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Scarring cells revert to inactive state as liver healsPublic release date: 7-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego
Research with mice reveals possible strategy to reverse fibrosis in liver and other organs
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, report that significant numbers of myofibroblasts cells that produce the fibrous scarring in chronic liver injury revert to an inactive phenotype as the liver heals. The discovery in mouse models could ultimately help lead to new human therapies for reversing fibrosis in the liver, and in other organs like the lungs and kidneys.
The work is published in the May 7, 2012 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The take-away message is two-fold," said David A. Brenner, MD, vice chancellor for Health Sciences, dean of the UC San Diego School of Medicine and senior author of the paper. "First, we've shown that liver fibrosis is markedly reversible and we now better understand how it happens. Second, we can start looking for ways to direct active myofibroblasts to stop producing scar, and become inactive. We can focus on developing drugs that promote cell change and regression. It raises the bar for prospective treatment tremendously."
Liver fibrosis is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. It is the result of chronic liver injury caused by such agents as the hepatitis B and C viruses, alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. The condition is manifested by extensive scarring of liver tissue and the organ's progressive inability to filter body toxins. Liver fibrosis precedes the development of liver cancer. Often, the only treatment for end-stage liver fibrosis is an organ transplant.
Fibrosis begins when infectious agents or excessive alcohol consumption trigger activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), which normally act as quiescent storage units for nutrients like vitamin A in the liver. Once activated, these HSCs acquire characteristics of another cell type called myofibroblasts, which are characterized by their abundant production of extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen. These proteins accumulate as scar tissue, rendering the organ progressively dysfunctional.
However, if the source of the liver injury is successfully treated or eliminated, the liver can repair itself. In part, this is due to the activated HSCs undergoing apoptosis (programmed cell death) and being removed by other cells. But UC San Diego scientists say that, in tests using a mouse model, as many as half of all activated HSCs persist. They do not die, but rather revert to an inactive phenotype during fibrotic regression.
"After one month of regression, these cells have stopped producing collagen. They've upregulated some of the genes associated with quiescence and returned to their normal location in the liver," said Tatiana Kisseleva, MD, PhD, an assistant research scientist and first author of the study.
It's not clear why these myofibroblasts survive. Also, scientists note the reverted myofibroblasts do not completely return to their original quiescent state. "They're still more susceptible to repetitive injury than original quiescent HSCs," said Kisseleva, who noted future tests will investigate whether additional reversion occurs with more time.
Kisseleva suggested the findings present another avenue for treating liver fibrosis, especially in possibly reverting fibrosis and cirrhosis, which accounts for roughly 27,000 deaths in the United States annually.
Fibrosis occurs in other organs as well, such as the kidneys and lungs, with comparable deadly effect. Recent studies indicate fibrotic reversibility in these organs as well. "Our findings are applicable to other fibrosing organs," said Kisseleva. "Instead of killing damaged cells, we might be able to de-activate them and revert them to healthy originals."
###
Co-authors of the study are Min Cong, Chunyan Jiang, Keiko Iwaisako, Brian Scott and Wolfgang Dillmann, Department of Medicine, UC San Diego; YongHan Paik, Department of Medicine, UC San Diego and Department of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; David Scholten, Department of Medicine, UC San Diego and Department of Medicine III, University Hospital Aachen, Germany; Thomas Moore-Morris and Sylvia M. Evans, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, UC San Diego; Hidekazu Tsukamoto, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Scarring cells revert to inactive state as liver healsPublic release date: 7-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego
Research with mice reveals possible strategy to reverse fibrosis in liver and other organs
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, report that significant numbers of myofibroblasts cells that produce the fibrous scarring in chronic liver injury revert to an inactive phenotype as the liver heals. The discovery in mouse models could ultimately help lead to new human therapies for reversing fibrosis in the liver, and in other organs like the lungs and kidneys.
The work is published in the May 7, 2012 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The take-away message is two-fold," said David A. Brenner, MD, vice chancellor for Health Sciences, dean of the UC San Diego School of Medicine and senior author of the paper. "First, we've shown that liver fibrosis is markedly reversible and we now better understand how it happens. Second, we can start looking for ways to direct active myofibroblasts to stop producing scar, and become inactive. We can focus on developing drugs that promote cell change and regression. It raises the bar for prospective treatment tremendously."
