Search results for "PRECURSOR"
showing 10 items of 490 documents
Up‐regulation of the α‐secretase ADAM10 by retinoic acid receptors and acitretin
2009
Late-onset Alzheimer's disease is often connected with nutritional misbalance, such as enhanced cholesterol intake, deficiency in polyunsaturated fatty acids, or hypovitaminosis. The alpha-secretase ADAM10 has been found to be regulated by retinoic acid, the bioreactive metabolite of vitamin A. Here we show that retinoids induce gene expression of ADAM10 and alpha-secretase activity by nonpermissive retinoid acid receptor/retinoid X receptor (RAR/RXR) heterodimers, whereby alpha- and beta-isotypes of RAR play a major role. However, ligands of other RXR binding partners, such as the vitamin D receptor, do not stimulate alpha-secretase activity. On the basis of these findings, we examined the…
Insulin resistance as common molecular denominator linking obesity to Alzheimer’s disease
2015
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an aging-related multi-factorial disorder to which metabolic factors contribute at what has canonically been considered a centrally mediated process. Although the exact underlying mechanisms are still unknown, obesity is recognized as a risk factor for AD and the condition of insulin resistance seems to be the link between the two pathologies. Using mice with high fat diet (HFD) obesity we dissected the molecular mechanisms shared by the two disorders. Brains of HFD fed mice showed elevated levels of APP and Aβ 40 /Aβ 42 together with BACE, GSK3β and Tau proteins involved in APP processing and Aβ accumulation. Immunofluorescence, Thioflavin T staining experiments…
Cardiovascular dysfunction and vitamin D status in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors
2018
Vitamin D (25-OHD) has a role in bone health after treatment for cancer. 25-OHD deficiency has been associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but no data focusing on this topic in childhood cancer survivors have been published. We investigated the 25-OHD status in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and evaluated its influence on vascular function. 25-OHD levels were evaluated in 52 ALL survivors and 40 matched healthy controls. Patients were grouped according to 25-OHD level (< 20 ng/m or ≥ 20 ng/ml). Auxological parameters, biochemical and hemostatic markers of endothelial function (AD, HMW-AD, ET-1, vWFAg, TAT, D-dimers, Fbg, and hs-CRP), ultrasound ma…
Factors associated with plasma antigen carbohydrate 125 and amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide concentrations in acute heart failure
2020
Background: Plasma amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and antigen carbohydrate 125 levels are positively associated with a higher risk of adverse clinical outcomes in acute heart failure. As a proxy of congestion, antigen carbohydrate 125 has also been proposed as a right-sided heart failure marker. Thus, we aimed to determine in this population the main factors – including echocardiographic right-sided heart failure parameters – associated with antigen carbohydrate 125 and amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide. Methods and results: We prospectively included 2949 patients admitted with acute heart failure. Amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and antigen carbohy…
Presepsin and Midregional Proadrenomedullin in Pediatric Oncologic Patients with Febrile Neutropenia
2020
Abstract Objective In this study, we investigated the roles of presepsin (PSP) and midregional proadrenomedullin (mr-proADM) in children with febrile neutropenia (FN) due to chemotherapy. Methods We assessed 36 FN episodes in 26 children. Patients were classified into bacteremia (B) and fever of unknown origin (FUO) groups. We evaluated PSP and mr-proADM at admission (T0), after 24/48 h (T1), and after 5 days (T2). Results PSP and mr-proADM levels were elevated at T0 and significantly decreased at T2. mr-proADM levels did not significantly differ between the B and FUO groups. PSP levels significantly differed between the B and FUO groups only at T1. Both PSP and mr-proADM levels at T0 were …
Heterostructured metal oxides-ZnO nanorods films prepared by SPPS route for photodegradation applications
2019
Abstract This work presents the first preparation using the Solution Precursor Plasma Spray process of heterostructured films associating ZnO nanorods (NRs) and various metal oxides (CuO, Fe2O3 and Co3O4) by Solution Precursor Plasma Spray process. These CuO/ZnO, Fe2O3/ZnO and Co3O4/ZnO films exhibit hierarchically chocolate sticks-like, dandelion-like or chrysanthemum-like surface morphologies. These heterostructures were confirmed by SEM, XRD, EDS and Raman analyses. The bandgaps of heterostructured films are narrower than that of pure ZnO. The CuO/ZnO film exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity both under UV and visible light irradiation for the degradation of the Orange II dye due…
Development of photocatalytically active heterostructured MnO/ZnO and CuO/ZnO films via solution precursor plasma spray process
2019
Abstract Heterostructured ZnO photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutant are mainly synthesized by conventional chemical methods, suffering from long duration, multi-steps, and post-treatment of the powder-formed catalysts after usage. In this paper, Solution Precursor Plasma Spray (SPPS) process is demonstrated to be a fast and efficient method for the one-step preparation of MnO/ZnO and CuO/ZnO heterostructured films for photocatalytic applications. The ratios between MnO or CuO and ZnO materials in the films were easily adjusted by varying the molar ratio of Mn(OAc)2 or Cu(OAc)2 relative to Zn(OAc)2 during the SPPS synthesis. To optimize the microstructure of selected CuO/Zn…
Metalloproteases meprin α and meprin β are C- and N-procollagen proteinases important for collagen assembly and tensile strength.
2013
Type I fibrillar collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, crucial for the formation and strength of bones, skin, and tendon. Proteolytic enzymes are essential for initiation of the assembly of collagen fibrils by cleaving off the propeptides. We report that Mep1a −/− and Mep1b −/− mice revealed lower amounts of mature collagen I compared with WT mice and exhibited significantly reduced collagen deposition in skin, along with markedly decreased tissue tensile strength. While exploring the mechanism of this phenotype, we found that cleavage of full-length human procollagen I heterotrimers by either meprin α or meprin β led to the generation of mature collagen molecules that s…
Synthesis of YAG nanopowder by the co-precipitation method: Influence of pH and study of the reaction mechanisms
2012
International audience; YAG nanopowders with an average grain size of 30 nm have been successfully synthesized by the co-precipitation method using nitrates with precipitant of ammonium hydrogen carbonate. The influence of precipitation conditions such as pH, aging time and calcination temperature on the formation of secondary phases has been studied. The accurate control of pH value at every stage of precipitation process is crucial to avoid the presence of YAM (Yttrium Aluminium Monoclinic, Y4Al2O9) and yttrium oxide (Y2O3) after calcination. The reaction mechanisms have been investigated using different techniques such as infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and thermal analyses. The…
Solution precursor plasma spray process as an alternative rapid one-step route for the development of hierarchical ZnO films for improved photocataly…
2018
Abstract The development of efficient photocatalytic hierarchical coral-like ZnO films via a relatively simple, efficient, rapid and single-step process is essential for industrial development. Herein, we report a novel method for directly synthesizing well-shaped ZnO nanorods (NRs) by Solution Precursor Plasma Spray (SPPS) process rather than conventional spherical/ellipsoidal particles. In the prepared ZnO-NRs films, the ZnO NRs display an average diameter of 190 nm, and exhibit a preferential orientation growth along (002) plane compared to a reference ZnO films (called ZnO-P) containing spherical/ellipsoidal particles. ZnO-NRs films exhibit relative narrower bandgap (3.02 eV) probably d…