bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chondroitin Sulphate Attenuates Atherosclerosis in ApoE Knockout Mice Involving Cellular Regulation of the Inflammatory Response
Authors: Melgar-Lesmes Pedro , Sánchez-Herrero Alvaro , Lozano-Juan Ferran , de la Torre Hernández Jose , Montell Eulàlia , Jiménez Wladimiro , Edelman Elazer , Balcells Mercedes 
Published: June 2018

AbstractChondroitin sulphate (CS) has long been used to treat osteoarthritis. Some investigations have also shown that the treatment with CS could reduce coronary events in patients with heart disease but no studies have identified the mechanistic role of these therapeutic effects. We aimed to investigate how the treatment with CS can interfere with the progress of atherosclerosis. The aortic arch, thoracic aorta and serum were obtained from apolipoprotein E (ApoE) knockout mice fed for 10 weeks with high-fat diet and then treated with CS (300 mg/kg, n = 15) or vehicle (n = 15) for 4 weeks. Atheromatous plaques were highlighted in aortas with Oil Red staining and analysed by microscopy. ApoE knockout mice treated with CS exhibited attenuated atheroma lesion size by 68% as compared with animals receiving vehicle. Serum lipids, glucose and C-reactive protein were not affected by treatment with CS. To investigate whether CS locally affects the inflamed endothelium or the formation of foam cells in plaques, human endothelial cells and monocytes were stimulated with tumour necrosis factor α or phorbol myristate acetate in the presence or absence of CS. CS reduced the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and ephrin-B2 and improved the migration of inflamed endothelial cells. CS inhibited foam cell formation in vivo and concomitantly CD36 and CD146 expression and oxidized low-density lipoprotein uptake and accumulation in cultured activated human monocytes and macrophages. Reported cardioprotective effects of CS may arise from modulation of pro-inflammatory activation of endothelium and monocytes and foam cell formation.
A Disintegrin and Metalloproteases (ADAMs) in Cardiovascular, Metabolic and Inflammatory Diseases: Aspects for Theranostic Approaches
Authors: van der Vorst Emiel , Weber Christian , Donners Marjo 
Published: June 2018

AbstractA disintegrin and metalloproteases (ADAMs) are membrane-bound enzymes responsible for the shedding or cleavage of various cell surface molecules, such as adhesion molecules, cytokines/chemokines and growth factors. This shedding can result in the release of soluble proteins that can exert agonistic or antagonistic functions. Additionally, ADAM-mediated cleavage can render these membrane proteins inactive. This review will describe the role and association of ADAMs in various pathologies with a main focus on ADAM10 and ADAM17 in atherosclerosis, including a brief overview of atherosclerosis-related ADAM substrates. Furthermore, ADAMs involvement in other metabolic and inflammatory diseases like diabetes, sepsis, Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis will be highlighted. Subsequently, we will briefly discuss an interesting emerging field of research, i.e. the potential implications of ADAM expression in extracellular vesicles. Finally, several ADAM-based therapeutic and diagnostic (theranostic) opportunities will be discussed, while focusing on key questions about the required specificity and selectivity.
Rapid evaluation of 1-kestose producing β-fructofuranosidases from Aspergillus species and enhancement of 1-kestose production using a PgsA surface-display system
Authors: Fujii Tadashi , Tochio Takumi , Hirano Katsuaki , Tamura Keisuke , Tonozuka Takashi 
Published: June 2018

ABSTRACT
1-Kestose is a key prebiotic fructooligosaccharide (FOS) sugar. Some β-fructofuranosidases (FFases) have high transfructosylation activity, which is useful for manufacturing FOS. Therefore, obtaining FFases that produce 1-kestose efficiently is important. Here, we established a rapid FFase evaluation method using Escherichia coli that display different FFases fused to a PgsA anchor protein from Bacillus subtilis. E. coli cell suspensions expressing the PgsA-FFase fusion efficiently produce FOS from sucrose. Using this screening technique, we found that the E. coli transformant expressing Aspergillus kawachii FFase (AkFFase) produced a larger amount of 1-kestose than those expressing FFases from A. oryzae and A. terreus. Saturation mutagenesis of AkFFase was performed, and the mutant G85W was obtained. The E. coli transformant expressing AkFFase G85W markedly increased production of 1-kestose. Our results indicate that the surface display technique using PgsA is useful for screening of FFases, and AkFFase G85W is likely to be suitable for 1-kestose production.
Abbreviations: AkFFase: Aspergillus kawachii FFase; AoFFase: Aspergillus oryzae FFase; AtFFase: Aspergillus terreus FFase; FFase: β-fructofuranosidase; FOS: fructooligosaccharide; fructosylnystose: 1F-β-fructofuranosylnystose
Species with Potential Arising from Surfaces with Orbifold Points of Order 2, Part II: Arbitrary Weights
Authors: Geuenich Jan , Labardini-Fragoso Daniel 
Published: June 2018

