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Gb3 accumulation reduces K(Ca)3.1 channel expression by down-regulating ERK and AP-1 and up-regulating REST and the channel activity by decreasing intracellular levels of PI(3)P. Gb3 thereby evokes K(Ca)3.1 channel dysfunction, and the channel dysfunction in vascular endothelial cells may contribute to vasculopathy in Fabry disease.

Our study demonstrates that Arr4-/- mice display distinct phenotypic differences when compared to controls, suggesting that ARR4 modulates essential functions in high acuity vision and downstream cellular signaling pathways that are not fulfilled or substituted by the coexpression of ARR1, despite its high expression levels in all mouse cones. Without normal ARR4 expression levels, cones slowly degenerate with increasing age, making this a new model to study age-related cone dystrophy.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34-positive endothelial progenitor cells (CD34+ EPCs) on osteoblastic differentiation of cultured human periosteal-derived osteoblasts (POs). CD34+ cells from human umbilical cord blood were sorted to purify more EPCs in characterization. These sorted cells showed CD31, VE-cadherin, and KDR expression as well as CD34 expression and formed typical tubes in Matrigel. These sorted cells were referred to as human cord blood-derived CD34+ EPCs. In in vivo bone formation using a miniature pig model, the newly formed bone was clearly examined in defects filled with polydioxanone/pluronic F127 (PDO/Pluronic F127) scaffolds containing either human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ EPCs and POs or human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and POs; however, the new bone had the greatest density in the defect treated with CD34+ EPCs and POs. Osteoblastic phenotypes of cultured human POs using ALP activity and von Kossa staining were also more clearly found in CD34+ EPC-conditioned medium than CD34-negative (CD34-) cell-conditioned medium, whereas HUVEC-conditioned medium had an intermediate effect. PCR array for common cytokines and growth factors showed that the secretion of interleukin (IL)-1β was significantly higher in CD34+ EPCs than in HUVEC, followed by level in CD34- cells. In addition, IL-1β also potently and dose dependently increased ALP activity and mineralization of POs in culture. These results suggest that human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ EPCs stimulates osteoblastic differentiation of cultured human POs. The functional role of human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ EPCs in increasing the osteogenic phenotypes of cultured human POs may depend on IL-1β secreted from human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ EPCs.

Gross anatomy has traditionally been the foundation of medical education. Medical students have learned the structure of the human body through dissection, lecture, and textbooks. As tablets and three-dimensional (3D) applications are developed, 3D atlas applications are utilized in learning anatomy by medical students. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impacts of 3D atlas applications on students' understanding of gross anatomy. This research was targeted at medical students taking the Anatomy and Embryology class in 2017 and 2018, at Ewha Womans University. The correlation between use of 3D atlas and student's results on the Anatomy and Embryology test was analyzed. An open-book anatomy quiz was also carried out to analyze the correlation between the type of atlas each student refers to and the results of the quiz. Independent t test between groups did not show statistically significant difference in the results of the Anatomy and Embryology test. However, the group referring to 3D atlas showed significantly higher results on the simple questions of the open-book anatomy quiz ( P <0.05). In conclusion, 3D atlas is not very helpful in acquiring deep anatomical knowledge or memorizing the location of anatomical structures, but it can simply aid in the rapid identification of anatomical structures. Additionally, the 3D atlas will show good synergy with the two-dimensional atlas if used properly in anatomy education, because most students think it is useful to use the 3D atlas.

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BackgroundThis study was aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) with chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) for the rapid diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in patients suspected of PTB but found to have a negative sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear.MethodsWe evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of results from FOB and HRCT in 126 patients at Gangnam Severance Hospital (Seoul, Korea) who were suspected of having PTB.ResultsOf 126 patients who had negative sputum AFB smears but were suspected of having PTB, 54 patients were confirmed as having active PTB. Hemoptysis was negatively correlated with active PTB. Tree-in-bud appearance on HRCT was significantly associated with active PTB. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of FOB alone was 75.9%, 97.2%, 95.3%, and 84.3%, respectively, for the rapid diagnosis of active PTB. The combination of FOB and HRCT improved the sensitivity to 96.3% and the NPV to 96.2%.ConclusionsFOB is a useful tool in the rapid diagnosis of active PTB with a high sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV in sputum smear-negative PTB-suspected patients. HRCT improves the sensitivity of FOB when used in combination with FOB in sputum smear-negative patients suspected of having PTB.