that 10% of exosomes derived from cancer cells and &lt;1% of exosomes derived from blood and ascites from patients with ovarian cancer carry nuclear contents. Treatment with genotoxic drugs resulted in increased MN and nExos both in vitro and in vivo. We observed that multivesicular body precursors and exosomal markers, such as the tetraspanins, directly interact with MN. Collectively, this work provides new insights related to nExos, which have implications for cancer biomarker development

Relaxation of Coaxial Nonneutral Magnetized Plasmas

Abstract A variational principle is applied to the relaxation of pure electron plasma in a strong axial magnetic field. The initial cylindrical shell structure of electrons can be unstable against Kelvin Helmholtz instability, and the plasma shape relaxes to its final state having a diffused profile. The shape of the plasma distribution in the final state is given based upon the anzats of the minimum enstrophy, and an experimentally-testable formula is obtained