Distinct Valence States of the [4Fe4S] Cluster Revealed in the Hydrogenase CrHydA1.

Iron-sulfur clusters play a crucial role in electron transfer for many essential enzymes, including [FeFe]-hydrogenases. This study focuses on the [4Fe4S] cluster ([4Fe]H) of the minimal [FeFe]-hydrogenase from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CrHydA1) and employs advanced spectroscopy, site-directed mutagenesis, molecular dynamics simulations, and QM/MM calculations. We provide insights into the complex electronic structure of [4Fe]H and its role in the catalytic reaction of CrHydA1, serving as paradigm for understanding [FeFe]-hydrogenases.

Three separate pathways in maintain phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, which is required for symbiotic nitrogen fixation with clover.

Unlabelled: Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is critical for the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between rhizobia and legumes. We characterized three PC biosynthesis pathways in and evaluated their impact on nitrogen fixation in clover nodules. In the presence of choline, a PC synthase catalyzes the condensation of cytidine diphosphate-diacylglycerol with choline to produce PC.

A Dynamic Water Channel Affects O Stability in [FeFe]-Hydrogenases.

[FeFe]-hydrogenases are capable of reducing protons at a high rate. However, molecular oxygen (O ) induces the degradation of their catalytic cofactor, the H-cluster, which consists of a cubane [4Fe4S] subcluster (4Fe ) and a unique diiron moiety (2Fe ). Previous attempts to prevent O -induced damage have focused on enhancing the protein's sieving effect for O by blocking the hydrophobic gas channels that connect the protein surface and the 2Fe .

A Biomarker Model to Distinguish Types of Myocardial Infarction and Injury.

Background: Discrimination among patients with type 1 myocardial infarction (T1MI), type 2 myocardial infarction (T2MI), and myocardial injury is difficult.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the discriminative value of a 29-biomarker panel in an emergency department setting.

Methods: Patients presenting with suspected myocardial infarction (MI) were recruited.

[Infraorbital lesion after scuba diving with chronic sinusitis: diagnosis and treatment of reverse block].

A 32-year-old diver repeatedly reported pain in the right side of the face after diving. He felt strong pain on pressure over the right face combined with hypaesthesia of the infraorbital nerve. In addition, he reported nasal breathing obstruction and problems regulating pressure in the middle ear.

Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase in perfused rat hearts by NAG-thiazolines at the time of reperfusion is cardioprotective in an O-GlcNAc-dependent manner.

Acute increases in O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) levels of cardiac proteins exert protective effects against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. One strategy to rapidly increase cellular O-GlcNAc levels is inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA), which catalyzes O-GlcNAc removal. Here we tested the cardioprotective efficacy of two novel and highly selective OGA inhibitors, the NAG-thiazoline derivatives NAG-Bt and NAG-Ae.

[Brachytherapy for the treatment of head and neck cancer].

Image-Adapted brachytherapy (IABT) is a modern interdisciplinary development of classic radiation therapy, which allows the application of a high radiation dose while avoiding severe adverse events, thereby improving the prognosis of our patients. Indications in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) include tumours of the floor of mouth, the face, the paranasal sinuses, the naso- and oropharynx, recurrent cancer and incomplete resections due to close vicinity of the tumor to important structures. The application type can be classified as curative, adjuvant, perioperative as a boost with or without external beam radiation (EBRT) or as a palliative treatment.

[Brachytherapy in combination with function-preserving surgery of cancer of the paranasal sinus].

Background: Prognosis of patients with advanced/recurrent cancer of paranasal sinuses and orbit with infiltration of the skull base is very bad. Radical surgery does not improve prognosis. A disadvantage of the radical surgery is the functional loss and the residual cosmetic defect.

[Jugular vein thrombosis caused by a neuroendocrine non-small cell lung cancer].

