556 research outputs found
Coordinated induction of cell survival signaling in the inflamed microenvironment of the prostate
PURPOSE:
Both prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia are associated with inflammatory microenvironments. Inflammation is damaging to tissues, but it is unclear how the inflammatory microenvironment protects specialized epithelial cells that function to proliferate and repair the tissue. The objective of this study is to characterize the cell death and cell survival response of the prostatic epithelium in response to inflammation.
METHODS:
We assessed induction of cell death (TNF, TRAIL, TWEAK, FasL) and cell survival factors (IGFs, hedgehogs, IL-6, FGFs, and TGFs) in inflamed and control mouse prostates by ELISA. Cell death mechanisms were determined by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence for cleavage of caspases and TUNEL. Survival pathway activation was assessed by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence for Mcl-1, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and survivin. Autophagy was determined by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence for free and membrane associated light chain 3 (LC-3).
RESULTS:
Cleavage of all four caspases was significantly increased during the first 2 days of inflammation, and survival protein expression was substantially increased subsequently, maximizing at 3 days. By 5 days of inflammation, 50% of prostatic epithelial cells expressed survivin. Autophagy was also evident during the recovery phase (3 days). Finally, immunofluorescent staining of human specimens indicates strong activation of survival proteins juxtaposed to inflammation in inflamed prostate specimens.
CONCLUSIONS:
The prostate responds to deleterious inflammation with induction of cell survival mechanisms, most notably survivin and autophagy, demonstrating a coordinated induction of survival factors that protects and expands a specialized set of prostatic epithelial cells as part of the repair and recovery process during inflammation
Electronic structure of LaBr3 from quasi-particle self-consistent GW calculations
Rare-earth based scintillators in general and lanthanum bromide (LaBr_3) in
particular represent a challenging class of materials due to pronounced
spin-orbit coupling and subtle interactions between d and f states that cannot
be reproduced by standard density functional theory (DFT). Here a detailed
investigation of the electronic band structure of LaBr_3 using the
quasi-particle self-consistent GW (QPscGW) method is presented. This
parameter-free approach is shown to yield an excellent description of the
electronic structure of LaBr_3. Specifically it is able to reproduce the band
gap, the correct level ordering and spacing of the 4f and 5d states, as well as
the spin-orbit splitting of La-derived states. The QPscGW results are
subsequently used to benchmark several computationally less demanding
techniques including DFT+U, hybrid exchange-correlation functionals, and the
G_0W_0 method. Spin-orbit coupling is included self-consistently at each QPscGW
iteration and maximally localized Wannier functions are used to interpolate
quasi-particle energies. The QPscGW results provide an excellent starting point
for investigating the electronic structure of excited states, charge
self-trapping, and activator ions in LaBr_3 and related materials.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Interchange instability in the inner magnetosphere associated with geosynchronous particle flux decreases
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95370/1/grl15553.pd
On the origin of aurorae on Mars
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95268/1/grl20829.pd
Semileptonic Branching Fraction of Charged and Neutral B Mesons
An examination of leptons in events tagged by reconstructed
decays yields semileptonic branching fractions of for charged and for neutral mesons.
This is the first measurement for charged . Assuming equality of the charged
and neutral semileptonic widths, the ratio is
equivalent to the ratio of lifetimes. A postscript version is available through
World-Wide-Web in http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/1994Comment: 9 pages (in REVTEX format) Preprint CLNS94-1286, CLEO 94-1
Precision Measurement of the Mass Difference
We have measured the vector-pseudoscalar mass splitting , significantly more precise than the previous
world average. We minimize the systematic errors by also measuring the
vector-pseudoscalar mass difference using the radiative
decay , obtaining
. This is
then combined with our previous high-precision measurement of
, which used the decay . We also
measure the mass difference MeV, using the
decay modes of the and mesons.Comment: 18 pages uuencoded compressed postscript (process with uudecode then
gunzip). hardcopies with figures can be obtained by sending mail to:
[email protected]
Observation of a New Charmed Strange Meson
Using the CLEO-II detector, we have obtained evidence for a new meson
decaying to . Its mass is
{}~MeV/ and its width is ~MeV/. Although we do not
establish its spin and parity, the new meson is consistent with predictions for
an , , charmed strange state.Comment: 9 pages uuencoded compressed postscript (process with uudecode then
gunzip). hardcopies with figures can be obtained by sending mail to:
[email protected]
Measurement of the D 0 → K - Π + Branching Fraction a
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72296/1/j.1749-6632.1988.tb51529.x.pd
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