Summary
Background Periostin, a matricellular protein, serves as a regulator of wound healing and fibrosis. The role of periostin in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc) is unknown.
...Objective To determine periostin levels in association with severity of skin fibrosis in patients with SSc.
Methods Expression of periostin was immunohistochemically examined in skin obtained from patients with SSc and healthy controls. Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay was performed to evaluate serum periostin levels in association with clinical characteristics in 56 patients with SSc diffuse cutaneous SSc (dSSc), n = 16; and limited cutaneous SSc (lSSc), n = 40 and 66 healthy controls.
Results Periostin was strongly expressed in the affected dermis from patients with SSc. Periostin was colocalized in α‐smooth muscle actin‐positive myofibroblasts and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule‐1‐positive endothelial cells in SSc dermis. Serum levels of periostin in patients with dSSc were markedly elevated compared with those in patients with lSSc and control subjects. Patients with lSSc had increased periostin levels compared with healthy controls. In addition, significantly higher levels of periostin were observed in patients with dSSc with disease duration ≤ 5 years compared with those with disease duration > 5 years. Furthermore, the modified Rodnan total skin thickness score (MRSS) was positively correlated with periostin levels in patients with SSc. Serial analysis revealed a correlation between periostin and MRSS; namely, MRSS decreased in line with decreased periostin levels in some patients with dSSc as the disease progressed.
Conclusion An elevated periostin level in patients with SSc is associated with severity of skin sclerosis. Periostin may be a potential biomarker for progressive skin fibrosis in SSc.
What’s already known about this topic?
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Periostin is a matricellular protein known as a modulator of wound healing and fibrosis. However, the role of periostin in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis has not been elucidated.
What does this study add?
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Periostin is highly expressed in affected skin and serum in patients with systemic sclerosis.
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Increased serum periostin levels correlate with the skin fibrosis score, suggesting a possible biomarker of disease severity.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate abnormal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings related to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain. This study included 245 joints of 152 patients with ...temporomandibular disorders with anterior disc displacement; of these, 129 joints had joint pain whereas 116 joints had no joint pain. MRI was used to evaluate the reduction of anterior disc displacement, joint effusion, mandible condylar morphology, bone marrow oedema of the mandibular condyle, and signal intensity of the posterior disc attachment (PDA) on fat-suppressed T2-weighted images. The odds ratio (OR) for each MRI variable for the pain group versus the no pain group was computed using logistic regression analysis. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed significant correlations between TMJ pain and all MRI findings. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed significant correlations with joint effusion (P=0.03, OR 2.21), bone marrow oedema (P<0.001, OR 11.75), and signal intensity of the PDA (P<0.001, OR 6.21). These results suggest that bone marrow oedema, high signal intensity of the PDA on fat-suppressed T2-weighted images, and joint effusion, in descending order of influence, are factors related to TMJ pain.
This fingertip reconstruction study retrospectively compared sensory recovery and active range of motion outcomes in neurovascular island advancement and reverse digital artery island flaps. ...Seventeen oblique triangular flaps and 14 reverse digital artery island flaps were performed for nail bed level fingertip amputations (Ishikawa subzone II). There was no significant difference between the two procedures in the Semmes–Weinstein monofilament test and range of motion results. For static and moving two-point discrimination tests, however, those with a reverse digital artery island flap required a longer period for sensory recovery compared to those with an oblique triangular advancement flap. This trend equilibrated at 12 months after surgery showing no significant difference in both static and moving two-point discrimination tests between the procedures.
Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is a member of the collectin family that has an important role in maintaining pulmonary homeostasis. In this study, we demonstrated that SP-D inhibited the proliferation, ...migration and invasion of A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells. We found that SP-D suppressed epidermal growth factor (EGF) signaling in A549 cells, H441 human lung adenocarcinoma cells and human EGF receptor (EGFR) stable expression CHO-K1 cells. A binding study using (125)I-EGF demonstrated that SP-D downregulated the binding of EGF to EGFR. A ligand blot indicated that SP-D bound to EGFR, and a lectin blot suggested that EGFR in A549 cells had both high-mannose type and complex type N-glycans. We purified the recombinant extracellular domain of EGFR (soluble EGFR=soluble EGFR (sEGFR)), and demonstrated that SP-D directly bound to sEGFR in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. The binding of SP-D to sEGFR was suppressed by EDTA, mannose or N-glycopeptidase F treatment. Mass spectrometric analysis indicated that N-glycans in domain III of EGFR were of a high-mannose type. These data suggest that SP-D reduces EGF binding to EGFR through the interaction between the carbohydrate recognition domain of SP-D and N-glycans of EGFR, and downregulates EGF signaling. Our finding suggests the novel type of regulation system of EGF signaling involving lectin-to-carbohydrate interaction and downregulation of ligand binding.
Multifilling with La, Ba, Ga, and Ti in
p
-type skutterudite and Yb, Ca, Al, Ga, and In in
n
-type skutterudite remarkably reduces their thermal conductivity, resulting in enhancement of their ...dimensionless figure of merit
ZT
to
ZT
= 0.75 for
p
-type (La,Ba,Ga,Ti)
1
(Fe,Co)
4
Sb
12
and
ZT
= 1.0 for
n
-type (Yb,Ca,Al,Ga,In)
0.7
(Co,Fe)
4
Sb
12
. A thermoelectric module technology suitable for these skutterudites including diffusion barrier and electrode materials has been established. The diffusion barrier materials allow the electrode to coexist stably with the
p
/
n
skutterudites in the module’s working temperature range of room temperature to 600°C. Under conditions of hot/cold-side temperatures of 600°C/50°C, a skutterudite module with size of 50 mm × 50 mm × 7.6 mm exhibited generation performance of 32 W power output and 8% thermoelectric conversion efficiency.
The microstructures and the hardness of stainless steel weld overlay cladding of reactor pressure vessels subjected to neutron irradiation at a dose of 7.2×1019ncm−2 (E>1MeV) and a flux of ...1.1×1013ncm−2s−1 at 290°C were investigated by atom probe tomography and by a nanoindentation technique. To isolate the effects of the neutron irradiation, we compared the results of the measurements of the neutron-irradiated samples with those from a sample aged at 300°C for a duration equivalent to that of the irradiation. The Cr concentration fluctuation was enhanced in the δ-ferrite phase of the irradiated sample. In addition, enhancement of the concentration fluctuation of Si, which was not observed in the aged sample, was observed. The hardening in the δ-ferrite phase occurred due to both irradiation and aging; however, the hardening of the irradiated sample was more than that expected from the Cr concentration fluctuation, which suggested that the Si concentration fluctuation and irradiation-induced defects were possible origins of the additional hardening.
CD133 (prominin-1) is a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed on the surface of normal and cancer stem cells (tumor-initiating cells), progenitor cells, rod photoreceptor cells and a variety of ...epithelial cells. Although CD133 is widely used as a marker of various somatic and putative cancer stem cells, its contribution to the fundamental properties of cancer cells, such as tumorigenesis and differentiation, remains to be elucidated. In the present report, we found that CD133 was expressed in several neuroblastoma (NB) cell lines/tumor samples. Intriguingly, CD133 repressed NB cell differentiation, for example neurite extension and the expression of differentiation marker proteins, and was decreased by several differentiation stimuli, but accelerated cell proliferation, anchorage-independent colony formation and in vivo tumor formation of NB cells. NB cell line and primary tumor-sphere experiments indicated that the molecular mechanism of CD133-related differentiation suppression in NB was in part dependent on neurotrophic receptor RET tyrosine kinase regulation. RET transcription was suppressed by CD133 in NB cells and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor treatment failed to induce RET in CD133-expressing cells; RET overexpression rescued CD133-related inhibition of neurite elongation. Of note, CD133-related NB cell differentiation and RET repression were mainly dependent on p38MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways. Furthermore, CD133 has a function in growth and RET expression in NB cell line- and primary tumor cell-derived tumor spheres. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the function of CD133 in cancer cells and our findings may be applied to improve differentiation induction therapy for NB patients.
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