Cerebral angiogenesis ameliorates pathological disorders in -deficient mice with small-vessel disease.

Cerebral small-vessel diseases (SVDs) often follow a progressive course. Little is known about the function of angiogenesis, which potentially induces regression of SVDs. Here, we investigated angiogenesis in a mouse model of incontinentia pigmenti (IP), a genetic disease comprising features of SVD.

Altered B-cell subsets and functional B-cell defects in selective IgM deficiency.

Primary selective IgM deficiency (sIgM) is characterized by diminished serum IgM, infections and autoimmunity. Although there is some evidence of B-cell defects the pathogenesis of sIgM is poorly understood. We determined peripheral B-cell subsets and IgM-expression levels in 31 adult sIgM patients by flow cytometry.

Monitoring the dynamics of clonal tumour evolution in vivo using secreted luciferases.

Tumours are heterogeneous cell populations that undergo clonal evolution during tumour progression, metastasis and response to therapy. Short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) generate stable loss-of-function phenotypes and are versatile experimental tools to explore the contribution of individual genetic alterations to clonal evolution. In these experiments tumour cells carrying shRNAs are commonly tracked with fluorescent reporters.