L earning and memory depend on the brain’s plasticity, its ability to rewire itself. Lippi et al. reveal that two microRNAs (miRNAs) help the brain maintain this fl exibility by dismantling unneeded synapses between neurons (1). When a rat memorizes the route through a maze or a singer learns the lyrics to a song, the neural changes in their brains typically include growth or modifi cation of d...

The aacA29b gene, which confers an atypical aminoglycoside resistance pattern to Escherichia coli, was identified on a class 1 integron from a multidrug-resistant isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. On the basis of amino acid sequence homology, it was proposed that the gene encoded a 6'-N-acetyltransferase. The resistance gene was cloned into the pET23a(+) vector, and overexpression conferred hi...

Progressive reduction in kidney function in patients following myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with an increase in circulating uremic toxins levels leading to increased extracellular matrix deposition. We have recently reported that treatment with uremic toxin adsorbent AST-120 in rats with MI inhibits serum levels of uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate (IS) and downregulates expression of ca...

PURPOSE We investigated the efficacy of miR-29b in inhibiting scar formation in rabbits who undergo glaucoma filtering surgery (GFS). METHODS Trabeculectomy was performed on 60 rabbits diagnosed with glaucoma. The rabbits were divided into 5 groups: a blank group, single surgery group, positive control group that was treated with intraoperative mitomycin C (MMC), negative control group that w...

A study was conducted at Ibadan (Derived savanna), Ife (Rainforest), and Kishi (southern Guinea savanna-northern fringe) to ascertain the agronomic potentials variation in early interference traits for weed suppression pigeon pea southern agro-ecologies of Nigeria. The experimental site marked out into 4 x m plots twenty (20) genotypes were randomly assigned with three replicates. Results showe...

Background It was found that the expression of mir-29b significantly up-regulated in PBMs, and we tried to clarify TNF- α The production proinflammatory cytokines increased by inducing overexpression CD14 +PBMs patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), using TNF-α urapy reverse regulate mir-29b, carry out relevant experiments verify our scientific research hypothesis. Objectives By observing RA ...

Vascular calcification is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with CKD and the general population. The common association between vascular calcification and osteoporosis suggests a link between bone and vascular disorders. Because microRNAs (miRs) are involved in the transdifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells into osteoblast-like cells, we investigated whether miRs...

BACKGROUND Cell-free microRNAs stably and abundantly exist in body fluids and emerging evidence suggests cell-free microRNAs as novel and non-invasive disease biomarker. Deregulation of miR-29 is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy and insulin resistance thus may be implicated in diabetic vascular complication. Therefore, we investigated the possibility of urinary miR-29 as bio...

RATIONALE Abdominal aortic aneurysms constitute a degenerative process in the aortic wall. Both the miR-29 and miR-15 families have been implicated in regulating the vascular extracellular matrix. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to assess the effect of the miR-15 family on aortic aneurysm development. METHODS AND RESULTS Among the miR-15 family members, miR-195 was differentially expressed in aortas ...

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a determining factor in the tumor microenvironment that restrains or promotes malignant growth. In this report, we show how the molecular chaperone protein Hsp47 functions as a nodal hub in regulating an ECM gene transcription network. A transcription network analysis showed that Hsp47 expression was activated during breast cancer development and progression. H...