bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chitosan leads to downregulation of YKL‐40 and inflammasome activation in human macrophages
Authors: Gudmundsdottir Steinunn , Lieder Ramona , Sigurjonsson Olafur E. , Petersen Petur H. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractChitosan, the deacetylated derivative of chitin, is used as biomaterial in diverse settings. It is also found on pathogens and can be proinflammatory. Shorter derivatives of chitosan can be generated chemically or enzymatically, chitosan oligosaccharides (ChOS). There is variation in the chemical composition of ChOS, including size distribution, but in general, they have been described as inert or anti‐inflammatory. Active human chitinases can cleave chitin and chitosan, while inactive chitinases bind both but do not cleave. Both active and inactive chitinases have important roles in the immune response. The inactive chitinase YKL‐40 is expressed highly during inflammation and has been proposed as a marker of poor prognosis. YKL‐40 acts as a negative regulator of the inflammasome and as a positive regulator of angiogenesis. Levels of YKL‐40 can therefore regulate levels of inflammation, the extent of angiogenesis, and the process of inflammation resolution. This study shows that chitosan leads to reduced secretion of YKL‐40 by primary human macrophages and that this is concomitant with inflammasome activation. This was most pronounced with a highly deacetylated ChOS. No effect on the secretion of the active chitinase Chit‐1 was detected. Smaller and more acetylated ChOS did not affect YKL‐40 levels nor inflammasome activation. We conclude that this effect on the levels of YKL‐40 is a part of the proinflammatory mechanisms of chitosan and its derivatives. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 2778–2785, 2015.
LIM Mineralization Protein-1 Enhances Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2–Mediated Osteogenesis Through Activation of ERK1/2 MAPK Pathway and Upregulation of Runx2 Transactivity
Authors: Pan Hehai , Li Xiang , Wang Jianru , Zhang Kuibo , Yang Hao , Li Zemin , Zheng Zhaomin , Liu Hui 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACT

LIM mineralization protein-1 (LMP-1) is an intracellular regulator of bone formation. Upregulation of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and stabilization of BMP/Smad signaling have been proven to be the key mechanisms through which LMP-1 enhances osteogenesis. However, how LMP-1 regulates BMPs expression and related bone formation remains unclear. In this study, a LMP-1–induced osteogenesis cell model was used to study the molecular action of LMP-1 on BMP-2 expression and bone formation. The results show that overexpression of LMP-1 significantly increases, whereas downregulation of endogenous LMP-1 decreases BMP-2 expression and bone formation. Antagonism of BMP-2 with noggin or short hairpin BMP-2 significantly attenuates the osteoinductive effect of LMP-1, suggesting that the osteoinductive effect of LMP-1 is mediated by BMP-2. LMP-1 regulation of BMP-2 is found to occur at the transcription level using a luciferase reporter assay with a reporter construct containing a BMP-2 promoter. A promoter deletion assay reveals that –1000/–500 bp is the key regulated region by LMP-1. A Runx2-binding site is then located at –934/–920 bp and confirmed by luciferase assay using a reporter construct containing repeats of this Runx2-binding site and the site-directed mutagenesis analysis. Overexpression of LMP-1 significantly increases Runx2 expression. Downregulation of Runx2 expression significantly decreases BMP-2 promoter activity and BMP-2 expression. A ChIP assay demonstrates that LMP-1 increases the interaction between Runx2 and BMP-2 promoter. A luciferase reporter assay using the OSE2 promoter containing a Runx2-binding site confirms that Runx2 transactivity can be upregulated by LMP-1. Moreover, inhibiting the activation of different pathways with specific pathway inhibitors reveals that ERK1/2 MAPK activation is essential for LMP-1–induced upregulation of Runx2 transactivity and subsequent BMP-2 expression. In conclusion, our novel findings describe a positive regulatory effect of LMP-1 on BMP-2 expression and BMP-2–mediated osteogenesis. This effect occurs through activation of ERK1/2 pathway and subsequent upregulation of Runx2 transactivity. © 2015 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Transcriptional Profiling of Laser Capture Microdissected Subpopulations of the Osteoblast Lineage Provides Insight Into the Early Response to Sclerostin Antibody in Rats
Authors: Nioi Paul , Taylor Scott , Hu Rong , Pacheco Efrain , He Yudong D , Hamadeh Hisham , Paszty Chris , Pyrah Ian , Ominsky Michael S , Boyce Rogely Waite 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACT

