Peroxisomal fission is induced during appressorium formation and is required for full virulence of the rice blast fungus.

Peroxisomes are involved in various metabolic processes and are important for virulence in different pathogenic fungi. How peroxisomes rapidly emerge in the appressorium during fungal infection is poorly understood. Here, we describe a gene, PEF1, which can regulate peroxisome formation in the appressorium by controlling peroxisomal fission, and is required for plant infection in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

Dose effects of lacosamide as add-on therapy for partial-onset seizure in adult.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the dose effects of lacosamide on the efficacy and safety as adjunctive therapy for partial-onset seizure in adults. We searched online databases such as Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Online Library, and Clinicaltrial.gov for randomized control trials.

Efficacy of transvaginal debridement and repair surgery for cesarean scar pregnancy: a cohort study compared with uterine artery embolism.

Objective: Compared with uterine artery embolism (UAE), we aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of transvaginal debridement and repair surgery (TDRS) and analyze the association between postoperative recovery and individual related factors.

Methods: A total of 128 patients diagnosed with cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) from January 2006 to June 2014 were divided into 2 groups. Group A: 38 cases were treated with UAE.

A preliminary observation of the adverse effects of phenobarbital among patients with convulsive epilepsy in rural West China.

Background: This study explored the adverse effect (AE) profile of phenobarbital (PB) among patients with active convulsive epilepsy (ACE) from resource-poor areas.

Methods: Patients with ACE were enrolled into an epilepsy management project in rural West China. Information was obtained from monthly follow-up questionnaires.

Composition dependent activity of Cu-Pt nanocrystals for electrochemical reduction of CO2.

The Cu-Pt nanocrystal (NC) samples with concisely controlled atomic ratios (Cu : Pt) are prepared by a facile strategy. We demonstrate that Cu-Pt (3 : 1) NCs exhibit the highest activity and faradaic efficiency in the CO2 electroreduction reaction among all the as-prepared samples.

[Advances in the study of regulation of stem cell differentiation by surface properties of biomaterials].

The differentiation of stem cells into target cells in a particular region is an important prerequisite for the organ construction and tissue engineering. The processes are multi-directionally regulated by the surface properties of biomaterials, and among them the influences of mechanical rigidity and surface morphology of biomaterials on morphological characteristics, focal adhesion assemblies, and cytoskeletal structure of cells are considered to be the most important factors in regulating the differentiation of stem cells into specific cell lineages. This review summarizes the progresses on this topic in the past few years, which may provide a reference to the design of the biomaterials in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.

Aggressive interventions in terminally ill patients with solid tumors in China: a retrospective single center analysis.

Purpose: Overtreatment in terminally ill cancer patients is very common worldwide, but whether patients will benefit from aggressive care remains obscure. This study aimed to explore the value of aggressive interventions in the end of life in adult patients with advanced solid tumors.

Methods: All adult patients who died from advanced solid tumors between 2011 and 2012 in Xiangyang Central Hospital were included.

Suppression of hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and hepatitis B surface antigen secretion with interferon-λ1 or PEG-interferon-λ1.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer associated with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Conventional interferon-α (IFN-α) and pegylated IFNs (PEG-IFNs) approved for chronic HBV infection treatment can reduce the risk of HCC but are not suitable for the majority of patients and cause significant side effects. IFN-λ1 is a type III IFN with antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory functions similar to type I IFNs but with fewer side effects.

N-glycosylation of effector proteins by an α-1,3-mannosyltransferase is required for the rice blast fungus to evade host innate immunity.

Plant pathogenic fungi deploy secreted effectors to suppress plant immunity responses. These effectors operate either in the apoplast or within host cells, so they are putatively glycosylated, but the posttranslational regulation of their activities has not been explored. In this study, the ASPARAGINE-LINKED GLYCOSYLATION3 (ALG3)-mediated N-glycosylation of the effector, Secreted LysM Protein1 (Slp1), was found to be essential for its activity in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

RanBPM interacts with TβRI, TRAF6 and curbs TGF induced nuclear accumulation of TβRI.

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), a cytokine, and its receptors play a vital role during normal embryogenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and migration. Ran-binding protein in the microtubule-organizing center (RanBPM) serves as a scaffold protein that has been shown to interact with many other proteins, such as MET, Axl/Sky, TRAF6, IFNR, TrKA and TrkB in addition to p75NTR. In the current study, we have identified RanBPM as a novel binding partner of TβRI by yeast two-hybrid assay.

The roles of autophagy and apoptosis in burn wound progression in rats.

Understanding the role of cell death in burn wound progression is crucial for giving appropriate diagnoses and designing therapy regimens for burn patients. A well-described and reliable "comb burns model" was employed to evaluate the roles of autophagy and apoptosis in burn wound progression at 2 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h post-burn in a rat model. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) results showed that autophagy was detectable in hair follicle epithelium at 2 h post-burn, peaked at 12 h post-burn, then declined.

Identification of the ZAK-MKK4-JNK-TGFβ signaling pathway as a molecular target for novel synthetic iminoquinone anticancer compound BA-TPQ.

Identification and validation of molecular targets are considered as key elements in new drug discovery and development. We have recently demonstrated that a novel synthetic iminoquinone analog, termed [7-(benzylamino)- 1,3,4,8-tetrahydropyrrolo [4,3, 2-de]quinolin-8(1H)-one] (BA-TPQ), has significant anti-breast cancer activity both in vitro and in vivo, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Herein, we report the molecular studies for BA-TPQ's effects on JNK and its upstream and downstream signaling pathways.

A novel synthetic iminoquinone, BA-TPQ, as an anti-breast cancer agent: in vitro and in vivo activity and mechanisms of action.

