Tmem64 Modulates Calcium Signaling during RANKL-Mediated Osteoclast Differentiation

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Highlights? Tmem64-deficient mice show increased bone volume ? Tmem64 deficiency reduces [Ca²⁺]_i oscillation in response to RANKL stimulation ? Tmem64 interacts with SERCA2 ? Tmem64 positively regulates osteoclast formation via SERCA2/Ca²⁺ signaling     

Chemoirradiation for Glioblastoma Multiforme: The National Cancer Institute Experience

Purpose

Standard treatment for glioblastoma (GBM) is surgery followed by radiation (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ). While there is variability in survival based on several established prognostic factors, the prognostic utility of other factors such as tumor size and location are not well established.

Experimental Design

The charts of ninety two patients with GBM treated with RT at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) between 1998 and 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Most patients received RT with concurrent and adjuvant TMZ. Topographic locations were classified using preoperative imaging. Gross tumor volumes were contoured using treatment planning systems utilizing both pre-operative and post-operative MR imaging.

Results

At a median follow-up of 18.7 months, the median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for all patients was 17.9 and 7.6 months. Patients with the smallest tumors had a median OS of 52.3 months compared to 16.3 months among patients with the largest tumors, P = 0.006. The patients who received bevacizumab after recurrence had a median OS of 23.3 months, compared to 16.3 months in patients who did not receive it, P = 0.0284. The median PFS and OS in patients with periventricular tumors was 5.7 and 17.5 months, versus 8.9 and 23.3 months in patients with non-periventricular tumors, P = 0.005.

Conclusions

Survival in our cohort was comparable to the outcome of the defining EORTC-NCIC trial establishing the use of RT+TMZ. This study also identifies several potential prognostic factors that may be useful in stratifying patients.     

Repeated oral administration of capsaicin increases anxiety-like behaviours with prolonged stress-response in rats

This study was conducted to examine the psycho-emotional effects of repeated oral exposure to capsaicin, the principal active component of chili peppers. Each rat received 1 mL of 0.02% capsaicin into its oral cavity daily, and was subjected to behavioural tests following 10 daily administrations of capsaicin. Stereotypy counts and rostral grooming were significantly increased, and caudal grooming decreased, in capsaicin-treated rats during the ambulatory activity test. In elevated plus maze test, not only the time spent in open arms but also the percent arm entry into open arms was reduced in capsaicin-treated rats compared with control rats. In forced swim test, although swimming duration was decreased, struggling increased in the capsaicin group, immobility duration did not differ between the groups. Repeated oral capsaicin did not affect the basal levels of plasma corticosterone; however, the stress-induced elevation of plasma corticosterone was prolonged in capsaicin treated rats. Oral capsaicin exposure significantly increased c-Fos expression not only in the nucleus tractus of solitarius but also in the paraventricular nucleus. Results suggest that repeated oral exposure to capsaicin increases anxiety-like behaviours in rats, and dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may play a role in its pathophysiology.     

Transition from Diffusion‐Controlled Intercalation into Extrinsically Pseudocapacitive Charge Storage of MoS2 by Nanoscale Heterostructuring

2D nanomaterials have been found to show surface‐dominant phenomena and understanding this behavior is crucial for establishing a relationship between a material's structure and its properties. Here, the transition of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) from a diffusion‐controlled intercalation to an emergent surface redox capacitive behavior is demonstrated. The ultrafast pseudocapacitive behavior of MoS₂ becomes more prominent when the layered MoS₂ is downscaled into nanometric sheets and hybridized with reduced graphene oxide (RGO). This extrinsic behavior of the 2D hybrid is promoted by the fast Faradaic charge‐transfer kinetics at the interface. The heterostructure of the 2D hybrid, as observed via high‐angle annular dark field–scanning transmission electron microscopy and Raman mapping, with a 1T MoS₂ phase at the interface and a 2H phase in the bulk is associated with the synergizing capacitive performance. This 1T phase is stabilized by the interactions with the RGO. These results provide fundamental insights into the surface effects of 2D hetero‐nanosheets on emergent electrochemical properties.     

