Plos One
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Transfusion practice might significantly influence patient morbidity and mortality. Between European countries, transfusion practice of red blood cells (RBC) greatly differs. Only sparse data are available on transfusion practice of general internal medicine physicians in Switzerland. ⋯ This study highlights the lack of adherence to current transfusion guidelines in Switzerland. Identifying and subsequently correcting this deficit in knowledge translation may have a significant impact on patient care.
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Mutations in mitochondrial DNA are an important source of severe and incurable human diseases. The vast majority of these mutations are heteroplasmic, meaning that mutant and wild-type genomes are present simultaneously in the same cell. Only a very high proportion of mutant mitochondrial DNA (heteroplasmy level) leads to pathological consequences. ⋯ Quantification of mtDNA copy number in transfected cells revealed the absence of a non-specific effect on wild type mtDNA replication, indicating that the decreased proportion between mutant and wild type mtDNA molecules is not a consequence of a random repopulation of depleted pool of mtDNA genomes. The heteroplasmy change could be also modulated by cell growth conditions, namely increased by cells culturing in a carbohydrate-free medium, thus forcing them to use oxidative phosphorylation and providing a selective advantage for cells with improved respiration capacities. We discuss the advantages and limitations of this approach and propose further development of the anti-replicative strategy based on the RNA import into human mitochondria.
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High frequency electrical stimulation (HFS) of the skin induces increased pinprick sensitivity in the surrounding unconditioned skin. The aim of the present study was to investigate the contribution of A-fiber nociceptors to this increased pinprick sensitivity. For this we assessed if the perception and brain responses elicited by low-intensity intra-epidermal electrical stimulation (IES), a method preferentially activating Aδ-fiber nociceptors, are increased in the area of HFS-induced increased pinprick sensitivity. ⋯ HFS did not affect the percept elicited by IES, but did enhance the magnitude of the N2 wave of IES-evoked brain potentials, both at T1 and at T2. Our results show that HFS induces a long-lasting enhancement of the N2 wave elicited by IES in the area of secondary hyperalgesia, indicating that HFS enhances the responsiveness of the central nervous system to nociceptive A-fiber input. However, we found no evidence that HFS affects the perception elicited by IES, which may suggest that the population of nociceptors that mediate the perception elicited by IES do not contribute to HFS-induced increased pinprick sensitivity.
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Accumulating evidence demonstrated that NANOG1, the key transcription factor for embryonic stem cells, is associated with human cancers. NANOGP8, one of the pseudogenes in NANOG gene family, contains an intact open reading frame and also said to be expressed in cancer tissues. Therefore, a systematic study is greatly needed to address the following questions: among NANOG1 and NANOGP8, which gene is the main contributor for NANOG expression in cancer cells and which one is the key regulator responsible for stemness, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), metastasis, chemoresistance and other malignant phenotypes. Here we try to explore these issues with gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines in vitro using variety of molecular and cellular techniques. ⋯ NANOGP8 is the main regulator of gastric cancer stem cells. It is closely associated with EMT, stemness, and CSC marker as well as Wnt signal pathway. NANOGP8 is correlated with cell proliferation, migration, invasion, clonogenic capacity, β-catenin accumulation in nucleus, and chemoresistance in gastric cancer. NANOGP8 is a promising molecular target for clinical intervention of gastric cancer.