AbstractLet ${\boldsymbol{\Sigma }}=(\Sigma ,\mathbb{M},\mathbb{O})$ be either an unpunctured surface with marked points and order-2 orbifold points or a once-punctured closed surface with order-2 orbifold points. For each pair $(\tau ,\omega )$ consisting of a triangulation $\tau $ of ${\boldsymbol{\Sigma }}$ and a function $\omega :\mathbb{O}\rightarrow \{1,4\}$, we define a chain complex $C_\bullet (\tau , \omega )$ with coefficients in $\mathbb{F}_2=\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$. Given ${\boldsymbol{\Sigma }}$ and $\omega $, we define a colored triangulation of ${\boldsymbol{\Sigma }_\omega }=(\Sigma ,\mathbb{M},\mathbb{O},\omega )$ to be a pair $(\tau ,\xi )$ consisting of a triangulation of ${\boldsymbol{\Sigma }}$ and a 1-cocycle in the cochain complex that is dual to $C_\bullet (\tau , \omega )$; the combinatorial notion of colored flip of colored triangulations is then defined as a refinement of the notion of flip of triangulations. Our main construction associates to each colored triangulation a species and a potential, and our main result shows that colored triangulations related by a flip have species with potentials (SPs) related by the corresponding SP-mutation as defined in [25]. We define the flip graph of ${\boldsymbol{\Sigma }_\omega }$ as the graph whose vertices are the pairs $(\tau ,x)$ consisting of a triangulation $\tau $ and a cohomology class $x\in H^1(C^\bullet (\tau , \omega ))$, with an edge connecting two such pairs, $(\tau ,x)$ and $(\sigma ,z),$ if and only if there exist 1-cocycles $\xi \in x$ and $\zeta \in z$ such that $(\tau ,\xi )$ and $(\sigma ,\zeta )$ are colored triangulations related by a colored flip; then we prove that this flip graph is always disconnected provided the underlying surface $\Sigma $ is not contractible. In the absence of punctures, we show that the Jacobian algebras of the SPs constructed are finite-dimensional and that whenever two colored triangulations have the same underlying triangulation, the Jacobian algebras of their associated SPs are isomorphic if and only if the underlying 1-cocycles have the same cohomology class. We also give a full classification of the nondegenerate SPs one can associate to any given pair $(\tau ,\omega )$ over cyclic Galois extensions with certain roots of unity. The species constructed here are species realizations of the $2^{|\mathbb{O}|}$ skew-symmetrizable matrices that Felikson–Shapiro–Tumarkin associated in [17] to any given triangulation of ${\boldsymbol{\Sigma }}$. In the prequel [25] of this paper we constructed a species realization of only one of these matrices, but therein we allowed the presence of arbitrarily many punctures.
Migration-driven diversity of super-Earth compositions
Authors: Raymond Sean N , Boulet Thibault , Izidoro Andre , Esteves Leandro , Bitsch Bertram 
Published: June 2018

ABSTRACT
A leading model for the origin of super-Earths proposes that planetary embryos migrate inward and pile up on close-in orbits. As large embryos are thought to preferentially form beyond the snowline, this naively predicts that most super-Earths should be very water-rich. Here we show that the shortest period planets formed in the migration model are often purely rocky. The inward migration of icy embryos through the terrestrial zone accelerates the growth of rocky planets via resonant shepherding. We illustrate this process with a simulation that provided a match to the Kepler-36 system of two planets on close orbits with very different densities. In the simulation, two super-Earths formed in a Kepler-36-like configuration; the inner planet was pure rock while the outer one was ice-rich. We conclude from a suite of simulations that the feeding zones of close-in super-Earths are likely to be broad and disconnected from their final orbital radii.
Structure before function: myosin binding protein‐C slow is a structural protein with regulatory properties
Authors: Geist Janelle , Ward Christopher W. , Kontrogianni‐Konstantopoulos Aikaterini 
Published: June 2018

