Initial experience introducing an enhanced recovery program in congenital cardiac surgery.

Objective: We hypothesized that a new enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program would accelerate functional recovery after congenital heart surgery and reduce length of stay and complications.

Methods: Evidence-based interventions in perioperative care were evaluated for relevance, and components of the ERAS cardiac program were determined. The target patient population included infants to adults with low comorbidities.

Perioperatively Inhaled Hydrogen Gas Diminishes Neurologic Injury Following Experimental Circulatory Arrest in Swine.

This study used a swine model of mildly hypothermic prolonged circulatory arrest and found that the addition of 2.4% inhaled hydrogen gas to inspiratory gases during and after the ischemic insult significantly decreased neurologic and renal injury compared with controls. With proper precautions, inhalational hydrogen may be administered safely through conventional ventilators and may represent a complementary therapy that can be easily incorporated into current workflows.

Detection of phosphorylation by immunological techniques.

Phosphorylation of unlabeled proteins can be detected using immunological or enzymatic techniques. Anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies are used with immunoblots to detect tyrosine phosphorylation. This unit presents a protocol employing anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies with detection by either (125)I-labeled protein A or enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL).

Phosphoamino acid analysis.

It is often valuable to identify the phosphorylated residue in a protein. This unit presents a protocol for partial acid hydrolysis of proteins phosphorylated at serine, threonine, or tyrosine, followed by two-dimensional thin-layer electrophoresis of the labeled phosphoamino acid. Phosphothreonine and phosphotyrosine are more stable to hydrolysis in alkali than are RNA and phosphoserine.

Labeling cultured cells with 32P(i) and preparing cell lysates for immunoprecipitation.

This unit describes (32)P(I) labeling and lysis of cultured cells to be used for subsequent immunoprecipitation of proteins. The procedure is suitable for insect, avian, and mammalian cells and can be used with both adherent and nonadherent cultures. The protocol described is (32)P(I) labeling of adherent or nonadherent (e.