Role of neurocrine somatostatin on sphincter of Oddi contractility and intestinal ischemia reperfusion-induced acute pancreatitis in macaques

BACKGROUND

Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IIR) is implicated in the pathogenesis of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). This study investigates the impact of neurocrine somatostatin (SST) on the contraction of sphincter of Oddi (SO) during IIR.

METHODS

Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion model in macaques was induced by occluding the superior mesenteric artery. Pancreatitis was confirmed by pancreatic histology and serum levels of amylase and lipase. SST and its receptors (SSTRs) in SO were visualized by immunohistochemistry. Effects of SST on the contraction of the isolated SO were recorded in vitro.

KEY RESULTS

Inflammatory scores of the pancreas and serum levels of amylase or lipase in the macaques that underwent IIR were significantly higher than those in the control group. The frequency and amplitude of phasic contraction of the circular muscle in SO was increased by SST in a concentration-dependent manner. Compared with the control group, SST innervation or SSTR2 expression in SO of macaques treated with IIR was increased 5.2 fold or 5.6 fold respectively. Prophylactic infusion of SST before IIR significantly reduced SST immunoreactive fibers in SO as compared to those in the IIR group and remarkably alleviated the pathophysiologic changes due to IIR.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

Increased SST innervation in SO during the early phase of IIR associated with the contraction of circular muscle of SO, which might be one of the promoting factors associated with the development of SAP. Prevention of IIR or intervention of SO contraction after occurrence of acute pancreatitis might be beneficial for preventing SAP.

Differential diagnosis of small single solid thyroid nodules using real-time ultrasound elastography

In this prospective study, the diagnostic value of real-time ultrasound elastography (USE) was evaluated in 51 consecutive patients referred for surgical treatment with single solid thyroid nodules < 10 mm in maximum diameter with an indeterminate result on B-mode and colour Doppler ultrasonography. Ultrasonographic results were compared with histopathological data. Nineteen follicular adenomas and 32 papillary thyroid microcarcinomas (PTMCs) were observed. A real-time USE score of 4 - 5 diagnosed PTMCs with a sensitivity of 90.63%, a specificity of 89.47% and an accuracy of 90.20%. The positive and negative predictive values were 93.55% and 85.00%, respectively. It is concluded that real-time USE is a promising imaging technique that could assist in the differential diagnosis of single solid thyroid nodules < 10 mm in maximum diameter that give indeterminate results on conventional ultrasound.

Recoil polarization measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio to Q2 = 8.5 GeV2

Among the most fundamental observables of nucleon structure, electromagnetic form factors are a crucial benchmark for modern calculations describing the strong interaction dynamics of the nucleon's quark constituents; indeed, recent proton data have attracted intense theoretical interest. In this Letter, we report new measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio using the recoil polarization method, at momentum transfers Q2=5.2, 6.7, and 8.5  GeV2. By extending the range of Q2 for which G(E)(p) is accurately determined by more than 50%, these measurements will provide significant constraints on models of nucleon structure in the nonperturbative regime.

Principal independent component analysis

Conventional blind signal separation algorithms do not adopt any asymmetric information of the input sources, thus the convergence point of a single output is always unpredictable. However, in most of the applications, we are usually interested in only one or two of the source signals and prior information is almost always available. In this paper, a principal independent component analysis (PICA) concept is proposed.We try to extract the objective independent component directly without separating all the signals. A cumulant-based globally convergent algorithm is presented and simulation results are given to show the hopeful applicability of the PICA ideas.

The p63 target HBP1 is required for skin differentiation and stratification

Genetic experiments established that p63 is crucial for the development and maintenance of pluristratified epithelia. In the RNA interference (RNAi) screening for targets of p63 in keratinocytes, we identified the transcription factor, High Mobility Group (HMG) box protein 1 (HBP1). HBP1 is an HMG-containing repressor transiently induced during differentiation of several cell lineages. We investigated the relationship between the two factors: using RNAi, overexpression, chromatin immunoprecipitations and transient transfections with reporter constructs, we established that HBP1 is directly repressed by p63. This was further confirmed in vivo by evaluating expression in p63 knockout mice and in transgenics expressing p63 in basal keratinocytes. Consistent with these findings, expression of HBP1 increases upon differentiation of primary keratinocytes and HaCaT cells in culture, and it is higher in the upper layers of human skin. Inactivation of HBP1 by RNAi prevents differentiation of keratinocytes and stratification of organotypic skin cultures. Finally, we analyzed the keratinocyte transcriptomes after HBP1 RNAi; in addition to repression of growth-promoting genes, unexpected activation of differentiation genes was uncovered, coexisting with repression of other genes involved in epithelial cornification. Our data indicate that suppression of HBP1 is part of the growth-promoting strategy of p63 in the lower layers of epidermis and that HBP1 temporally coordinates expression of genes involved in stratification, leading to the formation of the skin barrier.

