Cardiac hypertrophy is characterized by both remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and hypertrophic growth of the cardiocytes. Here we show increased expression and cytoskeletal association of the ECM proteins fibronectin and vitronectin in pressureoverloaded feline myocardium. These changes are accompanied by cytoskeletal binding and phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) at Tyr-397 and Tyr-925, c-Src at Tyr-416, recruitment of the adapter proteins p130Cas , Shc, and Nck, and activation of the extracellular-regulated kinases ERK1/2. A synthetic peptide containing the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif of fibronectin and vitronectin was used to stimulate adult feline cardiomyocytes cultured on laminin or within a type-I collagen matrix. Whereas cardiocytes under both conditions showed RGD-stimulated ERK1/2 activation, only collagen-embedded cells exhibited cytoskeletal assembly of FAK, c-Src, Nck, and Shc. In RGD-stimulated collagenembedded cells, FAK was phosphorylated only at Tyr-397 and c-Src association occurred without Tyr-416 phosphorylation and p130Cas association. Therefore, cSrc activation is not required for its cytoskeletal binding but may be important for additional phosphorylation of FAK. Overall, our study suggests that multiple signaling pathways originate in pressure-overloaded heart following integrin engagement with ECM proteins, including focal complex formation and ERK1/2 activation, and many of these pathways can be activated in cardiomyocytes via RGD-stimulated integrin activation.Cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, valvular defects, and myocardial infarction are often associated with the development of cardiac hypertrophy. This hypertrophy occurs in response to an increased mechanical (hemodynamic) load on the heart in the form of pressure or volume overload, which is characteristic of hypertension and valvular defects, or to a decrease in functional heart tissue as seen in myocardial infarction. The initial hypertrophic response of the heart is compensatory but frequently deteriorates into heart failure and increased morbidity/mortality (1, 2). This transition from compensation to failure occurs when further hypertrophy of the heart cannot normalize wall stress and maintain contractile function in the face of its hemodynamic load. Although mechanical load appears to directly regulate mass and associated phenotypic changes at the level of the cardiocyte (for a review see Ref.3), the mechanisms that couple load to the hypertrophic growth initiation and to the transition into heart failure have yet to be delineated. Whereas several key players including G-proteins (4), calcineurin (5, 6), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) 1 family members, namely, extracellular-regulated kinases (ERK1/2) (7) and p38 MAPK (8), as well as protein kinase C (9) and p70/85 S6 kinase (10, 11) have been implicated in the pathways that connect load to hypertrophic growth, the complexity of interaction between signaling pathways make deciphering them a difficult task in hypertrophic research.In an...

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BackgroundSmall cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for about 13% of all lung cancer cases. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for about 13% of all lung cancer cases. The purpose of the present article is to assess the role of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) by performing a systematic review of the randomized trials published in the literature.MethodsRandomized controlled trials were identified that compared brain metastases incidence and overall survival between PCI and No PCI in patients with SCLC. Search strategies were limited to the English language and to articles published since 1997, and included: databases searched from 1997 to March 2013 –CINAHL, Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and CENTRAL. Methodological quality was assessed with the Jadad scale. The main end points were brain metastasis and survival.ResultsThe review identified 5 trials, although few were of high quality. Two trials reported the one-year incidence of brain metastasis. PCI reduced the incidence of brain metastasis in one year, with a pooled relative risk of 0.45 (95% CI, 0.35 to 0.58; P < 0.00001). Four trials described the one year survival rate. The combined result revealed a significant (P = 0.01) survival benefit in the group assigned to PCI as compared with the control group, with a pooled relative risk of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.79 to 0.97). Three trials reported the three-year survival rate. The combined result revealed a great significant (P < 0.00001) survival benefit in the PCI group as compared with the No PCI group, with a pooled relative risk of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.83 to 0.91). the Five-year survival rate was compared in four trials Compared with the No PCI group, the PCI group had a significant (P < 0.00001) survival benefit with a pooled relative risk of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.88 to 0.95).ConclusionsThe present systematic review indicates that PCI decreases brain metastases incidence and that PCI improves survival in SCLC patients. Prophylactic cranial irradiation should be part of standard care for all patients with small-cell lung cancer who have a response to initial chemotherapy, and it should be part of the standard treatment in future studies involving these patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2407-14-793) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.