Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are classified as α-synucleinopathies and are primarily differentiated by their clinical phenotypes. Delineating these diseases based on their specific α-synuclein (α-Syn) proteoform pathologies is crucial for accurate antemortem biomarker diagnosis. Newly identified α-Syn pathologies in PD raise questions about whether MSA exhibits a similar diversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground Men who have sex with men (MSM) represent a disproportionate total of incident HIV cases. Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has contributed to significant declines in total HIV incidence. Barriers to PrEP include individual and structural factors that can prevent PrEP adherence and persistence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimer's disease (AD) is a growing health problem worldwide, particularly in the developed world due to an ageing population. Glutamate excitotoxicity plays a major role in the pathophysiology of AD, and glutamate re-uptake is controlled by excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs). The EAAT2 isoform is the predominant transporter involved in glutamate reuptake, therefore EAAT1 has not been the focus of AD research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntigen retrieval is crucial for immunohistochemistry, particularly in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain tissue, where fixation causes extensive crosslinking that masks epitopes. Heat Induced Epitope Retrieval (HIER) reverses these crosslinks, improving access to nuclear and aggregated proteins. We introduce Cyclic Heat-Induced Epitope Retrieval (CHIER), an advanced technique that builds on HIER by incorporating repeated cycles of heating and cooling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimer's disease (AD) has complex pathophysiology involving numerous cell types and brain processes. Astrocyte involvement in AD is gaining increased attention, however a complete characterisation of astrocytic changes in the AD human brain is warranted. Astrocytes perform important homeostatic functions including regulation of the extracellular microenvironment, critical for the health of all brain cells.
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