Genetic loci associated with heart rate variability and their effects on cardiac disease risk.

Reduced cardiac vagal control reflected in low heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with greater risks for cardiac morbidity and mortality. In two-stage meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies for three HRV traits in up to 53,174 individuals of European ancestry, we detect 17 genome-wide significant SNPs in eight loci. HRV SNPs tag non-synonymous SNPs (in NDUFA11 and KIAA1755), expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) (influencing GNG11, RGS6 and NEO1), or are located in genes preferentially expressed in the sinoatrial node (GNG11, RGS6 and HCN4).

Fear learning alterations after traumatic brain injury and their role in development of posttraumatic stress symptoms.

Background: It is unknown how traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One potential mechanism is via alteration of fear-learning processes that could affect responses to trauma memories and cues. We utilized a prospective, longitudinal design to determine if TBI is associated with altered fear learning and extinction, and if fear processing mediates effects of TBI on PTSD symptom change.

NLRP3 inflammasome assembly is regulated by phosphorylation of the pyrin domain.

NLRP3 is a cytosolic pattern recognition receptor that senses microbes and endogenous danger signals. Upon activation, NLRP3 forms an inflammasome with the adapter ASC, resulting in caspase-1 activation, release of proinflammatory cytokines and cell death. How NLRP3 activation is regulated by transcriptional and posttranslational mechanisms to prevent aberrant activation remains incompletely understood.

Suprapectoral biceps tenodesis using a suture plate: clinical results after 2 years.

Purpose: Several techniques for performing a tenodesis of the long head of biceps (LHB) are described. Only few outcome studies are published. This note describes a unicortical fixation via a suture plate-comparable to a distal biceps refixation-performed arthroscopically or mini-open via standard suprapectoral approach.

FMNL formins boost lamellipodial force generation.

Migration frequently involves Rac-mediated protrusion of lamellipodia, formed by Arp2/3 complex-dependent branching thought to be crucial for force generation and stability of these networks. The formins FMNL2 and FMNL3 are Cdc42 effectors targeting to the lamellipodium tip and shown here to nucleate and elongate actin filaments with complementary activities in vitro. In migrating B16-F1 melanoma cells, both formins contribute to the velocity of lamellipodium protrusion.

Nicotine withdrawal-induced inattention is absent in alpha7 nAChR knockout mice.

Rationale: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the USA, but quit attempts result in withdrawal-induced cognitive dysfunction and predicts relapse. Greater understanding of the neural mechanism(s) underlying these cognitive deficits is required to develop targeted treatments to aid quit attempts.

Objectives: We examined nicotine withdrawal-induced inattention in mice lacking the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) using the five-choice continuous performance test (5C-CPT).

Effect of Hallucinogens on Unconditioned Behavior.

Because of the ethical and regulatory hurdles associated with human studies, much of what is known about the psychopharmacology of hallucinogens has been derived from animal models. However, developing reliable animal models has proven to be a challenging task due to the complexity and variability of hallucinogen effects in humans. This chapter focuses on three animal models that are frequently used to test the effects of hallucinogens on unconditioned behavior: head twitch response (HTR), prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI), and exploratory behavior.

Down-regulation of CD73 on B cells of patients with viremic HIV correlates with B cell activation and disease progression.

Recently, alterations of the T cell expression of the ectonucleotidases, CD39 and CD73, during HIV infection have been described. Here, peripheral ( = 70) and lymph nodal B cells ( = 10) of patients with HIV at different stages of disease as well as uninfected individuals were analyzed via multicolor flow cytometry with regard to expression of CD39 and CD73 and differentiation, proliferation, and exhaustion status. Patients with chronic, untreated HIV showed a significantly decreased frequency of CD73-expressing B cells ( < 0.

Brexpiprazole reduces hyperactivity, impulsivity, and risk-preference behavior in mice with dopamine transporter knockdown-a model of mania.

Rationale: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a unique mood disorder defined by periods of depression and mania. The defining diagnosis of BD is the presence of mania/hypomania, with symptoms including hyperactivity and risk-taking. Since current treatments do not ameliorate cognitive deficits such as risky decision-making, and impulsivity that can negatively affect a patient's quality of life, better treatments are needed.

Effects of LPS-induced immune activation prior to trauma exposure on PTSD-like symptoms in mice.

The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is high in the armed services, with a rate up to 20%. Multiple studies have associated markers of inflammatory signaling prior to trauma with increased risk of PTSD, suggesting a potential role of the immune system in the development of this psychiatric disorder. One question that arises is if "priming" the immune system before acute trauma alters the stress response and increases enduring effects of trauma.