ABSTRACTMyosin binding protein‐C slow (sMyBP‐C) comprises a family of accessory proteins in skeletal muscles that bind both myosin and actin filaments. Herein, we examined the role of sMyBP‐C in adult skeletal muscles using in vivo gene transfer and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats technology to knock down all known sMyBP‐C variants. Our findings, confirmed in two different skeletal muscles, demonstrated efficient knockdown (KD) of sMyBP‐C (>70%) resulting in notably decreased levels of thick, but not thin, filament proteins ranging from ~50% for slow and fast myosin to ~20% for myomesin. Consistent with this, A bands were selectively distorted, and sarcomere length was significantly reduced. Contrary to earlier in vitro studies showing that addition of recombinant sMyBP‐C slows down the formation of actomyosin crossbridges, our work demonstrates that KD of sMyBP‐C in intact myofibers results in decreased contraction and relaxation kinetics under no‐load conditions. Similarly, KD muscles develop markedly reduced twitch and tetanic force and contraction velocity. Taken together, our results show that sMyBP‐C is essential for the regular organization and maintenance of myosin filaments into A bands and that its structural role precedes its ability to regulate actomyosin crossbridges.—Geist, J., Ward, C. W., Kontrogianni‐Konstantopoulos, A. Structure before function: myosin binding protein‐C slow is a structural protein with regulatory properties. FASEB J. 32, 6385–6394 (2018). www.fasebj.org
Longitudinal Effects of Body Mass Index and Self-Esteem on Adjustment From Early to Late Adolescence: A Latent Growth Model
Authors: YUN Eun Kyoung , LEE Hanna , LEE Ji Uhn , PARK Jun Hee , NOH Young Min , SONG Yu Gil , PARK Jung Hwa 
Published: June 2018

ABSTRACT

Background:
Mental and physical development during adolescence is a factor that may affect quality of life in adulthood.

Purpose:
The aims of this study were to investigate the developmental trajectories of body mass index (BMI), self-esteem, and adjustment among students from early to late adolescence and to examine the longitudinal relationships among these variables.

Methods:
Data from 2006 to 2012 were collected from the Korean Welfare Panel Study. Of the initial sample of 521 students, 487 completed a validated questionnaire measuring BMI, self-esteem, and adjustment. Latent growth curve modeling analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among the variables.

Results:
Univariate linear growth models showed a significant increase in BMI and significant declines in both self-esteem and adjustment across three time points from childhood to adolescence. The goodness of fit of the multivariate conditioned model supported the validity of the proposed longitudinal model (comparative fit index = .93, root mean square error of approximation = .08). Change in BMI was significantly linked with change in adjustment (β = .18, p < .05) but not with change in self-esteem, whereas change in self-esteem exerted a statistically significant effect on change in adjustment (β = .47, p < .001).

Conclusions/Implications for Practice:
Our findings indicate that BMI and self-esteem are key determinants of student adjustment in school settings. Therefore, future health education interventions should focus on enhancing the positive physical and mental self-concepts of students, which should improve health and social behavior among students and subsequently afford a better quality of life for these students in adulthood.
Comparison of Transcranial Motor Evoked Potential Amplitude Responses Between Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Needles in Proximal Thigh Muscle
Authors: Gonzalez Andres A. , Cheongsiatmoy Justin , Shilian Parastou , Parikh Pooja 
Published: June 2018

Purpose:
Successful intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring is predicated on the presence of adequate baseline–evoked potentials. We have observed that transcranial motor evoked potentials (TcMEPs) yield more robust responses in the distal muscles compared with proximal muscles. One possible explanation is the distance from the needle to the muscle generator. In this study, we investigate whether TcMEP amplitudes from the rectus femoris muscle are affected by changes in needle length.

