Sorting nexin 16(SNX16),a member of the SNX family,contains a phoxhomology domain that is prone to bind with phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate domain and a C-terminal coiled-coil domain. SNX16 ...participates in diverse cellular processes such as endocytosis,protein sorting,and signal transduction. The dysfunctions of SNX16 are demonstrated to be involved in the occurrence of several diseases.Here,we review the structural characteristics and biological functions of SNX16 and discuss the regulatory role of SNX16 in diseases,surveying how SNX16 can be applied to the prevention and treatment of related disorders.
Summary
There is strong evidence of roles of the hypothalamus‐pituitary‐adrenal axis and nitric oxide (NO) synthase‐NO system in depression, but the relationship between them is unknown. The aim of ...this study, therefore, was to elucidate whether there is any correlation between NO and corticotropin‐releasing hormone (CRH) in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients. In 16 outpatients with MDD and 18 healthy controls, the plasma amino acids citrulline (Cit) and arginine (Arg) were determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography, and CRH levels was measured by radioimmunoassay. The Cit/Arg ratio was calculated as an index of NO synthesis. Correlations between NO and CRH were examined with the Spearman test. Before treatment, no significant correlation was observed between the plasma NO level and CRH levels in MDD patients. The plasma NO levels were significantly higher in MDD patients. A significant correlation was found between NO levels and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores in MDD patients. The plasma CRH levels were significantly higher in MDD patients than in controls. After monotherapy for 2 months, the NO levels had dramatically declined but were also higher than those in the controls. This study is the first report of the absence of a significant correlation between plasma NO and CRH levels, although both levels are elevated in MDD patients. Furthermore, the strong links between the plasma NO levels and the HAMD scores, as well as the increased NO reduction after remission, suggest that NO plays a key role in depression and may be an indicator of therapeutic success.
Immune system dysregulation plays a key role in the physiopathology of bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, whether interleukins might be biomarkers to distinguish ...these 2 affective disorders is unclear. Here, we assessed the differences in serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) as well as C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with MDD and BD. In total, we enrolled 21 MDD patients, 26 BD patients, and 20 healthy controls. We collected a total of 35 samples from BD patients in 3 different phases, depression phase, manic phase, and remission stage, and 27 samples from MDD patients in acute and remission phases. Serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels were assessed with solid phase sandwich ELISA-based quantitative arrays, and CRP levels were determined with an automatic analyzer. Both serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels were elevated in BD patients but not MDD patients. Subgroup analysis indicated elevated serum IL-6 in both the depression and manic phases in BD patients. The serum CRP levels did not change in either BD or MDD patients. However, sex differences in CRP concentrations were observed in healthy controls. Furthermore, there were linear correlations between the CRP levels and Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Rating Scale (BRMS) scores in BD patients. IL-6 and IL-8 levels may serve as biomarkers to differentiate between MDD and BD patients, even when the clinical manifestations are atypical. IL-6 may be used for the differential diagnosis of MDD and depressive episodes in BD.
C-reactive protein (CRP) has been proven to facilitate endothelial injury via reduced NO production. Endothelial microparticles (EMPs) have emerged as a novel marker of endothelial injury.
In vitro ...cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were incubated with CRP (20 mg/l) for 24 h. The numbers of EMPs with CD31- and CD51-positive staining were assessed flow-cytometrically, and NO production was measured using the Griess reaction in the presence or absence of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)), respectively.
The number of EMPs was significantly increased in HUVECs stimulated by CRP compared with the control group and, in parallel, NO production was decreased (p < 0.05). In the presence of CRP, pretreatment with BH(4) decreased EMP counts and restored NO production to baseline levels (p < 0.05) while pretreatment with 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine (DAHP), a BH(4) synthesis inhibitor, further prompted EMP formation and decreased NO production (p < 0.05). However, adding exogenous BH(4) after pretreatment with DAHP suppressed EMP formation and restored NO production (p < 0.05).
This study demonstrates that CRP induces EMP generation in HUVECs and this effect is, at least in part, related to impaired BH(4)-dependent NO production. Augmented EMP generation in HUVECs is suggested as a novel potential mechanism contributing to the pathogenesis of vascular injury related to CRP.