Striatal dopamine D1 receptor suppression impairs reward-associative learning.

Dopamine (DA) is required for reinforcement learning. Hence, disruptions in DA signaling may contribute to the learning deficits associated with psychiatric disorders. The DA D1 receptor (D1R) has been linked to learning and is a target for cognitive/motivational enhancement in patients with schizophrenia.

Efficient Vpu-Mediated Tetherin Antagonism by an HIV-1 Group O Strain.

Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) use their Nef proteins to counteract the restriction factor tetherin. However, a deletion in human tetherin prevents antagonism by the Nef proteins of SIVcpz and SIVgor, which represent the ape precursors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). To promote virus release from infected cells, pandemic HIV-1 group M strains evolved Vpu as a tetherin antagonist, while the Nef protein of less widespread HIV-1 group O strains acquired the ability to target a region adjacent to this deletion.

The bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 triggers growth arrest and apoptosis in testicular germ cell tumours in vitro and in vivo.

Type II testicular germ cell cancers (TGCT) are the most frequently diagnosed tumours in young men (20-40 years) and are classified as seminoma or non-seminoma. TGCTs are commonly treated by orchiectomy and chemo- or radiotherapy. However, a subset of metastatic non-seminomas (embryonal carcinomas) displays only incomplete remission or relapse and requires novel treatment options.

[The reverse shoulder arthroplasty Delta Xtend : Mid-term results].

Background: Reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) has become a frequently used and established treatment for patients with cuff tear arthropathy, increasingly also for patients with fracture sequelae (FS), failed rotator cuff reconstruction and omarthrosis with cuff insufficiency. Since 2007 new generation prostheses, for example Delta Xtend (Depuy, Warsaw, USA), have been used, but few mid-term results have been published.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to report on the outcome after RSA after a mean follow-up of 68 months (range 63-75), to verify the already published, encouraging early results and to learn about the function and pain situation after RSA in the mid-term period.

CDK12 Inhibition Reverses De Novo and Acquired PARP Inhibitor Resistance in BRCA Wild-Type and Mutated Models of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Although poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are active in homologous recombination (HR)-deficient cancers, their utility is limited by acquired resistance after restoration of HR. Here, we report that dinaciclib, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) 1, 2, 5, and 9, additionally has potent activity against CDK12, a transcriptional regulator of HR. In BRCA-mutated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), dinaciclib ablates restored HR and reverses PARP inhibitor resistance.

The effects of reduced dopamine transporter function and chronic lithium on motivation, probabilistic learning, and neurochemistry in mice: Modeling bipolar mania.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) mania patients exhibit poor cognition and reward-seeking/hypermotivation, negatively impacting a patient's quality of life. Current treatments (e.g.

Review: Current clinical applications of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T cells.

The past several years have been marked by extraordinary advances in clinical applications of immunotherapy. In particular, adoptive cellular therapy utilizing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells targeted to CD19 has demonstrated substantial clinical efficacy in children and adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and durable clinical benefit in a smaller subset of patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). Early-phase clinical trials are currently assessing CAR T-cell safety and efficacy in additional malignancies.

Covalent targeting of remote cysteine residues to develop CDK12 and CDK13 inhibitors.

Cyclin-dependent kinases 12 and 13 (CDK12 and CDK13) play critical roles in the regulation of gene transcription. However, the absence of CDK12 and CDK13 inhibitors has hindered the ability to investigate the consequences of their inhibition in healthy cells and cancer cells. Here we describe the rational design of a first-in-class CDK12 and CDK13 covalent inhibitor, THZ531.

D186/D190 is an allele-dependent determinant of HIV-1 Nef function.

The HIV-1 pathogenesis factor Nef interacts with numerous ligands to affect cellular vesicular transport, signal transduction and cytoskeletal dynamics. While most Nef functions depend on multivalent protein interaction motifs, disrupting actin dynamics requires a motif that specifically recruits the host kinase PAK2. An adjacent aspartate was recently predicted to mediate Nef-β-catenin interactions.

Sensorimotor gating of the startle reflex: what we said 25 years ago, what has happened since then, and what comes next.

Our 1992 paper, 'The neural substrates of sensorimotor gating of the startle reflex: a review of recent findings and their implications', reviewed a series of (then) new and preliminary findings from cross-species studies of prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex, and commented on their implications. At the time that the report was composed, PubMed listed about 40 citations for studies using the search term 'prepulse inhibition'. In the ensuing 25 years, the field has added about 2700 such reports, reflecting the substantial growth in interest in prepulse inhibition and its utility across a number of different experimental applications.