Senescent endothelial cells promote pathogenic neutrophil trafficking in inflamed tissues.

Cellular senescence is a hallmark of advanced age and a major instigator of numerous inflammatory pathologies. While endothelial cell (EC) senescence is aligned with defective vascular functionality, its impact on fundamental inflammatory responses in vivo at single-cell level remain unclear. To directly investigate the role of EC senescence on dynamics of neutrophil-venular wall interactions, we applied high resolution confocal intravital microscopy to inflamed tissues of an EC-specific progeroid mouse model, characterized by profound indicators of EC senescence.

Stratification of biological therapies by pathobiology in biologic-naive patients with rheumatoid arthritis (STRAP and STRAP-EU): two parallel, open-label, biopsy-driven, randomised trials.

Background: Despite highly effective targeted therapies for rheumatoid arthritis, about 40% of patients respond poorly, and predictive biomarkers for treatment choices are lacking. We did a biopsy-driven trial to compare the response to rituximab, etanercept, and tocilizumab in biologic-naive patients with rheumatoid arthritis stratified for synovial B cell status.

Methods: STRAP and STRAP-EU were two parallel, open-label, biopsy-driven, stratified, randomised, phase 3 trials done across 26 university centres in the UK and Europe.

Serum and Tissue Biomarkers Associated With Composite of Relevant Endpoints for Sjögren Syndrome (CRESS) and Sjögren Tool for Assessing Response (STAR) to B Cell-Targeted Therapy in the Trial of Anti-B Cell Therapy in Patients With Primary Sjögren Syndrome (TRACTISS).

Objective: This study aimed to identify peripheral and salivary gland (SG) biomarkers of response/resistance to B cell depletion based on the novel concise Composite of Relevant Endpoints for Sjögren Syndrome (cCRESS) and candidate Sjögren Tool for Assessing Response (STAR) composite endpoints.

Methods: Longitudinal analysis of peripheral blood and SG biopsies was performed pre- and post-treatment from the Trial of Anti-B Cell Therapy in Patients With Primary Sjögren Syndrome (TRACTISS) combining flow cytometry immunophenotyping, serum cytokines, and SG bulk RNA sequencing.

Results: Rituximab treatment prevented the worsening of SG inflammation observed in the placebo arm, by inhibiting the accumulation of class-switched memory B cells within the SG.

Ion-selective membrane plasticizer leakage in all-solid-state electrodes - an unobvious way to improve potential reading stability in time.

The effect of leakage of the plasticizer from the ion-selective membrane into the ion-to-electron transducer of all-solid-state potentiometric sensors is considered for the first time. The plasticizer can be transferred to the transducer phase, either during ion-selective membrane application or later; in both cases, its presence can affect the performance of the sensors. Clearly, this effect is most pronounced if the transducer is dispersible in the plasticizer.

A potentiometric sensor based on modified electrospun PVDF nanofibers - towards 2D ion-selective membranes.

Core-shell modified nanofiber mats were used as ion-selective membranes for the first time. Keeping the overall macroscopic size of the sensing element the same as for classical plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) membranes, herein the proposed nanofiber based systems resulted in ultrathin (<10 nm) recognition layers with the total area nearly 3 orders of magnitude larger and the surface to volume ratio close to 7.5 × 10.