The small-conductance K+ channel (SK) in the apical membrane of the cortical-collecting duct (CCD) is regulated by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphorylation-dephosphorylation processes. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, ROMK, a cloned K+ channel similar to the native SK channel, can be stimulated by phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2), which is produced by phosphoinositide kinases ...

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are incorporated into foci of neovascularization where they undergo differentiation to mature endothelial cells (ECs). We show here that the enzyme sphingosine kinase-1 (SK-1) regulates the rate and direction of EPC differentiation without effect on the hematopoietic compartment. EPCs have high levels of SK-1 activity, which diminishes with differ...

Small conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels respond to intracellular Ca(2+) via constitutively associated calmodulin (CaM). Previous studies have proposed a modular design for the interaction between CaM and SK channels. The C-lobe and the linker of CaM are thought to regulate the constitutive binding, whereas the N-lobe binds Ca(2+) and gates SK channels. However, we found that...

vitamin d deficiency is common among the elderly with and without heart failure (hf). this study was designed to identify the degree of vitamin d deficiency among hf and non- hf elderly with cardiovascular disease. in this study, fifty hospitalized elderly patients with hf (26 women and 24 men, age range 60-90 years) and fifty elderly without hf were randomly selected. the level of serum 25-hyd...

We used the patch-clamp technique to study the effect of H(2)O(2) on the apical ROMK-like small-conductance K (SK) channel in the cortical collecting duct (CCD). The addition of H(2)O(2) decreased the activity of the SK channels and the inhibitory effect of H(2)O(2) was larger in the CCD from rats on a K-deficient diet than that from rats on a normal-K or a high-K diet. However, application of ...

Small conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels (SK) regulate action potential (AP) firing properties and excitability in many central neurons. However, the functional roles of SK channels of parasympathetic cardiac motoneurons (PCMNs) in the nucleus ambiguus have not yet been well characterized. In this study, the tracer X-rhodamine-5 (and 6)-isothiocyanate (XRITC) was injected into the peric...

BACKGROUND In the chronic kidney disease (CKD) population, the impact of serum potassium (sK) on renal outcomes has been controversial. Moreover, the reasons for the potential prognostic value of hypokalemia have not been elucidated. DESIGN PARTICIPANTS & MEASUREMENTS 2500 participants with CKD stage 1-4 in the Integrated CKD care program Kaohsiung for delaying Dialysis (ICKD) prospective obs...

We study the skewness premium (SK) introduced by Bates (1991) in a general context using Lévy Processes. Under a symmetry condition Fajardo and Mordecki (2006) obtain that SK is given by the Bate’s x% rule. In this paper we study SK under the absence of that symmetry condition. More exactly, we derive sufficient conditions for SK to be positive, in terms of the characteristic triplet of the Lév...

BACKGROUND Seborrheic keratosis (SK) is one of the most common epidermal tumors of the skin. However, only a few large-scale clinicohistopathological investigations have been conducted on SK or on the possible correlation between histopathological SK subtype and location. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical and histopathological features of a relatively large number of...

Trypsin-activated pig plasmin and human plasmin activated by streptokinase (SK) caused aggregation of a suspension of washed platelets from human, rabbit, or pig blood. The platelet aggregation was reversible, but it was accompanied by a significant release of adenine nucleotides, serotonin, and platelet fibrinogen. Platelet fibrinogen was eventually digested. The effect of plasmin on platelets...