Obesity plays a central role in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. We therefore examined the effects of a modified form of ciliary neurotrophic factor [Axokine, which is hereafter referred to as ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF)Ax15], which uses a leptin-like mechanism to reduce body weight, in the db/db murine model of type 2 diabetes. In previous studies, weight loss ...

PURPOSE The skeletal muscle develops various degrees of atrophy and metabolic dysfunction following nerve injury. Neurotrophic factors are essential for muscle regeneration. Human amniotic fluid derived stem cells (AFS) have the potential to secrete various neurotrophic factors necessary for nerve regeneration. In the present study, we assess the outcome of neurological function by intramuscula...

A Cylindrical two layer fluid model for the transport of serous and mucus layer in the human trachea and the steady state condition due to cilia beating, some immotile cilia forming porous bed in serous sub -layer in contact with the epithelium and air motion by considering mucus as a visco-elastic fluid are studied. The effect of air-motion due to forced expiration and other processes is consi...

We have developed a fluid-mechanical model of a eucaryotic axoneme that couples the internal force generation of dynein molecular motors, the passive elastic mechanics of microtubules, and forces due to nexin links with a surrounding incompressible fluid. This model has been used to examine both ciliary beating and flagellar motility. In this article, we show preliminary simulation results for ...

1 Department of neurophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, China 2 Institute of Space Medical Engineering, 1 YuanmingYuan West Road, Beijing 100094, China 3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China 4 Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 5646 Darlington Road, Pittsbu...

low glucose condition induces neuronal cell-death via intracellular mechanisms including mitogen-activated protein kinases (mapk) signaling pathways. it has been shown that low glucose medium decreases neuronal survival in cerebellar granule neurons (cgns). in this study, we have examined the activation of jnk, p38kinase and erk1/2 pathways in low glucose medium in cgns. the cgns were prepared ...

background and purpose: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf) is present in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex in high concentrations and has an important role in development, maintenance and regeneration of the nervous system. the aim of this study was to produce active bdnf in e.coli using transforming plasmid. methods: to construct an expression plasmid of bdnf, a gene coding for it was ...

For the first time, the thermal compression method is applied to effectively enhance the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube thin films (CNTFs). With the assistance of heat and pressure on the CNTFs, the neighbor multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) start to link with each other, and then these separated CNTs are twined into a continuous film while the compression force, duration, and tem...

Neurotrophin 3 (NT-3) can support the survival of some embryonic sympathetic neuroblasts before they become nerve growth factor dependent. We show that NT-3 is produced in vivo by nonneuronal cells neighboring embryonic sympathetic ganglia. NT-3 mRNA is produced by these nonneuronal cells in vitro and is up-regulated by platelet-derived growth factor, ciliary neurotrophic factor, and glial grow...

The migration of limbal epithelial stem cells is important for the homeostasis and regeneration of corneal epithelium. Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) has been found to promote corneal epithelial wound healing by activating corneal epithelial stem/progenitor cells. However, the possible effect of CNTF on the migration of corneal epithelial stem/progenitor cells is not clear. This study found...