CFR and IMR improved the risk stratification of patients with high FFR. Low CFR with high IMR was associated with poor prognosis. (Clinical, Physiological and Prognostic Implication of Microvascular Status; NCT02186093).

The H 2 O 2 -catabolizing peroxidase activity of human peroxiredoxin I (hPrxI) was previously shown to be regulated by phosphorylation of Thr 90 . Here, we show that hPrxI forms multiple oligomers with distinct secondary structures. HPrxI is a dual function protein, since it can behave either as a peroxidase or as a molecular chaperone. The effects of phosphorylation of hPrxI on its protein structure and dual functions were determined using site-directed mutagenesis, in which the phosphorylation site was substituted with aspartate to mimic the phosphorylated status of the protein (T90D-hPrxI). Phosphorylation of the protein induces significant changes in its protein structure from low molecular weight (MW) protein species to high MW protein complexes as well as its dual functions. In contrast to the wild type (WT)-and T90A-hPrxI, the T90D-hPrxI exhibited a markedly reduced peroxidase activity, but showed about sixfold higher chaperone activity than WT-hPrxI.

Interleukin 10 (IL10) is a powerful Th-2 cell cytokine produced by lymphoid cells that exerts its functions by inhibiting macrophage/monocyte and T-cell lymphocyte replication and secretion of inflammatory cytokines (IL1, TNFA, TGFB, IL6, IL8 and IL12). Genetic association analysis of a well-characterized HBV cohort revealed that one of IL10 haplotypes, IL10-ht2, was strongly associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence in gene dose-dependent manner. The frequency of susceptible IL10-ht2 was much higher in HCC patients and significantly increased in order of susceptibility to HBV progression from chronic hepatitis to liver cirrhosis and HCC among hepatitis B patients. In addition, survival analysis clearly showed that the onset age of HCC was also accelerated among chronic hepatitis B patients who were carrying IL10-ht2. Increased IL10 production mediated by IL10-ht2 suggests that up-regulated IL10 accelerates progression of chronic HBV infection, especially to HCC development.

A large number of thioredoxins (Trxs), small redox proteins, have been identified from all living organisms. However, many of the physiological roles played by these proteins remain to be elucidated. We isolated a high M r (HMW) form of h-type Trx from the heat-treated cytosolic extracts of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) suspension cells and designated it as AtTrx-h3. Using bacterially expressed recombinant AtTrx-h3, we find that it forms various protein structures ranging from low and oligomeric protein species to HMW complexes. And the AtTrx-h3 performs dual functions, acting as a disulfide reductase and as a molecular chaperone, which are closely associated with its molecular structures. The disulfide reductase function is observed predominantly in the low M r forms, whereas the chaperone function predominates in the HMW complexes. The multimeric structures of AtTrx-h3 are regulated not only by heat shock but also by redox status. Two active cysteine residues in AtTrx-h3 are required for disulfide reductase activity, but not for chaperone function. AtTrx-h3 confers enhanced heat-shock tolerance in Arabidopsis, primarily through its chaperone function.

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