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Investigating ultra-low-dose total-body [18F]-FDG PET/CT within intestinal tract cancer malignancy: preliminary experience.
Using cell cultures of human origin for the propagation of influenza virus is an attractive way to preserve its glycosylation profile and antigenic properties, which is essential in influenza surveillance and vaccine production. However, only few cell lines are highly permissive to influenza virus, and none of them are of human origin. The barrier might be associated with host restriction factors inhibiting influenza growth, such as AnxA6 protein counteracting the process of influenza virion packaging. Tanespimycin ic50 In the presented work we explore the CRISPR-Cas9 mediated knockout of ANXA6 gene as a way to overcome the host restriction barrier and increase the susceptibility of human cell line to influenza infection. By CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing we modified HEK293FT cells and obtained several clones defective in the ANXA6 gene. The replication of the influenza A virus in original HEK293FT cells and the HEK293FT-ANXA6-/- mutant cells was compared in growth curve experiments. By combination of methods including TCID assay and flow cytometry we showed that accumulation of influenza A virus in the mutant HEK293FT-ANXA6-/- cells significantly exceeded the virus titer in the original HEK293FT cells.The GABA receptors represent the main inhibitory system in the central nervous system that ensure synaptogenesis, neurogenesis, and the regulation of neuronal plasticity and learning. GABAA receptors are pentameric in structure and belong to the Cys-loop superfamily. The GABRB2 gene, located on chromosome 5q34, encodes the β2 subunit that combines with the α and γ subunits to form the major subtype of GABAA receptors, which account for 43% of all GABAA receptors in the mammalian brain. Each subunit probably consists of an extracellular N-terminal domain, four membrane-spanning segments, a large intracellular loop between TM3 and TM4, and an extracellular C-terminal domain. Alternative splicing of the RNA transcript of the GABRB2 gene gives rise at least to four long and short isoforms with dissimilar electrophysiological properties. Furthermore, GABRB2 is imprinted and subjected to epigenetic regulation and positive selection. It has been associated with schizophrenia first in Han Chinese, and subsequently validated in other populations. Gabrb2 knockout mice also exhibited schizophrenia-like behavior and neuroinflammation that were ameliorated by the antipsychotic drug risperidone. GABRB2 was also associated with other neuropsychiatric disorders including bipolar disorder, epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder, Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, substance dependence, depression, internet gaming disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Recently, it has been postulated that GABRB2 might be a potential marker for different cancer types. As GABRB2 has a pivotal role in the central nervous system and is increasingly recognized to contribute to human diseases, further understanding of its structure and function may expedite the generation of new therapeutic approaches.Steroidogenic factor 1 (sf1) (officially designated as nuclear receptor subfamily 5 group A member 1 [NR5A1]) is an important regulator of gonad development. Previous studies on sf1 in fish have been limited to cloning and in vitro expression experiments. In this study, we used antisense RNA to down-regulate sf1 transcription and sf1 protein expression. Down-regulation of sf1 resulted in an increase in body weight and inhibition of gonadal development in both males and females with the consequent lower gonadosomatic index compared to fish in the control group. Hematoxylin-eosin staining of the gonads of fish with down-regulated sf1 revealed fewer seminiferous tubules and sperm in the testis of males. In addition, the oocytes were mainly stage II and many of them were atretic follicle. We conducted comparative transcriptome and proteome analyses between the sf1-down-regulated group and the control group. These analyses revealed multiple gene-protein pairs and pathways involved in regulating the observed changes, including 44 and 74 differently expressed genes and proteins in males and females, respectively. The results indicated that dysfunctional retinal metabolism and fatty acid metabolism could be causes of the observed weight gain and gonad abnormalities in sf1-down-regulated fish. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of using antisense RNA for gene editing in fish. This methodology allows the study gene function in species less amenable to gene editing as for example aquaculture species with long life cycles.The solute carrier (SLC) superfamily is the largest group of transporters in humans, with the role to transport solutes across plasma membranes. The SLCs are currently divided into 65 families with 430 members. Here, we performed a detailed mining of the SLC superfamily and the recent annotated family of "atypical" SLCs in human and D. melanogaster using Hidden Markov Models and PSI-BLAST. Our analyses identified 381 protein sequences in D. melanogaster and of those, 55 proteins have not been previously identified in flies. In total, 11 of the 65 human SLC families were found to not be conserved in flies, while a few families are highly conserved, which perhaps reflects the families' functions and roles in cellular pathways. This study provides the first collection of all SLC sequences in D. melanogaster and can serve as a SLC database to be used for classification of SLCs in other phyla.
Differences in culprit lesion characteristics remain unclear between pre-menopausal and postmenopausal women with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables high-resolution in-vivo identification of plaques. We investigated potential differences in culprit lesions between pre-menopausal and postmenopausal women with ACS by using OCT.

We included 191 ACS patients who had undergone pre-interventional OCT and stratified them into two groups according to their menopausal status group A (pre-menopausal, n=97) and group B (postmenopausal, n=94). The characteristics of culprit lesions were compared between the two groups.

