Digital Commons Network^™

Fusion, 2008, George Washington University, William H. Beaumont Medical Research Honor Society

Fusion

No abstract provided.

Is Cd117 Expression Related With Plasma Cell Differentiation, Irf4/Mum1 And Cd38 Expressions In Lymphoid Neoplasms?, Gülşah Kaygusuz, Işinsu Kuzu, Saba Ki̇remi̇tçi̇, Duygu Kankaya, Zeynep Biyikli

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aim: In this study, we aimed to assess the expression of CD117 in a large series of both Hodgkin´s and non-Hodgkin´s lymphoma, and to investigate the association between the expression patterns of CD117, IRF4/MUM1, and CD38. Materials and Methods: A total of 237 lymphoma cases were selected and examined within six tissue microarray paraffin blocks. Immunohistochemistry was performed using antibodies against CD117, IRF4/MUM1 and CD38. Results: CD117 and IRF4/MUM1 immunoreactivity were seen in a subset of high-grade and low-grade B-cell lymphomas, as well as T-cell lymphomas and classical type Hodgkin´s lymphomas. CD38 positivity was only detected in 1% of diffuse …

The Effect Of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester (Cape) Treatment On Levels Of Mda, No And Antioxidant Enzyme Activities In Retinas Of Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats, Mustafa Durmuş, H. Ramazan Yilmaz, Efkan Uz, Nurten Özçeli̇k

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aim: This study was performed to determine the effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) treatment on levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) and activities of antioxidant enzymes in retinas of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven rats were enrolled and divided into three groups: group 1: non-diabetic rats as control (n = 9); group 2: STZ-induced, untreated diabetic rats (n = 8); and group 3: STZ-induced, CAPE-treated diabetic rats (n = 10). Levels of MDA and NO and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in retinal tissues were analyzed. Results: In …

Total Antioxidant Capacity And C-Reactive Protein Levels In Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia, Ahmet Bi̇rcan, Recep Sütçü, Müni̇re Gökirmak, Hi̇cran Hi̇çyilmaz, Ahmet Akkaya, Önder Öztürk

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the oxidative stress measured by serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and to evaluate their possible correlation with the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and pneumonia severity index (PSI). Materials and Methods: The PSI, chest X-ray (CXR) scores, and the serum TAC, MDA, and CRP levels were determined in 67 CAP patients on admission and compared to 45 healthy controls. Results: In the whole study population, the TAC level was inversely correlated with CRP levels and WBC counts (r=-0.648, P=0.0001; r=-0.626, P=0.0001, respectively). Lower …

Environmental Causes Of Human Congenital Malformations: The Physician's Role In Dealing With These Complex Clinical Problems Caused By Environmental And Genetic Factors., Robert L. Brent

The Selected Works of Robert Brent

No abstract provided.

Association Of Epstein-Barr Virus With Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma And Current Status Of Development Of Cancer-Derived Cell Lines, Charles A. Gullo Phd, Wong Kein Low, Gerrard Teoh

Biochemistry and Microbiology

It is well known that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) contributes directly to tumourigenesis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), primarily in the undifferentiated form of NPC (WHO type III; UNPC or UC), which is commonly found in South East Asia. Unfortunately, research in NPC has been severely hampered by the lack of authentic EBV-positive (EBV+) human NPC cell lines for study. Since 1975, there have been more than 20 reported NPC cell lines. However, many of these NPC-derived cell lines do not express EBV transcripts in long-term culture, and therefore that finding may dispute the fundamental theory of NPC carcinogenesis. In fact, …

Conformational Changes And Flexibility In T-Cell Receptor Recognition Of Peptide–Mhc Complexes, Kathryn M. Armstrong, Kurt H. Piepenbrink, Brian M. Baker

Food for Health: Publications

A necessary feature of the immune system, TCR (T-cell receptor) cross-reactivity has been implicated in numerous autoimmune pathologies and is an underlying cause of transplant rejection. Early studies of the interactions of αβ TCRs (T-cell receptors) with their peptide–MHC ligands suggested that conformational plasticity in the TCR CDR (complementarity determining region) loops is a dominant contributor to T-cell cross-reactivity. Since these initial studies, the database of TCRs whose structures have been solved both bound and free is now large enough to permit general conclusions to be drawn about the extent of TCR plasticity and the types and locations of motion …

A Phylogenomic Profile Of Hemerythrins, The Nonheme Diiron Binding Respiratory Proteins, Xavier Bailly, Stefano Vanin, Christine Chabasse, Kenji Mizuguchi, Serge N. Vinogradov

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Hemerythrins, are the non-heme, diiron binding respiratory proteins of brachiopods, priapulids and sipunculans; they are also found in annelids and bacteria, where their functions have not been fully elucidated.