Herein, we report our examination of the anti-breast cancer activity of a novel synthetic compound, 7-(benzylamino)-1, 3, 4, 8-tetrahydropyrrolo [4, 3, 2-de]quinolin-8(1H)-one (BA-TPQ). This agent is an analog of a naturally occurring marine compound, and was found to be the most active out of more than 40 related compounds. We investigated the in vitro activity of BA-TPQ on the survival, proliferation, and apoptosis of breast cancer cells using the MTT and BrdUrd assays, and Annexin/Annexin-PI staining and flow cytometry.

Polarizational nonlinear optical response of photonic structures with a liquid crystal defect.

We demonstrate experimentally that a one-dimensional photonic crystal with a homeotropic nematic liquid crystal defect behaves as a polarization-sensitive nonlinear all-optical device. We study statics and dynamics of the nonlinear optical response for linearly and circularly polarized beams and show enhanced light sensitivity and polarization self-modulation effects.

RYBP stabilizes p53 by modulating MDM2.

The mouse double minute 2 (MDM2)-p53 interaction regulates the activity of p53 and is a potential target for human cancer therapy. Here, we report that RYBP (RING1- and YY1-binding protein), a member of the polycomb group (PcG), interacts with MDM2 and decreases MDM2-mediated p53 ubiquitination, leading to stabilization of p53 and an increase in p53 activity. RYBP induces cell-cycle arrest and is involved in the p53 response to DNA damage.

The expression and bioinformatic analysis of a novel gene C20orf14 associated with lymphoma.

The aim of the present study was to explore the differentially expressed genes in the blood vessel endothelial cells (BVECs) between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and reactive lymph node hyperplasia (RLNH), and to perform an initial bioinformatics analysis on a novel gene, C20orf14, which is highly expressed in lymph node of lymphoma. The mRNA of the tissue from the BVECs of DLBCL and RLNH tissues was labeled with biotin respectively and hybridized with expression profile microarray, and the differentially expressed genes were obtained. Initial bioinformatics analysis was performed on a novel gene named C20orf14.

Extracellular activity of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase as a biomarker for human cancer detection: distribution characteristics in a normal population and cancer patients.

The overexpression of cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKA) has been reported in patients with cancer, and PKA inhibitors have been tested in clinical trials as a novel cancer therapy. The present study was designed to characterize the population distribution of extracellular activity of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (ECPKA) and its potential value as a biomarker for cancer detection and monitoring of cancer therapy. The population distribution of ECPKA activity was determined in serum samples from a Chinese population consisting of a total of 603 subjects (374 normal healthy volunteers and 229 cancer patients).

[Cloning and characterization of a novel mouse aging-related gene Arzc].

Objective: To clone and identify novel mouse aging-related genes.

Methods: The improved differential display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method was used to analyze the differential expression of old and young BALB/C mouse cortex tissues. The novel expression sequence targets (EST) with differential expression were further confirmed by Northern blot and used as original sequence to clone the full-length cDNA sequence by bioinformatics technique.

Association between angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism and Alzheimer's disease in a Chinese population.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme has shown altered activity in patients with neurological diseases. An insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the DCP1 gene encoding angiotensin-converting enzyme has been reported to be associated with the risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but ambiguous results have also been presented. We conducted a case-control study in a sample composed of 192 sporadic AD patients and 195 age- and sex-matched controls from Chinese Han population in Beijing and Xi'an districts to investigate the possible effect of the polymorphism.

Association between cathepsin D polymorphism and Alzheimer's disease in a Chinese Han population.

Cathepsin D (CTSD) is an intracellular aspartyl protease, which is active in the endosomal/lysosomal system. CTSD may play a role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) through cleaving the amyloid precursor protein into beta-amyloid peptide and degrading tau protein into fragments. A functional polymorphism in exon 2 of the cathepsin D gene (C-->T, Ala224Val) has recently been reported to increase the risk for AD in some of the Caucasian populations, with a significant overrepresentation of the T allele, but these reports have not been universally duplicated.

[Identification and analysis of expressed sequence tags related to K562 cells into erythroid differentiation].

Objective: To isolate expressed sequence tags (ESTs) related to K562 cells erythroid differentiation.

Methods: Modified differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) method was applied to identify differential ESTs in uninduced and induced K562 cells by HEMIN for 36 hours. Remarkable differential ESTs were firstly selected for cloning, sequencing and bioinformational analyzing.

[Association between Alzheimer's disease and nitric oxide synthase III polymorphism].

Objective: To explore the association between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) III in Chinese Han population.

Methods: Seventy-five AD and 68 normal controls were genotyped for NOS III G894T polymorphism. Genotyping was carried out by PCR-RFLP methods.

[Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphisms and Alzheimer disease].

PCR-RFLP was used to investigate the distribution differences of apolipoprotein E (APOE) alleles and genotypes between sporadic Alzheimer disease (AD) patients (n = 160) and healthy control individuals (n = 195) in Chinese Han population. The results showed that the allelic frequencies of APOE epsilon 2, epsilon 3 and epsilon 4 were 0.056, 0.

Association of alpha 2-macroglobulin polymorphisms and Alzheimer disease in Mainland Han Chinese.

This study used case-control method to investigate roles of two alpha 2-macroglobulin (A2M) polymorphisms, a 5-bp insertion/deletion (A2M-I/D) and an A-->G substitution (A2M-A/G), in the development of sporadic Alzheimer disease (AD) in Mainland Han Chinese. Our results showed a trend of lower D-carrying genotype frequency in APOE-epsilon 4 carrying AD patients than in corresponding control subjects (chi(2)=3.67, p=0.