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by Yuki Ozaki, Masanori Koide, Yuriko Furuya, Tadashi Ninomiya, Hisataka Yasuda, Midori Nakamura, Yasuhiro Kobayashi, Naoyuki Takahashi, Nobuo Yoshinari, Nobuyuki Udagawa Osteoblasts express two key molecules for osteoclast differentiation, receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG), a soluble decoy receptor for RANKL. RANKL induces osteoclastogenesis, while OPG inhibits it by blocking the binding of RANKL to RANK, a cellular receptor of RANKL. OPG -deficient ( OPG / ) mice exhibit severe alveolar bone loss with enhanced bone resorption. WP9QY (W9) peptide binds to RANKL and blocks RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. W9 is also reported to stimulate bone formation in vivo . Here, we show that treatment with W9 restores alveolar bone loss in OPG / mice by suppressing osteoclastogenesis and enhancing osteoblastogenesis. Administration of W9 or risedronate, a bisphosphonate, to OPG / mice significantly decreased the osteoclast number in the alveolar bone. Interes ...

by Jaroslaw Suchanski, Anna Tejchman, Maciej Zacharski, Aleksandra Piotrowska, Jedrzej Grzegrzolka, Grzegorz Chodaczek, Katarzyna Nowinska, Janusz Rys, Piotr Dziegiel, Claudine Kieda, Maciej Ugorski In our previous studies we showed that in breast cancer podoplanin-positive cancer-associated fibroblasts correlated positively with tumor size, grade of malignancy, lymph node metastasis, lymphovascular invasion and poor patients’ outcome. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess if podoplanin expressed by fibroblasts can affect malignancy-associated properties of breast cancer cells. Human fibroblastic cell lines (MSU1.1 and Hs 578Bst) overexpressing podoplanin and control fibroblasts were co-cultured with breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 cells and the impact of podoplanin expressed by fibroblasts on migration and invasiveness of breast cancer cells were studied in vitro. Migratory and invasive properties of breast cancer cells were not affected by the presence of podoplan ...

by Peter M. Rubinelli, Sun Ae Kim, Si Hong Park, Stephanie M. Roto, Nora Jean Nealon, Elizabeth P. Ryan, Steven C. Ricke In this study, rice brans from different cultivars (Calrose, Jasmine, and Red Wells) were assessed for their ability to inhibit Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium using an in vitro mixed anaerobic culture system containing cecal microbiota obtained from broilers of different ages. Salmonella Typhimurium was added to controls (feed only, cecal only, and feed + cecal material) and treatments (feed + cecal + different rice brans) and S . Typhimurium populations were enumerated at 0, 24, and 48 h. Two experimental conditions were applied 1) unadapted condition in which S . Typhimurium was added at the beginning of the culture incubation and 2) adapted condition in which S . Typhimurium was added after a 24 hour pre-incubation of the cecal bacteria with the feed and/or rice bran. Among the three rice brans, only Calrose exhibited a rapid inhibition of S . Typhimuriu ...

by Fang Yan, Kaili Xu, Deshun Li, Zhikai Cui Biomass gasification stations are facing many hazard factors, therefore, it is necessary to make hazard assessment for them. In this study, a novel hazard assessment method called extended set pair analysis (ESPA) is proposed based on set pair analysis (SPA). However, the calculation of the connection degree (CD) requires the classification of hazard grades and their corresponding thresholds using SPA for the hazard assessment. In regard to the hazard assessment using ESPA, a novel calculation algorithm of the CD is worked out when hazard grades and their corresponding thresholds are unknown. Then the CD can be converted into Euclidean distance (ED) by a simple and concise calculation, and the hazard of each sample will be ranked based on the value of ED. In this paper, six biomass gasification stations are introduced to make hazard assessment using ESPA and general set pair analysis (GSPA), respectively. By the comparison of hazard assessm ...

by Sam C. Kwiatkowski, Paola A. Guerrero, Shinya Hirota, Zhihua Chen, John E. Morales, Manish Aghi, Joseph H. McCarty Glioblastoma (GBM) is a rapidly progressive brain cancer that exploits the neural microenvironment, and particularly blood vessels, for selective growth and survival. Anti-angiogenic agents such as the vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) blocking antibody bevacizumab yield short-term benefits to patients due to blood vessel regression and stabilization of vascular permeability. However, tumor recurrence is common, and this is associated with acquired resistance to bevacizumab. The mechanisms that drive acquired resistance and tumor recurrence in response to anti-angiogenic therapy remain largely unknown. Here, we report that Neuropilin-1 (Nrp1) regulates GBM growth and invasion by balancing tumor cell responses to VEGF-A and transforming growth factor βs (TGFβs). Nrp1 is expressed in GBM cells where it promotes TGFβ receptor internalization and signaling v ...

