Flow cytometry-based high-throughput RNAi screening for miRNAs regulating MHC class II HLA-DR surface expression.

HLA-DR isotype is a MHC-II cell-surface receptor found on APCs and plays a key role in initiating immune responses. In severely immunocompromised patients with conditions like sepsis, the number of HLA-DR molecules expressed on leukocytes is considered to correlate with infectious complications and patients' probability of survival. The underlying regulatory mechanisms of HLA-DR expression remain largely unknown.

Baseline serum MMP-3 levels in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis are still independently predictive of radiographic progression in a longitudinal observational cohort at 8 years follow up.

Introduction: At present, there is no reliable tool for predicting disease outcome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We previously demonstrated an association between specific baseline biomarkers/clinical measures including matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) and 2-year radiographic progression in patients with RA. This study further evaluates the predictive capability of these baseline variables with outcome extended over 8-years.

A common founder for the 35delG GJB2 gene mutation in connexin 26 hearing impairment.

Fifty to eighty percent of autosomal recessive congenital severe to profound hearing impairment result from mutations in a single gene, GJB2, that encodes the protein connexin 26. One mutation of this gene, the 35delG allele, is particularly common in white populations. We report evidence that the high frequency of this allelic variant is the result of a founder effect rather than a mutational hot spot in GJB2, which was the prevailing hypothesis.