The mammalian TOR (mTOR) pathway integrates nutrient- and growth factor-derived signals to regulate growth, the process whereby cells accumulate mass and increase in size. mTOR is a large protein kinase and the target of rapamycin, an immunosuppressant that also blocks vessel restenosis and has potential anticancer applications. mTOR interacts with the raptor and GbetaL proteins to form a compl...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The antihyperglycaemic drug metformin reduces food consumption through mechanisms that are not fully elucidated. The present study investigated the effects of intracerebroventricular administration of metformin on food intake and hypothalamic appetite-regulating signalling pathways induced by the orexigenic peptide ghrelin. METHODS Rats were injected intracerebroventricularly ...

Osteoclasts are giant bone cells formed by fusion from monocytes and uniquely capable of a complete destruction of mineralized tissues. Previously, we have demonstrated that in energy-rich environment not only osteoclast fusion index (the number of nuclei each osteoclast contains), but also cytoplasm volume per single nucleus was increased. The goal of this study was to investigate the regulati...

This thesis addresses the issue of reliable media delivery over broadcast channels. Sophisticated Video-on-Demand (VoD) broadcasting schemes based on Harmonic Broadcasting (HB) and Pyramidal Broadcasting (PB) allow receivers to tune into the ongoing transmission session of a video-stream at arbitrary time, while still being able to receive the multimedia sequence from the beginning and in compl...

The pupal parasitoids, Spalangia cameroni Perkins and Muscidifurax raptor Girault and Sanders, can be purchased for biological control of house flies Musca domestica L. and stable flies Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae). Little is known about the odors involved in host-seeking behavior of these two species, so odors associated with house flies were investigated in the laboratory usin...

Activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling is associated with growth and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). We have previously shown that the mTOR kinase, a downstream effector of PI3K/Akt signaling, regulates tumorigenesis of CRC. However, the contribution of mTOR and its interaction partners toward regulating CRC progression and metastasis remains poorly understood. We ...

Anti-HLA Abs have been shown to contribute to the process of transplant vasculopathy by binding to HLA class I molecules expressed by the endothelial and smooth muscle cells of the graft and transducing intracellular signals that elicit cell proliferation. The aim of this study was to determine the role of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in HLA class I-induced endothelial cell proliferatio...

Attack rates, progeny production, sex ratios, and host use efÞciency of Muscidufurax raptor Girualt and Sanders, Spalangia cameroni Perkins, S. endius (Walker), S. nigroaenea Curtis, S. gemina Boucek (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), and Dirhinus himalayanus (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae)were evaluated in laboratory bioassayswith Þve dipteran hosts: house ßy (Musca domesticaL.), stable ßy (Stomoxys calc...

Objective(s): The aim of this study was to observe the impact of sirolimus on proteinuria in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Rats were given a single injection of STZ to induce diabetic rat model. Rats’ 24 hr urine was collected to test, urinary and the kidney tissues were harvested at the 8th and 20th weeks, respectively. Podocyte morphological changes were e...