Results

A search for putative Hrs in the genomes of 43 archaea, 444 bacteria and 135 eukaryotes, revealed their presence in 3 archaea, 118 bacteria, several fungi, one apicomplexan, a heterolobosan, a cnidarian and several annelids. About a fourth of the Hr sequences were identified as N- or C-terminal domains of chimeric, chemotactic gene regulators. The function of the remaining single domain bacterial Hrs remains to be determined. In …

Relation Between Nodule Size And 18F-Fdg-Pet Suv For Malignant And Benign Pulmonary Nodules., Majid Khalaf, Hani Abdel-Nabi, John Baker, Yiping Shao, Dominick Lamonica, Jayakumari Gona

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

The most common semiquantitative method of evaluation of pulmonary lesions using ¹⁸F-FDG PET is FDG standardized uptake value (SUV). An SUV cutoff of 2.5 or greater has been used to differentiate between benign and malignant nodules. The goal of our study was to investigate the correlation between the size of pulmonary nodules and the SUV for benign as well as for malignant nodules.

Methods

Retrospectively, 173 patients were selected from 420 referrals for evaluation of pulmonary lesions. All patients selected had a positive CT and PET scans and histopathology biopsy. A linear regression equation was fitted to a …

Gene Targeting In Adult Rhesus Macaque Fibroblasts, Daniel T. Meehan, Mary Ann Zink, Melissa Mahlen, Marilu Nelson, Warren G. Sanger, Shoukhrat M. Mitalipov, Don P. Wolf, Michel M. Ouellette, Robert B. Norgren

Journal Articles: Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy

BACKGROUND: Gene targeting in nonhuman primates has the potential to produce critical animal models for translational studies related to human diseases. Successful gene targeting in fibroblasts followed by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been achieved in several species of large mammals but not yet in primates. Our goal was to establish the protocols necessary to achieve gene targeting in primary culture of adult rhesus macaque fibroblasts as a first step in creating nonhuman primate models of genetic disease using nuclear transfer technology.

RESULTS: A primary culture of adult male fibroblasts was transfected with hTERT to overcome senescence and allow …

Guest Perspective - Dr. Robert L. Brent, Robert L. Brent

The Selected Works of Robert Brent

No abstract provided.

A Novel And Generalizable Organotypic Slice Platform To Evaluate Stem Cell Potential For Targeting Pediatric Brain Tumors., Shengwen Calvin Li, William Gunter Loudon

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Brain tumors are now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children under age 15. Malignant gliomas are, for all practical purposes, incurable and new therapeutic approaches are desperately needed. One emerging strategy is to use the tumor tracking capacity inherent in many stem cell populations to deliver therapeutic agents to the brain cancer cells. Current limitations of the stem cell therapy strategy include that stem cells are treated as a single entity and lack of uniform technology is adopted for selection of clinically relevant sub-populations of stem cells. Specifically, therapeutic success relies on the selection of a clinically competent …

Pdgf-Driven Proliferation, Migration, And Il8 Chemokine Secretion In Human Corneal Fibroblasts Involve Jak2-Stat3 Signaling Pathway, Neeraj Vij, Ajay Sharma, Mahesh Thakkar, Sunilima Sinha, Rajiv R. Mohan

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose: Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is associated with corneal fibroblast migration and proliferation and plays an important role in corneal wound healing. However, the intracellular mechanisms of PDGF-mediated functions in corneal fibroblasts are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that PDGF functional activities in the cornea involve the Janus kinase-2/signal transducers and activators of transcription-3 (JAK2-STAT3) signaling pathway and whether PDGF induces the expression of suppressors of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), belonging to the novel family of feedback regulators of cytokine and growth factor activities.

Methods: Human corneal fibroblast (HSF) cultures were used as an in vitro model for functional …

A Versatile Assay For The Identification Of Rna Silencing Suppressors Based On Complementation Of Viral Movement, Jason G. Powers, Tim L. Sit, Feng Qu, T. Jack Morris, Kook-Hyung Kim, Steven A. Lommel

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The cell-to-cell movement of Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) in Nicotiana benthamiana requires the presence of its coat protein (CP), a known suppressor of RNA silencing. RNA transcripts of a TCV construct containing a reporter gene (green fluorescent protein) (TCV-sGFP) in place of the CP open reading frame generated foci of three to five cells. TCV CP delivered in trans by Agrobacterium tumefaciens infiltration potentiated movement of TCV-sGFP and increased foci diameter, on average, by a factor of four. Deletion of the TCV movement proteins in TCV-sGFP (construct TCVΔ92-sGFP) abolished the movement complementation ability of TCV CP. Other known suppressors of …

Enzymatic Processing Of Amelogenin During Continuous Crystallization Of Apatite, Vuk Uskoković, M.-K. Kim, W. Li, S. Habelitz

