AIMS We have investigated Ca²(+) signalling generated by aldosterone-induced T-type current (I(CaT)), the effects of I(CaT) in neonatal cardiomyocytes, and a putative role for I(CaT) in cardiomyocytes during cardiac pathology induced by stenosis in an adult rat. METHODS AND RESULTS Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes treated with aldosterone showed an increase in I(CaT) density, principally due to th...

To evaluate the usefulness of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) in medical school, the General Examination for senior medical students was administered as a paper and pencil test (P&P) and using CAT. The General Examination is a graduate examination, which is also a preliminary examination for the Korean Medical Licensing Examination (KMLE). The correlations between the results of the CAT and...

BACKGROUND The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) is responsive to change in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) has not been established. We aimed to identify the MCID for the CAT using anchor-based and distribution-based methods. METHODS We did three studies at two centres in London (UK) between April 1, 2010, and D...

The two 4.6 kb chloramphenicol resistance (CmR) plasmids pSCS6 and pSCS7, previously identified in Staphylococcus aureus from subclinical bovine mastitis, both encoded an inducible chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT, EC 2.3.1.28). The pSCS6- and pSCS7-encoded CAT variants were purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography and fast protein liquid chromatography (FP...

BACKGROUND Recent genetic association studies have linked the cadherin-based adherens junction protein alpha-T-catenin (αT-cat, CTNNA3) with the development of autism. Where αT-cat is expressed in the brain, and how its loss could contribute to this disorder, are entirely unknown. METHODS We used the αT-cat knockout mouse to examine the localization of αT-cat in the brain, and we used histolo...

AIMS Cathepsin S (Cat S) is a potent lysosomal protease that is secreted into the extracellular space and has been implicated in elastin and collagen degradation in diseases such as atherosclerosis. Elastin degradation plays an important role in vascular remodelling. However, the mechanism by which Cat regulates this process and its contribution to vein graft remodelling remains unclear. METH...

The chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) gene from Streptomyces acrimycini encodes a leaderless mRNA. Expression of the cat coding sequence as a leaderless mRNA from a modified lac promoter resulted in chloramphenicol resistance in Escherichia coli. Transcript mapping with nuclease S1 confirmed that the 5' end of the cat message initiated at the A of the AUG translational start codon. Site-d...

Cardiovascular complications determine morbidity/mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD). We hypothesized that progressive CKD drives the release of cathepsin-S (Cat-S), a cysteine protease that promotes endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular complications. Therefore, Cat-S, soluble tumor-necrosis-factor receptor (sTNFR) 1/2 and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were measured in a CKD mous...

Current research highlights the Hspb1 based screening of eight cat populations of the world to investigate the association of newly found locus within cat mammary tumors. Total 180 cats were screened on the basis of Hspb1 4 bp deletion locus (1514-1517del4) which was observed in six mammary tumor cases in Siamese cat breed. Case-control association study revealed the non-significance with P=0.2...