Methods:
We analyzed rectus femoris TcMEP responses in surgical patients undergoing lumbar spinal surgery. Needles of two different sizes were placed simultaneously. A shorter 13-mm subcutaneous needle was inserted into the rectus femoris muscle subcutaneous group in addition to a longer 25-mm intramuscular needle (intramuscular group). Each limb was used as an independent control. Transcranial motor evoked potential amplitude responses were obtained using both needles, and statistical analysis was calculated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired data. Secondary analysis was performed to correlate between TcMEP amplitude and skinfold thickness.

Results:
Twenty-eight TcMEP responses from the rectus femoris (14 patients) were analyzed. We observed that TcMEP amplitude responses were higher in the intramuscular needle group compared with the subcutaneous group (N = 28, P < 0.0001). There was a mean difference of 604 μV between the intramuscular versus subcutaneous group (median 184 μV). There was also a significant correlation between TcMEP amplitude and skinfold thickness.

Conclusions:
Higher TcMEP amplitude responses are seen with longer needles compared with shorter needles placed in the same rectus femoris muscle. Transcranial motor evoked potential baselines may be optimized using longer needles. Skinfold thickness can be a good marker to determine appropriate needle size.
Effect of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Medial Prefrontal γ-Aminobutyric Acid Among Schizophrenia Patients
Authors: Xia Mengqing , Wang Junjie , Sheng Jianhua , Tang Yingying , Li Chunyan , Lim Kelvin , He Bin , Li Chunbo , Xu Yifeng , Wang Jijun 
Published: June 2018

Objective
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has often been applied to augment antipsychotics for schizophrenia patients. However, the underpinning mechanism is still unclear. Previous studies of major depressive disorder reported an increase in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) after ECT. The present study investigated the effects of ECT on medial prefrontal GABA in schizophrenia using a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Methods
Inpatients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition) were assigned to 2 groups, ECT group (n = 14) receiving ECT plus antipsychotic drugs (APD) and drug group (n = 17) only receiving antipsychotic drugs. Medial prefrontal GABA+/Cr concentrations of all patients were measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy at baseline and after 4-week treatment. Sex- and age-matched healthy comparisons (n = 19) were scanned at baseline.

Results
γ-Aminobutyric acid level did not show a significant difference among 3 groups. However, when 2 patient groups were combined, their GABA level was significantly lower than that in healthy comparisons group. For schizophrenia patients, repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that both the group effect and group × time interaction were insignificant, but the time effect of baseline versus after treatment was significant. Exploratory post hoc paired t test found a significant increase of GABA only in ECT group, but not in drug group. No correlation was found between GABA change and clinical symptom improvement in either group.

Conclusions
γ-Aminobutyric acid level in the medial prefrontal lobe was reduced in schizophrenia patients. An increase in GABA concentration in the medial prefrontal cortex is more significantly associated with ECT plus antipsychotics than antipsychotics alone, possibly supporting the hypothesis of ECT augmentation for GABA mediated neural inhibition.
Comparative genomics and phylogeny of sequenced IncHI plasmids
Authors: Álvarez Senén 
Published: June 2018

ABSTRACTConjugative plasmids from the IncHI incompatibility group are relevant vectors for multidrug resistance. Is the objective of this article the screening of the phylogeny of the first 44 publicly available sequences of IncHI plasmids from Enterobacteriaceae (1961-2013), because since there, a few hundred were registered in Genebank. A comparison of the similarities and differences between them revealed extensive conservation of their coding sequences. However, each genome had accessory regions with features of degradation or resistance to antibacterial agents. This article elucidates the IncHI1, IncHI2 and IncHI3 subgroup plasmids from the evolutive line based on multiple drug-resistant modules, explains the origin of the IncHI1 pAKU1-like composite transposon lineage, typifies the subgroup IncHI3, which is distantly related to IncHI1 and IncHI2 in phylogenetic analyses, confirms the relations within the transfer regions of H-group plasmids, and points to the divergence time of evolution with phylogenetic trees. Homology between subgroups, as measured by the molecular clock test, indicated that the contemporary IncHI1 and IncHI2 transfer region lineages diverged from an ancestral clone approximately 8,000 years ago (17,000 years ago if the divergent IncHI3 plasmids are included), although the IncH backbone was older. The uniformity of the composite transposon shared by most IncHI1 subgroup plasmids might be functionally equivalent to the heavy metal resistance that is mediated by some operons in the IncHI2 subgroup plasmids. A comparison of the DNA among these closely related plasmids provided insights on the horizontal and vertical transfers that were involved in their development.
Genome-wide association study reveals sex-specific genetic architecture of facial attractiveness
Authors: Hu Bowen , Shen Ning , Li James J. , Kang Hyunseung , Hong Jinkuk , Fletcher Jason , Greenberg Jan , Mailick Marsha R. , Lu Qiongshi 
Published: June 2018

