Search results for "Peptide fragment"
showing 10 items of 356 documents
Different electrophysiological actions of 24- and 72-hour aggregated amyloid-beta oligomers on hippocampal field population spike in both anesthetize…
2010
Diffusible oligomeric assemblies of the amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) could be the primary factor in the pathogenic pathway leading to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Converging lines of evidence support the notion that AD begins with subtle alterations in synaptic efficacy, prior to the occurrence of extensive neuronal degeneration. Recently, however, a shared or overlapping pathogenesis for AD and epileptic seizures occurred as aberrant neuronal hyperexcitability, as well as nonconvulsive seizure activity were found in several different APP transgenic mouse lines. This generated a renewed attention to the well-known comorbidity of AD and epilepsy and interest in how Abeta oligomers influence neu…
High N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Levels Are Associated with Reduced Heart Rate Variability in Acute Myocardial Infarction
2012
AIM: We investigated the relationships between the autonomic nervous system, as assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) and levels of N-terminal Pro-B-type Natriuretic Peptide (Nt-proBNP) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS AND RESULTS: The mean of standard deviation of RR intervals (SDNN), the percentage of RR intervals with >50 ms variation (pNN50), square root of mean squared differences of successive RR intervals (rMSSD), and frequency domain parameters (total power (TP), high frequency and low frequency power ratio (LF/HF)) were assessed by 24 h Holter ECG monitoring. 1018 consecutive patients admitted <24 h for an acute MI were included. Plasma Nt-proBNP (Elecs…
Effects of Presynaptic Mutations on a Postsynaptic Cacna1s Calcium Channel Colocalized with mGluR6 at Mouse Photoreceptor Ribbon Synapses
2008
Purpose Photoreceptor ribbon synapses translate light-dependent changes of membrane potential into graded transmitter release via L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC) activity. Functional abnormalities (e.g., a reduced electroretinogram b-wave), arising from mutations of presynaptic proteins, such as Bassoon and the VDCCalpha1 subunit Cacna1f, have been shown to altered transmitter release. L-type VDCCalpha1 subtype expression in wild-type and mutant mice was examined, to investigate the underlying pathologic mechanism. Methods Two antisera against Cacna1f, and a Cacna1f mouse mutant (Cacna1fDeltaEx14-17) were generated. Immunocytochemistry for L-type VDCCalpha1 subunits and addi…
Stable polyplexes based on arginine-containing oligopeptides for in vivo gene delivery.
2004
In this study, we investigated to what extent the stability and transduction capacity of polyplexed DNA can be improved by optimizing the condensing peptide sequence. We have synthesized a small library of cationic peptides, at which the lysine/arginine ratio and the cation charge were varied. All peptides were able to compact DNA, at which polyplexes of short lysine-rich sequences were considerably larger than those of elongated or arginine-rich peptides (GM102 and GM202). In addition, the arginine-rich peptides GM102 and GM202 rendered the polyplexes resistant to plasma incubation or DNase I-mediated digestion. While all peptides were found to improve the transfection efficiency in HepG2 …
Cardiac risk stratification in elective non-cardiac surgery: Role of NT-proBNP
2011
AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate the utility of NT-proBNP measurement for the stratification of presurgical cardiac risk. METHODS: Cardiac risk before elective non-cardiac surgery was evaluated in 82 consecutive patients. From each patient a venous blood sample was drawn to determinate NT-proBNP levels. Patients were followed up over three months in order to detect the occurrence of cardiac adverse events. RESULTS: NT-proBNP was positively correlated (P<0.0001) with age, days of hospitalization (P=0.001) and ASA class (P=0.001). High surgical risk (P<0.0001), diabetes (P=0.004), dyslipidemia (P=0.006) and elevated levels of NT-proBNP (P<0.0001) were significantly correlated with…
Glucagon-like peptide-1 modulates neurally evoked mucosal chloride secretion in guinea pig small intestine in vitro
2011
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) acts at the G protein-coupled receptor, GLP-1R, to stimulate secretion of insulin and to inhibit secretion of glucagon and gastric acid. Involvement in mucosal secretory physiology has received negligible attention. We aimed to study involvement of GLP-1 in mucosal chloride secretion in the small intestine. Ussing chamber methods, in concert with transmural electrical field stimulation (EFS), were used to study actions on neurogenic chloride secretion. ELISA was used to study GLP-1R effects on neural release of acetylcholine (ACh). Intramural localization of GLP-1R was assessed with immunohistochemistry. Application of GLP-1 to serosal or mucosal sides of fla…
A human leucocyte antigen-DR1 transgene confers susceptibility to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis elicited by an epitope of myelin basic prot…
2003
Much evidence now indicates that human leucocyte antigen (HLA) class I and class II transgenic (Tg) mice can be of value in analysing HLA-restricted presentation of T-cell epitopes relevant to experimental models of autoimmune diseases. One area where this has been applied is the characterization of myelin epitopes presented by HLA class II molecules in experimental model of multiple sclerosis (experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE)). As a first step towards humanized disease models in HLA Tg mice, we have analysed immune response of lymph node cells of HLA-DR1 Tg mice immunized with the human myelin basic protein (MBP) peptides 13–33, 87–106 and 139–154 bound by HLA-DR1. We report h…
Systemic Immune Responses in Alzheimer's Disease: In Vitro Mononuclear Cell Activation and Cytokine Production
2010
To investigate the systemic signs of immune-inflammatory responses in Alzheimer's disease (AD), in the present study we have analyzed blood lymphocyte subsets and the expression of activation markers on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from AD patients and age-matched healthy controls (HC) activated in vitro by recombinant amyloid-beta peptide (rAbeta42). Our study of AD lymphocyte subpopulations confirms the already described decrease of the absolute number and percentage of B cells when compared to HC lymphocytes, whereas the other subsets are not significantly different in patients and controls. We report the increased expression of the activation marker CD69 and of the chemoki…
High-sensitivity troponin assay improves prediction of cardiovascular risk in patients with cerebral ischaemia
2013
Background and purpose Clinical scores are recommended for predicting cardiovascular risk in patients with cerebral ischaemia to inform secondary prevention. Blood biomarkers may improve prediction beyond clinical scores. Methods Within the observational Find-AF trial (ISRCTN46104198), 197 patients >18 years of age with cerebral ischaemia and without atrial fibrillation had blood sampled at baseline. The predictive value of five biomarkers for a combined vascular endpoint (acute coronary syndrome, stroke, cardiovascular death) and all-cause mortality was determined, alone and in addition to the Essen Stroke Risk Score (ESRS), Stroke Prognostic Instrument 2 (SPI-2) and National Institutes of…
A novel class of potent nonglycosidic and nonpeptidic pan-selectin inhibitors.
2006
An early step of the inflammatory response, the rolling of leukocytes on activated endothelial cells, is mediated by selectin/carbohydrate interactions. The tetrasaccharide sialy Lewisx is a ligand for E-, P-, and L-selectin and therefore serves as a lead structure for the development of analogues. A combination of synthesis and structure-based design allowed rapid optimization. The current lead 2a was evaluated in our E-selectin cell flow chamber assay where it proved to inhibit rolling and adhesion with an IC50 of 28+/-7 microM. The assays used are predictive for the in vivo efficacy of test compounds as shown for 2a in a proteose peptone induced peritonitis model of acute inflammation in…