CILP-2 expression in the intervertebral discs of patients with lumbar radiculopathy.

Background: Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration (IVDD) is one of the main causes of low back pain. One of the most important features of IVDD is the loss of extracellular matrix (ECM) with its structural components. Cartilage intermediate layer proteins (CILPs), minor glycoproteins residing in ECM, have been found to be increased in IVD as degeneration and aging progresses.

Daily stress and emotions in relation to fear of negative and positive evaluation.

Fear of negative (FNE) and positive (FPE) evaluation constitute distinct components of social anxiety and relate to altered affectivity. It is unclear whether individuals with strong FNE/FPE overreact to social stressors only or to more unspecific ones as well. The present set of three studies (n = 109 and n = 97 healthy individuals in study 1/2, n = 49 patients with social anxiety disorder in study 3) assessed whether reactivity to various daily stressors and non-specific momentary stress/emotions assessed through ecological momentary assessment depend on individuals' level of FPE/FNE.

Comparison of Antigen Retrieval Methods for Immunohistochemical Analysis of Cartilage Matrix Glycoproteins Using Cartilage Intermediate Layer Protein 2 (CILP-2) as an Example.

The aim of this study was to compare different antigen retrieval methods to improve the outcome of immunohistochemistry (IHC) performed on osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage obtained from total knee replacement operation. A voluminous and dense extracellular matrix of articular cartilage inhibits antibody penetration, and therefore, proteins present at low concentrations and masked during fixation may need antigen retrieval to enhance an IHC outcome. We focused on the IHC detection of a minor but diagnostically promising cartilage glycoprotein, CILP-2 (cartilage intermediate layer protein 2), to demonstrate the effect of four different protocols: (1) heat-induced epitope retrieval (HIER), (2) proteolytic-induced epitope retrieval applying proteinase K and hyaluronidase (PIER), (3) HIER combined with PIER, and (4) no antigen retrieval (control).

CCR5Δ32 and HLA allele diversity in bone marrow donors from southern Brazil.

Transplantation of stem cells derived from donors with CCR5Δ32 homozygous genotype is a potential strategy to achieve both the control of malignant hematological disease as well as sustained remission of the HIV infection, and researchers in different countries are looking for CCR5Δ32 homozygous donors to replicate such a 'double-target' strategy. We determined the frequency of the CCR5Δ32 variant in a sample of 1,398 bone marrow donors from Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. This study also evaluated whether HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 genotypes are homogeneously distributed between CCR5Δ32 carriers and non-carriers in a population characterized by a significant genetic admixture.