Tufts University

About: Tufts University is a education organization based out in Medford, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 32800 authors who have published 66881 publications receiving 3451152 citations. The organization is also known as: Tufts College & Universitatis Tuftensis.

Identification of a cyclic-AMP-responsive element within the rat somatostatin gene.

Abstract: We have examined the regulation of somatostatin gene expression by cAMP in PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells transfected with the rat somatostatin gene. Forskolin at 10 microM caused a 4-fold increase in somatostatin mRNA levels within 4 hr of treatment in stably transfected cells. Chimeric genes containing the somatostatin gene promoter fused to the bacterial reporter gene encoding chloramphenicol acetyltransferase were also induced by cAMP in PC12 cells. To delineate the sequences required for response to cAMP, we constructed a series of promoter deletion mutants. Our studies defined a region between 60 and 29 base pairs upstream from the transcriptional initiation site that conferred cAMP responsiveness when placed adjacent to the simian virus 40 promoter. Within the cAMP-responsive element of the somatostatin gene, we observed an 8-base palindrome, 5'-TGACGTCA-3', which is highly conserved in many other genes whose expression is regulated by cAMP. cAMP responsiveness was greatly reduced when the somatostatin fusion genes were transfected into the mutant PC12 line A126-1B2, which is deficient in cAMP-dependent protein kinase 2. Our studies indicate that transcriptional regulation of the somatostatin gene by cAMP requires protein kinase 2 activity and may depend upon a highly conserved promoter element.

Multiple Biomarkers for the Prediction of First Major Cardiovascular Events and Death

Abstract: BACKGROUND Few investigations have evaluated the incremental usefulness of multiple biomarkers from distinct biologic pathways for predicting the risk of cardiovascular events. METHODS We measured 10 biomarkers in 3209 participants attending a routine examination cycle of the Framingham Heart Study: the levels of C-reactive protein, B-type natriuretic peptide, N-terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide, aldosterone, renin, fibrinogen, D-dimer, plasminogen-activator inhibitor type 1, and homocysteine; and the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio. RESULTS During follow-up (median, 7.4 years), 207 participants died and 169 had a first major cardiovascular event. In Cox proportional-hazards models adjusting for conventional risk factors, the following biomarkers most strongly predicted the risk of death (each biomarker is followed by the adjusted hazard ratio per 1 SD increment in the log values): B-type natriuretic peptide level (1.40), C-reactive protein level (1.39), the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (1.22), homocysteine level (1.20), and renin level (1.17). The biomarkers that most strongly predicted major cardiovascular events were B-type natriuretic peptide level (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.25 per 1 SD increment in the log values) and the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (1.20). Persons with "multimarker" scores (based on regression coefficients of significant biomarkers) in the highest quintile as compared with those with scores in the lowest two quintiles had elevated risks of death (adjusted hazard ratio, 4.08; P<0.001) and major cardiovascular events (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.84; P=0.02). However, the addition of multimarker scores to conventional risk factors resulted in only small increases in the ability to classify risk, as measured by the C statistic. CONCLUSIONS For assessing risk in individual persons, the use of the 10 contemporary biomarkers that we studied adds only moderately to standard risk factors.

Physiological stress in ecology: lessons from biomedical research

Abstract: Increasingly, levels of the ‘stress hormones’ cortisol and corticosterone are being used by ecologists as indicators of physiological stress in wild vertebrates. The amplitude of hormonal response is assumed to correlate with the overall health of an animal and, by extension, the health of the population. However, much of what is known about the physiology of stress has been elucidated by the biomedical research community. I summarize five physiological mechanisms that regulate hormone release during stress that should be useful to ecologists and conservationists. Incorporating these physiological mechanisms into the design and interpretation of ecological studies will make these increasingly popular studies of stress in ecological settings more rigorous. Vertebrates cope with unpredictable and noxious stimuli (STRESSORS; see Glossary) by mounting a STRESS RESPONSE