Activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase in proliferative glomerulonephritis in rats

Multiple extracellular mitogens are involved in the pathogenesis of proliferative forms of glomerulonephritis (GN), In vitro studies demonstrate the pivotal role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in the regulation of cellular proliferation in response to extracellular mitogens. In this study, we examined whether this kinase, as a convergence point of mitogenic stimuli, is activated in proliferative GN in vivo, Two different proliferative forms of anti-glomerular basal membrane (GEM) GN in rats were induced and whole cortical tissue as well as isolated glomeruli examined using kinase activity assays and Western blot analysis, Administration of rabbit anti-rat GEM serum to rats, preimmunized with rabbit IgG, induced an accelerated crescentic anti-GEM GN. A significant increase in cortical, and more dramatically glomerular ERK activity was detected at 1, 3, and 7 d after induction of GN, Immunization of Wistar-Kyoto rats with bovine GEM also induced a crescentic anti-GBM GN with an increase of renal cortical ERK activity after 4, 6, and 8 wk, ERK is phosphorylated and activated by the MAP kinase/ERK kinase (MEK), We detected a significant increase in the expression of glomerular MEK in the accelerated form of anti-GEM CN, providing a possible mechanism of long-term activation of ERK in this disease model, In contrast to ERK, activation of stress-activated protein kinase was only detectable at early stages of proliferative GN, indicating these related kinases to serve distinct roles in the pathogenesis of GN, Our observations point to ERK as a putative mediator of the proliferative response to immune injury in GN and suggest that upregulation of MEK is involved in the long-term regulation of ERK in vivo.

The changing pattern of adult primary glomerular disease

Published biopsy series have shown geographical and temporal variations in the patterns of primary glomerulonephritis (GN). IgA nephropathy is the most common type of GN in most European studies, but there is evidence suggesting that focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is increasingly common in the USA in all ethnic groups. We report the analysis of 30 years of native renal biopsies and the temporal pattern of primary glomerular disease in a single United Kingdom (UK) region.

Is there a common water-activity limit for the three domains of life?

Archaea and Bacteria constitute a majority of life systems on Earth but have long been considered inferior to Eukarya in terms of solute tolerance. Whereas the most halophilic prokaryotes are known for an ability to multiply at saturated NaCl (water activity (a_w) 0.755) some xerophilic fungi can germinate, usually at high-sugar concentrations, at values as low as 0.650–0.605 a_w. Here, we present evidence that halophilic prokayotes can grow down to water activities of <0.755 for Halanaerobium lacusrosei (0.748), Halobacterium strain 004.1 (0.728), Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 and Halococcus morrhuae (0.717), Haloquadratum walsbyi (0.709), Halococcus salifodinae (0.693), Halobacterium noricense (0.687), Natrinema pallidum (0.681) and haloarchaeal strains GN-2 and GN-5 (0.635 a_w). Furthermore, extrapolation of growth curves (prone to giving conservative estimates) indicated theoretical minima down to 0.611 a_w for extreme, obligately halophilic Archaea and Bacteria. These were compared with minima for the most solute-tolerant Bacteria in high-sugar (or other non-saline) media (Mycobacterium spp., Tetragenococcus halophilus, Saccharibacter floricola, Staphylococcus aureus and so on) and eukaryotic microbes in saline (Wallemia spp., Basipetospora halophila, Dunaliella spp. and so on) and high-sugar substrates (for example, Xeromyces bisporus, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, Aspergillus and Eurotium spp.). We also manipulated the balance of chaotropic and kosmotropic stressors for the extreme, xerophilic fungi Aspergillus penicilloides and X. bisporus and, via this approach, their established water-activity limits for mycelial growth (~0.65) were reduced to 0.640. Furthermore, extrapolations indicated theoretical limits of 0.632 and 0.636 a_w for A. penicilloides and X. bisporus, respectively. Collectively, these findings suggest that there is a common water-activity limit that is determined by physicochemical constraints for the three domains of life.

A class of almost C_0(K)-C*-algebras

We consider in this paper the family of exponential Lie groups Gn,µ, whose Lie algebra is an extension of the Heisenberg Lie algebra by the reals and whose quotient group by the centre of the Heisenberg group is an ax + b-like group. The C*-algebras of the groups Gn,µ give new examples of almost C0(K)-C*-algebras.

Sandwich nanoarchitecture of LiV3O8/graphene multilayer nanomembranes via layer-by-layer self-assembly for long-cycle-life lithium-ion battery cathodes

A lack of suitable high-performance cathode materials has become the major barrier to their applications in future advanced communication equipment and electric vehicle power systems. In this paper, we have developed a layer-by-layer self-assembly approach for fabricating a novel sandwich nanoarchitecture of multilayered LiV₃O₈ nanoparticle/graphene nanosheet (M-nLVO/GN) hybrid electrodes for potential use in high performance lithium ion batteries by using a porous Ni foam as a substrate. The prepared sandwich nanoarchitecture of M-nLVO/GN hybrid electrodes exhibited high performance as a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries, such as high reversible specific capacity (235 mA h g^-1 at a current density of 0.3 A g^-1), high coulombic efficiency (over 98%), fast rate capability (up to a current density of 10 A g^-1), and superior capacity retention during cycling (90% capacity retention with a current density of 0.3 A g^-1 after 300 cycles). Very significantly, this novel insight into the design and synthesis of sandwich nanoarchitecture would extend their application to various electrochemical energy storage devices, such as fuel cells and supercapacitors.