Publications by authors named "Heinen J"

Article Synopsis
  • RPA is a key protein that binds to single-stranded DNA and plays essential roles in DNA metabolism and telomere function.
  • It interacts with DNA to facilitate the replacement of other proteins during various cellular processes and is involved in managing G-quadruplexes at telomeres.
  • The study shows that hnRNPA1 can remodel the RPA complex at telomeres, while TERRA RNA can release hnRNPA1 from this complex, suggesting a specialized role in telomere protection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ewing sarcoma (EwS) is a cancer that arises in the bones and soft tissues, typically driven by the Ewing's sarcoma breakpoint region 1-Friend leukemia virus integration 1 (EWS-FLI) oncogene. Implementation of genetically modified animal models of EwS has proved difficult largely owing to EWS-FLI's high toxicity. The EWS-FLI frameshift variant that circumvents toxicity but is still able to perform key oncogenic functions provided the first study model in .

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Patients with cancer experience significant psychosocial distress. Stressors include interpersonal difficulties like loneliness, isolation, thwarted belongingness, communication impediments, and conflicts. Interventions are required that address their specific psychosocial needs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The purpose of this study was to review the existing quantitative and qualitative evidence regarding how mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) help cope with cancer-related challenges and increase affected patients' perceived self-efficacy.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, PsycInfo, PubPsych, and CINAHL. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies were included if they (1) evaluated MBIs (2) for patients with cancer or cancer survivors (3) regarding their impact on coping with cancer and perceived self-efficacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Expression of the Drosophila cancer-germline (CG), X-linked, head-to-head gene pair TrxT and dhd is normally germline-specific but becomes upregulated in brain tumours caused by mutation in l(3)mbt. Here, we show that TrxT and dhd play a major synergistic role in the emergence of l(3)mbt tumour-linked transcriptomic signatures and tumour development, which is remarkable, taking into account that these two genes are never expressed together under normal conditions. We also show that TrxT, but not dhd, is crucial for the growth of l(3)mbt allografts, hence suggesting that the initial stages of tumour development and long-term tumour growth may depend on different molecular pathways.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Make It Training is an e-mental health intervention designed for individuals with cancer that aims to reduce psychological distress and improve disease-related coping and quality of life.

Objective: This study evaluated the experienced usefulness and usability of the web-based Make It Training intervention using a qualitative approach.

Methods: In this study, semistructured interviews were conducted with participants at different cancer stages and with different cancer entities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Human replication protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric ssDNA binding protein responsible for many aspects of cellular DNA metabolism. Dynamic interactions of the four RPA DNA binding domains (DBDs) with DNA control replacement of RPA by downstream proteins in various cellular metabolic pathways. RPA plays several important functions at telomeres where it binds to and melts telomeric G-quadruplexes, non-canonical DNA structures formed at the G-rich telomeric ssDNA overhangs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been used empirically for decades in equine medicine to treat intestinal dysbiosis but evidence-based information is scarce. This in vitro study aimed at assessing the effect of a commonly used pre-FMT processing method on the bacterial composition and viability of the fecal filtrate. Three samples of fresh equine manure (T) were processed identically: the initial manure was mixed with 1 L of lukewarm water and chopped using an immersion blender to obtain a mixture (T), which was left uncovered during 30 min (T) and percolated through a sieve to obtain a fecal filtrate (T).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Insular communities are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic extinctions and introductions. Changes in composition of island frugivore communities may affect seed dispersal within the native plant community, risking ecological shifts and ultimately co-extinction cascades. Introduced species could potentially mitigate these risks by replacing ecological functions of extinct species, but conclusive evidence is lacking.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Ewing sarcoma (EwS) is driven by the toxic EWS-FLI fusion protein, making research challenging due to a lack of animal models.
  • Researchers developed a mutant EWS-FLI variant in Drosophila that avoids toxicity and allows for effective study of the protein's role.
  • The study shows that EWS-FLI interacts with similar proteins in Drosophila and reproduces key oncogenic activities known to contribute to EwS in humans, paving the way for further investigation of its pathways in a simpler genetic model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

While testing for genome instability in Drosophila as reported by unscheduled upregulation of UAS-GFP in cells that co-express GAL80 and GAL4, we noticed that, as expected, background levels were low in most developing tissues. However, GFP-positive clones were frequent in the larval brain. Most of these clones originated from central brain neural stem cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Cancer-affected patients experience high distress due to various burdens. One way to expand psycho-oncological support is through digital interventions. This protocol describes the development and structure of a web-based psycho-oncological intervention, the Make It Training optimized.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The present prospective study evaluates the association between new bone formation rate in the iliac onlay graft and sex steroid hormone serum levels.

