Mature brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays critical roles in development of brain structure and function, including neurogenesis, axon growth, cell survival and processes associated with learning. Expression of this peptide is regulated by estradiol (E2). The zebra finch song system is sexually dimorphic - only males sing and the brain regions controlling song are larger and have mor...

OBJECTIVE Characterize the timecourse of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-1, -2, -3, -7, -9, -11, -12, -13, and -14) and endogenous tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMP-1, -2, -3, and -4) upregulation during left ventricular (LV) remodeling following myocardial infarction (MI) in rats. METHODS The descending left coronary artery of male rats (Rattus norvegicus) was ligated to produce a MI. LV functio...

Thrombin and hypoxia are important players in breast cancer progression. Breast cancers often develop drug resistance, but mechanisms linking thrombin and hypoxia to drug resistance remain unresolved. Our studies using Doxorubicin (DOX) resistant MCF7 breast cancer cells reveals a mechanism linking DOX exposure with hypoxic induction of DOX resistance. Global expression changes between parental...

One of the enduring beliefs of America is that it is a spacious nation, a land big to start and made bigger still by bottomless natural resources and energetic citizens, a place that easily accommodates a future without limits. The country’s physical scope has been, throughout its history, the basis for such beliefs: endless vistas unrolling mile after mile as settlers moved westward were plant...

Myosin Binding Protein-C slow (sMyBP-C) comprises a complex family of proteins expressed in slow and fast type skeletal muscles. Similar to its fast and cardiac counterparts, sMyBP-C functions to modulate the formation of actomyosin cross-bridges, and to organize and stabilize sarcomeric A- and M-bands. The slow form of MyBP-C was originally classified as a single protein, however several varia...

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) synthases catalyze the polymerization of (R)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA (HB-CoA) into high molecular weight PHB, biodegradable polymers. The class III PHB synthase from Allochromatium vinosum is composed of a 1:1 mixture of two approximately 40 kDa proteins: PhaC and PhaE. Previous studies using site-directed mutagenesis and a saturated trimer of hydroxybutyryl-CoA have sugg...

The use of biodegradable polymers in the field of orthopaedic surgery has gained increased popularity, as surgical pins and screws, and as potential biological scaffolds for repairing cartilage and bone defects. One such group of polymers that has gained considerable attention are the polyesters, poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLAGA) and polylactic acid (PLA), because of their minimal tissue infla...

Dear Editor, We would like to present a rare case of giant prostatic hyperplasia (GPH), which is defined as a prostate weight over 200 g for Easterners1 or 500 g for Westerns.2 Only 14 cases of GPH exceeding 500 g had been reported in the English literature by 2015 (Supplementary Table 1). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of removing a GPH exceeding 500 g by using minimall...