We hypothesized that circulating osteoprotegerin (OPG) and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) levels could be associated with vascular calcification, which is predominant in diabetes.The study included 71 Korean participants (36 with diabetes and 35 without diabetes), who were sub-grouped according to the results of the ankle-brachial index (ABI) and/or X-ray computed tomography scan (CT scan). Serum OPG and TRAIL levels were assayed using the respective enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Statistical significance was analyzed using Student's t test between the 2 groups or analysis of variance (ANOVA) among the 4 groups.Serum OPG was up-regulated in the participants with diabetes, with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and/or with vascular calcification. TRAIL down-regulation was more strictly controlled than OPG up-regulation; it was significantly downregulated in the participants with PAD and vascular calcification, but not in the participants with diabetes. Serum OPG and TRAIL were regulated in the participants with femoral, popliteal, and peroneal artery calcification but not in the participants with aortic calcification.OPG up-regulation and TRAIL down-regulation were found to be associated with leg lesional vascular calcification; therefore, the average OPG/TRAIL ratio was significantly increased by 3.2-fold in the leg lesional vascular calcification group.
HP (2-20) (AKKVFKRLEKLFSKIQNDK) is the antibacterial sequence derived from N-terminus of Helicobacter pylori Ribosomal Protein L1 (RPL1). It has a broad-spectrum microbicidal activity in vitro that is thought to be related to the membrane-disruptive properties of the peptide. Based on the putative membrane-targeted mode of action, we postulated that HP (2-20) might be possessed virus-cell fusion inhibitory activity. To develop the novel virus-cell fusion inhibitory peptides, several analogues with amino acid substitution were designed to increase or decrease only net hydrophobic region. In particular, substitution of Gln and Asp for hydrophobic amino acid, Trp at position 17 and 19 of HP (2-20) (Anal 3) caused a dramatic increase in virus-cell fusion inhibitory activity without hemolytic effect. Keywords: hp(2-20), broad-spectrum microbicidal activity, virus-cell fusion inhibitory activity
A PVYO virus-resistant potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Golden Valley) was identified, and further, from its tubers, a small (5.57 kDa) antiviral peptide potide-G was isolated. Application of potide-G on virus susceptible potato (cv. Winter valley) expressed robust resistance to PVYO infection and showed no virus infected morphology. We found that PVYO infection spreads up completely within 3 days post inoculation (dpi) in susceptible cultivar. PVYO was more accumulated toward the basal leaves, when infection occurred longer. Combined results of morphology of PVYO infection, ELISA, RT-PCR, and real-time PCR showed the resistance to the PVYO infection depends on the expression of Ry gene. Indeed, the real-time PCR result showed that the Ry gene up-regulated to 3 times higher in PVYO infected cv. Golden valley. Golden crude protein was found to be active against PVYO infection in the in vivo test. In addition, application of potide-G in a virus susceptible potato potently reduced the viral infection actively with 50 times lower concentration than that of the Golden protein. Further identification of a host-specific resistant gene in a plant and the peptide derived from it offers new opportunities for the development of novel bio-pesticides against plant virus. Keywords: Potide-G; Potato virus YO (PVYO); virus infection; Ry gene; CP gene; ELISA; real-time PCR
Rates of microbial drug resistance are increasing worldwide; therefore, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered promising alternative therapeutic agents to antibiotics. AMPs are essential components of the innate immune system and exhibit broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. P5 is a Cecropin A-Magainin 2 hybrid analog peptide with antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. In the present study, truncated peptides were designed to reduction length, retainment their antimicrobial activity and low toxicity at high concentrations compared with that of the parent peptide P5. The truncated peptides P5-CT1 and P5-NT1 exhibited antibacterial activities against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. In contrast, P5-CT2, P5-CT3, P5-NT2, and P5-NT3 showed higher antibacterial activities against gram-positive bacteria compared to Gram-negative bacteria at low concentration of peptides. The truncated peptides showed lower hemolytic activity and toxic effects against mammalian cells compared with those of the parent peptide P5. The levels of several truncated peptides were maintained in the presence of physiological concentrations of salts, indicating their high stability. The results of flow cytometry, propidium iodide uptake, n-phenyl-1-naphthylamine uptake, and 3,3′-dipropylthiadicarbocyanine iodide assays showed that these truncated peptides killed microbial cells by increasing membrane permeability, thereby causing membrane damage. The results suggested that truncated peptides of P5 have good potential for use as novel antimicrobial agents.
Patients with chronic parathyroid dysfunction often have intracranial calcification in deep gray matter (GM) and subcortical white matter (WM) of their brain. Some of them are also epilepsy patients. Although cortical etiologies are main cause of epileptic seizure, cortical calcification has not been reported in these patients. We report a newly diagnosed focal epilepsy patient whose brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed intracranial calcifications in cortical as well as subcortical areas. Blood lab revealed that he had hypocalcemia due to pseudohypoparathyroidism. Video EEG monitoring revealed the ictal EEG mainly consist of polymorphic delta to theta waves with maximum at right temporal area followed by background attenuation and muscle artifacts. The interictal EEG showed multiple focal spike-wave discharges. After given oral calcium and calcitriol supplement, his calcium and phosphorous level normalized and he remains seizure free. This is the first case to show cortical calcification in a patient with pseudohypoparathyroidism. Cortical calcification could be an important measure of seizure burden in these patients and thus sophisticated imaging protocols should be used to visualize the extent of calcium deposits.
'%3e%3cg id='b'%3e%3cpath id='a' stroke='%23000' stroke-width='2' d='M-6-25H6m-12 3H6m-12 3H6'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' y='44'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' d='M0 17v10'/%3e%3ccircle r='12' fill='%23cd2e3a'/%3e%3cpath fill='%230047a0' d='M0-12A6 6 0 0 0 0 0a6 6 0 0 1 0 12 12 12 0 0 1 0-24z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg transform='rotate(-123.69)'%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23b'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' d='M0-23.5v3M0 17v3.5m0 3v3'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)