Liver fibrosis is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. It is the result of chronic liver injury caused by such agents as the hepatitis B and C viruses, alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. The condition is manifested by extensive scarring of liver tissue and the organ's progressive inability to filter body toxins. Liver fibrosis precedes the development of liver cancer. Often, the only treatment for end-stage liver fibrosis is an organ transplant.
Fibrosis begins when infectious agents or excessive alcohol consumption trigger activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), which normally act as quiescent storage units for nutrients like vitamin A in the liver. Once activated, these HSCs acquire characteristics of another cell type called myofibroblasts, which are characterized by their abundant production of extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen. These proteins accumulate as scar tissue, rendering the organ progressively dysfunctional.
However, if the source of the liver injury is successfully treated or eliminated, the liver can repair itself. In part, this is due to the activated HSCs undergoing apoptosis (programmed cell death) and being removed by other cells. But UC San Diego scientists say that, in tests using a mouse model, as many as half of all activated HSCs persist. They do not die, but rather revert to an inactive phenotype during fibrotic regression.
"After one month of regression, these cells have stopped producing collagen. They've upregulated some of the genes associated with quiescence and returned to their normal location in the liver," said Tatiana Kisseleva, MD, PhD, an assistant research scientist and first author of the study.
It's not clear why these myofibroblasts survive. Also, scientists note the reverted myofibroblasts do not completely return to their original quiescent state. "They're still more susceptible to repetitive injury than original quiescent HSCs," said Kisseleva, who noted future tests will investigate whether additional reversion occurs with more time.
Kisseleva suggested the findings present another avenue for treating liver fibrosis, especially in possibly reverting fibrosis and cirrhosis, which accounts for roughly 27,000 deaths in the United States annually.
Fibrosis occurs in other organs as well, such as the kidneys and lungs, with comparable deadly effect. Recent studies indicate fibrotic reversibility in these organs as well. "Our findings are applicable to other fibrosing organs," said Kisseleva. "Instead of killing damaged cells, we might be able to de-activate them and revert them to healthy originals."
###
Co-authors of the study are Min Cong, Chunyan Jiang, Keiko Iwaisako, Brian Scott and Wolfgang Dillmann, Department of Medicine, UC San Diego; YongHan Paik, Department of Medicine, UC San Diego and Department of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; David Scholten, Department of Medicine, UC San Diego and Department of Medicine III, University Hospital Aachen, Germany; Thomas Moore-Morris and Sylvia M. Evans, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, UC San Diego; Hidekazu Tsukamoto, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
DENVER (AP) ? A bill to allow civil unions for gay couples in Colorado must survive two more votes in the Republican-led House before it gets to the governor's desk, but it appears closer than in any other year to becoming law.
If the legislation passes, Colorado would join more than a dozen states that allow gay marriage or civil unions. Hawaii and Delaware began allowing civil unions earlier this year.
The measure does not allow gay marriage but does grant gay couples rights similar to marriage, including enhanced inheritance and parental rights, and the ability to be involved in partner's medical decisions.
So far Colorado Democrats have been able to advance the bill past two Republican-led House committees. The finance committee approved the measure with a 7-6 vote Friday after the bill passed the House judiciary committee late Thursday.
Rep. Don Beezley was the only Republican to support the measure on the finance panel.
"For me, it really came down to that basic issue of fairness and doing the right thing," Beezley said, echoing a similar comment made by Republican Rep. B.J. Nikkel, who joined Democrats on the judiciary committee in approving the measure.
The bill now goes before the appropriations committee. Democrats on that panel unanimously support the bill and need at least one Republican to vote yes for it to go to the full House.
Republican Rep. Cheri Gerou, a member of the appropriations committee, previously said she supports the measure.
Republicans have a 33-32 vote advantage in the House. But given the committee votes, where Republicans joined Democrats, the bill could have enough support for passage.
"I'm very excited," said a smiling Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a Democrat and gay lawmaker sponsoring the bill. "We're one step closer today than we were yesterday, and yesterday we were one step closer than we've ever been."
The state Senate has already approved the bill and it could reach Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper by Wednesday, when the session ends. He is firmly in support.
Republicans who oppose the bill said it undermines traditional marriage and that voters expressed their position on the issue when they banned same-sex marriage in 2006.
Earlier Friday, Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty gave his colleagues a pointed warning from the podium, urging them not to attack the motives of legislators on pending legislation. He later told The Associated Press he was referring to the civil unions bill.
