Hepadnaviridae is a family of hepatotropic DNA viruses that is divided into the genera orthohepadnavirus of mammals and avihepadnavirus of birds. All members of this family can cause acute and chronic hepatic infectio...Hepadnaviridae is a family of hepatotropic DNA viruses that is divided into the genera orthohepadnavirus of mammals and avihepadnavirus of birds. All members of this family can cause acute and chronic hepatic infection, which in the case of human hepatitis B virus (HBV) constitutes a major global health problem. Although our knowledge about the molecular biology of these highly liver-specific viruses has profoundly increased in the last two decades, the mechanisms of attachment and productive entrance into the differentiated host hepatocytes are still enigmatic. The difficulties in studying hepadnaviral entry were primarily caused by the lack of easily accessible in vitro infection systems. Thus, for more than twenty years, differentiated primary hepatocytes from the respective species were the only in vitro models for both orthohepadnaviruses (e.g. HBV) and avihepadnaviruses (e.g. duck hepatitis B virus [DHBV]). Two important discoveries have been made recently regarding HBV: (1) primary hepatoo/tes from tree-shrews; i.e., Tupaia belangeri, can be substituted for primary human hepatocytes, and (2) a human hepatoma cell line (HepaRG) was established that gains susceptibility for HBV infection upon induction of differentiation in vitro. A number of potential HBV receptor candidates have been described in the past, but none of them have been confirmed to function as a receptor. For DHBV and probably all other avian hepadnaviruses, carboxypeptidase D (CPD) has been shown to be indispensable for infection, although the exact role of this molecule is still under debate. While still restricted to the use of primary duck hepatocytes (PDH), investigations performed with DHBV provided important general concepts on the first steps of hepadnaviral infection. However, with emerging data obtained from the new HBV infection systems, the hope that DHBV utilizes the same mechanism as HBV only partially held true. Nevertheless, both HBV and DHBV in vitro infection systems will help to: (1) 展开更多
AIM: To assess the usefulness of urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip, urinary trypsinogen activation peptide (TAP),and serum and urine concentrations of the activation peptide of carboxypeptidase B (CAPAP) in the diagnos...AIM: To assess the usefulness of urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip, urinary trypsinogen activation peptide (TAP),and serum and urine concentrations of the activation peptide of carboxypeptidase B (CAPAP) in the diagnosisof acute pancreatitis.METHODS: Patients with acute abdominal pain and hospitalized within 24 h after the onset of symptoms were prospectively studied. Urinary trypsinogen-2 was considered positive when a clear blue line was observed (detection limit 50 μg/L). Urinary TAP was measured using a quantitative solid-phase ELISA, and serum and urinary CAPAP by a radioimmunoassay method.RESULTS: Acute abdominal pain was due to acute pancreatitis in 50 patients and turned out to be extrapancreatic in origin in 22 patients. Patients with acute pancreatitis showed significantly higher median levels of serum and urinary CAPAP levels, as well as amylase and lipase than extrapancreatic controls. Median TAP levels were similar in both groups. The urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip was positive in 68% of patients with acute pancreatitis and 13.6% in extrapancreatic controls (P<0.01). Urinary CAPAP was the most reliable test for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (sensitivity 66.7%, specificity 95.5%, positive and negative predictive values 96.6% and 56.7%, respectively), with a 14.6 positive likelihood ratio for a cut-off value of 2.32 nmol/L.CONCLUSION: In patients with acute abdominal pain,hospitalized within 24 h of symptom onset, CAPAP in serum and urine was a reliable diagnostic marker of acute pancreatitis. Urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip showed a clinical value similar to amylase and lipase.Urinary TAP was not a useful screening test for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis.展开更多
