Publications by authors named "Matthias Fischer"

Selenocysteine (Sec) metabolism is crucial for cellular function and ferroptosis prevention and begins with the uptake of the Sec carrier, selenoprotein P (SELENOP). Following uptake, Sec released from SELENOP is metabolized via selenocysteine lyase (SCLY), producing selenide, a substrate for selenophosphate synthetase 2 (SEPHS2), which provides the essential selenium donor, selenophosphate (HSePO), for the biosynthesis of the Sec-tRNA. Here, we discovered an alternative pathway in Sec metabolism mediated by peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6), independent of SCLY.

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Alzheimer's dementia is the main cause of cognitive impairment in people over the age of 65, with Alzheimer's disease starting presumably 10-15 years before the onset of clinical symptoms. It is therefore important to recognize dementia at an early stage and identify possible predictors. The existing methods, like different parameters of ß-Amyloid and Tau quantification in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or the living brain by measure of PET, are invasive and expensive.

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Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial childhood cancer, caused by the improper differentiation of developing trunk neural crest cells (tNCC) in the sympathetic nervous system. The N-methyladenosine (mA) epitranscriptomic modification controls post-transcriptional gene expression but the mechanism by which the mA methyltransferase complex METTL3/METTL14/WTAP is recruited to specific loci remains to be fully characterized. We explored whether the mA epitranscriptome could fine-tune gene regulation in migrating/differentiating tNCC.

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The Southern Ocean microbial ecosystem, with its pronounced seasonal shifts, is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Since viruses are key modulators of microbial abundance, diversity, and evolution, we need a better understanding of the effects of seasonality on the viruses in this region. Our comprehensive exploration of DNA viral diversity in the Southern Ocean reveals a unique and largely uncharted viral landscape, of which 75% was previously unidentified in other oceanic areas.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to understand how specific molecular changes, particularly the expression of a certain gene, influence the clinical outcomes of patients with pulmonary carcinoids, which can range from slow-growing to deadly tumors.
  • Researchers analyzed RNA sequencing data from two cohorts of pulmonary carcinoid patients (totaling 193) to determine the prognostic value of this gene expression and its relationship with telomerase activity, which is linked to tumor aggressiveness.
  • Results showed that high expression of the gene correlates with worse survival rates and is an independent predictor of poor clinical outcomes, suggesting that it could be a key factor in assessing the severity of pulmonary carcinoids.
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Objectives: This study examines the impact of temperature variations on out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrests in Germany over a decade (2010-2019). Out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrests affects 164 per 100,000 inhabitants annually in Germany, 11% survive to hospital discharge. The following study investigates days with the following characteristics: summer days, frost days, and high humidity days.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent guidelines have shifted away from recommending mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH) for post-cardiac arrest care, despite its historical importance and ongoing debates about its benefits.
  • This observational study analyzed over 33,000 adult cardiac arrest patients to compare outcomes between those treated with MTH and those without it.
  • The results indicated that MTH was linked to better neurological outcomes and higher hospital discharge rates, suggesting further research is needed before discarding this treatment entirely.
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SUMMARYPolintons are 15-20 kb-long self-synthesizing transposons that are widespread in eukaryotic, and in particular protist, genomes. Apart from a transposase and a protein-primed DNA polymerase, polintons encode homologs of major and minor jelly-roll capsid proteins, DNA-packaging ATPases, and proteases involved in capsid maturation of diverse eukaryotic viruses of kingdom . Given the conservation of these structural and morphogenetic proteins among polintons, these elements are predicted to alternate between transposon and viral lifestyles and, although virions have thus far not been detected, are classified as viruses (class ) in the phylum .

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The phylum (kingdom , realm ) is a broad assemblage of diverse viruses with comparatively short double-stranded DNA genomes (<50 kbp) that produce icosahedral capsids built from double jelly-roll major capsid proteins. Preplasmiviricots infect hosts from all cellular domains, testifying to their ancient origin, and, in particular, are associated with six of the seven supergroups of eukaryotes. Preplasmiviricots comprise four major groups of viruses, namely, polintons, polinton-like viruses (PLVs), virophages, and adenovirids.

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The phylum (kingdom , realm ) is a broad assemblage of diverse viruses with comparatively short double-stranded DNA genomes (<50 kbp) that produce icosahedral capsids built from double jelly-roll major capsid proteins. Preplasmiviricots infect hosts from all cellular domains, testifying to their ancient origin and, in particular, are associated with six of the seven supergroups of eukaryotes. Preplasmiviricots comprise four major groups of viruses, namely, polintons, polinton-like viruses (PLVs), virophages, and adenovirids.

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Future automotive mobility is predominantly electric. Compared to existing systems, the requirements of subsystems change. Air flow for cooling components is needed predominantly when the car is in rest (i.