Sclerostin antibody (Scl-Ab) increases bone formation through a process dependent on the activation of canonical Wnt signaling, although the specific signaling in the osteoblast lineage in vivo is largely unknown. To gain insight into the signaling pathways acutely modulated by Scl-Ab, the transcriptional response of subpopulations of the osteoblast lineage was assessed by TaqMan and microarray analyses of mRNA isolated from laser capture microdissection (LCM)–enriched samples from the vertebrae of ovariectomized rats during the first week after Scl-Ab administration. Briefly, 6-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomized and, after 2 months, received a single dose of vehicle (VEH) or 100 mg/kg Scl-Ab (n = 20/group). Lumbar vertebrae were collected at 6, 24, 72, and 168 hours postdose and cryosectioned for LCM. Osteocytes were captured from bone matrix, and osteoblasts and lining cells were captured from bone surfaces based on fluorochrome labeling. mRNA was isolated, amplified, and profiled by TaqMan and microarray. Expression analysis revealed that Scl-Ab caused strikingly similar transcriptional profiles across all three cell types. Only 13 known canonical Wnt target genes, the majority with known functions in bone, showed a significant change in expression by microarray in response to Scl-Ab, with Wisp1 and Twist1 being the most responsive. Coincident with increased expression of Wnt target genes was the upregulation of numerous extracellular matrix (ECM) genes. The acute and progressive upregulation of ECM genes in lining cells supports their activation into matrix-producing osteoblasts, consistent with modeling-based bone formation. A similar transcriptional profile in osteocytes may indicate that Scl-Ab stimulates perilacunar/pericanalicular matrix deposition. Pathway analyses indicated that Scl-Ab regulated a limited number of genes related to cell cycle arrest and B-cell development. These data describe the acute downstream signaling in response to Scl-Ab in vivo and demonstrate selected canonical Wnt target gene activation associated with increased bone formation in all mature osteoblast subpopulations. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
Substituent Effect on the Tautomerization of 1‐Arylazonaphthalen‐2‐ols by Mass Spectrometric Analysis
Authors: Lin Shaw‐Tao , Lin Lee‐Hui , Lin Yi‐Cang , Ding Mei‐Fan 
Published: February 2015

AbstractAn electron‐ionization (EI) mass spectra of a series of 1‐arylazonaphthalen‐2‐ols was obtained for studying the substituent effect on the fragmentation. The correlation between the ratio, molecular ion and fragment ion, and Hammett’s constants is applied to examine the effect of the substituent on the fragmentation. The negative correction between the ratio, Imolecular ion/(I171amu + I143amu + I115amu), and Hammett’s constants indicates an electron‐withdrawing group destabilized the molecular ion. An unusual long‐range hydrogen transfer demonstrates an important role in the fragmentation process
Determination of Acetylcysteine in Pharmaceutical Samples by Silicomolybdenum Blue Spectrophotometry
Authors: Wen Xin‐Rong , Tu Chang‐Qing , Wen Xiao‐Hong 
Published: February 2015

AbstractAn accurate and fast spectrophotometric method for the determination of acetylcysteine by silicomolybdenum blue has been established. The various effect factors on the determination of acetylcysteine by silicomolybdenum blue spectrophotometry are investigated in detail. The results show that under the optimum reaction conditions, SiO32‐ reacts with Mo7O246‐ to form silicon molybdenum heteropoly acid (H4Si(Mo3O10)4). Then H4Si(Mo3O10)4 is reduced by hydrosulfuryl (‐SH) in acetylcysteine to form silicomolybdenum blue (H4Si(Mo3O10)2(Mo3O9)2). The absorbance of silicomolybdenum blue is measured at the maximal absorption wavelength of 735 nm, and the content of acetylcysteine can be calculated based on this absorbance. A good linear relationship is obtained between the absorbance of silicomolybdenum blue and the concentration of acetylcysteine in the range of 5.040∼25.20 μg⋅mL‐1. The linear regression equation is A = 0.0272 + 21.484C (mg⋅mL‐1), with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.9995. This proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of acetylcysteine in pharmaceutical samples, and the results agree well with those obtained by pharmacopoeial method.
From Chemistry to Translational Medicine: The Application of Proteomics to Cancer Biomarker Discovery and Diagnosis
Authors: Chiou Shyh‐Horng , Huang Chun‐Hao , Liang Shih‐Shin 
Published: February 2015