Carboxypeptidase E (CPE) is a prohormone-processing enzyme and sorting receptor that functions intracellularly. However, recent studies have demonstrated that CPE acts as atrophic factor extracellularly to up-regula...Carboxypeptidase E (CPE) is a prohormone-processing enzyme and sorting receptor that functions intracellularly. However, recent studies have demonstrated that CPE acts as atrophic factor extracellularly to up-regulate the expression of a pro-survival gene. This mini-review summarizes the roles of CPE in neuroprotection and the implications for neurodegenerative diseases.展开更多
AIM: To develop novel biomarkers of rectal radiotherapy, we measured gene expression profiles on biopsies taken before and during preoperative radiotherapy. METHODS: Six patients presenting with a locally advanced rec...AIM: To develop novel biomarkers of rectal radiotherapy, we measured gene expression profiles on biopsies taken before and during preoperative radiotherapy. METHODS: Six patients presenting with a locally advanced rectal cancer (T>T2, N0/Nx, M0) eligible for preoperative radiotherapy (45 Gy in 25 fractions) were selected in a pilot study. Six tumor and 3 normal tissues biopsies were taken before and during radiotherapy,after a dose of 7.2 Gy at a median time of 1 h following irradiation (0:27-2:12). Tumor or normal tissue purity was assessed by a pathologist prior to RNA extraction. Mean RNA content was 23 μg/biopsy (14-37) before radiotherapy and 22.7 μg/biopsy (12-35) during radiotherapy. After RNA amplification, biopsies were analysed with 54K HG-U133A Plus 2.0 Affymetrix expression micro-arrays. Data were normalized according to MAS5 algorithm. A gene expression ratio was calculated as: (gene expression during radiotherapy-gene expression before radiotherapy)/gene expression before radiotherapy. Were selected genes that showed a ratio higher than ± 0.5 in all 6 patients. RESULTS: Microarray analysis showed that preoperative radiotherapy significantly up-regulated 31 genes and down-regulated 6 genes. According to the Gene Ontology project classification, these genes are involved in protein metabolism (ADAMDEC1 ; AKAP7 ; CAPN5 ; CLIC5 ; CPE ; CREB3L1 ; NEDD4L ; RAB27A), ion transport (AKAP7 ; ATP2A3 ; CCL28 ; CLIC5 ; F2RL2 ; NEDD4L ; SLC6A8), transcription (AKAP7 ; CREB3L1 ; ISX ; PAB-PC1L ; TXNIP), signal transduction (CAPN5 ; F2RL2 ; RA- B27A ; TNFRSF11A), cell adhesion (ADAMDEC1 ; PXDN ; SPON1 ; S100A2), immune response (CCL28 ; PXDN ; TNFRSF11A) and apoptosis (ITM2C ; PDCD4 ; PVT1). Up-regulation of 3 genes (CCL28 ; CLIC5 ; PDCD4) was detected by 2 different probes and up-regulation of 2 genes (RAB27A ; TXNIP) by 3 probes. CONCLUSION: Micro-arrays can efficiently assess early transcriptomic changes during preoperative radiotherapy for rectal cancer, and may help better understand tumor radioresistance.展开更多
Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases that cause high blood sugar levels.The most common type is type 2 diabetes,which is caused by insulin resistance and inadequate insulin production.However,diabetes can a...Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases that cause high blood sugar levels.The most common type is type 2 diabetes,which is caused by insulin resistance and inadequate insulin production.However,diabetes can also result from conditions affecting the exocrine pancreas.Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients may experience changes in their pancreatic exocrine function,leading to reduced levels of fecal elastase-1 in many cases.This review article focuses on the role of specific pancreatic biomarkers in diabetes mellitus,including cholecystokinin,trypsin,chymotrypsin,carboxypeptidase,amylase,lipase,secretin,elastase-1,and retinol-binding protein 4 about recent advances and discoveries,significant gaps in the literature,current debates,and potential directions for future research related to these biomarkers about diabetes mellitus.This review article discusses various biomarkers related to pancreatic exocrine and endocrine function and their implications in diabetes.It suggests that gut cholecystokinin may play a role in lowering glucose synthesis through a neural network and resistance to it could contribute to hyperglycemia in diabetic patients.It also discusses the use of various markers such as serum trypsin concentration,amylase and lipase levels,pancreatic elastase levels,and fasting secretin levels to assess pancreatic exocrine function.Additionally,the article explores the role of carboxypeptidase E in the endocrine and neurological systems and its association with disorders.Moreover,it also highlights the involvement of retinol-binding protein 4 in the development of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.展开更多
