Characterization of hepatitis B virus in Turkish blood donors, and the prevalence of the SP1 splice variant.

Hepatitis B is a disease of the liver that can manifest acutely, or persist chronically as a result of infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Turkey has a moderate endemicity level of HBV infection, and all data published to date has shown this to be of genotype D, predominantly of subgenotype D1. However the sequences of very few full genomes have been published.

Contrasting effects of cerebrospinal fluid from motor neuron disease patients on the survival of primary motor neurons cultured with or without glia.

Motor neuronal (MN) degeneration in motor neuron disease (MND) often starts focally before spreading to neighbouring MN populations, suggesting soluble factors may contribute to disease propagation. Whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from MND patients contains such factors has been difficult to prove. We aimed to determine the effect of glia on the response of MNs to CSF from MND patients.

Mutations in CHMP2B in lower motor neuron predominant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a common late-onset neurodegenerative disease, is associated with fronto-temporal dementia (FTD) in 3-10% of patients. A mutation in CHMP2B was recently identified in a Danish pedigree with autosomal dominant FTD. Subsequently, two unrelated patients with familial ALS, one of whom also showed features of FTD, were shown to carry missense mutations in CHMP2B.