The essential role of physician as advocate: how and why we pass it on.

There is consensus amongst regulatory and certifying associations that the role of physician as advocate is a fundamental competency for Canadian physicians. Understanding what advocacy is and looks like in daily practice is integral to achieving this competency. Identifying barriers and exploring how we as physicians acquire the skills of advocacy are discussed.

HIV-1 viral diversity and its implications for viral load testing: review of current platforms.

The 2008 Recommendations for care of the International AIDS Society reaffirmed the importance of both accurate and sensitive viral load assessment, and by necessity, access to viral load assays. HIV-1 viral load testing is considered essential when initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART), when monitoring ART response, and when considering switching ART regimens. The demand for accurate, reproducible, and cost-effective viral load assays is therefore a global issue.

Historical perspectives on the discovery and elucidation of autoantibodies to centromere proteins (CENP) and the emerging importance of antibodies to CENP-F.

Autoantibodies to the centromere proteins (CENP), which are major constituents of the primary constriction of metaphase chromosomes, were first described in 1980. In those seminal publications and 30 years of research that have followed, a number of CENP have been identified as autoantibody targets in human diseases. Historically, autoantibodies directed to CENP-A, -B and -C have been considered relatively specific biomarkers for limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc) or the calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, and telangiectasia (CREST) syndrome.

Autoantibodies to tissue transglutaminase in Sjögren's syndrome and related rheumatic diseases.

Objective: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) has been reported in up to 15% of patients with biopsy proven celiac disease (CD). The diagnosis of CD in the setting of SS and other systemic rheumatic diseases can be difficult because they are often associated with a number of gastrointestinal symptoms and diseases. Although the diagnosis of CD is often confirmed by a small bowel biopsy, marker autoantibodies directed against the endomysium of transitional epithelium (EMA) and tissue transglutaminase (tTG) are highly correlated with biopsy-proven disease and serve as a valuable screening test.

Clinical and serological associations of autoantibodies to GW bodies and a novel cytoplasmic autoantigen GW182.

A novel autoantigen named GW182 was recently identified when the serum from a patient with a sensory ataxic polyneuropathy was used to immunoscreen a HeLa cDNA library. Unique features of the GW182 protein include 39 repeats of glycine (G) and tryptophan (W) residues, binding to a subset of messenger RNA and localization to unique structures within the cytoplasm that were designated GW bodies (GWBs). The goal of the present study was to identify the clinical features of patients with anti-GW182 antibodies and to characterize the B cell anti-GW182 response by defining the epitopes bound by human autoantibodies.

A panel of monoclonal antibodies to cytoplasmic GW bodies and the mRNA binding protein GW182.

GW182 is a mRNA binding protein characterized by 60 repeats of glycine (G):tryptophan (W) motifs and is localized in cytoplasmic structures referred to as GW bodies (GWBs). Current evidence suggests that this unique protein plays a role in mRNA processing. To enable a more detailed study of GW182 and GWBs in cells and tissues, including their role in mRNA processing, we developed four monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that bind the human recombinant GW182 protein.