基金Supported by grant SFB535/A2 from DFG, EU QLK 2000- 01476 and DFG UR72/1-3, UR72/1-4
文摘Hepadnaviridae is a family of hepatotropic DNA viruses that is divided into the genera orthohepadnavirus of mammals and avihepadnavirus of birds. All members of this family can cause acute and chronic hepatic infection, which in the case of human hepatitis B virus (HBV) constitutes a major global health problem. Although our knowledge about the molecular biology of these highly liver-specific viruses has profoundly increased in the last two decades, the mechanisms of attachment and productive entrance into the differentiated host hepatocytes are still enigmatic. The difficulties in studying hepadnaviral entry were primarily caused by the lack of easily accessible in vitro infection systems. Thus, for more than twenty years, differentiated primary hepatocytes from the respective species were the only in vitro models for both orthohepadnaviruses (e.g. HBV) and avihepadnaviruses (e.g. duck hepatitis B virus [DHBV]). Two important discoveries have been made recently regarding HBV: (1) primary hepatoo/tes from tree-shrews; i.e., Tupaia belangeri, can be substituted for primary human hepatocytes, and (2) a human hepatoma cell line (HepaRG) was established that gains susceptibility for HBV infection upon induction of differentiation in vitro. A number of potential HBV receptor candidates have been described in the past, but none of them have been confirmed to function as a receptor. For DHBV and probably all other avian hepadnaviruses, carboxypeptidase D (CPD) has been shown to be indispensable for infection, although the exact role of this molecule is still under debate. While still restricted to the use of primary duck hepatocytes (PDH), investigations performed with DHBV provided important general concepts on the first steps of hepadnaviral infection. However, with emerging data obtained from the new HBV infection systems, the hope that DHBV utilizes the same mechanism as HBV only partially held true. Nevertheless, both HBV and DHBV in vitro infection systems will help to: (1)
基金Supported by grants from the Institute de Salud Carlos III No.C03/02,No. G03/156
文摘AIM: To assess the usefulness of urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip, urinary trypsinogen activation peptide (TAP),and serum and urine concentrations of the activation peptide of carboxypeptidase B (CAPAP) in the diagnosisof acute pancreatitis.METHODS: Patients with acute abdominal pain and hospitalized within 24 h after the onset of symptoms were prospectively studied. Urinary trypsinogen-2 was considered positive when a clear blue line was observed (detection limit 50 μg/L). Urinary TAP was measured using a quantitative solid-phase ELISA, and serum and urinary CAPAP by a radioimmunoassay method.RESULTS: Acute abdominal pain was due to acute pancreatitis in 50 patients and turned out to be extrapancreatic in origin in 22 patients. Patients with acute pancreatitis showed significantly higher median levels of serum and urinary CAPAP levels, as well as amylase and lipase than extrapancreatic controls. Median TAP levels were similar in both groups. The urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip was positive in 68% of patients with acute pancreatitis and 13.6% in extrapancreatic controls (P<0.01). Urinary CAPAP was the most reliable test for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (sensitivity 66.7%, specificity 95.5%, positive and negative predictive values 96.6% and 56.7%, respectively), with a 14.6 positive likelihood ratio for a cut-off value of 2.32 nmol/L.CONCLUSION: In patients with acute abdominal pain,hospitalized within 24 h of symptom onset, CAPAP in serum and urine was a reliable diagnostic marker of acute pancreatitis. Urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip showed a clinical value similar to amylase and lipase.Urinary TAP was not a useful screening test for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis.
