Deranged Ca(2+) signaling and an accumulation of aberrant proteins cause endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which is a hallmark of cell death implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms are elusive. Here, we report that dysfunction of an ER-resident Ca(2+) channel, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP(3)R), promotes cell death during ER stress. Heteroz...

Stroke is a complex vascular and neurological syndrome that can lead to death and disability [1]. About 15 million people worldwide [1] and 800,000 people in the United States suffer stroke each year [2]. On average, in the U.S. every 40 seconds someone has a stroke and every 4 minutes someone dies from a stroke [2]. This medical emergency has very limited treatments, and causes serious health ...

Our sense of hearing requires functional sensory hair cells. Throughout life those hair cells are subjected to various traumas, the most common being loud sound. The primary effect of acoustic trauma is manifested as damage to the delicate mechanosensory apparatus of the hair cell stereocilia. This may eventually lead to hair cell death and irreversible deafness. Little is known about the way i...

PURPOSE The paper tries to assess the protective effect of fisetin against •OH-induced DNA damage, then to investigate the possible mechanism. METHODS The protective effect was evaluated based on the content of malondialdehyde (MDA). The possible mechanism was analyzed using various antioxidant methods in vitro, including •OH scavenging (deoxyribose degradation), •O2 (-) scavenging (pyrogallo...

Biochemical mechanisms of production of redox intermediates of redox-cycling drugs include: photochemical events, either photoionization process or electron transfer from photoexcited states; electron exchange of reduced form of a drug with the oxy state of oxygen-binding hemoproteins; oxidation by catalytic metal centers (oxidases, peroxidases, oxygenases) of the reduced forms of drugs; or ele...

This study explored the use of a high energy electron beam as the only available technique for selective area surface modification of carbon nanofibers through controlled parameters such as radiation dose, sample temperature, and environment. The application of this variable space led to the production of unique morphological features on the nanofiber surfaces. Transmission Electron Microscopy ...

Number of Papers published in peer-reviewed journals: Final Report: Mechanism of UV-Induced Damage to Mammalian Collagen Report Title The overall aim of this work has been to compare the effects of temperature on the rates and kinetics of the direct photochemical interaction between UV and mammalian collagen as functions of excitation wavelengths, temperature, fluorescence spectral distribution...

6- mercaptopurine (6-mp) is widely used in clinic as an immunosuppressive for treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia, crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis with documented unpredictable hepatotoxicity. the potential molecular cytotoxic mechanisms of 6-mp against isolated rat hepatocytes were searched in this study using “accelerated cytotoxicity mechanism screening (acms)” techniques. t...

chloroacetaldehyde (caa) is a chlorination by-product in finished drinking water and a toxic metabolite of a wide variety of industrial chemicals (e.g. vinyl chloride) and chemotherapeutic agents (e.g. cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide). in this research, the cytotoxic mechanisms of caa in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were investigated.caa cytotoxicity was associated with reactive oxygen spec...

Arsenic is a naturally occurring metalloid that has been associated with increased incidence of human cancer in certain highly exposed populations. Arsenic is released to the environment by natural means such as solubilization from geologic formations into water supplies. It is also released to occupational and community environments by such activities as nonferrous ore smelting and combustion ...