OBJECTIVE To describe SLE disease activity patterns in the Hopkins Lupus Cohort. METHODS Disease activity was studied in 1886 patients followed-up for 1-28 years. Disease activity patterns were defined using (1) Physician Global Assessment (PGA) and (2) modified SLE Disease Activity Index (M-SLEDAI) as follows: long quiescent (LQ), M-SLEDAI=0/PGA=0 at all visits; relapsing-remitting (RR), per...

Introduction. Tissue engineering is a new methodology for addressing meniscal injury or loss. Synovium may be an ideal source of cells for in vitro meniscal fibrocartilage formation, however, favorable in vitro culture conditions for synovium must be established in order to achieve this goal. The objective of this study was to determine cellularity, cell distribution, and extracellular matrix (...

Kinema, an ethnic fermented, non-salted and sticky soybean food is consumed in the eastern part of India. The stickiness is one of the best qualities of good kinema preferred by consumers, which is due to the production of poly-γ-glutamic acid (PGA). Average load of Bacillus in kinema was 10(7) cfu/g and of lactic acid bacteria was 10(3) cfu/g. Bacillus spp. were screened for PGA-production and...

The in vitro culture of pancreatic islets reduces their immunogenicity and prolongs their availability for transplantation. Both simulated microgravity (sMG) and a polyglycolic acid scaffold (PGA) are believed to confer advantages to cell culture. Here, we evaluated the effects of sMG combined with a PGA on the viability, insulin-producing activity and morphological alterations of pancreatic is...

Spontaneous pacemaker γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor-mediated synaptic activity (PGA) occurs in a subset of tissue samples from pediatric epilepsy surgery patients. In the present study, based on single-cell electrophysiological recordings from 120 cases, we describe the etiologies, cell types, and primary electrophysiological features of PGA. Cells displaying PGA occurred more frequently ...

Polygalacturonic acid (PGA) synthase successively transfers galacturonic acid to oligogalacturonic acid by an alpha1,4-linkage to synthesize PGA, the backbone of plant pectic homogalacturonan. PGA synthase has not been purified to date due to its instability in vitro. In this study, we found stable conditions in vitro and separated a minimum active component of the enzymes from pea and azuki be...

In this experiment, we developed a novel safe and effective gene delivery vector coated with γ-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA-coated complexes). The γ-PGA-coated complex was composed of chiseled spherical nano-particles with anionic charges. The plasmid DNA/polyethyleneimine complex (non-coated complex) showed high transgene efficiency in the spleen and lung after intravenous administration in mice, ...

Much progress has been made in recent years on the diagnostic value, Ag specificity, and pathogenic roles of autoantibodies correlated to the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in humans. However, carbohydrate Ag-specific autoantibodies that may also play important roles in RA have largely been ignored. In this article, we report that serum levels of Abs capable of recognizing α1,4-polyga...

Background Seroma formation is a major complication following latissimus dorsi (LD) flap transfer for breast reconstruction. We implanted a nonwoven polyglycolic acid (PGA) fabric-a biodegradable polymer-in the LD flap donor site and examined its effect on postoperative seroma formation and resolution in a comparative study on 38 patients undergoing primary 1-stage breast reconstruction by LD f...

This study is pertaining to the production of penicillin G acylase (PGA) by Bacillus subtilis 8105MU331 in which PGA gene, under the control of thermal-induced promoter, was integrated. The key process parameters including induced-temperature, induced-time, and culture temperature were optimized in flask culture. A three-stage cultivation process was developed for PGA production with the expres...