Subwavelength plasmonic lattice solitons in arrays of metallic nanowires

We predict theoretically that stable subwavelength plasmonic lattice solitons (PLSs) are formed in arrays of metallic nanowires embedded in a nonlinear medium. The tight confinement of the guiding modes of the metallic nanowires, combined with the strong nonlinearity induced by the enhanced field at the metal surface, provide the main physical mechanisms for balancing the wave diffraction and the formation of PLSs. As the conditions required for the formation of PLSs are satisfied in a variety of plasmonic systems, we expect these nonlinear modes to have important applications to subwavelength nanophotonics. In particular, we show that the subwavelength PLSs can be used to optically manipulate with nanometer accuracy the power flow in ultracompact photonic systems.

Osteocyte apoptosis and control of bone resorption following ovariectomy in mice

INTRODUCTION

Osteocyte apoptosis has been linked to bone resorption resulting from estrogen depletion and other resorptive stimuli; however, precise spatial and temporal relationships between the two events have not been clearly established. The purpose of this study was to characterize the patterns of osteocyte apoptosis in relation to bone resorption following ovariectomy to test whether osteocyte apoptosis occurs preferentially in areas known to activate resorption. Moreover, we report that osteocyte apoptosis is necessary to initiate endocortical remodeling in response to estrogen withdrawal.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Adult female C57BL/6J mice (17 weeks old) underwent either bilateral ovariectomy (OVX), or sham surgery (SHAM) and were euthanized on days 3, 7, 14, or 21 days after OVX. Diaphyseal cross-sections were stained by immunohistochemistry for activated caspase-3 as a marker of apoptosis. The percentages of caspase-positive stained osteocytes (Casp+Ot.) were measured along major and minor anatomical axes around the femoral diaphysis to evaluate the distribution of osteocyte apoptosis after estrogen loss; resorption surface was measured at the adjacent endocortical regions. In a second study to test whether osteocyte apoptosis plays a regulatory role in the initiation of bone resorption, a group of OVX mice received the pan-caspase inhibitor, QVDOPh, to inhibit osteocyte apoptosis. Remaining experimental and sham groups received either QVD or Vehicle.

RESULTS

OVX increased osteocyte apoptosis in a non-uniform distribution throughout the femoral diaphyses. Increases in Casp+osteocytes were predominantly located in the posterior diaphyseal cortex. Here, the number of apoptotic osteocytes 4- to 7-fold higher than sham controls (p<0.005) by day 3 post-OVX and remained elevated. Increases in resorption post-OVX also occurred along the posterior endocortical surface overlying the region of osteocyte apoptosis, but these increases occurred only at 14 and 21 days post-OVX (p<0.002) well after the increases in osteocyte apoptosis. Treatment with QVD in OVX animals suppressed osteocyte apoptosis, with levels in QVD-treated samples equivalent to baseline. Moreover, the increases in osteoclastic resorption normally observed after estrogen loss did not occur in OVX mice treated with QVD.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study demonstrate that osteocyte apoptosis following estrogen loss occur regionally, rather than uniformly throughout the cortex. We also showed that estrogen loss increased osteocyte apoptosis. Apoptotic osteocytes were overwhelmingly localized within the posterior cortical region, the location where endocortical resorption was subsequently activated in ovariectomized mice. Finally, the increases in osteoclastic resorption normally observed after estrogen withdrawal did not occur in the absence of osteocyte apoptosis indicating that this apoptosis is necessary to activate endocortical remodeling following estrogen loss.

MEPE/OF45 as a new target for sensitizing human tumour cells to DNA damage inducers

BACKGROUND

We recently identified matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein/osteoblast factor 45 (MEPE/OF45) as a new cofactor of CHK1 in rat cells. The aim of this study was to determine the role of human MEPE/OF45 (hMEPE/OF45 has approximately 50% homology with rat MEPE/OF45 (rMEPE/OF45)) in affecting the sensitivity of human tumour cells to DNA damage.

METHODS

hMEPE/OF45 expression in different human tumour cell lines and its relevance to the resistance of cell lines to DNA damage inducers such as ionising radiation (IR) or camptothecin (CPT) were assessed. Cells lines stably expressing wild-type MEPE/OF45 or mutant MEPE/OF45 (with the CHK1 interactive key domain (amino acids 488-507) deleted) were established. Cell survival, G(2) accumulation, CHK1 half-life and the CHK1 level in ligase 3 complexes were examined.

RESULTS

hMEPE/OF45 expression correlates with the resistance of cell lines to IR or CPT. Upregulating wild-type hMEPE/OF45 (but not mutant hMEPE/OF45) could stabilize CHK1 by reducing CHK1 interaction for its E3 ligases Cul1 or Cula4A; it increases the G(2) checkpoint response and increases the resistance of tumour cells to IR or CPT treatment.

CONCLUSION

hMEPE/OF45 could be a new target for sensitizing tumour cells to radiotherapy or chemotherapy.