Venous thromboembolism in elderly high-risk medical patients: time course of events and influence of risk factors.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) causes significant morbidity and mortality in hospitalized medical populations; however, medical patients do not currently receive thromboprophylaxis beyond their hospital stay. We reviewed the real-life occurrence of VTE-related care for 100 days post-hospitalization in Calgary, Canada. Using medical visit records with a unique patient identifier number applied throughout the city's hospitals, 989 high-risk patients were selected for review.

Elucidating mechanistic principles underpinning eukaryotic translation initiation using quantitative fluorescence methods.

Eukaryotic translation initiation is an intricate process involving at least 11 formally classified eIFs (eukaryotic initiation factors), which, together with the ribosome, comprise one of the largest molecular machines in the cell. Studying such huge macromolecular complexes presents many challenges which cannot readily be overcome by traditional molecular and structural methods. Increasingly, novel quantitative techniques are being used to further dissect such complex assembly pathways.

Vgl1, a multi-KH domain protein, is a novel component of the fission yeast stress granules required for cell survival under thermal stress.

Multiple KH-domain proteins, collectively known as vigilins, are evolutionarily highly conserved proteins that are present in eukaryotic organisms from yeast to metazoa. Proposed roles for vigilins include chromosome segregation, messenger RNA (mRNA) metabolism, translation and tRNA transport. As a step toward understanding its biological function, we have identified the fission yeast vigilin, designated Vgl1, and have investigated its role in cellular response to environmental stress.

Global role for polyadenylation-assisted nuclear RNA degradation in posttranscriptional gene silencing.

Fission yeast Cid14, a component of the TRAMP (Cid14/Trf4-Air1-Mtr4 polyadenylation) complex, polyadenylates nuclear RNA and stimulates degradation by the exosome for RNA quality control. Here, we analyze patterns of global gene expression in cells lacking the Cid14 or the Dis3/Rpr44 subunit of the nuclear exosome. We found that transcripts from many genes induced during meiosis, including key regulators, accumulated in the absence of Cid14 or Dis3.

Fission yeast Cut8 is required for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks, ribosomal DNA maintenance, and cell survival in the absence of Rqh1 helicase.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Rqh1 is a member of the RecQ DNA helicase family. Members of this protein family are mutated in cancer predisposition diseases, causing Bloom's, Werner, and Rothmund-Thomson syndromes. Rqh1 forms a complex with topoisomerase III and is proposed to process or disrupt aberrant recombination structures that arise during S phase to allow proper chromosome segregation during mitosis.

The Cid1 family of non-canonical poly(A) polymerases.

Polyadenylation is an essential processing step for most eukaryotic mRNAs. In the nucleus, poly(A) polymerase adds poly(A) tails to mRNA 3' ends, contributing to their export, stability and translatability. Recently, a novel class of non-canonical poly(A) polymerases was discovered in yeast, worms and vertebrates.

Fission yeast Cid12 has dual functions in chromosome segregation and checkpoint control.

Fission yeast Cid12 is a member of the Cid1 family of specialized poly(A) polymerases. Like cells lacking cid1, cid12Delta mutants were shown to have checkpoint defects when DNA replication was inhibited. Here, we show that Cid12 is also required for faithful chromosome segregation and that mutation of amino acid residues predicted to be essential for poly(A) polymerase activity resulted in loss of Cid12 function in vivo.