Densin-180 Controls the Trafficking and Signaling of L-Type Voltage-Gated Ca1.2 Ca Channels at Excitatory Synapses.

Voltage-gated Ca1.2 and Ca1.3 (L-type) Ca channels regulate neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity, and learning and memory.

Fast and Selective Plasmonic Serotonin Detection with Aptamer-Gold Nanoparticle Conjugates.

Neurotransmitters detection is critical to understanding communication between the brain and peripheral tissue. Serotonin is a key neurotransmitter linked to a number of conditions, but a full understanding of its role in disease is still lacking. The development of fast and selective serotonin detection platforms will provide researchers with tools to monitor serotonin in individuals before and after treatment for the condition of interest.

Diagnostic exome sequencing in 266 Dutch patients with visual impairment.

Inherited eye disorders have a large clinical and genetic heterogeneity, which makes genetic diagnosis cumbersome. An exome-sequencing approach was developed in which data analysis was divided into two steps: the vision gene panel and exome analysis. In the vision gene panel analysis, variants in genes known to cause inherited eye disorders were assessed for pathogenicity.

Automated High-Content Screening of γ-H2AX Expression in HeLa Cells.

Due to their inherent nature, DNA strands can be easily broken by various environmental factors including chemical agents and ionizing radiation. Unrepaired DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) may result in genetic instability and have a strong negative impact on the integrity of the genome. It has been found that DSBs are always followed by phosphorylation of histone protein H2AX, a member of the H2A family, and immunocytochemical detection of phosphorylated H2AX (referred to as γ-H2AX) is one of the frequently used techniques for assessing DNA damage.

Hapten-Anti-Hapten Technique for Two-Color IHC Detection of Phosphorylated EGFR and H2AX Using Primary Antibodies Raised in the Same Host Species.

Multiplex staining of cell and tissue sections with antibodies raised in the same host species is a serious challenge because of unwanted but inevitable cross-reactivity of secondary antibodies with irrelevant primary antibodies. Several techniques can be used to overcome this obstacle including direct labeling of primary antibodies with fluorescent tags and using tyramide signal amplification. Unfortunately these techniques either lack sensitivity, or require a long multistep protocol which can cause physical damage of specimens.

Accuracy of Clinical Staging and Outcome With Primary Resection for Local-Regionally Limited Esophageal Adenocarcinoma.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of clinical staging, to assess survival with surgical resection alone, and to determine factors associated with understaging in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma thought to have limited local-regional disease.

Background: Primary surgical resection is the preferred treatment in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma clinically staged to have limited nodal disease. This approach requires reliable clinical staging.

Development of a point-of-care diagnostic for influenza detection with antiviral treatment effectiveness indication.

Currently, diagnosis of influenza is performed either through tedious polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or through rapid antigen detection assays. The rapid antigen detection assays available today are highly specific but not very sensitive, and most importantly, lack the ability to show if the strain of influenza detected is susceptible to antiviral agents, such as Tamiflu and Relenza. The ability to rapidly determine if a patient has an infectious disease and what type of treatment the infection will respond to, would significantly reduce the treatment decision time, shorten the impact of symptoms, and minimize transfer to others.

Post-Nissen Dysphagia and Bloating Syndrome: Outcomes After Conversion to Toupet Fundoplication.

Introduction: Protracted dysphagia and bloating are potential troublesome side effects following Nissen fundoplication. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of conversion from Nissen to Toupet on dysphagia and bloating.

Methods: The study used a retrospective chart review of all patients who had undergone conversion from Nissen to Toupet between 2001 and 2014.

Modulation of the Immune Response by Nematode Secreted Acetylcholinesterase Revealed by Heterologous Expression in Trypanosoma musculi.

Nematode parasites secrete molecules which regulate the mammalian immune system, but their genetic intractability is a major impediment to identifying and characterising the biological effects of these molecules. We describe here a novel system for heterologous expression of helminth secreted proteins in the natural parasite of mice, Trypanosoma musculi, which can be used to analyse putative immunomodulatory functions. Trypanosomes were engineered to express a secreted acetylcholinesterase from Nippostrongylus brasiliensis.

A new oil/membrane approach for integrated sweat sampling and sensing: sample volumes reduced from μL's to nL's and reduction of analyte contamination from skin.

Wearable sweat biosensensing technology has dominantly relied on techniques which place planar-sensors or fluid-capture materials directly onto the skin surface. This 'on-skin' approach can result in sample volumes in the μL regime, due to the roughness of skin and/or due to the presence of hair. Not only does this increase the required sampling time to 10's of minutes or more, but it also increases the time that sweat spends on skin and therefore increases the amount of analyte contamination coming from the skin surface.

