Publications by authors named "Benjamin Volkmer"

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a hyperinflammatory disease caused by mutations in effectors and regulators of cytotoxicity in cytotoxic T cells (CTL) and natural killer (NK) cells. The complexity of the immune system means that in vivo models are needed to efficiently study diseases like HLH. Mice with defects in the genes known to cause primary HLH (pHLH) are available.

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Reduced-intensity/reduced-toxicity conditioning and allogeneic T-cell replete hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are curative in patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Unstable donor chimerism (DC) and relapses are clinical challenges . We examined the effect of a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen based on targeted busulfan to enhance myeloid DC in HLH.

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Two unrelated patients with GATA2-haploinsufficiency developed a hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)-like disease during a varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection. High copy numbers of VZV were detected in the blood, and the patients were successfully treated with acyclovir and intravenous immunoglobulins. After treatment with corticosteroids for the HLH, both patients made a full recovery.

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Background: Mutations in tetratricopeptide repeat domain 7A (TTC7A) and its mouse orthologue, Ttc7, result in a multisystemic disease, mostly affecting the epithelial barriers and immune system. Despite successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, ongoing progression of gastrointestinal manifestations can be life-threatening in TTC7A-deficient patients.

Objective: We sought to identify whether TTC7A mutations dysregulate epithelial cells only or whether a cell-intrinsic defect in lymphocytes or other cells contributes to disease manifestations.

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FAS-dependent apoptosis in V1 T cells makes the latter possible culprits for the lymphadenopathy observed in patients with mutations.Rapamycin and methylprednisolone resistance should prompt clinicians to look for V1 T cell proliferation in ALPS-FAS patients.

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Measuring precise concentrations of proteins can provide insights into biological processes. Here we use efficient protein extraction and sample fractionation, as well as state-of-the-art quantitative mass spectrometry techniques to generate a comprehensive, condition-dependent protein-abundance map for Escherichia coli. We measure cellular protein concentrations for 55% of predicted E.

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Fluctuations in intracellular molecule abundance can lead to distinct, coexisting phenotypes in isogenic populations. Although metabolism continuously adapts to unpredictable environmental changes, and although bistability was found in certain substrate-uptake pathways, central carbon metabolism is thought to operate deterministically. Here, we combine experiment and theory to demonstrate that a clonal Escherichia coli population splits into two stochastically generated phenotypic subpopulations after glucose-gluconeogenic substrate shifts.

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Regulation of metabolic operation in response to extracellular cues is crucial for cells' survival. Next to the canonical nutrient sensors, which measure the concentration of nutrients, recently intracellular "metabolic flux" was proposed as a novel impetus for metabolic regulation. According to this concept, cells would have molecular systems ("flux sensors") in place that regulate metabolism as a function of the actually occurring metabolic fluxes.

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Identifying the factors that determine microbial growth rate under various environmental and genetic conditions is a major challenge of systems biology. While current genome-scale metabolic modeling approaches enable us to successfully predict a variety of metabolic phenotypes, including maximal biomass yield, the prediction of actual growth rate is a long standing goal. This gap stems from strictly relying on data regarding reaction stoichiometry and directionality, without accounting for enzyme kinetic considerations.

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Systems biology modeling typically requires quantitative experimental data such as intracellular concentrations or copy numbers per cell. In order to convert population-averaging omics measurement data to intracellular concentrations or cellular copy numbers, the total cell volume and number of cells in a sample need to be known. Unfortunately, even for the often studied model bacterium Escherichia coli this information is hardly available and furthermore, certain measures (e.

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Mutations in myotubularin-related protein-2 (MTMR2) or MTMR13/set-binding factor-2 (SBF2) genes are responsible for the severe autosomal recessive hereditary neuropathies, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) types 4B1 and 4B2, both characterized by reduced nerve conduction velocities, focally folded myelin sheaths and demyelination. MTMRs form a large family of conserved dual-specific phosphatases with enzymatically active and inactive members. We show that homodimeric active Mtmr2 interacts with homodimeric inactive Sbf2 in a tetrameric complex.

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