Publications by authors named "Kaouther Ajroud"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the role of phosphorylated tau (pTau231) in the brain regions of individuals with varying stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) to understand its correlation with cognitive decline.* -
  • Significant findings include the observation that increased pTau231 levels in the frontal cortex correspond with clinical severity of AD, while total tau levels were notably higher in individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment compared to those with full-blown AD.* -
  • The research suggests that the mislocalization of pTau231 is linked to disrupted glutamatergic signaling in specific brain areas, indicating that targeting pTau231 could be a promising strategy for early AD treatment.*
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Article Synopsis
  • Concerns have been raised about the cost of autopsies for diagnosing Alzheimer's and related dementias since the 2012 NIA-AA Guidelines were published.
  • A new Condensed Protocol has been developed and validated for diagnosing various neuropathologic conditions, which now includes additional diagnoses like frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and TDP-43 encephalopathies.
  • The updated protocol significantly reduces costs by about 65% while maintaining diagnostic accuracy, as confirmed by neuropathologists blind to prior assessments.
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Article Synopsis
  • The TDP-43 type C pathological form of frontotemporal lobar degeneration is identified by the presence of abnormal TDP-43 proteins, characterized by both long and short dystrophic neurites, along with neuronal damage and gliosis, but lacks neuronal intranuclear inclusions.
  • This condition is often linked with specific types of language and behavioral disorders, such as the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia; the study analyzes 10 cases to explore the pathological characteristics across various brain regions.
  • The findings highlight a pattern of atrophy in certain brain regions, particularly in those related to language processing, with a notable vulnerability in subcortical areas; the relationship between TDP
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Mitochondrial myopathies belong to a larger group of systemic diseases caused by morphological or biochemical abnormalities of mitochondria. Mitochondrial disorders can be caused by mutations in either the mitochondrial or nuclear genome. Only 5% of all mitochondrial disorders are autosomal dominant.

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A central feature of integrin interaction with physiologic ligands is the monodentate binding of a ligand carboxylate to a Mg(2+) ion hexacoordinated at the metal ion-dependent adhesion site (MIDAS) in the integrin A domain. This interaction stabilizes the A domain in the high-affinity state, which is distinguished from the default low-affinity state by tertiary changes in the domain that culminate in cell adhesion. Small molecule ligand-mimetic integrin antagonists act as partial agonists, eliciting similar activating conformational changes in the A domain, which has contributed to paradoxical adhesion and increased patient mortality in large clinical trials.

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a paralytic and usually fatal disorder caused by motor-neuron degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. Most cases of ALS are sporadic but about 5-10% are familial. Mutations in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), TAR DNA-binding protein (TARDBP, also known as TDP43) and fused in sarcoma (FUS, also known as translocated in liposarcoma (TLS)) account for approximately 30% of classic familial ALS.

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Background: Mutations in optineurin have recently been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Objective: To determine whether optineurin-positive skeinlike inclusions are a common pathologic feature in ALS, including SOD1 -linked ALS.

Design: Clinical case series.

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Objective: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disorder of motor neuron degeneration. Most cases of ALS are sporadic (SALS), but about 5 to 10% of ALS cases are familial (FALS). Recent studies have shown that mutations in FUS are causal in approximately 4 to 5% of FALS and some apparent SALS cases.

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The divalent cations Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) regulate the interaction of integrins with their cognate ligands, with Mg(2+) uniformly facilitating and Ca(2+) generally inhibiting such interactions in vitro. Because both cations are present in mm concentrations in vivo, the physiologic relevance of the in vitro observations is unclear. We measured the affinity of both cations to the inactive and active states of the ligand- and cation-binding A-domain (CD11bA) from integrin CD11b/CD18 in the absence and presence of the single-chain 107 antibody (scFv107), an activation-insensitive ligand-mimetic antibody.

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