The macrostructure and properties of the thin walled copper tube prepared by the downward continuous unidirectional solidification （DCUS） method were studied. The result shows that the macrostructure ...is closely related to the solid-liquid interface profile, which is influenced by the distance between the cooling water location and the solidification front. The mechanical properties of the thin walled copper tube prepared by the DCUS method are near those of the normal cast copper, and it has good relative density, electrical conductivity, and elongation, which are not greatly affected by casting speed. The thin walled copper tube prepared by the DCUS method also has good processing properties that can be taken to further drawing procedures directly without an intermediate process, and obtains good mechanical properties with the total processing rate of 89.8%.
To improve the diagnosis and treatment of infective endocarditis (IE) by exploring its causes, pathogenic microorganism and clinical characteristics.
The clinical data of 120 IE patients treated in ...Peking Union Medical College Hospital from October 1997 to September 2007 were analyzed retrospectively.
Of the 120 consecutive cases diagnosed as IE according to the Duke's new criteria, 79 were male and 41 female with a average age of (43.2 +/- 16.7) years old. Twelve cases were prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) and 108 cases native valve endocarditis (NVE) and there were no previously known heart diseases in 29 of the cases. Seventy-nine of the 108 (73.1%) NVE patients had basic cardiac abnormalities before IE diagnosis, such as congenital cardiovascular disease (30 cases), idiopathic mitral valve prolapse (23 cases) and rheumatic heart disease (11 cases). Fever (100.0%), anemia (54.2%) and embolism (48.3%) were the most common clinical manifestations in the IE development. Of the 83 patients who had a positiv
To assess the value of computed tomography( CT) in the staging and predicting respectability of primary advanced ovarian carcinoma.
The data of preoperative abdomen and pelvis CT scan in 64 women ...with Stage II or IV ovarian carcinoma were collected from tumor registry database. All CT scans were analyzed retrospectively without knowledge of the operative findings, and the stage as based on CT was compared with the surgical and pathological findings. Residual lesion of < or = 2 cm in maximal diameter was considered as an optimal surgical result. Twenty-senven of these 64 patients (42.2%) underwent optimal cytoreduction surgery for residual disease C2 cm in diameter. Based on the ability of each parameter in predicting cytoreductive surgery outcome, 11 radiographic features were selected for the final model. Each predictive parameter was assigned a numeric value (1 to 7). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value( PPV) , negative predictive value( NPV),and accuracy were calculated for each predictive
For preparation of resveratrol and arctigenin from peanut hulls and arctium lappa fruits, respectively, a recombinant β-glucosidase (TmBglA) from hyperthermophile Thermotoga maritima was purified and ...characterized. The hydrolytic activity was the highest at 90 °C and pH 6.2 for arctiin with K
m
of 1.61 mM and k
cat
of 197.4 s
−1
, and 90 °C and 5.8 for polydatin with K
m
of 0.38 mM and k
cat
of 47.6 s
−1
. The enzyme produced 215.4 mg L
−1
resveratrol and 355.7 mg L
−1
arctigenin from 400 mg L
−1
polydatin and 540 mg L
−1
arctiin after 60 min of incubation at 80 °C, with capable of hydrolyzing up to 92.1 and 94.9% of polydatin and arctiin, respectively. The enzymatic hydrolysis of peanut hulls and fructus arctii displayed a conversion yield of 3.8 and 0.33 mg resveratrol and arctigenin per gram of substrate material flour, respectively. Of the reported β-glucosidase, TmBglA exhibited the highest thermostability, k
cat
, k
cat
/K
m
, and conversion productivity for hydrolyzing polydatin and arctiin, and has great potential applications in functional food and medicine production.
Abstract Many studies have reported the association between the FASLG –844T/C polymorphism and cancer risk, but the data are remaining controversial. A pooled analysis was performed to assess this ...relationship comprehensively. Medline, PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched, and data were extracted and cross-checked independently by three authors. A total of 18 published studies including 22389 subjects were involved in this analysis. Overall, the –844C allele was associated with a significantly increased cancer risk (for CC versus TT: OR = 1.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04–1.45; for CC + TC versus TT: OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.01–1.30; for CC versus TT + TC: OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.05–1.38). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significantly elevated risks were found among Asians (for CC versus TT: OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.37–1.89; for CC + TC versus TT: OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.16–1.60; for CC versus TT + TC: OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.22–1.70). In the subgroup analysis by study design, significantly increased risks were found among population-based case-control studies (for CC versus TT: OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.06–1.84; for CC + TC versus TT: OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.01–1.55; for CC versus TT + TC: OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.06–1.61). These findings indicate that the FASLG –844C allele is emerging as a low-penetrant cancer susceptibility allele for cancer development. However, more comprehensive understanding of the association would certainly have an immense prospect in the promising field of individualised preventive care.
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