Preanalytical (Mis)Handling of Plasma Investigated by H NMR Metabolomics.

The preanalytical handling of plasma, how it is drawn, processed, and stored, influences its composition. Samples in biobanks often lack this information and, consequently, important information about their quality. Especially metabolite concentrations are affected by preanalytical handling, making conclusions from metabolomics studies particularly sensitive to misinterpretations.

Prediction and evaluation of the effect of pre-centrifugation sample management on the measurable untargeted LC-MS plasma metabolome.

Optimal handling is the most important means to ensure adequate sample quality. We aimed to investigate whether pre-centrifugation delay time and temperature could be accurately predicted and to what extent variability induced by pre-centrifugation management can be adjusted for. We used untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics to predict and evaluate the influence of pre-centrifugation temperature and delayed time on plasma samples.

The EuPA Biobank Initiative: Meeting the future challenges of biobanking in proteomics & systems medicine.

Unlabelled: In this News & Reviews Discussion, the recently launched EuPA (European Proteomics Association) Biobank Initiative is introduced in the context of current and future challenges in biobanking. The purpose of the initiative is to provide a forumand knowledge platform for integrating the extensive experiences collected by the EuPA community, and link it to the European and international biobanking communities at large. The specific impact of providing a forum and easy access to this type of information to the EuPA community is the potential of improving the quality of future sample collections and biobanks, the quality of the research produced from these sample collections, as well as the output and productivity from existing biobanks.

Expansion of multipotent stem cells from the adult human brain.

The discovery of stem cells in the adult human brain has revealed new possible scenarios for treatment of the sick or injured brain. Both clinical use of and preclinical research on human adult neural stem cells have, however, been seriously hampered by the fact that it has been impossible to passage these cells more than a very few times and with little expansion of cell numbers. Having explored a number of alternative culturing conditions we here present an efficient method for the establishment and propagation of human brain stem cells from whatever brain tissue samples we have tried.

Effect of levetiracetam on hippocampal protein expression and cell proliferation in rats.

Purpose: Levetiracetam (LEV) is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug (AED) with possibly also antiepileptogenic properties. LEV has a specific binding site in the central nervous system and reduces brain excitability; however, the precise mechanism of action (MOA) of LEV remains unclear. To further unravel the potential MOA pathways of LEV we investigated altered protein expression and cell proliferation in rat hippocampal tissue during LEV administration.

Defining primary and secondary progenitor disorders in the brain: proteomic approaches for analysis of neural progenitor cells.

Since the discovery of endogenous progenitor cells in two brain regions in the adult, the notion that progenitor cells might be useful for repairing damaged neurons or replacing dead neurons has gone from fiction to a reality, at least in the laboratory setting. Progenitor cells have the unique ability to be able to produce new neurons in response to endogenous and exogenous cues from their microenvironment in the brain and from the environment of the organism. However, in models of several disorders and insults the regenerative potential of the central nervous system need external enhancing.

Proteomics and peptidomics in neuroscience. Experience of capabilities and limitations in a neurochemical laboratory.

The increasing use of proteomics has created a basis for new strategies to develop methodologies for rapid identification of protein patterns in living organisms. It has also become evident that proteomics has other potential applications than protein and peptide identification, e.g.

Effects on rat thalamic proteome by acute and subchronic MK-801-treatment.

Since the symptoms of intoxication with non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists closely mimic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, [+]-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo-[a,d]-cycloheptene-5,10-iminehydrogenmaleate (MK-801)-treated rodents are often used as a model for schizophrenia. In most studies, acute injections of MK-801 to rats have been used, but in some studies, longer periods of treatment have been performed. In our previous work, alterations in mRNA/protein expression were screened in the cerebral cortex of MK-801 treated rats.

Comparative proteome analysis of thalamus in MK-801-treated rats.

Two-dimensional gel-electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometry is a powerful approach to compare protein expression in brain tissues. Using this proteomic approach, and based on the hypothesis that schizophrenia involves hypoglutamergic brain function, alterations in protein levels in the thalamus of rats treated with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist [+]-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo-[a,d]-cycloheptene-5,10-iminehydrogenmaleate (MK-801), as compared to saline-treated animals, were assessed in an unbiased fashion. The rats were divided into two groups; group 1 (short-term treated) and group 2 (long-term treated).

Comparative genome- and proteome analysis of cerebral cortex from MK-801-treated rats.

cDNA microarrays and two-dimensional gel-electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometry, were used to screen alterations in mRNA and protein levels, respectively, in cerebral cortex of MK-801-treated rats. The rats were divided in two groups; group 1 (short-term treated) and group 2 (long-term treated). In group 1, four genes were up-regulated and five down-regulated.

Proteome analysis of cerebrospinal fluid proteins in Alzheimer patients.

By comparing the CSF proteome between Alzheimer disease (AD) patients and controls it may be possible to identify proteins that play a role in the disease process and thus to study the pathogenesis of AD. We used mini-gel technology in a two-dimensional electrophoresis procedure, sensitive SYPRO Ruby staining and mass spectrometry for clinical screening of disease-influenced CSF proteins in 15 AD patients and 12 controls. The levels of six proteins and their isoforms, including proapolipoprotein, apolipoprotein E, beta-2 microglobulin, retinol-binding protein, transthyretin, and ubiquitin, were significantly altered in CSF of AD patients.