A cysteine-rich adipose tissue-specific secretory factor inhibits adipocyte differentiation

A 12.5-kDa cysteine-rich adipose tissue-specific secretory factor (ADSF/resistin) is a novel secreted protein rich in serine and cysteine residues with a unique cysteine repeat motif of CX(12)CX(8)CXCX(3)CX(10)CXCXCX(9)CC. A single 0.8-kilobase mRNA coding for this protein was found in various murine white adipose tissues including inguinal and epididymal fats and also in brown adipose tissue but not in any other tissues examined. Two species of mRNAs with sizes of 1.4 and 0.8 kilobases were found in rat adipose tissue. Sequence analysis indicates that this is because of two polyadenylation signals, the proximal one with the sequence AATACA with a single base mismatch from murine AATAAA and the distal consensus sequence AATAAA. The mRNA level was markedly increased during 3T3-L1 and primary preadipocyte differentiation into adipocytes. Its expression in adipose tissue is under tight nutritional and hormonal regulation; the mRNA level was very low during fasting and increased 25-fold when fasted mice were refed a high carbohydrate diet. It was also very low in adipose tissue of streptozotocin-diabetes and increased 23-fold upon insulin administration. Upon treatment with the conditioned medium from COS cells transfected with the expression vector, conversion of 3T3-L1 cells to adipocytes was inhibited by 80%. The regulated expression pattern suggesting this factor as an adipose sensor for the nutritional state of the animals and the inhibitory effect on adipocyte differentiation implicate its function as a feedback regulator of adipogenesis.     

Effect of the flavonoid components obtained from Scutellaria radix on the histamine,immunoglobulin E and lipid peroxidation of spleen lymphocytes of Sprague-Dawley rats

The effect on the IgE content induced by concanavalin A in spleen lymphocytes of the presence wogonin, ganhuangenin, wogonoside and 3,5,7,2',6'-pentahydroxyl flavanone was investigated. These flavonoid components markedly inhibited the histamine released from cells stimulated with the calcium ionophore, A23187. However, the magnitude of the inhibitory effect on the degree of lipid peroxidation by ConA of these components was in order of PHF>GHG>WG>WGS. Interestingly, WG, GHG and WGS, with a methoxyl group in the A and B rings, strongly inhibited histamine and IgE production, whereas PHF without a methoxyl group was much stronger than that for lipid peroxidation. We suggest that WG, GHG and WGS might block the pathway for the release of histamine, and that the IgE level in spleen lymphocytes is responsible for the lipid peroxidation.     

Smooth muscle length-dependent PI(4,5)P2 synthesis and paxillin tyrosine phosphorylation

We studiedeffects of increasing the length of porcine trachealis muscle on 5.5 µM carbachol (CCh)-evoked phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate[PI(4,5)P₂] synthesis and other parametersof phosphatidylinositol (PI) turnover.PI(4,5)P₂ resynthesis rates in muscle held at1.0 optimal length (L_o), measured over the first 6 min of CCh stimulation, were 140 ± 12 and 227 ± 14% ofvalues found in muscle held at 0.5 L_o and infree-floating muscle, respectively. Time-dependent changes in cellularmasses of PI(4,5)P₂, PI, and phosphatidicacid, and PI resynthesis rates, were also altered by the muscle lengthat which contraction occurred. In free-floating muscle, CCh did notevoke increases in tyrosine-phosphorylated paxillin (PTyr-paxillin), anindex of ₁-integrin signaling; however, there wereprogressive increases in PTyr-paxillin in muscle held at 0.5 and 1.0 L_o during contraction, which correlated withincreases in PI(4,5)P₂ synthesis rates. Thesedata indicate that PI(4,5)P₂ synthesis ratesand other parameters of CCh-stimulated inositol phospholipid turnoverare muscle length-dependent and provide evidence that supports thehypothesis that length-dependent ₁-integrin signals mayexert control on CCh-activated PI(4,5)P₂ synthesis.

     

Influence of bombardment with BA-coated microprojectiles on shoot organogenesis fromPhlox paniculata L. andPinus pinea L. tissues

Summary Leaves ofPhlox paniculata L. were bombarded with BA-coated gold microprojectiles with the Biolistic PDS/1000-He gene gun. Increasing the concentration of BA from 0.01 to 0.1 mg/μl increased the mean number of adventitious shoots from 7 to 16 shoots per leaf. Bombardment of cotyledons ofPinus pinea L. (Italian stone pine) with BA-coated gold particles significantly reduced the frequency of shoot organogenesis by about 40%. However, induced shoot regenerants from bombarded explants of bothP. paniculata andP. pinea were longer (>1 cm) than those derived from control explants after 3 and 5 wk following bombardment, respectively.