基金supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,National Institutes of Health,Bethesda,MD,USA
文摘Carboxypeptidase E (CPE) is a prohormone-processing enzyme and sorting receptor that functions intracellularly. However, recent studies have demonstrated that CPE acts as atrophic factor extracellularly to up-regulate the expression of a pro-survival gene. This mini-review summarizes the roles of CPE in neuroprotection and the implications for neurodegenerative diseases.
基金Supported by Ligue Contre le Cancer, Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique (20-R6)
文摘AIM: To develop novel biomarkers of rectal radiotherapy, we measured gene expression profiles on biopsies taken before and during preoperative radiotherapy. METHODS: Six patients presenting with a locally advanced rectal cancer (T>T2, N0/Nx, M0) eligible for preoperative radiotherapy (45 Gy in 25 fractions) were selected in a pilot study. Six tumor and 3 normal tissues biopsies were taken before and during radiotherapy,after a dose of 7.2 Gy at a median time of 1 h following irradiation (0:27-2:12). Tumor or normal tissue purity was assessed by a pathologist prior to RNA extraction. Mean RNA content was 23 μg/biopsy (14-37) before radiotherapy and 22.7 μg/biopsy (12-35) during radiotherapy. After RNA amplification, biopsies were analysed with 54K HG-U133A Plus 2.0 Affymetrix expression micro-arrays. Data were normalized according to MAS5 algorithm. A gene expression ratio was calculated as: (gene expression during radiotherapy-gene expression before radiotherapy)/gene expression before radiotherapy. Were selected genes that showed a ratio higher than ± 0.5 in all 6 patients. RESULTS: Microarray analysis showed that preoperative radiotherapy significantly up-regulated 31 genes and down-regulated 6 genes. According to the Gene Ontology project classification, these genes are involved in protein metabolism (ADAMDEC1 ; AKAP7 ; CAPN5 ; CLIC5 ; CPE ; CREB3L1 ; NEDD4L ; RAB27A), ion transport (AKAP7 ; ATP2A3 ; CCL28 ; CLIC5 ; F2RL2 ; NEDD4L ; SLC6A8), transcription (AKAP7 ; CREB3L1 ; ISX ; PAB-PC1L ; TXNIP), signal transduction (CAPN5 ; F2RL2 ; RA- B27A ; TNFRSF11A), cell adhesion (ADAMDEC1 ; PXDN ; SPON1 ; S100A2), immune response (CCL28 ; PXDN ; TNFRSF11A) and apoptosis (ITM2C ; PDCD4 ; PVT1). Up-regulation of 3 genes (CCL28 ; CLIC5 ; PDCD4) was detected by 2 different probes and up-regulation of 2 genes (RAB27A ; TXNIP) by 3 probes. CONCLUSION: Micro-arrays can efficiently assess early transcriptomic changes during preoperative radiotherapy for rectal cancer, and may help better understand tumor radioresistance.
文摘Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases that cause high blood sugar levels.The most common type is type 2 diabetes,which is caused by insulin resistance and inadequate insulin production.However,diabetes can also result from conditions affecting the exocrine pancreas.Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients may experience changes in their pancreatic exocrine function,leading to reduced levels of fecal elastase-1 in many cases.This review article focuses on the role of specific pancreatic biomarkers in diabetes mellitus,including cholecystokinin,trypsin,chymotrypsin,carboxypeptidase,amylase,lipase,secretin,elastase-1,and retinol-binding protein 4 about recent advances and discoveries,significant gaps in the literature,current debates,and potential directions for future research related to these biomarkers about diabetes mellitus.This review article discusses various biomarkers related to pancreatic exocrine and endocrine function and their implications in diabetes.It suggests that gut cholecystokinin may play a role in lowering glucose synthesis through a neural network and resistance to it could contribute to hyperglycemia in diabetic patients.It also discusses the use of various markers such as serum trypsin concentration,amylase and lipase levels,pancreatic elastase levels,and fasting secretin levels to assess pancreatic exocrine function.Additionally,the article explores the role of carboxypeptidase E in the endocrine and neurological systems and its association with disorders.Moreover,it also highlights the involvement of retinol-binding protein 4 in the development of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.