McNulty accused Senate Democrats of purposely taking months to move the bill to the House to force a decision within the final days of the legislative session.
"I think that there are those in the Democratic Party that want to make sure that this issue is a political issue in November," he said, referring to the upcoming election.
Beezley and Nikkel are not running for re-election.
___
Find Ivan Moreno on Twitter at http://twitter.com/IvanJourno.
Anxiety problems are the most commonly seen psychiatric disorders. Studies have shown that around 16% of Americans are affected by anxiety problems. One form of anxiety disorder is termed specific phobia and 11% of the populace is afflicted with it. Just a few phobia sufferers will try to get professional help. Finding out how to cope with their fears on their own is just what most phobia sufferers do. Usually, individuals who have severe phobias will be the ones to seek out professional help simply because their fears are so severe that their lives really are disrupted.
It was found out that distraction and desensitization both are helpful in the treatment of fears. Just lately, we have seen a number of programs designed to ease anxiety. Among these treatment programs are Thought Field Therapy and Emotional Freedom Technique (TFT) which use distraction and also desensitization. EFT will be the concentration of this short article.
EFT is identified as an alternative treatment method. The process entails tapping or perhaps rubbing the 'acupuncture points' or 'meridian points' as the affected person talks about the things that cause her or him to feel fear.
A research was performed about the effects of EFT and the findings have been released by SRMPH or The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. The investigation addressed the concern that the existing researches on EFT are not scientific because they don't adhere to the scientific method. In the investigation, 119 undergraduate students were used as test subjects. They were divided into four groups. The first cluster was given EFT. Group 2 was presented with placebo. The third group got a modeling treatment. The control group became the fourth group. EFT works based on the result of the investigation. EFT employs traditional methods used for managing phobia and this could have been the reason why EFT worked, as stated by the investigators. Speaking about one's emotional difficulties will help alleviate the load and distraction is also proven to help with anxiety.
More researches were performed on EFT that found positive results. Nevertheless, a number of these publications are no longer printed. One other criticism of these tests is that a number of them have been backed by groups who are biased towards alternative therapy.
Natural Health Sherpa - a website about natural remedies - features an interesting post that covers EFT. Take note that scientific tests do show the potency of EFT. Nonetheless, these same scientific studies also say that EFT works not because of the so-called meridian points or acupuncture points. EFT is definitely something you may want to look at if you suffer from fear. It does work and also it doesn't entail using drugs that could have harmful side effects.
A healthy degree of skepticism is nice but on the other hand it really won't hurt to try.
AAA??May. 5, 2012?10:54 AM ET Pass the mic: Yauch, Beastie Boys over the years By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press
FILE - In this 1989 file photo originally provided by Capitol Records, members of the Beastie Boys, from left, from left, Adam Horovitz, known as Adrock, Michael Diamond, known as Mike D and Adam Yauch, known as MCA, are shown. Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper who co-founded the seminal hip-hop group, died, Friday, May 4, 2012, at age 47 after a nearly three-year battle with cancer. Also known as MCA, Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland in 2009. (AP Photo/Capitol Records)
FILE - In this 1989 file photo originally provided by Capitol Records, members of the Beastie Boys, from left, from left, Adam Horovitz, known as Adrock, Michael Diamond, known as Mike D and Adam Yauch, known as MCA, are shown. Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper who co-founded the seminal hip-hop group, died, Friday, May 4, 2012, at age 47 after a nearly three-year battle with cancer. Also known as MCA, Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland in 2009. (AP Photo/Capitol Records)
FILE - In this Sept. 7, 1994 file photo, members of the Beastie Boys, Adam Yauch, known as MCA, left, Adam Horovitz, known as Adrock, foreground right, and Michael Diamond, known as Mike D, rehearse at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper who co-founded the seminal hip-hop group, has died at age 47. The cause of death wasn't immediately known. Yauch, who's also known as MCA, was diagnosed with a cancerous parotid gland in 2009.(AP Photo/Justin Sutcliffe, file)
FILE - In this March 28, 2006 file photo, members of the Beastie Boys, from left, Adam Horovitz, known as Adrock, Michael Diamond, known as Mike D and Adam Yauch, known as MCA, arrive at the premiere of their new film "Awesome; I ... Shot That!" in New York. The film, which documents a 2004 Beastie Boys concert at New York's Madison Square Garden, is comprised of footage shot by 50 fans who were given cameras to record the show. Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper who co-founded the seminal hip-hop group, has died at age 47. The cause of death wasn't immediately known. Yauch, who's also known as MCA, was diagnosed with a cancerous parotid gland in 2009. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file)
FILE - In this May 12, 2009 file photo, musician Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys, attends a special evening to honor artist Ross Bleckner's appointment as Goodwill Ambassador at the United Nations. Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper who co-founded the seminal hip-hop group, has died at age 47. The cause of death wasn't immediately known. Yauch, who's also known as MCA, was diagnosed with a cancerous parotid gland in 2009. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)
In this July 26, 2006 photo, Beastie Boys Adam 'MCA' Yauch, left, Adam Horovitz (Adrock), centre, and Mike Diamond (Mike D) pose for a photograph in Toronto. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Aaron Harris)
Adam "MCA" Yauch was the gravelly-voiced rapper who helped make the Beastie Boys one of the seminal groups in hip-hop. And his good-hearted nature led him to humanistic causes and made him beloved in the industry. He died Friday morning at 47 after a nearly three-year battle with cancer.