AbstractThe study of complex protein mixtures and their interactions in cells and tissues has been difficult due to the tedious process involved in their characterization and analysis. The recent emergence of fast‐evolving and state‐of‐the‐art proteomics methodologies has provided a rapid and scalable platform for understanding the comprehensive proteome profiles from complex whole tissues or cells of various biological sources. Therefore, proteomics has been increasingly valuable to examine real‐time changes in protein expression of various tissues or body fluids from patients with various diseases, especially cancer, resulting in the identification of clinically useful biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and disease staging. In this review, we focus on potential biomarkers for (1) Helicobacter pylori‐associated gastric cancer, (2) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and (3) renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In addition to the conventional gel‐based proteomics (1‐D or 2‐D gels), we have utilized a more advanced proteomic approach by incorporating stable isotope dimethyl labelling and shotgun proteomics strategy in combination with nanoliquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC‐MS/MS) to better characterize the biomarkers in several cancer tissues. By establishing a high‐throughput proteomics platform based on multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), we have successfully detected and analyzed potential protein markers at low concentrations in various normal and tumor tissues. This platform not only highlights the utility of proteomics for biomarker discovery but also can be uniquely applied to disease‐oriented translational medicine for diagnosis of diverse types of cancers and other diseases.
A Novel Ionic Liquid Based on Imidazolium Cation as an Efficient and Reusable Catalyst for the One‐pot Synthesis of Benzoxazoles, Benzthiazoles, Benzimidazoles and 2‐Arylsubstituted Benzimidazoles
Authors: Hasanpour Maede , Eshghi Hossein , Bakavoli Mehdi , Mirzaeia Mahdi 
Published: February 2015

AbstractA novel dicationic ionic liquid based on imidazolium cation is designed, synthesized and successfully used as catalyst for the one‐pot synthesis of benzoxazoles, benzthiazoles, benzimidazoles and 2‐arylsubstituted benzimidazoles. The remarkable feature of this new catalyst is its ethyleneoxy bridge which participates in dissolving organic compound in ionic liquid. The application of this ionic liquid is studied in a new one‐pot method for synthesis of heterocyclic compounds under solvent‐free conditions. Simple and convenient procedure, high conversion, reusability of catalyst, easy purification and shorter reaction time are the advantageous features of this method.
Metabolism and disposition of the αv‐integrin ß3/ß5 receptor antagonist cilengitide, a cyclic polypeptide, in humans
Authors: Becker Andreas , von Richter Oliver , Kovar Andreas , Scheible Holger , van Lier Jan J. , Johne Andreas 
Published: February 2015

AbstractCilengitide (EMD 121974, manufactured by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) is an αv‐integrin receptor antagonist showing high affinity for αvβ3 and αvβ5.This study determined the mass balance of cilengitide in healthy volunteers receiving a single intravenous infusion of 2.1 MBq 14C‐cilengitide spiked into 250 mL of 2000 mg of cilengitide. Blood, urine, and feces were collected up to day 15 or until excretion of radioactivity was below 1% of the administered dose. Total radioactivity derived from the administration of 14C‐cilengitide and unlabeled cilengitide levels were determined and used for calculation of pharmacokinetic parameters.14C‐cilengitide‐related radioactivity was completely recovered (94.5%; 87.4%–100.6%) and was mainly excreted into urine (mean, 79.0%; range, 70.3%–88.2%) and to a lesser extent into feces (mean, 15.5%; range, 9.3%–20.3%). Of the administered dose, 77.5% was recovered as unchanged cilengitide in urine. The concentration profiles of cilengitide and total radioactivity in plasma were comparable. No circulating metabolites were identified in plasma and urine. Two metabolites,M606‐1 and M606‐2, were identified in feces considered to be formed by intestinal peptidases or by peptidases from fecal bacteria. In conclusion, the data show that following intravenous administration, 14C‐cilengitide was completely recovered, was excreted mainly via renal elimination, and was not metabolized systemically.
Preparation and characterization of cassava starch‐based adsorbents for separating of azeotropic ethanol‐water in biofuels ethanol production
Authors: Li Hong , Liu Yiming , Gao Xin , Li Xingang 
Published: February 2015