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Background: The clinical appearance of acral melanoma is diverse and can cause diagnostic difficulties in individual cases.

Case Description: We present a clinical case of an 83-year-old patient with a melanoma in the heel area that was initially interpreted as a pressure ulcer, resulting in delayed and more complicated treatment.

Conclusions: Melanomas should be included in the differential diagnosis even in "typical" pressure ulcer areas.

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Introduction: The German Resuscitation Registry was started in 2007 and collects data on out-of-hospital as well as in-hospital cardiac arrest and resuscitation. It has collected more than 400.000 datasets till today.

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Tripartite biotic interactions are inherently complex, and the strong interdependence of species and often one-sided exploitation can make these systems vulnerable to extinction. The persistence of species depends then on the balance between exploitation and avoidance of exploitation beyond the point where sustainable resource use is no longer possible. We used this general prediction to test the potential role of trait evolution for persistence in a tripartite microbial system consisting of a marine heterotrophic flagellate preyed upon by a giant virus, which in turn is parasitized by a virophage.

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About forty years after its first application, digital image correlation (DIC) has become an established method for measuring surface displacements and deformations of objects under stress. To date, DIC has been used in a variety of in vitro and in vivo studies to biomechanically characterise biological samples in order to reveal biomimetic principles. However, when surfaces of samples strongly deform or twist, they cannot be thoroughly traced.

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Article Synopsis
  • Endogenous viral elements (EVEs) are commonly found in protists, with some being inactive viral fossils and others still active, including those related to the virophage mavirus, which targets the giant virus CroV.
  • Research tested the impact of these endogenous virophages on giant virus replication, finding that specific EVE types can produce infectious particles in response to CroV infection, although with varied efficiency.
  • The study suggests that virophages can inhibit CroV replication during co-infection, supporting the idea that they may serve as an antiviral defense system in protists under certain conditions.
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Telomerase-negative tumors maintain telomere length by alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), but the underlying mechanism behind ALT remains poorly understood. A proportion of aggressive neuroblastoma (NB), particularly relapsed tumors, are positive for ALT (ALT+), suggesting that a better dissection of the ALT mechanism could lead to novel therapeutic opportunities. TERRA, a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) derived from telomere ends, localizes to telomeres in a R-loop-dependent manner and plays a crucial role in telomere maintenance.

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Drug resistance is a major challenge for curative cancer treatment, representing the main reason of death in patients. Evolutionary biology suggests pauses between treatment rounds as a way to delay or even avoid resistance emergence. Indeed, this approach has already shown promising preclinical and early clinical results, and stimulated the development of mathematical models for finding optimal treatment protocols.

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Background: In Germany approximately 20,500 women and 41,000 men were resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) each year. We are currently experiencing a discussion about the possible undersupply of women in healthcare. The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence of OHCA in Germany, as well as the outcome and quality of resuscitation care for both women and men.

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Large DNA viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota, sometimes referred to as "giant viruses" owing to their large genomes and virions, have been the subject of burgeoning interest over the last decade. Here, we describe recently adopted taxonomic updates for giant viruses within the order Imitervirales. The families Allomimiviridae, Mesomimiviridae, and Schizomimiviridae have been created to accommodate the increasing diversity of mimivirus relatives that have sometimes been referred to in the literature as "extended Mimiviridae".

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The discovery of frequent 8p11-p12 amplifications in squamous cell lung cancer (SQLC) has fueled hopes that FGFR1, located inside this amplicon, might be a therapeutic target. In a clinical trial, only 11% of patients with 8p11 amplification (detected by FISH) responded to FGFR kinase inhibitor treatment. To understand the mechanism of FGFR1 dependency, we performed deep genomic characterization of 52 SQLCs with 8p11-p12 amplification, including 10 tumors obtained from patients who had been treated with FGFR inhibitors.

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This research focuses on exploring the potential of mycelium as a sustainable alternative to wood or solid foam in pultruded glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) sandwich profiles. The study evaluates the performance and the environmental sustainability potential of this composite by mechanical tests and life cycle assessment (LCA). Analysis and comparison of pultruded sandwich profiles with mycelium, polyurethane (PUR) foam and chipboard demonstrate that mycelium is competitive in terms of its performance and environmental impact.

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Ferroptosis has emerged as an attractive strategy in cancer therapy. Understanding the operational networks regulating ferroptosis may unravel vulnerabilities that could be harnessed for therapeutic benefit. Using CRISPR-activation screens in ferroptosis hypersensitive cells, we identify the selenoprotein P (SELENOP) receptor, LRP8, as a key determinant protecting MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cells from ferroptosis.

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(.) has become a popular toxicological and biological test organism in the last two decades. Furthermore, the role of as an alternative for replacing or reducing animal experiments is continuously discussed and investigated.

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