Identification of the retrotalar pulley of the Flexor Hallucis Longus tendon.

Functional Hallux Limitus is the expression of the gliding restraint of the Flexor Hallucis Longus (Fhl) tendon, resulting in several painful syndromes. This impingement is located along the tract of the Fhl tendon at the level of its retrotalar tunnel sealed posteriorly by a fibrous pulley. This pulley, although poorly anatomically characterized, has been arthroscopically proven that its presence or resection plays a pivotal clinical role in the biomechanics of the lower leg, being the main restraint to the physiological movement of the Fhl tendon.

Letter to the editor - round table unites to tackle culture change in an effort to improve animal research reporting.

A round table discussion was held during the LAVA-ESLAV-ECLAM conference on Reproducibility of Animal Studies on the 25th of September 2017 in Edinburgh. The aim of the round table was to discuss how to enhance the rate at which the quality of reporting animal research can be improved. This signed statement acknowledges the efforts that participant organizations have made towards improving the reporting of animal studies and confirms an ongoing commitment to drive further improvements, calling upon both academics and laboratory animal veterinarians to help make this cultural change.

Scientific writing in the laboratory animal sciences.

Good communication is important for the dissemination of research results. Here, we summarize the advice that was given to authors at the LA seminar on scientific writing at the FELASA Congress 2016 in Brussels, Belgium on 13-16 June 2016, with the aim of improving the quality of submitted papers and of avoiding common mistakes in scientific reports. See www.

Cysteine redox proteomics of the hemoglobin-depleted cytosolic fraction of stored red blood cells.

Purpose: Erythrocyte concentrates (ECs) represent the most transfused labile blood products. They are stored at 4°C in additive solutions for up to 56 days. Protein oxidation is a marker of oxidative stress and cysteine residues, whose oxidations are required for physiological cell functions, are highly prone to such modification.

Effects of postmortem delays on protein composition and oxidation.

Human autopsy brain tissue is widely used to study neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases. However, when it comes to an evaluation of data obtained from such tissue, it is essential to consider potential postmortem effects on protein composition, posttranslational modification and proteolysis with increasing postmortem delays. In this study, we analyzed mouse brain tissues with different postmortem delays (pmd) of 0 h, 6h and 24h, for changes in protein composition, proteolysis and modifications such as S-nitrosylation, carbonylation and ubiquitination.

Body donations today and tomorrow: What is best practice and why?

There is considerable agreement that the use of human bodies for teaching and research remains important, yet not all universities use dissection to teach human gross anatomy. The concept of body donation has evolved over centuries and there are still considerable discrepancies among countries regarding the means by which human bodies are acquired and used for education and research. Many countries have well-established donation programs and use body dissection to teach most if not all human gross anatomy.

Microtubule Associated Protein 1b (MAP1B) Is a Marker of the Microtubular Cytoskeleton in Podocytes but Is Not Essential for the Function of the Kidney Filtration Barrier in Mice.

Podocytes are essential for the function of the kidney glomerular filter. A highly differentiated cytoskeleton is requisite for their integrity. Although much knowledge has been gained on the organization of cortical actin networks in podocyte's foot processes, less is known about the molecular organization of the microtubular cytoskeleton in primary processes and the cell body.

Pathological reorganization of NMDA receptors subunits and postsynaptic protein PSD-95 distribution in Alzheimer's disease.

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), synaptic alterations play a major role and are often correlated with cognitive changes. In order to better understand synaptic modifications, we compared alterations in NMDA receptors and postsynaptic protein PSD-95 expression in the entorhinal cortex (EC) and frontal cortex (FC; area 9) of AD and control brains. We combined immunohistochemical and image analysis methods to quantify on consecutive sections the distribution of PSD-95 and NMDA receptors GluN1, GluN2A and GluN2B in EC and FC from 25 AD and control cases.

Oxidation and ubiquitination in neurodegeneration.

It is widely accepted that protein oxidation is involved in a variety of diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Especially during aging, a reduction in anti-oxidant defence mechanisms leads to an increased formation of free radical oxygen species and consequently results in a damage of proteins, including mitochondrial and synaptic ones. Even those proteins involved in repair and protein clearance via the ubiquitin proteasome and lysosomal system are subject to damage and show a reduced function.

Plastination and its importance in teaching anatomy. Critical points for long-term preservation of human tissue.

Most medical curricula rely on human bodies for teaching macroscopic anatomy. Over the past 20 years, plastination has become an important means of preservation of organs, for well dissected specimens or for body slices. Here, several critical points regarding body donation with legal and ethical considerations for long-term preservation, the use of cadavers in teaching and the preparation of plastinates as an additional teaching tool will be discussed.

Increased postsynaptic density protein-95 expression in the frontal cortex of aged cognitively impaired rats.

In the present work we studied synaptic protein concentrations in relation to behavioral performance. Long-Evans rats, aged 22-23 months, were classified for individual expression of place memory in the Morris water maze, in reference to young adults. Two main subgroups of aged rats were established: the Aged cognitively Unimpaired (AU) had search accuracy within the range (percent of time in training sector within mean ± 2 SEM) of young rats and the Aged cognitively Impaired (AI) rats had search accuracy below this range.

Identification of immunogenic proteins of Waddlia chondrophila.

Evidence is growing for a role of Waddlia chondrophila as an agent of adverse pregnancy outcomes in both humans and ruminants. This emerging pathogen, member of the order Chlamydiales, is also implicated in bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract infections. Until now, the serological diagnosis of W.