In a span of more than a quarter century that covered four No. 1 albums and more than 40 million records sold, the Beastie Boys played both prankster and pioneer- a simultaneously goofy and groundbreaking act that helped bring hip-hop to the mainstream.
The demure, gray-haired Yauch wasn't the most boastful B-Boy; he was the thoughtful one and a steady source of the trio's innovative spirit. A practicing Buddhist, he led the group in performing concerts to benefit Tibet and, as a filmmaker, he helped create their imagery.
Home ? Countertop Buying Guides ? Concrete Countertop Stamping and Staining Options
?
Stained Concrete Countertop
Concrete countertops are a very durable option for kitchens and bathrooms. They can be very attractive too. Many homeowners give them a one-of-a-kind look using concrete countertop stamping and staining techniques. Here?s an introduction to these techniques that will help you decide if this is an approach you want to take with your home?s counters.
Countertop Stamping Techniques
Most concrete countertops are poured on site. The frame is built on top of cabinetry and the concrete is added. As it begins to set, the stamping begins.? Stamps in a wide variety of patterns and styles are used to imprint the concrete. The stamp is applied while the concrete is still soft enough to receive it, but not so wet that pattern impression will fill back in. Concrete countertop contractors will do the work, or many handy homeowners take it on as a DIY project. Local countertop companies often have sets of stamps they rent, or have single-use stamps they sell. They can be found online and at building supply stores in a wide range of styles.
When choosing a concrete countertop with plans to stamp it, some DIY enthusiasts attend a local training seminar at a home improvement store or a concrete company. It might also be a good idea to do a ?test? slab outside to get experience with the process. It?s impossible to fix a botched job!
There is a wide variety of stamp types from which to choose. These include slate, brick, tile, stone or flagstone, sunburst, river rock styles and more. Some companies will also produce custom stamping designs for a fully unique countertop.
Countertop Staining Techniques
A second compelling technique to use on concrete countertops is staining with acid. The process is done only after the concrete countertop is fully cured. There is a large variety of colors and styles that can be achieved with concrete staining. It?s possible to give the countertop the look of richly veined marble for example, or natural stone, leather or wood.
Stencils may be used in staining as well. The stencil is laid on top of the countertop and the acid is applied with a brush to the open areas. Dozens of patterns are available, with almost any type of design you can imagine.
Contractors skilled in concrete acid staining can take your ideas and bring them to life in the concrete. Or, if you are comfortable with semi-challenging DIY projects, you can tackle the job yourself. Using a practice slab to get comfortable with the staining technique and to test the color to make sure it is what you want is a very good idea.
The concrete countertop must be thoroughly cleaned before you begin staining. If the concrete countertop has been in use for some time, it may need to be sanded or lightly ground before staining. Once the job is done, the concrete must then be sealed for durability and to make it easier to clean. Epoxy sealers are most often used because they produce a nonporous surface, and like any concrete sealer, need to be reapplied periodically.
The Concrete Canvas
Concrete sounds dull, but it can actually be a fantastic medium for producing a uniquely beautiful countertop. Using concrete countertop stamping and staining techniques, many homeowners find a creative outlet that can be otherwise limited by countertop materials natural stone or recycled glass.
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Public release date: 7-May-2012
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