Establishing reference values for age-related spermatogonial quantity in prepubertal human testes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To collect published data on spermatogonial quantity in the testes of healthy children and calculate the reference values of spermatogonial quantities throughout prepuberty.

Design: Systematic literature search in PubMed and EMBASE focusing on the number of spermatogonia per transverse tubular cross section (S/T) and spermatogonial density per cubic centimeter (cm) of testicular volume (S/V) throughout prepuberty.

Setting: None.

Calcifying Fibrous Pseudotumor of the Posterior Mediastinum With Encapsulation of the Thoracic Duct.

We report the first case of calcifying fibrous pseudotumor (CFPT) to arise in the posterior mediastinum with encapsulation of the thoracic duct. This exceedingly rare lesion was incidentally discovered in an asymptomatic young woman and treated with surgical resection, requiring ligation and excision of the thoracic duct. There has been no evidence of tumor recurrence or postoperative complication.

Bergmann's Rule, Adaptation, and Thermoregulation in Arctic Animals: Conflicting Perspectives from Physiology, Evolutionary Biology, and Physical Anthropology After World War II.

Bergmann's rule and Allen's rule played important roles in mid-twentieth century discussions of adaptation, variation, and geographical distribution. Although inherited from the nineteenth-century natural history tradition these rules gained significance during the consolidation of the modern synthesis as evolutionary theorists focused attention on populations as units of evolution. For systematists, the rules provided a compelling rationale for identifying geographical races or subspecies, a function that was also picked up by some physical anthropologists.

Design of inducible expression vectors for improved protein production in Ralstonia eutropha H16 derived host strains.

Ralstonia eutropha H16 (Cupriavidus necator H16) is a Gram-negative, facultative chemolithoautotrophic bacterium which can use H2 and CO2 as sole energy and carbon sources in the absence of organic substrates. The biotechnological use of R. eutropha H16 on an industrial scale has already been established; however, only a small number of tools promoting inducible gene expression is available.

Microarrays as Model Biosensor Platforms to Investigate the Structure and Affinity of Aptamers.

Immobilization of nucleic acid aptamer recognition elements selected free in solution onto the surface of biosensor platforms has proven challenging. This study investigated the binding of multiple aptamer/target pairs immobilized on a commercially available microarray as a model system mimicking biosensor applications. The results indicate a minimum distance (linker length) from the surface and thymine nucleobase linker provides reproducible binding across varying conditions.

The influence of the Peroneus Longus muscle on the foot under axial loading: A CT evaluated dynamic cadaveric model study.

Background: Subtle hypermobility of the first tarsometatarsal joint can occur concomitantly with other pathologies and may be difficult to diagnose. Peroneus Longus muscle might influence stability of this joint. Collapse of the medial longitudinal arch is common in flatfoot deformity and the muscle might also play a role in correcting Meary's angle.

Assessment of reference genes for reliable analysis of gene transcription by RT-qPCR in ovine leukocytes.

With the availability of genetic sequencing data, quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) is increasingly being used for the quantification of gene transcription across species. Too often there is little regard to the selection of reference genes and the impact that a poor choice has on data interpretation. Indeed, RT-qPCR provides a snapshot of relative gene transcription at a given time-point, and hence is highly dependent on the stability of the transcription of the reference gene(s).

S-Sulfocysteine simplifies fed-batch processes and increases the CHO specific productivity via anti-oxidant activity.

Industrial fed-batch cultivation of mammalian cells is used for the production of therapeutic proteins such as monoclonal antibodies. Besides medium ensuring initial growth, feeding is necessary to improve growth, viability and antibody production. Established processes include a slight acidic main feed and a separate alkaline feed containing l-tyrosine and l-cysteine.

Aptamer-functionalized nanoparticles for surface immobilization-free electrochemical detection of cortisol in a microfluidic device.

Monitoring the periodic diurnal variations in cortisol from small volume samples of serum or saliva is of great interest, due to the regulatory role of cortisol within various physiological functions and stress symptoms. Current detection assays are immunologically based and require cumbersome antibody immobilization chemistries, thereby limiting the assay versatility, kinetics, and reproducibility. We present a quantitative aptamer-based detection methodology for cortisol that does not require target labeling, capture probe immobilization on the detection surface or wash steps prior to readout.

High-sensitivity sequencing reveals multi-organ somatic mosaicism causing DICER1 syndrome.

Background: Somatic mosaicism is being increasingly recognised as an important cause of non-Mendelian presentations of hereditary syndromes. A previous whole-exome sequencing study using DNA derived from peripheral blood identified mosaic mutations in DICER1 in two children with overgrowth and developmental delay as well as more typical phenotypes of germline DICER1 mutation. However, very-low-frequency mosaicism is difficult to detect, and thus, causal mutations can go unnoticed.