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Dental enamel forms through a protein-controlled mineralization and enzymatic degradation with a nanoscale precision that new engineering technologies may be able to mimic. Recombinant fulllength human amelogenin (rH174) and a matrix-metalloprotease (MMP-20) were employed in a pHstat titration system that enabled a continuous supply of calcium and phosphate ions over several days, mimicking the initial stages of matrix processing and crystallization in enamel in-vitro. Effects on the self-assembly and crystal growth from a saturated aqueous solution containing 0.4 mg/ml rH174 and MMP-20 with the weight ratio of 1:1000 with respect to rH174 were investigated. A transition from nanospheres to fibrous …

An Investigation Into The I-Stat Chem8+ System For The Measurement Of Sodium, Potassium, Urea & Creatinine., Gene Ferris

Theses

In the hospital environment Point of Care Testing (POCT) can be an invaluable tool in Emergency departments, Theatres, Intensive Care Units and Paediatric wards by providing rapid test results without the need for transport and laboratory processing. The study design included the collection and duplicate analysis of patient samples firstly using the i-STAT and then on the Architect c8000, a routine laboratory analyser. Statistical analysis was performed in order to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in results between the i-STAT POCT system and current laboratory instrumentation. The parameters analysed were the vital biochemical parameters Sodium (Na), Potassium …

Gliotoxin Production In Aspergillus Fumigatus, Susan Musyimi

Theses and Dissertations

Aspergillus fumigalus is a ubiquitous fungus that causes an infection called aspergillosis in immune-compromised surgery patients (Latge, 2001, 384; Bok et al. 2006). Aspergillosis cases have increased in the past decade due to the increasing number of patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy and receiving organ transplants (Bok et al. 2006). Although there is still disagreement as to the causative agent of the symptoms accompanying aspergillosis, many scientists suspect that the compound, gliotoxin, plays a major role, hi this study, we compared the amounts of gliotoxin produced from clinical and environmental isolates of A. fumigatus. We hypothesized that the amount of gliotoxin …

Analytical Approaches To Detect Maternal/Fetal Genotype Incompatibilities That Increase Risk Of Pre-Eclampsia, Neeta Parimi, Gerard Tromp, Helena Kuivaniemi, Jyh Nien, Ricardo Gomez, Roberto Romero, Katrina Ab Goddard

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

In utero interactions between incompatible maternal and fetal genotypes are a potential mechanism for the onset or progression of pregnancy related diseases such as pre-eclampsia (PE). However, the optimal analytical approach and study design for evaluating incompatible maternal/offspring genotype combinations is unclear.

Methods

Using simulation, we estimated the type I error and power of incompatible maternal/offspring genotype models for two analytical approaches: logistic regression used with case-control mother/offspring pairs and the log-linear regression used with case-parent triads. We evaluated a real dataset consisting of maternal/offspring pairs with and without PE for incompatibility effects using the optimal analysis based …

Hiv-1 Tat And Aids-Associated Cancer: Targeting The Cellular Anti-Cancer Barrier?, Giuseppe Nunnari, Johanna A Smith, René Daniel

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is accompanied by a significant increase in the incidence of neoplasms. Several causative agents have been proposed for this phenomenon. These include immunodeficiency and oncogenic DNA viruses and the HIV-1 protein Tat. Cancer in general is closely linked to genomic instability and DNA repair mechanisms. The latter maintains genomic stability and serves as a cellular anti-cancer barrier. Defects in DNA repair pathway are associated with carcinogenesis. This review focuses on newly discovered connections of the HIV-1 protein Tat, as well as cellular co-factors of Tat, to double-strand break DNA repair. We propose that the Tat-induced …

Inhibition Of Oncogene-Induced Inflammatory Chemokines Using A Farnesyltransferase Inhibitor., Katharine C Degeorge, Brent R Degeorge, James S Testa, Jay L Rothstein

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTI) are small molecule agents originally formulated to inhibit the oncogenic functions of Ras. Although subsequent analysis of FTI activity revealed wider effects on other pathways, the drug has been demonstrated to reduce Ras signaling by direct measurements. The purpose of the current study was to determine if FTI could be used to inhibit the inflammatory activities of a known Ras-activating human oncoprotein, RET/PTC3. RET/PTC3 is a fusion oncoprotein expressed in the thyroid epithelium of patients afflicted with thyroid autoimmune disease and/or differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Previous studies have demonstrated that RET/PTC3 signals through Ras and can …

A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Naturally Occurring Polymorphisms In Hiv-1 Vpr: Potential Impact On Ctl Epitopes., Alagarsamy Srinivasan, Velpandi Ayyavoo, Sundarasamy Mahalingam, Aarthi Kannan, Anne Boyd, Debduti Datta, Vaniambadi S Kalyanaraman, Anthony Cristillo, Ronald G Collman, Nelly Morellet, Bassel E Sawaya, Ramachandran Murali

