Fresh frozen plasma and recombinant factor VIIa use in neonates.

Background: Little recent data are available describing fresh frozen plasma (FFP) use in neonates. The purpose of this study was to determine the outcomes of FFP transfusions in neonates.

Patients And Methods: A single institution, observational, and retrospective review of each transfusion of FFP given to neonates admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit over a 2-year period.

Distinct subcellular localization of different sodium channel alpha and beta subunits in single ventricular myocytes from mouse heart.

Background: Voltage-gated sodium channels composed of pore-forming alpha and auxiliary beta subunits are responsible for the rising phase of the action potential in cardiac muscle, but their localizations have not yet been clearly defined.

Methods And Results: Immunocytochemical studies show that the principal cardiac alpha subunit isoform Na(v)1.5 and the beta2 subunit are preferentially localized in intercalated disks, identified by immunostaining of connexin 43, the major protein of cardiac gap junctions.

Sodium channel beta4, a new disulfide-linked auxiliary subunit with similarity to beta2.

The principal alpha subunit of voltage-gated sodium channels is associated with auxiliary beta subunits that modify channel function and mediate protein-protein interactions. We have identified a new beta subunit termed beta4. Like the beta1-beta3 subunits, beta4 contains a cleaved signal sequence, an extracellular Ig-like fold, a transmembrane segment, and a short intracellular C-terminal tail.