AbstractBackgroundDehydration of biomass‐based fermentation product is an essential process in the production of biofuels ethanol for industrial applications. Cassava starch, an adsorbent with high efficiency, can be fermented after saturating with water, which overcomes the shortcomings of high energy consumption bioethanol production. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to prepare cassava starch‐based adsorbents with high adsorption efficiency that do not affect fermentative production.ResultsPorous cassava starch granules, which can be fermented to produce biofuel ethanol, were formed through the partial hydrolysis of starch using amylase and ultrasonication. The structural changes in cassava starch granules were also studied to prove that porous starch could be reused as feedstock for biomass‐based fuel ethanol production after adsorption. Finally, an adsorption experiment proved that the modified cassava adsorbents had better absorptive properties than the native cassava.ConclusionThese structural changes in cassava starch granules showed that porous starch is an efficient adsorbent that can be reused after adsorption as feedstock for fuel ethanol, which increases the energy efficiency of ethanol–water azeotrope separation. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
Functional analysis of a mutated analogue of the crustacean hyperglycaemic hormone from the crayfish Pontastacus leptodactylus
Authors: Mosco Alessandro , Zlatev Ventsislav , Guarnaccia Corrado , Giulianini Piero G. 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTThe crustacean hyperglycaemic hormone (CHH), a pleiotropic neuropeptide, belongs to a family of structurally related peptides, having six cysteine residues in conserved positions forming three disulphide bridges, and regulating several physiological processes in crustaceans and insects. Structure‐activity studies have shown that amidation of the C‐terminus is important to confer biological activity to CHH. In this study we investigated the function of the d‐Phe3 of the N‐terminal motif of Pontastacus leptodactylus CHH by a mutational analysis. The d‐Phe in position 3 was substituted by a d‐Ala and the functionality of the mutated analogue (Glp‐d‐A‐CHH) was tested by in vivo biological assays. The mutated analogue resulted far less active than its wild‐type counterparts, either in d‐ (Glp‐d‐CHH) or l‐ (Glp‐l‐CHH) configuration. These results suggest that Phe3 is essential for the biological activity of P. leptodactylus CHH, demonstrating that also the N‐terminus is involved in the binding with the receptor, and identifying in the Phe3 a hot spot for the peptide‐receptor binding. J. Exp. Zool. 323A: 121–127, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Smad nuclear interacting protein, SNIP1, mediates the ecdysteroid signal transduction in red crayfish Procambarus clarkii
Authors: Wang Daojun , Peng Tao , Yu Yingying , Liu Chao‐Liang , Zhu Bao‐Jian 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTA smad nuclear interacting protein 1 (SNIP1) homolog was identified in the crayfish Procambarus clarkii and this gene encoded a polypeptide of 288 amino acids. Phylogenic analysis showed that P. clarkii SNIP1 was highly homologous to that of invertebrates and shared a highly conserved FHA domain of SNIP proteins at the C‐terminus. Quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) analysis showed that Pc‐SNIP1 expression was higher in heart than that in other examined tissues. In addition, prokaryotic expression and purification of the recombinant SNIP1 protein were performed. SDS–PAGE and western blot analysis demonstrated that a 35 KDa recombinant protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli cells. The expression of Pc‐SNIP1 was significantly up‐regulated in hepatopancreas after 20‐hydroxyecdysone induction. Knockdown of Pc‐SNIP1 gene by small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection had significant influence on the expression of some ecdysteroid‐responsive genes in hepatopancreas, which were confirmed by qRT‐PCR and western blot. All together, these results suggest that SNIP1 is involved in the physiological process regulated by ecdysteroid in P. clarkii. J. Exp. Zool. 323A: 128–136, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Optimization of phase‐contrast MRI for the quantification of whole‐brain cerebral blood flow
Authors: Peng Shin‐Lei , Su Pan , Wang Fu‐Nien , Cao Yan , Zhang Rong , Lu Hanzhang , Liu Peiying 
Published: February 2015