by Tim Hebbrecht, Isabel Van Audenhove, Olivier Zwaenepoel, Adriaan Verhelle, Jan Gettemans Invasive cancer cells develop small actin-based protrusions called invadopodia, which perform a primordial role in metastasis and extracellular matrix remodelling. Neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (N-WASp) is a scaffold protein which can directly bind to actin monomers and Arp2/3 and is a crucial player in the formation of an invadopodium precursor. Expression modulation has pointed to an important role for N-WASp in invadopodium formation but the role of its C-terminal VCA domain in this process remains unknown. In this study, we generated alpaca nanobodies against the N-WASp VCA domain and investigated if these nanobodies affect invadopodium formation. By using this approach, we were able to study functions of a selected functional/structural N-WASp protein domain in living cells, without requiring overexpression, dominant negative mutants or siRNAs which target the gene, and hence the ...

by Jaroslav Klápště, Mari Suontama, Emily Telfer, Natalie Graham, Charlie Low, Toby Stovold, Russel McKinley, Heidi Dungey Accurate inference of relatedness between individuals in breeding population contributes to the precision of genetic parameter estimates, effectiveness of inbreeding management and the amount of genetic progress delivered from breeding programs. Pedigree reconstruction has been proven to be an efficient tool to correct pedigree errors and recover hidden relatedness in open pollinated progeny tests but the method can be limited by the lack of parental genotypes and the high proportion of alien pollen from outside the breeding population. Our study investigates the efficiency of sib-ship reconstruction in an advanced breeding population of Eucalyptus nitens with only partially tracked pedigree. The sib-ship reconstruction allowed the identification of selfs (4% of the sample) and the exploration of their potential effect on inbreeding depression in the traits ...

by Elise Jackson, Cindy Xinyu Zhang, Zahra Kiani, Irene Lisovsky, Benjamin Tallon, Alexa Del Corpo, Louise Gilbert, Julie Bruneau, Réjean Thomas, Pierre Côté, Benoit Trottier, Roger LeBlanc, Danielle Rouleau, Cécile Tremblay, Christos M. Tsoukas, Jean-Pierre Routy, Xiaoyan Ni, Tsoarello Mabanga, Nicole F. Bernard, on behalf of the Montreal Primary Infection Study Group Previously, we showed that Killer Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (KIR)3DS1 homozygotes (hmz) are more frequent in HIV exposed seronegative (HESN) than in recently HIV infected (HIV+) individuals. KIR3DS1 encodes an activating Natural Killer (NK) cell receptor (NKR). The link between KIR genotype and HIV outcomes likely arises from the function that NK cells acquire through expression of particular NKRs. An initial screen of 97 HESN and 123 HIV+ subjects for the frequency of KIR region gene carriage observed between-group differences for several telomeric KIR region loci. In a larger set of up to 106 HESN and 439 H ...

by Hailiang Li, M. James C. Crabbe, Fuli Xu, Weiling Wang, Lihui Ma, Ruilong Niu, Xing Gao, Xingxing Li, Pei Zhang, Xin Ma, Haikui Chen Understanding how concentrations of elements and their stoichiometry change with plant growth and age is critical for predicting plant community responses to environmental change. We used long-term field experiments to explore how the leaf, stem and root carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) concentrations and their stoichiometry changed with growth and stand age in a L . principis-rupprechtii Mayr. plantation from 20122015 in the Qinling Mountains, China. Our results showed that the C, N and P concentrations and stoichiometric ratios in different tissues of larch stands were affected by stand age, organ type and sampling month and displayed multiple correlations with increased stand age in different growing seasons. Generally, leaf C and N concentrations were greatest in the fast-growing season, but leaf P concentrations were greatest in the e ...

by Karolina Donocik, Magdalena Hartman-Petrycka, Agata Lebiedowska, Barbara Błońska-Fajfrowska Purpose A vertical posture makes it difficult to maintain balance especially in the elderly. Loss of balance leads to falls and injuries. In the present study, we evaluated whether balance maintenance can be improved with the use of stochastic resonance whole body vibration (SR-WBV). Methods An examination of balance, involving 187 women aged 1974 years, was conducted using double-plate posturography pre and post SR-WBV. The SR-WBV trainings were performed using the SRT Zeptor Medical-plus noise device. The entire study lasted 6 weeks, with a total of 12 training sessions, each consisting of nine 45 second series, with a 45 second pause between them. Results Post SR-WBV there was a reduction in the value of: the resultant mean velocity (MV) of the movement of COP (centre of pressure) for both lower limbs (B) and in the right lower limb (R) during the test with eyes closed (EC), the mean ...