pantothenate kinase- associated neurodegeneration (pkan) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by progressive extrapyramidal dysfunction and iron accumulation in the brain and axonal spheroids in the central nervous system. it has been shown that the disorder is caused by mutations in pank2 gene which codes for a mitochondrial enzyme participating in coenzyme a biosynthe...

background & objectives: anaplastic lymphoma kinase (alk) is a receptor tyrosine kinase involved in the genesis of several human cancers. alk was initially identified because of its involvement in anaplastic large cell lymphoma (alcl). alk is believed to foster tumorigenesis following activation by autocrine and/or paracrine growth loops. studies reveal that the presence of anti-alk antibod...

Glutamate, as an essential neurotransmitter, has been thought to have different roles in the central nervous system (CNS), including nerve regeneration, synaptogenesis, and neurogenesis. Excessive glutamate causes an up-regulation of the multiple signaling pathways, including phosphoinositide-3 kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt), Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein, mitogen-activat...

the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) cells is one of the leading causes of liver cancer mortality in humans. the inhibiting effects of matrine on hcc cell proliferation have been studied, but the mechanism of that inhibition has not been fully elucidated. since, apoptosis plays an important role in hcc cell proliferation. we examined the apoptosis-inducing effect of matrine on tu...

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a process that certain types of synaptic stimulation lead to a long-lasting enhancement in the strength of synaptic transmission. Studies in recent years indicate the importance of molecular pathways in the development of memory and learning. Tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) is a member of the neurotrophin receptor tyrosine kinase family, that its ligand is b...

objective: different signaling pathways have been identified that are involved in the cellular response to opiates. the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway is one of the most important signaling pathways underlying the neuronal response to opiates. micrornas (mirnas) are considered to be post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression with paramount significance, which plays key roles i...

conclusions these results showed enhanced muscle atrophy processes following peripheral nerve damage and might provide a useful approach to study underlying muscle mechanisms associated with clinical neuropathic pain syndromes. results compared to control animals, l5 ligated animals developed mechanical and heat hypersensitivity during total period of study. soleus muscle weight as well as cdk5...

background: the aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro effects of mercury (hg+2), lead (pb+2), silver (ag+2), tin (sn+2), bismuth (bi+3) and indium (in+3) ions on sperm creatine kinase. methods: creatine kinase was isolated from human sperm homogenates after chromatography on a deae cellulose column. results: at 60 µg ml-1 metal concentration, 70% of the creatine kinase activi...