AbstractFacial attractiveness is a complex human trait of great interest in both academia and industry. Literature on sociological and phenotypic factors associated with facial attractiveness is rich, but its genetic basis is poorly understood. In this paper, we conducted a genome-wide association study to discover genetic variants associated with facial attractiveness using 3,928 samples in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. We identified two genome-wide significant loci and highlighted a handful of candidate genes, many of which are specifically expressed in human tissues involved in reproduction and hormone synthesis. Additionally, facial attractiveness showed strong and negative genetic correlations with BMI in females and with blood lipids in males. Our analysis also suggested sex-specific selection pressure on variants associated with lower male attractiveness. These results revealed sex-specific genetic architecture of facial attractiveness and provided fundamental new insights into its genetic basis.
Longitudinal data reveal strong genetic and weak non-genetic components of ethnicity-dependent blood DNA methylation levels
Authors: McKennan Chris , Naughton Katherine , Stanhope Catherine , Kattan Meyer , O’Connor George T. , Sandel Megan T. , Visness Cynthia M. , Wood Robert A. , Bacharier Leonard B. , Beigelman Avraham , Lovinsky-Desir Stephanie , Togias Alkis , Gern James E. , Nicolae Dan , Ober Carole 
Published: June 2018

AbstractEpigenetic architecture is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, but little is known about their relative contributions or longitudinal dynamics. Here, we studied DNA methylation (DNAm) at over 750,000 CpG sites in mononuclear blood cells collected at birth and age 7 from 196 children of primarily self-reported Black and Hispanic ethnicities to study race-associated DNAm patterns. We developed a novel Bayesian method for high dimensional longitudinal data and showed that race-associated DNAm patterns at birth and age 7 are nearly identical. Additionally, we estimated that up to 51% of all self-reported race-associated CpGs had race-dependent DNAm levels that were mediated through local genotype and, quite surprisingly, found that genetic factors explained an overwhelming majority of the variation in DNAm levels at other, previously identified, environmentally-associated CpGs. These results not only indicate that race-associated DNAm patterns in blood are present at birth and are primarily genetically, and not environmentally, determined, but also that DNAm in blood cells overall is robust to many environmental exposures during the first 7 years of life.
A conformational change in the N terminus of SLC38A9 signals mTORC1 activation
Authors: Jinming Ma , Lei Hsiang-Ting , Gonen Tamir 
Published: June 2018

AbstractmTORC1 is a central signal hub that integrates multiple environmental cues, such as cellular stresses, energy levels, nutrients and certain amino acids, to modulate metabolic status and cellular responses. Recently, SLC38A9, a lysosomal amino acid transporter, has emerged as a sensor for luminal arginine levels and as an activator of mTOCRC1. The activation of mTORC1 occurs through the N-terminal domain of SLC38A9. Here, we determined the crystal structure of SLC38A9 and surprisingly found its N-terminal fragment inserted deep into the transporter, bound in the substrate binding pocket where normally arginine would bind. Compared with our recent arginine bound structure of SLC38A9, a significant conformational change of the N-terminal domain was observed. A ball-and-chain model is proposed for mTORC1 activation where in the starved state the N-terminal domain of SLC38A9 is buried deep in the transporter but in the fed state the N-terminal domain could be released becoming free to bind the Rag GTPase complex and to activate mTORC1. This work provides important new insights into how SLC38A9 senses the fed state and activates the mTORC1 pathways in response to dietary amino acids.One Sentence SummaryN-plug inserted state of SLC38A9 reveals mechanisms of mTORC1 activation and arginine-enhanced luminal amino acids efflux.