Diagnostic and prognostic utility of bone morphogenetic protein 10 in acute dyspnea: a cohort study.

Background And Aim: The possible clinical utility of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 10 (BMP10), a novel atrial-specific biomarker, is incompletely understood. We aimed to test the hypothesis that BMP10 has high diagnostic and prognostic accuracy in patients presenting with acute dyspnea.

Methods And Results: In a multicenter diagnostic study, BMP10, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations were determined in patients presenting with acute dyspnea to the emergency department.

Opinions on the Future of Clinical Pig Kidney Xenotransplantation.

Based on promising results obtained in primate models, pioneers in the US have now started to explore the new frontier of genetically-edited pig-to-human transplantation. The recent transition of xenotransplantation into clinical medicine has included transplants in brain-dead subjects and the compassionate use of xenotransplants in living recipients without options for allotransplantation. While the barrier of hyperacute rejection seems to be successfully overcome by gene editing of donor pigs, the occurrence of accelerated rejection could pose significant limitations to the success of the procedure.

Identification of suitable target/E3 ligase pairs for PROTAC development using a rapamycin-induced proximity assay (RiPA).

The development of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), which induce the degradation of target proteins by bringing them into proximity with cellular E3 ubiquitin ligases, has revolutionized drug development. While the human genome encodes more than 600 different E3 ligases, current PROTACs use only a handful of them, drastically limiting their full potential. Furthermore, many PROTAC development campaigns fail because the selected E3 ligase candidates are unable to induce degradation of the particular target of interest.

Functional Natural Killer-cell Genetics and Microvascular Inflammation After Kidney Transplantation: An Observational Cohort Study.

Background: Recent evidence highlights the pivotal role of natural killer (NK) cells in allograft rejection.

Methods: We explored associations of missing self and gene polymorphisms determining the phenotype and/or functionality of NK cells with microvascular inflammation (MVI) in a single-center cohort of 507 consecutive kidney transplant recipients. Patients were genotyped for killer cell Ig-like receptors and polymorphisms in 4 selected genes (FCGR3AV/F158 [rs396991], KLRC2wt/del, KLRK1HNK/LNK [rs1049174], and rs9916629-C/T).