FASEB J

Recognition of bacterial products by the innate immune system is dependent on pattern-recognition receptors: toll-like receptor 9 (TLR-9) in the case of bacterial DNA. We hypothesized that bacterial DNA can directly affect enteric epithelial cells. RT-PCR revealed constitutive TLR-9 mRNA expression in three human colonic epithelial cell lines (T84, HT-29, Caco-2) and THP-1 monocytes. Epithelial cells, in six-well culture plates or on filter supports, were exposed to E. coli DNA (1-50 microg/ml), synthetic CpG-rich oligonucleotides, or calf thymus DNA for 6-48 h. Exposure to E. coli DNA resulted in an increase in IL-8 mRNA, and a time- and dose-dependent increase in IL-8 secretion. Also, CpG oligonucleotides induced epithelial IL-8 production, whereas calf thymus DNA did not. Exposure to E. coli DNA resulted in phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 MAPK and inhibitors of ERK activity (PD98059, UO126) significantly reduced the evoked IL-8 production. In contrast, inhibitors of NFkappaB activity ...

Alpha-synuclein is an intrinsically unfolded protein that can adopt a partially helical structure when it interacts with different lipid membranes. Its pathological relevance is linked to its involvement in several neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and dementia with Lewy bodies. Typical of such ailments is the presence of alpha-synuclein aggregates in a beta-structure that can be soluble or precipitate. This review focuses on the structural knowledge acquired in recent years on the various conformations accessible to alpha-synuclein and to its pathologically relevant mutants. Furthermore, the role of the different variables of the chemical environments that govern the equilibria among the accessible conformations is also reviewed. The hypotheses that rationalize the relevance of the individual structural features and conformations for the physiological function of the protein or for its purported pathological role are described and compared.

Introduction PowerPoint and Slideshow lectures and presentations are a popular teaching method in undergraduate medical and paramedical teaching and education. PowerPoint software offers a tremendous number of options for personalizing slides to provide an opportunity to enhance a presentation. The rise of the slide has generated considerable debate, with some people concerned that PowerPoint diminishes the potential of critical thinking by the audience, and others encouraging innovative graphic design as assisting the transmission of information. Objectives To assess the student's satisfaction regarding slideshow and power-point based lectures and their perspective on teaching methods and evaluate preference and effectiveness in learning. Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among the undergraduate applied medical sciences (Physiotherapy and Radiology) students of Najran University participated voluntarily, during the period from Nov.2014 to Oct.2015; collected data analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Program). Results showed that 52.63% of students believe that the most distracting factor in PowerPoint presentation is a large number of presenting slides 42.11% of the students considered that more than one topic that's presented in the presented slides, and slides color and themes comes in the lowest distracting factors considered 5.26% of the students show that. Regarding the suitable numbers of the slides in 50 mints, 47.37% said 10-20 slides, 36.84% said 30-40 slides and 15.79% said 20-30 slides. About the most boring and dull factors, 63.16% of students in this study show response to a large number of presented slides, 26.32% a large number of bullets and 10.53% of them show that fast presentation. Also, 52.63% suggested six bullets are quite enough, three bullets were suggested by 21.05%, nine bullets by15.79% and at last, just 10.53% of students mentioned twelve bullets. Conclusion Most of the students believed that Power Point presentations have a lot of disadvantage which can make it deadly dull. At last, the integrated (PowerPoint and chalkboard) based method of teaching was found the more suitable tool for teaching and learning than PowerPoint or chalkboard alone.