Prolyl endopeptidase (PREP) has been implicated in neuronal functions. Here we report that hypothalamic PREP is predominantly expressed in the ventromedial nucleus (VMH), where it regulates glucose-induced neuronal activation. PREP knockdown mice (Prep(gt/gt)) exhibited glucose intolerance, decreased fasting insulin, increased fasting glucagon levels, and reduced glucose-induced insulin secreti...

Geographic tongue (GT) and fissured tongue (FT) are the more frequent oral lesions in patients with psoriasis. The aims of this study were to compare the prevalence of GT/FT between psoriasis group (PG) and healthy controls (HC) and investigate the correlation between GT/FT and psoriasis severity using the PASI and age of psoriasis onset. Three hundred and forty-eight PG and 348 HC were selecte...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT) is a rare, inherited autosomal recessive disorder characterized by qualitative or quantitative deficiency of integrin αIIbβ3 [glycoprotein IIb (GPIIb)/IIIa, CD41/CD61] diagnosed by absent or reduced platelet aggregation to physiological agonists, namely, collagen, adenosine-di-phosphate, epinephrine and arachidonic acid. The objective of thi...

The partial duplication model with parameters (p, t, t0, Gt0) where p ∈ (0, 1), t, t0 ∈ N, t ≥ t0, and Gt0 is an initial undirected graph is the probability distribution on undirected graphs Gt described by the following recursion: If t = t0, then Gt = Gt0 . Otherwise, select a graph Gt−1 = (Vt−1, Et−1) from the partial duplication model with parameters (p, t − 1, t0, Gt0) and construct Gt, ini...

Ganoderma tsugae (GT) is a traditional Chinese medicine that exhibits significant antitumor activities against many types of cancer. This study investigated the molecular mechanism by which GT suppresses the growth of doxorubicin-resistant lung adenocarcinoma H23/0.3 cells. Our results reveal that GT inhibits the viability of H23/0.3 cells in vitro and in vivo and sensitizes the growth suppress...

AIMS Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase activity (gamma-GT) is able to catalyse low-density lipoprotein oxidation and has been detected in coronary atherosclerotic plaques. gamma-GT has been documented as an independent risk factor for cardiac mortality in middle-aged men. The purpose of this study is to determine the prognostic value of gamma-GT in patients with coronary artery disease. METHOD...

INTRODUCTION Cyclase-associated protein 2 (CAP2) plays a major role in regulating the actin cytoskeleton. Since inactivation of CAP2 in a mouse model by a gene trap approach (Cap2 (gt/gt) ) results in cardiomyopathy and increased mortality, we hypothesized that CAP2 has a major impact on arrhythmias and electrophysiological parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS We performed long-term-ECG recording...

Sets subscripted with a “+” are nonnegative, and sets subscripted with a “++” are strictly positive. We write dxen := ∑ i∈N+ i+1 2n ·1[i/2n,(i+1)/2n)(x) and bxcn := ∑ i∈N+ i 2n ·1(i/2n,(i+1)/2n](x) so dxen x and bxcn x, unless x = 0, in which case bxcn = 0 for all n. We will write (Ft)0≤t≤∞ to denote a filtration. If X• is a process taking values in (E,E ), then F t = σ ({Xs ∈ A | 0 ≤ s ≤ t, A ...

BACKGROUND To support clinical development of HCV non-structural protein (NS) 3 protease inhibitors (PIs), phenotypic monitoring of patient isolates is a prerequisite for understanding the emergence of resistance. HCV isolates typically fail to replicate in cell culture, necessitating the use of alternative phenotyping methods. METHODS An NS3 protease chimeric replicon system was developed to...

α-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is a critical regulator of energy metabolism. Prolyl carboxypeptidase (PRCP) is an enzyme responsible for its degradation and inactivation. PRCP-null mice (PRCP(gt/gt)) showed elevated levels of brain α-MSH, reduced food intake, and a leaner phenotype compared with wild-type controls. In addition, they were protected against diet-induced obesity. Here, w...