Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify positive predictors for survival in uveal melanoma (UM) patients treated with percutaneous hepatic perfusion with melphalan (M-PHP), by retrospectively pooling data from three centers.
Materials And Methods: Retrospective analysis including patients ([Formula: see text] 18 years) treated with M-PHP between February 2014 and December 2019 for unresectable liver-dominant or liver-only metastases from UM. Predictors for OS were assessed using uni- and multivariate analyses.
Objective: The objective of this study is to find out whether gadolinium accumulation in the dentate nucleus (DN) after repeated gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) administration in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is related to tissue alteration detectable on transcranial ultrasound.
Methods: In this case-control study, 34 patients (17 with, and 17 age-, sex-, MS severity-, and duration-matched participants without visually rated DN T1-hyperintensity) who had received 2-28 (mean, 11 ± 7) consecutive 1.5-Tesla MRI examinations with application of linear GBCA were included.
Background: Numb Chin Syndrome (NCS), which is also characterized as sensory neuropathy of the mental nerve, describes a mostly unilateral numbness of the chin and lower lip. Benign and malignant diseases are known to cause this circumscribed symptom, which can easily be overlooked or misdiagnosed. In this article we present the very rare case of a clinical NCS caused by thalamic lacunar infarction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Immunoadsorption (IA) by anti-immunoglobulin G (anti-IgG) columns that effectively eliminates total IgG, including IgG3 subclass, represents an additional therapeutic approach in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). A recent study revealed that IA with protein A columns does not effectively remove IgG3 and does not induce hemodynamic improvement in DCM.
Methods: Eighteen patients with DCM (left ventricular ejection fraction < or =30%) were included in this case-control study.
In the present study, autoimmune processes involved in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) are discussed. Genetic predisposition, persistent viral infection, and molecular mimicry have previously been described as the underlying mechanisms of the disease, and prevalence of autoantibodies (AABs) against several intra- and extracellular cardiotropic targets has been confirmed. These autoantibodies are able to disturb the normal physiological activity of the cardiomyocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: DALI (direct adsorption of lipids) is the first LDL-apheresis technique able to adsorb low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and lipoproteina) directly from whole blood. In the standard procedure, acid citrate dextrose (ACD-A) is used as anticoagulation and the adsorber is rinsed with a specially manufactured priming solution (PS). Using neutral trisodium citrate (TSC) instead of ACD-A might improve the acid-base homeostasis during DALI apheresis; moreover, applying wholesale hemofiltration solutions instead of the special PS might avoid the use of two separate solutions for both priming before and reinfusion after the treatment, thus simplifiying the procedure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn contrast to many other type II restriction endonucleases, EcoRV binds specifically to DNA only in the presence Mg2+. According to the co-crystal structure of an EcoRV-DNA complex, Mg2+ ion(s) bind to the active site of EcoRV liganded by Glu45, Asp74, and Asp90. Here we present experimental evidence suggesting that the EcoRV-DNA complex also interacts with Mg2+ ions at other sites: (i) We have prepared an EcoRV triple mutant, in which all acidic amino acids in the catalytic center are replaced by alanine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA sandwich-type flow-injection binding assay for quantitation of various IgG's was developed. The assay is based on the pseudoimmunological reaction between protein A from Staphylococcus aureus and immunoglobulin G from different species. Protein A immobilized on a solid support and a fusion protein of protein A and beta-galactosidase from Escherichia coli are used for detection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this paper, two different FIA-based biosensor systems are described for application to different biotechnologically relevant purposes. In the first system, single fiber optodes were used to determine the pH, urea and penicillin V concentrations. A two-channel system was developed for the simultaneous monitoring of different variables to increase the analysis accuracy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElectrophoresis
September 1993
This paper compares high performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) and conventional slab electrophoresis in mapping of four closely related plasmids with three different restriction enzymes. The plasmids express full length and truncated forms of a growth factor receptor oncogene product and were digested with HpaII, HaeIII and RsaI. The resulting oligonucleotide fragments were under 2000 base pairs in length, a size well suited to separation by HPCE with linear polyacrylamide as a sieving matrix.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEscherichia coli JM103 carrying the expression plasmid pMTC48, repressor plasmid pRK248, and protection plasmid pEcoR4 was grown in a 60-L working volume airlift tower loop reactor on M9 minimal medium. Production of fusion protein SpA::EcoRI was induced by a temperature shift from 30 to 38 (optimum), 40, or 42 degrees C. The following parameters were monitored: cell mass concentration (X), total cell counts (TCC), number of colony-forming units (CFU), concentrations of glucose, acetate, ethanol, pyruvate, lactate, succinate, amino acids, and ammonia, and soluble and total protein content, as well as product concentration (enzyme activity of the fusion protein), dissolved oxygen concentration, oxygen utilization rate (OUR), CO2 production rate (CPR), respiration quotient (RQ), and volumetric mass-transfer coefficients (kLa).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe copy numbers of the expression plasmids (pRTF309+ and pMTC48), the repression plasmids (pcI857 and pRK248cI) and the protection plasmid (pEcoR4) in recombinant E. coli JM103 were investigated. In the absence of the protection plasmid, the copy number of the expression plasmid dropped; in its presence, the copy numbers of the expression plasmids increased after gene expression by temperature-shift induction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe optimization of the production of recombinant DNA-derived proteins in Escherichia coli was investigated. We chose restriction endonucleases EcoRI and EcoRV from E. coli as model proteins, despite the observation that overproduction can result in a toxic effect to the cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlasmid instabilities in E. coli JM103 carrying three plasmids (pRK248cI, pMTC48, pEcoR4) and a single plasmid system (pTG206) for the production of fusion EcoRI (SPA::EcoRI) and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase, respectively, were investigated in continuous cultures under selective and non-selective conditions. In a three-plasmid system, pRK248cI was lost gradually together with pMTC48 from the host under non-selective conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDirect in vivo labeling of erythrocytes with biotin is shown as a method for estimation of red cell survival as well as of enrichment of young or aged erythrocytes. Two succinimide esters (biotin-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester [BNHS], caproylamidobiotin-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester [C-BNHS] were used for biotin labeling of erythrocytes. With improved syntheses, pure BNHS (mp, 212 degrees-214 degrees C) and the spacered intermediate for C-BNHS, 6-(biotinylamide) hexanoate (mp, 225 degrees-226 degrees C) were obtained in an overall yield of 86%; the yield of C-BNHS (mp, 167 degrees-169 degrees C) was 68%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends Biotechnol
August 1991
Exploitation of recombinant organisms for the large-scale, commercial production of foreign proteins is often hampered by the problem of plasmid instability. A wide range of strategies have been reported for improving the stability of recombinant organisms. A combination of manipulating both the genetic design of recombinants and the conditions of culturing the organisms may be used to achieve stable host-vector associations during culture of recombinant organisms in bioreactors.
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