Multivessel lesions were more commonly noted on angiography in the postmenopausal group than in the premenopausal group (40.21% vs. 72.34%, P<0.0001). On OCT, the most common type of culprit plaque was the fibrous plaque in the pre-menopausal group and the lipid plaque in the postmenopausal group. Compared to the premenopausal group, in the postmenopausal grousal women with ACS.Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) is a seed-borne virus that causes significant economic losses in farms cultivating cucurbit plants. With the increase in global trade of cucurbit seeds, it is essential to develop a rapid, reliable, and convenient diagnostic method for the direct detection of CGMMV in these seeds for prevention and management of the disease. Here, we developed a one-step reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for the direct detection of CGMMV in cucurbit seeds. To improve the efficiency of the one-step RT-LAMP assay, six primers were designed to target the most conserved regions of the gene encoding the movement protein of CGMMV. Our one-step RT-LAMP assay was optimized to improve specificity and sensitivity for CGMMV detection in individual seeds. A comparison of the detection sensitivity revealed that our one-step RT-LAMP assay was 100-fold more sensitive than the current reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay used for CGMMV quarantine in Korea. Collectively, the one-step RT-LAMP assay developed in the present study is appropriate for the direct detection of CGMMV in individual cucurbit seeds.
The detailed morphology and topography of the sympathetic cardiac nerves (SCNs) and ganglia with their surrounding structures in Syrian hamsters were examined to document the general topography and morphology and variations and to discuss the comparative anatomy between the SCNs and ganglia in Syrian hamsters and other rodents, as well as their comparative morphology and macroscopic evolutionary changes among rodents, rabbits, domestic animals (cats, dogs, sheep, goats, oxen, pigs and horses), primates, and humans.

The composition of the cervical and thoracic parts of the sympathetic trunks and ganglia was bilaterally microdissected in twenty-eight sides of 14 adult male and female Syrian hamsters under a stereomicroscope.

The general morphology of the SCNs and related ganglia in Syrian hamsters was obtained and noted as follows 1) the absence of the vago-sympathetic trunk, 2) the absence of the middle cervical ganglion (MG), 3) constant presence of the cervicothoracic ganglion (CT) comprising generally rabbits but was essentially different from that in rabbits with respect to the cranial position and composition of the CT. The general morphology of the SCNs and ganglia exhibited significant morphological differences and similarities among laboratory rodents, rabbits, domestic animals, primates, and humans. The main differences include the relationship between the cervical parts of the vagus nerve and sympathetic trunk, the presence of the MG, the position and composition of the CT, the origins and frequencies of the cardiac nerves, and the primary sympathetic contributor. From macroscopic evolutionary change, the expansion of the range of the SCNs origin has occurred from laboratory rodents, rabbits, domestic animals, and primates to humans.Elderly liver transplant (LTx) recipients at a lower risk of acute rejection compared to younger recipients due to immunosenescence. As such, they may benefit from reduced immunosuppression (IS) to minimize infectious and malignant complications. We aimed to evaluate outcomes in LTx recipients ≥60 years compared to a younger group of LTx recipients aged 18-59 years maintained on a similar level of IS. This was a single-center retrospective evaluation of adult LTx recipients from 2013 to 2018 who received methylprednisolone induction and were maintained on tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and a prednisone taper. A total of 143 LTx recipients were evaluated. Mean age in the older group was 65 ± 3.8 compared to 49 ± 10.4 years in the younger group (p less then 0.0001). Mean tacrolimus levels and the duration of MMF and steroids were comparable. Both groups had a similar incidence of first rejection within 1 year (19.2% in the elderly group vs. 23.1% in the younger group, p = 0.57). There were no statistical difference in terms of infection, malignancy, or patient survival. In conclusion, our data suggests that elderly LTx recipients, when treated with a similar level of IS, had similar 1 year incidence of rejection, infection, malignancy, and patient survival as younger LTx recipients.This study investigated for the first time if ammonia tolerant methanogenic consortia can be stored in gel (biogel) and used in a later time on-demand as bioaugmentation inocula, to efficiently relieve ammonia inhibition in continuous biomethanation systems. Moreover, wood biochar was assessed as a potential enhancer of the novel biogel bioaugmentation process. Three thermophilic (55 °C), continuous stirred-tank reactors (RBgel, RChar and RMix), operated at 4.5 g NH4+-N L-1 were exposed to biogel, biochar and mixture of biogel and biochar, respectively, while a fourth reactor (RCtrl) was used as control. The results showed that the methane production yields of RMix, RChar and RBgel increased by 28.6%, 20.2% and 10.7%, respectively compared to RCtrl. The highest methane yield was achieved by the synergistic interaction between biogel and biochar. Additionally, biogel stimulated a rapid recovery of Methanoculleus thermophilus sp. and syntrophic acetate oxidising bacteria populations.
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