The Multiple Cranial Nerve Palsies: A Prospective Observational Study.

Background: Neurological presentation with isolated multiple cranial nerve palsies is common and its diverse causes include infectious, neoplastic, and inflammatory pathologies. The aetiological spectrum may depend upon geographical regions. We undertook this study to explore clinical spectrum and aetiological profile of multiple cranial nerve palsies.

Mitochondrial complex III is essential for suppressive function of regulatory T cells.

Regulatory T cells (T cells), a distinct subset of CD4 T cells, are necessary for the maintenance of immune self-tolerance and homeostasis. Recent studies have demonstrated that T cells exhibit a unique metabolic profile, characterized by an increase in mitochondrial metabolism relative to other CD4 effector subsets. Furthermore, the T cell lineage-defining transcription factor, Foxp3, has been shown to promote respiration; however, it remains unknown whether the mitochondrial respiratory chain is required for the T cell-suppression capacity, stability and survival of T cells.

Hexokinase 2 is dispensable for T cell-dependent immunity.

Background: T cells and cancer cells utilize glycolysis for proliferation. The hexokinase (1-4) family of enzymes catalyze the first step of glycolysis. Hexokinase 2 (HK2) is one of the most highly upregulated metabolic enzymes in both cancer and activated T cells.

Mitochondrial control of immunity: beyond ATP.

Mitochondria are important signalling organelles, and they dictate immunological fate. From T cells to macrophages, mitochondria form the nexus of the various metabolic pathways that define each immune cell subset. In this central position, mitochondria help to control the various metabolic decision points that determine immune cell function.

TCA Cycle and Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Are Necessary for Diverse Biological Functions.

Mitochondrial metabolism is necessary for the maintenance of oxidative TCA cycle function and mitochondrial membrane potential. Previous attempts to decipher whether mitochondria are necessary for biological outcomes have been hampered by genetic and pharmacologic methods that simultaneously disrupt multiple functions linked to mitochondrial metabolism. Here, we report that inducible depletion of mitochondrial DNA (ρ(ο) cells) diminished respiration, oxidative TCA cycle function, and the mitochondrial membrane potential, resulting in diminished cell proliferation, hypoxic activation of HIF-1, and specific histone acetylation marks.

An unusual cause of headache in a medical tourist.

With booming medical tourism, Indian doctors are seeing a lot of patients from other countries for varied medical conditions. A citizen of Nairobi presented for treatment of his complaints consisting of severe episodic headache, with abdominal pain, spermatorrhea, decreased libido, constipation, and impotence. On detailed evaluation, he was found to have developed dependence to khat chewing; a social habit in his native country and his symptoms were attributed to effects of khat withdrawal.

Targeting metabolism for lupus therapy.

Drugs that correct defects in T cell metabolism may prove to be promising treatments for lupus.

A transposase strategy for creating libraries of circularly permuted proteins.

A simple approach for creating libraries of circularly permuted proteins is described that is called PERMutation Using Transposase Engineering (PERMUTE). In PERMUTE, the transposase MuA is used to randomly insert a minitransposon that can function as a protein expression vector into a plasmid that contains the open reading frame (ORF) being permuted. A library of vectors that express different permuted variants of the ORF-encoded protein is created by: (i) using bacteria to select for target vectors that acquire an integrated minitransposon; (ii) excising the ensemble of ORFs that contain an integrated minitransposon from the selected vectors; and (iii) circularizing the ensemble of ORFs containing integrated minitransposons using intramolecular ligation.