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

The enormous genetic variability reported in HIV-1 has posed problems in the treatment of infected individuals. This is evident in the form of HIV-1 resistant to antiviral agents, neutralizing antibodies and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) involving multiple viral gene products. Based on this, it has been suggested that a comprehensive analysis of the polymorphisms in HIV proteins is of value for understanding the virus transmission and pathogenesis as well as for the efforts towards developing anti-viral therapeutics and vaccines. This study, for the first time, describes an in-depth analysis of genetic variation in Vpr using information from global HIV-1 isolates …

Droid: The Drosophila Interactions Database, A Comprehensive Resource For Annotated Gene And Protein Interactions, Jingkai Yu, Svetlana Pacifico, Guozhen Liu, Russell L. Finley Jr

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Charting the interactions among genes and among their protein products is essential for understanding biological systems. A flood of interaction data is emerging from high throughput technologies, computational approaches, and literature mining methods. Quick and efficient access to this data has become a critical issue for biologists. Several excellent multi-organism databases for gene and protein interactions are available, yet most of these have understandable difficulty maintaining comprehensive information for any one organism. No single database, for example, includes all available interactions, integrated gene expression data, and comprehensive and searchable gene information for the important model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. …

A Stable Explant Culture Of Her2/Neu Invasive Carcinoma Supported By Alpha-Smooth Muscle Actin Expressing Stromal Cells To Evaluate Therapeutic Agents, Marie P. Piechocki

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

To gain a better understanding of the effects of therapeutic agents on the tumor microenvironment in invasive cancers, we developed a co-culture model from an invasive lobular carcinoma. Tumor cells expressing HER2/neu organize in nests surrounded by alpha-Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA) expressing tumor stroma to resemble the morphology of an invading tumor. This co-culture, Mammary Adenocarcinoma Model (MAM-1) maintains a 1:1 ratio of HER2/neu positive tumor cells to α-SMA-reactive stromal cells and renews this configuration for over 20 passages in vitro.

Methods

We characterized the cellular elements of the MAM-1 model by microarray analysis, and immunocytochemistry. We developed …

Detailed Characterization Of The Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Transcriptome Reveals Novel Genes And Intergenic Splicing Associated With Pluripotency, Galih Kunarso, Kee-Yew Wong, Lawrence W. Stanton, Leonard Lipovich

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Transcriptional control of embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency has been a subject of intense study. Transcriptional regulators including Oct4 (Oct3/4 index), Sox2 and Nanog are fundamental for maintaining the undifferentiated state. However, the ES cell transcriptome is not limited to their targets, and exhibits considerable complexity when assayed with microarray, MPSS, cDNA/EST sequencing, and SAGE technologies. To identify novel genes associated with pluripotency, we globally searched for ES transcripts not corresponding to known genes, validated their sequences, determined their expression profiles, and employed RNAi to test their function.

Results

Gene Identification Signature (GIS) analysis, a SAGE derivative distinguished …

In-Vivo Delivery Of Dna Vaccines Using Metallo-Lipid Nanoparticles, Clarissa Sara Gomez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There has been a rapidly growing area of research in the design and synthesis of molecules that self-organize in water to form functional nanosystems and due to the high interest in the area metal ligand complexes were tested as drug delivery systems with a Leishmania vaccine. Herein, we present the design, synthesis and functional activity of Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes that self-assemble in water to form spherical nanoscale structures that exhibit an affinity to bind DNA and deliver it into eukaryotic cells with a high percent efficiency in-vitro. In order to assess the effectiveness of these nanoparticles to deliver DNA …

Micrornas (Mirnas) In Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter T. Nelson, Wang-Xia Wang, Bernard W. Rajeev

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Aging-related neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are the culmination of many different genetic and environmental influences. Prior studies have shown that RNAs are pathologically altered during the inexorable course of some NDs. Recent evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) may be a contributing factor in neurodegeneration. miRNAs are brain-enriched, small (~22 nucleotides) non-coding RNAs that participate in mRNA translational regulation. Although discovered in the framework of worm development, miRNAs are now appreciated to play a dynamic role in many mammalian brain-related biochemical pathways, including neuroplasticity and stress responses. Research about miRNAs in the context of neurodegeneration is accumulating rapidly, and the goal of …

Editorial, First Science And Policy Issue, Jscas

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

A Call For A Statewide Bioinformatics Institute, John R. Rose

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

With The Help Of South Carolina Research Universities, Scra Demonstrates Leadership In Applied Research And Commercialization Within Sc, Bill Mahoney

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Sc Inbre: A Catalyst For Biomedical Research Development In South Carolina, Lucia A. Pirisi-Creek M.D, Scott Little, Ph.D.

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.