Methods: A total of 15 partially or completely edentulous postmenopausal females and 9 males with less than 5 mm height of the remaining alveolar bone underwent iliac onlay grafting followed by dental implant placement using a two-stage approach. Sex hormone binding globulin and 17β-estradiol serum levels were investigated by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, while total testosterone level was analyzed using radioimmunoassay.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neural stem cells (NSCs) divide asymmetrically to balance their self-renewal and differentiation, an imbalance in which can lead to NSC overgrowth and tumor formation. The functions of Parafibromin, a conserved tumor suppressor, in the nervous system are not established. Here, we demonstrate that Drosophila Parafibromin/Hyrax (Hyx) inhibits ectopic NSC formation by governing cell polarity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Many patients with cancer experience severe psychological distress, but as a result of various barriers, few of them receive psycho-oncological support. E-mental health interventions try to overcome some of these barriers and the limitation of healthcare offers, enabling patients with cancer to better cope with psychological distress. In the proposed trial, we aim to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the manualised e-mental health intervention Make It Training- Mindfulness-Based and Skills-Based Distress Reduction in Oncology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) require significant healthcare resources. While published research has shown clinical characteristics associated with severe illness from COVID-19, there is limited data focused on the emergency department (ED) discharge population.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all ED-discharged patients from Wake Forest Baptist Health and Wake Forest Baptist Health Davie Medical Center between April 25-August 9, 2020, who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) from a nasopharyngeal swab using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) tests.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat was developed in 1971, and has established the world's largest network of protected areas. However, monitoring and reporting have been inadequate to fully achieve the goals of the Convention. We argue that current reporting mechanisms, including the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT), Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM), and the R-METT reporting framework adopted at the 12th Conference of the Parties, are not well adapted to wetland systems and the objectives of the Ramsar Convention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are currently used for the targeted delivery of drugs to diseased cells, but intracellular drug delivery and therefore efficacy may be suboptimal because of the large size, slow internalization and ineffective intracellular trafficking of the antibody. Using a phage display method selecting internalizing phages only, we developed internalizing single domain antibodies (sdAbs) with high binding affinity to rat PDGFRβ, a receptor involved in different types of diseases. We demonstrate that these constructs have different characteristics with respect to internalization rates but all traffic to lysosomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The treatment of cancer patients in Germany is characterized by sectoral separation of the in- and outpatient care accompanied by 2 separate reimbursement systems. By introducing the Guideline of Outpatient Medical Specialist Care in accordance with §116b SGB V (ASV) in 2014, the German legislation empowers office-based physicians and hospitals to jointly provide medical care in the ambulatory setting.

Methods: A 1-year period each before and after the introduction of ASV was compared by means of data from the Center for Integrated Oncology Cologne at the University Hospital of Cologne.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy is a well-recognized acute complication in cancer patients, but the long-term effects of repeated contrast exposure are not known. We analyzed the association of the number of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) examinations and other clinical factors with decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in colorectal cancer survivors.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively queried a prospective surgical colorectal cancer database to identify patients with stage I or II cancer who underwent resection in 2007 - 2013 and were alive for at least 3 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Competitive water adsorption can have a significant impact on metal-organic framework performance properties, ranging from occupying active sites in catalytic reactions to co-adsorbing at the most favourable adsorption sites in gas separation and storage applications. In this study, we investigate, for a metal-organic framework that is stable after moisture exposure, what are the reversible, loading-dependent structural changes that occur during water adsorption. Herein, a combination of in situ synchrotron powder and single-crystal diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and molecular modelling analysis was used to understand the important role of loading-dependent water effects in a water stable metal-organic framework.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The notable male predominance across many human cancer types remains unexplained. Here, we show that l(3)mbt brain tumors are more invasive and develop as malignant neoplasms more often in males than in females. By quantitative proteomics, we have identified a signature of proteins that are differentially expressed between male and female tumor samples.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Classical force field simulations can be used to study structural, diffusion, and adsorption properties of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). To account for the dynamic behavior of the material, parameterization schemes have been developed to derive force constants and the associated reference values by fitting on ab initio energies, vibrational frequencies, and elastic constants. Here, we review recent developments in flexible force field models for MOFs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report the first experimental study into the thermomechanical and viscoelastic properties of a metal-organic framework (MOF) material. Nanoindentations show a decrease in the Young's modulus, consistent with classical molecular dynamics simulations, and hardness of HKUST-1 with increasing temperature over the 25-100 °C range. Variable-temperature dynamic mechanical analysis reveals significant creep behavior, with a reduction of 56% and 88% of the hardness over 10 min at 25 and 100 °C, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Some of the most remarkable recent developments in metal-organic framework (MOF) performance properties can only be rationalized by the mechanical properties endowed by their hybrid inorganic-organic nanoporous structures. While these characteristics create intriguing application prospects, the same attributes also present challenges that will need to be overcome to enable the integration of MOFs with technologies where these promising traits can be exploited. In this review, emerging opportunities and challenges are identified for MOF-enabled device functionality and technological applications that arise from their fascinating mechanical properties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF