Recent findings indicate that even well-established long-term memories may be susceptible to disruption by interfering with reconsolidation through delivery of certain amnestic agents during memory retrieval. Here I review the growing literature on memory reconsolidation in animal models of addiction, including sensitization, conditioned place preference and self-administration. I also discuss (a) several issues that need selleck screening library to be considered in interpreting the findings from reconsolidation studies and (b) future challenges and directions for memory reconsolidation studies in the field of addiction. The findings indicate promise for using

this approach as a therapy for disrupting the long-lasting memories that can trigger relapse. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Coronary thrombosis is the most frequent final event leading to an acute coronary syndrome. In approximately

two-thirds of cases, the thrombus overlies a ruptured plaque, whereas in one-third of cases it overlies an intact plaque with superficial endothelial erosion, a finding showed initially by histopathological postmortem studies and more recently confirmed by in vivo optical coherence tomography imaging. Interestingly, recent observations suggest that mechanisms leading to plaque rupture or erosion are different. In fact, in a recent FHPI clinical trial study, we showed that myeloperoxidase levels in peripheral blood and expression within thrombi overlying the culprit plaque are much higher in patients with plaque erosion than in those with plaque rupture. These observations suggest that innate immunity activation

is likely to play a key role, in particular, in plaque erosion and might become a therapeutic target in this subset of patients. (Trends Cardiovasc Med 2010;20:276-281) (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Human islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP or amylin) is a 37-residue hormone found as fibrillar deposits in pancreatic extracts of nearly all type II diabetics. Although the cellular toxicity of IAPP has been established, the structure of the fibrillar check form found in these deposits is unknown. Here we have crystallized two segments from IAPP, which themselves form amyloid-like fibrils. The atomic structures of these two segments, NNFGAIL and SSTNVG, were determined, and form the basis of a model for the most commonly observed, full-length IAPP polymorph.”
“Virus infection triggers interferon (IFN)-mediated innate immune defenses in part through viral nucleic acid interactions. However, the immune recognition mechanisms by which the host identifies incoming DNA viruses are still elusive.