Somatotropin (ST) administration enhances protein deposition and elicits profound metabolic responses, including hyperinsulinemia. To determine whether the anabolic effect of ST is due to hyperinsulinemia, pair-fed weight-matched growing swine were treated with porcine ST (150 microg x kg body wt(-1) x day(-1)) or diluent for 7 days (n = 6/group, approximately 20 kg). Then pancreatic glucose-am...

Consider a corridor which connects a continuum of residential locations to the CBD (central business district) and which is subject to flow congestion. All (identical) individuals travel along the corridor from home to work in the morning rush hour and have the same work start time. Each individual decides when to depart from home so as to minimize the sum of travel time costs, time early costs...

Amyloidoses constitute a group of diseases in which soluble proteins aggregate and deposit extracellularly in tissues. Nonhereditary apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) amyloid is characterized by deposits of nonvariant protein in atherosclerotic arteries. Despite being common, little is known about the pathogenesis and significance of apoA-I deposition. In this work we investigated by fluorescence and...

The cleavage of C3 is a critical step for complement (C) activation in the classical and alternative pathways. This reaction is controlled by the regulators of C activation protein family. Membrane cofactor protein (MCP) is a cofactor for the factor I-mediated inactivation of C3b and C4b. As a widely distributed membrane protein, MCP may protect host cells from inadvertent C activation. Human M...

Capsaicin is a major constituent of hot chili peppers that influences lipid metabolism in animals. In this study, we explored the effects of capsaicin on adipogenic differentiation of bovine bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The BMSCs were treated with various concentrations of capsaicin (0, 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μM) for 2, 4, and 6 days. Capsaicin sup...

Amyloid is a systemic disease characterized by extracellular deposition of misfolded protein. Gastrointestinal and peritoneal light chain (AL) amyloid an under-recognized manifestation this disease, usually as late sequela. Here we present case recently diagnosed AL that presented in the context recurrent, acute onset abdominal discomfort was found to have bowel obstruction complicated perforat...

The agro-climatic environments in subtropical islands around Japan were analyzed by using meteorological data (average for 1971–2000). This study found that the horizontal distribution of monthly mean temperatures in both the subtropical islands and Japan’s main islands can be expressed accurately as a function of latitude for all seasons. These relationships cannot be applied to the monthly me...

Although, protein aggregation and deposition are unifying features of various neurodegenerative disorders, recent studies indicate that different mechanisms can lead to the development of the same malady. Among these, failure in early protein folding and maturation emerge as key mechanistic events that lead to the manifestation of a myriad of illnesses including Alzheimer's disease and prion di...

Hydrogels have been widely investigated as 3D culture substrates because of their reported structural similarity to the extracellular matrix (ECM). Limited ECM deposition, however, occurs within these materials, so the resulting "tissues" bear little resemblance to those found in the body. Here matrix deposition by fibroblasts encapsulated within a calcium alginate (Ca-alg) hydrogel was investi...

Evidence indicates a critical role for cerebrovascular dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology. We have shown that fibrin(ogen), the principal blood-clotting protein, is deposited in the AD neurovasculature and interacts with beta-amyloid (Aβ), resulting in increased formation of blood clots. As apolipoprotein E (ApoE), a lipid-transporting protein with three human isoforms (E2,...