A 65-year-old patient presented with extensive swelling of the lateral neck. B-mode ultrasound showed an oval, well defined, hypoechoic formation consisting of multiple circular layers extending from the base of the skull to the subclavian vein. On subsequent computed tomography the size of the lesion was confirmed and the cause, a mediastinal mass compressing the superior caval vein, was identified.

Increased O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine levels on proteins improves survival, reduces inflammation and organ damage 24 hours after trauma-hemorrhage in rats.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) levels on survival, inflammation, and organ damage 24 hrs after trauma-hemorrhage. We have previously shown that increasing protein O-GlcNAc levels by different mechanisms reduced inflammatory responses and improved organ function 2 hrs after trauma-hemorrhage.

Design: Prospective, randomized, controlled study.

[Application of skin adhesives in head and neck surgery: analysis of cosmetic results, applicability and cost-effectiveness of cyanoacrylate-based adhesives].

Background: In this work cyanoacrylate-based skin adhesives used in Germany for skin closure in head and neck surgery are compared with respect to ease of application, cost-effectiveness and cosmetic results.

Patients And Materials: We compared 25 wounds sealed with a skin adhesive with 25 suture-sealed wounds.

Results: Bonding of surgical wounds with glue had a high level of acceptance in all patients.

[A rare cause of facial asymmetry: nasoalveolar cyst: a clinical report].

Unlabelled: Nasoalveolar cysts are rare nonodontogenic cysts that develop from the soft tissue in the mucobuccal area of the nasal ala. Their origin is a residuum of the nasolacrimal canal.

Clinical Case: A 45-year-old woman had been aware of a painless tumor at the base of the nose and in the region of the left nasal ala for several months.

[Acute hearing loss from scuba-diving holidays: diagnosis and treatment of barotrauma of the inner ear].

A 35-year-old diver noticed hearing loss and tinnitus after his diving holiday. He presented to the Lübeck clinical practice for divers, and we found vascular injections on the eardrum. Audiometry showed a high-degree hearing loss of 40-60 dB.

[A dural fistula as a rare cause for a pulse-synchronized tinnitus aurium].

Pulse-synchronized tinnitus aurium is commonly caused by vascular processes within the area of the temporal bone. With a microphone or a stethoscope in the external ear or on the mastoid perceptible noises can be heard by the physician. The most important differential diagnoses of an objective tinnitus are paraganglioma of the glomus jugulare or the glomus tympanicum, vascular stenosis, arteriovenouse malformations, aneurysms and atypic findings of the bulbus venae jugularis interna of the temporal bone.

[Brachytherapy in combination with function-preserving surgery. An interdisciplinary challenge].

A multimodal, interdisciplinary approach known as intensity-modified brachytherapy is a promising alternative for patients with advanced head and neck cancer infiltrating the orbita and skull base. An 87-year-old man presented with a recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma of the medial corner of the left eye that had been locally resected and irradiated by external beam radiotherapy multiple times. The cancer was resected with preservation of the eye with close margins, implantation of afterloading catheters, and reconstruction of the defect with a median forehead flap.

Decreased migration of myeloid dendritic cells through increased levels of C-reactive protein.

Background: In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a variety of immunomodulatory mediators contribute to strongly impaired immune functions. The secretion of C-reactive protein (CRP) by HNSCC cells and its influence on human myeloid dendritic cells (MDC) was investigated.

Materials And Methods: The CRP levels were analyzed using photometric methods and real-time PCR.

Induction of c-Myc-dependent cell proliferation through toll-like receptor 3 in head and neck cancer.

Protein expression of human toll-like receptors (TLR) 1-10 was measured in cell lines and solid tumors of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). All HNSCC cell lines and 80% of solid tumors were found to express TLR3 as a predominantly intracellular protein, while no other TLR proteins were expressed. TLR3 has previously been shown to contribute to the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), a transcription factor which promotes several types of human cancers.

Aging leads to increased levels of protein O-linked N-acetylglucosamine in heart, aorta, brain and skeletal muscle in Brown-Norway rats.

