Building on previous brain-imaging investigations, regions of interest analyses were performed for

brain regions expected to support either cognitive (i.e., intraparietal sulcus) or emotional (i.e., ventromedial prefrontal cortex) components of social status perception. Activation of the intraparietal sulcus was found to be sensitive to the financial status of individuals GW4064 while activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was sensitive to the moral status of individuals. The implications of these results towards uncovering the neural substrates of status perception and, more broadly, the extended network of brain regions involved in person perception are discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and TNF receptor superfamilies (TNFSF and TNFRSF) consist of approximately 50 membrane and soluble proteins that can modulate cellular function. Most of these molecules are expressed by or can target cells of the immune system, and they have a wide range of actions including promoting cellular differentiation, survival, and production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Emerging data show that TNFSF ligand receptor signaling pathways are LEE011 active in inflammatory and autoimmune disease. Furthermore, several genetic polymorphisms in TNFSF and TNFRSF associate with susceptibility to developing disease. Here, we examine recent data regarding

the potential of these molecules as targets for therapy Selleck Trichostatin A of autoimmune and inflammatory disease.”
“The superficial zone (SFZ) of articular cartilage has unique structural and biomechanical features, is thought to promote self-renewal of articular cartilage, and is thus important for joint long-term function, but the mechanisms regulating its properties remain unclear. Previous studies revealed that Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is continuously active in SFZ, indicating that it may be essential for SFZ function. Thus, we examined whether Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates proliferation and phenotypic expression in SFZ cells. Using transgenic mice, we found that acute activation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling increases

SFZ thickness, Proteoglycan 4 (Prg4, also called lubricin) expression and the number of slow-cell cycle cells, whereas conditional ablation of beta-catenin causes the opposite. We developed a novel method to isolate SFZ cell-rich populations from the epiphyseal articular cartilage of neonatal mice, and found that the SFZ cells in culture exhibit a fibroblastic cytoarchitecture and higher Prg4 and Ets-related gene (Erg) expression and lower aggrecan expression compared with chondrocyte cultures. Gene array analyses indicated that SFZ cells have distinct gene expression profiles compared with underlying articular chondrocytes. Treatment of Wnt3a strongly stimulated SFZ cell proliferation and maintained strong expression of Prg4 and Erg, whereas ablation of beta-catenin strongly impaired proliferation and phenotypic expression.