BackgroundWhole‐brain cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured by phase‐contrast MRI (PC‐MRI) provides an important index for brain function. This work aimed to optimize the PC‐MRI imaging protocol for accurate CBF measurements.MethodsTwo studies were performed on a 3 Tesla system. In Study 1 (N = 12), we optimized in‐plane resolution of PC‐MRI acquisition for CBF quantification by considering accuracy, precision, and scan duration. In Study 2 (N = 7), we assessed the detrimental effect of nonperpendicular imaging slice orientation on CBF quantification. Both One‐way analysis of variance with repeated measurement and Friedman test were used to examine the effects of resolution and angulation on CBF quantification. Additionally, we evaluated the inter‐rater reliability in PC‐MRI data processing.ResultsOur results showed that CBF measurement with 0.7 mm resolution could be overestimated by up to 13.3% when compared with 0.4 mm resolution. Moreover, CBF could also be overestimated by up to 18.8% when the slice orientation is deviated by 30° from the ideal angulation. However, within 10° of the ideal slice orientation, estimated CBF was not significantly different from each other (P = 0.23 and 0.45 for internal carotid artery and vertebral artery, respectively). Inter‐rater difference was <3%.ConclusionFor fast and accurate quantification of whole‐brain CBF with PC‐MRI, we recommend the use of an imaging resolution of 0.5 mm and a slice orientation that is less than 10° from vessel's axial plane. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2015;42:1126–1133.
Prediction of long‐term monthly precipitation using several soft computing methods without climatic data
Authors: Kisi Ozgur , Sanikhani Hadi 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTAccurate estimation of precipitation is an important issue in water resources engineering, management and planning. The accuracy of four different soft computing methods, adaptive neuro‐fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) with grid partition (GP),ANFISwith subtractive clustering (SC), artificial neural networks (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR), is investigated in predicting long‐term monthly precipitation without climatic data. The periodicity component, longitude, latitude and altitude data from 50 stations in Iran are used as inputs to the applied models. TheANFIS‐GPmodel is found to perform generally better than the other models in predicting long‐term monthly precipitation. TheSVRmodel provides the worst estimates. The maximum correlations are found to be 0.935 and 0.944 for theANFIS‐SCandSVRmodels in Fasa station, respectively. The highest correlations of theANFIS‐GPandANNmodels are found to be 0.964 and 0.977 for the Bam and Tabas (Zabol) stations. The minimum correlations are 0.683 and 0.661 for theANFIS‐GPandSVRmodels in Urmia station while theANFIS‐SCandANNmodels provide the minimum correlations of 0.696 and 0.785 in the Sari and Bandar Lengeh stations, respectively. The comparison results show that the long‐term monthly precipitations of any site can be successfully predicted byANFIS‐GPmodel without any weather data. The monthly and annual precipitations are also mapped and evaluated by using the optimalANFIS‐GPmodel in the study. The precipitation maps revealed that the highest amounts of precipitation occur in the north, southwestern and west regions, while the lowest values are seen in the east and southeastern parts of the Iran.
Impact of four‐stream radiative transfer algorithm on aerosol direct radiative effect and forcing
Authors: Zhang Hua , Wang Zhili , Zhang Feng , Jing Xianwen 
Published: February 2015

AbstractLarge uncertainties remain in the estimation of aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE) and forcing (DRF). In this work, using an aerosol‐climate model with two‐ and four‐stream radiation schemes, we show that the radiative transfer algorithms contribute to the uncertainties. Aerosol shortwave DREs and heating rate are underestimated significantly by the two‐stream algorithm. For present‐day conditions, the four‐stream algorithms are found to enhance global annual mean aerosol shortwave DREs by more than 8% (14%) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), 15% (18%) in the atmosphere, and 12% (15%) at the surface for all‐sky (clear‐sky) case. The regional‐averaged relative differences in aerosol shortwave DREs between the two‐ and four‐stream algorithms increase as latitude increases, exceeding 25% at the TOA and 30% at the surface in the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. The DRE differences due to the four‐stream algorithms are negative, except for the Arctic, Tibetan Plateau, Arabia, and Sahara, at the TOA, are positive in the atmosphere, and are negative at the surface, with the maximum exceeding 4.0 W m−2. Increases in aerosol shortwave heating rates due to the four‐stream algorithms are generally more than 10% and may even exceed 100%. Our results also show that the two‐stream algorithm underestimates the DRFs due to anthropogenic aerosols. Significant underestimation appears in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, with the maximum being close to the quantity of 0.6 W m−2 for clear‐sky case. This study indicates that a multi‐stream radiative transfer algorithm is necessary to reduce the uncertainties of aerosol DREs and DRFs estimated by global climate models.