Changes in the levels of O-linked N-acetyl-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) on nucleocytoplasmic protein have been associated with a number of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes; however, there is relatively little information regarding the impact of age on tissue O-GlcNAc levels. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine whether senescence was associated with alterations in O-GlcNAc in heart, aorta, brain and skeletal muscle and if so whether there were also changes in the expression of enzymes critical in regulating O-GlcNAc levels, namely, O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), O-GlcNAcase and glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GFAT). Tissues were harvested from 5- and 24-month old Brown-Norway rats; UDP-GlcNAc, a precursor of O-GlcNAc was assessed by HPLC, O-GlcNAc and OGT levels were assessed by immunoblot analysis and GFAT1/2, OGT, O-GlcNAcase mRNA levels were determined by RT-PCR.

Glucosamine administration improves survival rate after severe hemorrhagic shock combined with trauma in rats.

We have previously shown that glucosamine administration resulted in higher cardiac output and improved tissue perfusion after trauma-hemorrhage with resuscitation in rats, which was associated with the increased levels of protein O-linked-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of glucosamine on the survival, without resuscitation, in rats. Adult male rats underwent midline laparotomy and 55% of total blood volume was withdrawn for 25 min under isoflurane anesthesia.

Functional alteration of myeloid dendritic cells through head and neck cancer.

Background: In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the secretion of various immunosuppressive mediators contributes to large-scale effects on the immune functions. The influence of HNSCC on various cellular functions of human myeloid dendritic cells (MDC) was analyzed in this work.

Materials And Methods: MDCs were isolated from peripheral blood by 'magnetic bead separation'.

Toll-like receptor interference in myeloid dendritic cells through head and neck cancer.

Background: In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) the secretion of various immunosuppressive mediators contributes to large-scale effects on the immune functions. The influence of HNSCC on the Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression profiles of human myeloid dendritic cells (MDCs), which have been identified in human solid tumor tissue of the head and neck, was analysed.

Materials And Methods: MDCs were isolated from peripheral blood by 'magnetic bead separation' and subsequently incubated with supernatants of HNSCC permanent cell lines.

Isolation of human myeloid dendritic cells from tumor tissue and peripheral blood.

Background: Human myeloid dendritic cells (MDC) have been identified in human solid tumor tissue of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), their cellular functions being strongly affected in this environment. The characterization of MDC differentiation and functions requires the establishment of highly efficient isolation procedures.

Materials And Methods: Human MDC were isolated from peripheral blood and solid HNSCC using density gradient centrifugation or preparation of single cell suspensions, respectively.

Secretion of tumor-promoting and immune suppressive cytokines by cell lines of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Cytokine profiles of permanent cell lines of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) were analyzed to define the cytokine levels secreted in the absence of immune cells.

Materials And Methods: Cytokine profiles of IL-4, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 were analyzed in the supematants of 4 different permanent HNSCC cell lines using the Bio-Plex human cytokine assay system.

Results: In HNSCC, IL-6 and IL-8 are involved in oncogenic processes, while IL-4 and IL-10 suppress proper immune responses in the tumor microenvironment.

Inhibition of tumor implantation by intravesical gemcitabine in a murine model of superficial bladder cancer.

Purpose: We determined if a single intravesical instillation of gemcitabine (2',2'-difluorodeoxycytidine) could prevent the implantation of urothelial cancer cells in the bladder wall of mice, and if 4 weekly treatments could eliminate early implanted bladder cancer in this model.

Materials And Methods: Tumor implantation and orthotopic bladder tumors were induced in mice by electrocautery of the bladder wall and subsequent instillation of MB49 bladder cancer cells. In the first experiment the tumor cell suspension was left in place for 30 minutes, immediately followed by bladder irrigation and a single intravesical instillation of 250 or 500 microg gemcitabine for 10, 30, 60 or 120 minutes.