Type 2 diabetes is an insulin-resistant state characterized by hyperinsulinemia and accelerated atherosclerosis. In vitro and in vivo studies in rodents have suggested that nitric oxide generation plays an important role in glucose transport and insulin action. We determined nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in skeletal muscle of 10 type 2 diabetic (hemoglobin A(1C) = 6.8 +/- 0.1%) and 11 control subjects under basal conditions and during an 80 mU/m(2).min euglycemic insulin clamp performed with vastus lateralis muscle biopsies before and after 4 h of insulin. In diabetics, insulin-stimulated glucose disposal (Rd) was reduced by 50%, compared with controls (5.4 +/- 0.3 vs. 10.4 +/- 0.5 mg/kg.min, P < 0.01). Basal NOS activity was markedly reduced in the diabetic group (101 +/- 33 vs. 457 +/- 164 pmol/min.mg protein, P < 0.05). In response to insulin, NOS activity increased 2.5-fold in controls after 4 h (934 +/- 282 pmol/min.mg protein, P < 0.05 vs. basal), whereas insulin failed to stimulate NOS activity in diabetics (86 +/- 28 pmol/min.mg protein, P = NS from basal). Basal NOS protein content in muscle was similar in controls and diabetics and did not change following insulin. In controls, insulin-stimulated NOS activity correlated inversely with fasting plasma insulin concentration (r = -0.58, P = 0.05) and positively with Rd (r = 0.71, P = 0.03). In control and diabetic groups collectively, Rd correlated with insulin-stimulated NOS activity (r = 0.52, P = 0.02). We conclude that basal and insulin-stimulated muscle NOS activity is impaired in well-controlled type 2 diabetic subjects, and the defect in insulin-stimulated NOS activity correlates closely with the severity of insulin resistance. These results suggest that impaired NOS activity may play an important role in the insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic individuals.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anthracycline drug with a wide spectrum of antineoplastic activities. However, it causes cardiac cytotoxicity, and this limits its clinical applications. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) plays a vital role in regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis. While miR-21 is preferentially expressed in adult cardiomyocytes and involved in cardiac development and heart disease, little is known regarding its biological functions in responding to DOX-induced cardiac cytotoxicity. In this study, the effects of DOX on mouse cardiac function and the expression of miR-21 were examined in both mouse heart tissues and rat H9C2 cardiomyocytes. The results showed that the cardiac functions were more aggravated in chronic DOX injury mice compared with acute DOX-injury mice; DOX treatment significantly increased miR-21 expression in both mouse heart tissue and H9C2 cells. Over-expression of miR-21 attenuated DOX-induced apoptosis in cardiamyocytes whereas knocking down its expression increased DOX-induced apoptosis. These gain- and loss- of function experiments showed that B cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) was a target of miR-21. The expression of BTG2 was significantly decreased both in myocardium and H9C2 cells treated with DOX. The present study has revealed that miR-21 protects mouse myocardium and H9C2 cells against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity probably by targeting BTG2.

These results indicate that nucleolin is up-regulated and involved in myocardial protection of ischaemic preconditioning via a post-transcriptional control of HSPA1A expression.

Autophagy plays a protective role in endotoxemic mice. Heat shock factor 1 (HSF-1) also plays a crucial protective role in endotoxemic mice by decreasing inflammatory cytokines. The purpose of this study was to determine whether HSF-1 is involved in attenuating the release of inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mice and peritoneal macrophages (PMs) through regulating autophagy activity. Autophagosome formation in HSF-1(+/+) and HSF-1(-/-) mice and PMs stimulated by LPS was examined by Western blotting and immunofluorescence. Lipopolysaccharide-induced autophagy and inflammatory cytokines were examined in HSF-1(+/+) and HSF-1(-/-) PMs treated with 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or rapamycin. Results showed that LPS-induced autophagy was elevated transiently at 12 h but declined at 24 h in the livers and lungs of mice. Higher levels of inflammatory cytokines and lower autophagy activity were detected in HSF-1(-/-) mice and PMs compared with HSF-1(+/+) mice and PMs. Interestingly, LPS-induced release of inflammatory cytokines did not further increase in HSF-1(-/-) PMs treated with 3-MA but aggravated in HSF-1(+/+) PMs. Lipopolysaccharide-induced autophagy did not decrease in HSF-1(-/-) PMs treated with 3-MA but decreased in HSF-1 PMs(+/+). Taken together, our results suggested that HSF-1 attenuated the release of inflammatory cytokines induced by LPS by regulating autophagy activity.

Thinned silica fibers were fabricated by drawing conventional single mode silica fiber through flame heated method and well-arrayed ZnO nanorods were grown on the thinned silica fibers by a hydrothermal method. The structure enables efficient light coupling between the fiber and the nanorods. With the unique property of high surface to volume ratio of one-dimensional ZnO nanorods, light coupled to nanorods array enhances the optical interaction between the device and the ambient environment. Sensitive humidity sensor was demonstrated by launching laser into ZnO nanorod-covered fibers. Theoretical and experimental results are presented.

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