What happens to early acquired but later abandoned motor skills? To investigate effects of disuse on early-developing motor skills, we examined crawling in two groups of habitual crawlers (34 6-12-month-old infants and five adults with Uner Tan…
The field of evolutionary developmental biology is broadly focused on identifying the genetic and developmental mechanisms underlying morphological diversity. Connecting the genotype with the phenotype means that evo-devo research often considers a…
Cetaceans are the only mammals to have evolved hyperphalangy, an increase in the number of phalanges beyond the mammalian plesiomorphic condition of three phalanges per digit. In this study, cetaceans were used as a novel model to review previous…
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the antitumor activity of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor gefitinib in patients with recurrent/metastatic salivary gland cancer. METHODS: We conducted a phase II study in…
According to 1992 Cancer Statistics, prostate carcinoma is once again predicted to be the most common cancer in men, exceeding the incidence of lung cancer. In American men, this cancer is estimated to be the second most frequent cause of cancer…
The gene encoding cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) is tightly regulated to control bile acid synthesis and maintain lipid homeostasis. Recent studies in mice suggest that bile acid synthesis is regulated by the fasted-to-fed cycle, and fasting…
Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) of the bile acid biosynthesis pathway is suppressed by bile acids and inflammatory cytokines. Bile acids are known to induce inflammatory cytokines to activate the mitogen-activated protein kinase/c-Jun…
UNLABELLED: Bile acid synthesis in the liver is regulated by the rate-limiting enzyme cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1). Transcription of the CYP7A1 gene is inhibited by bile acids and cytokines. The rate of bile acid synthesis is reduced…
UNLABELLED: Mouse fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15) and human ortholog FGF19 have been identified as the bile acid-induced intestinal factors that mediate bile acid feedback inhibition of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase gene (C YP7A1) transcription…
UNLABELLED: Cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the bile acid biosynthetic pathway that converts cholesterol into bile acids in the liver. Recent studies have shown that bile acids may play an important role in…
UNLABELLED: We reported previously that mice overexpressing cytochrome P450 7a1 (Cyp7a1; Cyp7a1-tg mice) are protected against high fat diet-induced hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and insulin resistance. Here, we investigated the underlying mechanism…
UNLABELLED: Gpbar1 (TGR5), a membrane-bound bile acid receptor, is well known for its roles in regulation of energy homeostasis and glucose metabolism. TGR5 activation also inhibits nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB)-mediated inflammation. Here we…
UNLABELLED: Bile acid synthesis not only produces physiological detergents required for intestinal nutrient absorption, but also plays a critical role in regulating hepatic and whole-body metabolic homeostasis. We recently reported that…
UNLABELLED: Mice deficient in small heterodimer partner (SHP) are protected from diet-induced hepatic steatosis resulting from increased fatty acid oxidation and decreased lipogenesis. The decreased lipogenesis appears to be a direct consequence of…
UNLABELLED: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the major health concerns worldwide. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is considered a therapeutic target for treatment of NAFLD. However, the mechanism by which activation of FXR lowers hepatic…
UNLABELLED: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disease that ranges from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). So far, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we show that hepatic…
Bile acids are signaling molecules that play a critical role in regulation of hepatic metabolic homeostasis by activating nuclear farnesoid X receptor (Fxr) and membrane G-protein-coupled receptor (Takeda G-protein-coupled receptor 5; Tgr5). The role…
UNLABELLED: Activation of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) markedly attenuates development of atherosclerosis in animal models. However, the underlying mechanism is not well elucidated. Here, we show that the FXR agonist, obeticholic acid (OCA), increases…
Nuclear receptors farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and small heterodimer partner (SHP) are important regulators of bile acid, lipid, and glucose homeostasis. Here, we show that global Fxr (-/-) Shp(-/-) double knockout (DKO) mice are refractory to weight…
Bile acids activate farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and G protein-coupled bile acid receptor-1 (aka Takeda G protein-coupled receptor-5 [TGR5]) to regulate bile acid metabolism and glucose and insulin sensitivity. FXR and TGR5 are coexpressed in the…
Activation of the nuclear bile acid receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) protects against hepatic inflammation and injury, while Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) promotes adipose tissue browning and energy metabolism. Here, we examined the…
This study investigated the role of ethanol-inducible cytochrome P450-2E1 (CYP2E1) in enhancing CYP2E1 and other P450 proteins in extracellular vesicles (EVs) from alcohol-exposed rodents and human patients with alcoholism and their effects on…
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is a master regulator for white adipocyte differentiation and lipid storage. The increased level of hepatic PPARgamma2 isoform reprograms liver for lipid storage and causes abnormal fat…
Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) is a major risk factor for cirrhosis-associated liver diseases. Studies demonstrate that alcohol increases serum bile acids in humans and rodents. AFLD has been linked to cholestasis, although the physiologic…
We studied the ontogeny of inhibitory and excitatory processes in the rat dentate gyrus by examining paired-pulse plasticity in the hippocampal slice preparation. The mature dentate gyrus produces characteristic paired-pulse responses across a wide…
Hippocampal CA1 cells possess several varieties of long-lasting synaptic plasticity: two different forms of long-term potentiation (LTP) and at least one form of long-term depression (LTD). All forms of synaptic plasticity are induced by afferent…
OBJECTIVE: To report postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing indicated non-cosmetic panniculectomy at the time of gynecologic surgery. METHODS: Medical charts were retrospectively reviewed for patients who underwent panniculectomy coupled…
Serum albumin is a poor nutritional marker, but it is a good prognostic marker correlating with morbidity and mortality. However, IV albumin administration in hypoalbuminemic patients does not decrease tube feeding-associated diarrhea or intolerance,…
Bone cell-substrate interactions are important to understand in the design, selection, and surface modification of bone implants. To gain insight into such interactions, substrates designed with surface species approximating the physiological…
The anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 has been shown to function in roles unrelated to apoptosis in a variety of cell types. We have previously reported that loss of Bcl-2 expression alters chondrocyte morphology and modulates aggrecan expression via an…
BAG-1 (Bcl-2 associated athanogene-1) is a multifunctional protein, linking cell proliferation, cell death, protein folding, and cell stress. In vivo, BAG-1 is expressed in growth plate and articular cartilage, and the expression of BAG-1 is…
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that extracellular matrix (ECM) would alter the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response of chondrocytes. Chondrocytes were isolated from calf knees and maintained in monolayer culture or…
Levels of pituitary growth hormone (GH) messenger RNA (mRNA) were compared in groups of genetically obese (fa/fa) and lean (Fa/-) littermate male Zucker rats at four different ages, 3, 5, 9, and 11 weeks, in order to determine the earliest age at…
Osteoactivin (OA), also known as glycoprotein nmb (gpnmb) plays an important role in the regulation of osteoblast differentiation and function. OA induced osteoblast differentiation and function in vitro by stimulating alkaline phosphatase (ALP)…
Although MSCs have been widely recognized to have therapeutic potential in the repair of injured or diseased tissues, it remains unclear how functional activities of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are influenced by the surrounding inflammatory milieu…
Pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) is multifactorial but interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) is known to be an important mediator of cartilage degradation. Autophagy is an essential cellular homeostasis mechanism and has been proposed to protect against…
