Regulation of the innate immune system by fragmented heparin-conjugated lipids on lipid bilayered membranes .

Surface modification with heparin is a powerful biomaterial coating strategy that protects against innate immunity activation since heparin is a part of the proteoglycan heparan sulfate on cell surfaces in the body. We studied the heparinization of cellular and material surfaces lipid conjugation to a heparin-binding peptide. In the present study, we synthesized fragmented heparin (fHep)-conjugated phospholipids and studied their regulation of the innate immune system on a lipid bilayered surface using liposomes.

Exonic deletions of FXN and early-onset Friedreich ataxia.

Background: Friedreich ataxia (FA) is the most frequent type of autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxia, occurring at a mean age of 16 years. Nearly 98% of patients with FA present with homozygous GAA expansions in the FXN gene. The remaining patients are compound heterozygous for an expansion and a point mutation.