Publications by authors named "Nicolai J"

Article Synopsis
  • * The study reveals new methods for processing methyl groups in terpenoids, through a combination of silylation and oxidation, leading to various transformations such as substitution and integration of the methyl carbon.
  • * These processes not only allow for the creation of novel chemical structures with expanded rings but also show potential applications in medicinal chemistry by adding functional groups to complex compounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

D-glyceric aciduria (DGA) is caused by D-glycerate-2-kinase deficiency due to biallelic pathogenic variants in It is associated with variable neurological symptoms. DGA is extremely rare, and genetic variants are only known in 7 previously described patients. We report a new patient with DGA and a novel homozygous variant.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death from an infectious disease, and is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). More than 1 billion people worldwide are thought to harbor an M.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Intracellular trafficking involves an intricate machinery of motor complexes including the dynein complex to shuttle cargo for autophagolysosomal degradation. Deficiency in dynein axonemal chains as well as cytoplasmic light and intermediate chains have been linked with ciliary dyskinesia and skeletal dysplasia. The cytoplasmic dynein 1 heavy chain protein (DYNC1H1) serves as a core complex for retrograde trafficking in neuronal axons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Fluorine-containing molecules are becoming more common in pharmaceuticals and other applications, with the cyanodifluoromethyl group being notable for its size and distinct electronic properties compared to the trifluoromethyl group.
  • - The synthesis of cyanodifluoromethyl compounds is complex, requiring multiple steps and reactive reagents, but this research introduces a copper-mediated method that simplifies the process using TMSCFCN.
  • - This new method is versatile, allowing late-stage modifications of complex molecules, and the reaction mechanism has been studied to confirm the feasibility of the process, yielding important pharmaceutical analogues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: As key-players of plant immunity, the proteins encoded by resistance genes (-genes) recognize pathogens and initiate pathogen-specific defense responses. The expression of some -genes carry fitness costs and therefore inducible immune responses are likely advantageous. To what degree inducible resistance driven by -genes is triggered by pathogen infection is currently an open question.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ionic calcium (Ca) is a key messenger in signal transduction and its mitochondrial uptake plays an important role in cell physiology. This uptake is mediated by the mitochondrial Ca uniporter (MCU), which is regulated by EMRE (essential MCU regulator) encoded by the SMDT1 (single-pass membrane protein with aspartate rich tail 1) gene. This work presents the genetic, clinical and cellular characterization of two patients harbouring SMDT1 variants and presenting with muscle problems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Data on intraoperative three-dimensionally derived right ventricular free-wall strain (3D-RV FWS) is sparse.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the normal range of intraoperative 3D-RV FWS in patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and compared to conventional echocardiographic parameters. Prospective observational study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Biallelic PIGN variants have been described in Fryns syndrome, multiple congenital anomalies-hypotonia-seizure syndrome (MCAHS), and neurologic phenotypes. The full spectrum of clinical manifestations in relation to the genotypes is yet to be reported.

Methods: Genotype and phenotype data were collated and analyzed for 61 biallelic PIGN cases: 21 new and 40 previously published cases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

BackgroundTracking person-to-person SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the population is important to understand the epidemiology of community transmission and may contribute to the containment of SARS-CoV-2. Neither contact tracing nor genomic surveillance alone, however, are typically sufficient to achieve this objective.AimWe demonstrate the successful application of the integrated genomic surveillance (IGS) system of the German city of Düsseldorf for tracing SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains in the population as well as detecting and investigating travel-associated SARS-CoV-2 infection clusters.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) expresses a high abundance of transporters, particularly P-glycoprotein (P-gp), that regulate endogenous and exogenous molecule uptake and removal of waste. This review discusses key drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic considerations for the efflux transporter P-gp at the BBB in drug discovery and development. We highlight the differences in P-gp expression and protein levels across species but the limited observations of species-specific substrates.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Despite increased awareness of aldehyde oxidase (AO) as a major drug-metabolising enzyme, predicting the pharmacokinetics of its substrates remains challenging. Several drug candidates have been terminated due to high clearance, which were subsequently discovered to be AO substrates. Even retrospective extrapolation of human clearance, from models more sensitive to AO activity, often resulted in underprediction.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Germline loss-of-function variants in the CTNNB1 gene are linked to neurodevelopmental disorders that include spastic diplegia and visual issues, making them a common genetic cause of cerebral palsy (CP).
  • A study analyzed genetic data from 404 individuals with pathogenic CTNNB1 variants, including newly detailed phenotypes for 52 cases, to explore how these variants relate to CP and other traits.
  • Findings showed that individuals with CTNNB1 variants exhibited similar clinical features, suggesting that CP is part of the neurodevelopmental disorder spectrum rather than a separate condition; two specific variants were found to disrupt WNT signaling processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cyberchondria is characterized by excessive health-related online search behavior associated with an unfounded escalation of concerns about common symptomatology. It often co-occurs with health anxiety. We investigated whether base-rate neglect-the cognitive bias to ignore a priori probabilities (e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Little is known about the impact of age on the processes governing human intestinal drug absorption. The Ussing chamber is a system to study drug transport across tissue barriers, but it has not been used to study drug absorption processes in children. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of the Ussing chamber methodology to assess pediatric intestinal drug absorption.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this paper, we study the gains and losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. We distinguish between the effects of the pandemic and those of the health measures implemented to reduce the death toll, notably "the lockdown." Our theoretical model is focused on within-sector firm heterogeneity and involves imperfect competition in a partial equilibrium setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease (PF-ILD) is characterised by increased pulmonary fibrosis, lung function decline, acute exacerbations, decreased quality of life and increased mortality. Nintedanib may slow down disease progression, but long-term outcomes are unknown. We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of nintedanib in comparison to placebo, both on top of usual care in patients with PF-ILD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Epilepsy is common in patients with PIGN diseases due to biallelic variants; however, limited epilepsy phenotyping data have been reported. We describe the epileptology of PIGN encephalopathy.

Methods: We recruited patients with epilepsy due to biallelic PIGN variants and obtained clinical data regarding age at seizure onset/offset and semiology, development, medical history, examination, electroencephalogram, neuroimaging, and treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We investigated the structure, histochemistry, and ultrastructure of the secretory canals in the vegetative axis of Protium ovatum from a developmental perspective. Samples of roots, stems, and leaves were analyzed using light and transmission electron microscopy. Secretory canals composed of a uniseriate epithelium and a wide lumen occurred in the phloem of all analyzed organs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Most drugs are administered to children orally. An information gap remains on the protein abundance of small intestinal drug-metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) and drug transporters (DTs) across the pediatric age range, which hinders precision dosing in children. To explore age-related differences in DMEs and DTs, surgical leftover intestinal tissues from pediatric and adult jejunum and ileum were collected and analyzed by targeted quantitative proteomics for apical sodium-bile acid transporter, breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1), multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1), multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) 2, MRP3, organic anion-transporting polypeptide 2B1, organic cation transporter 1, peptide transporter 1 (PEPT1), CYP2C19, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, UDP glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A1, UGT1A10, and UGT2B7.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: There are limited data on perioperative left ventricular strain. The authors aimed to describe the entire perioperative course of two-dimensional left ventricular global longitudinal strain in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and compare to common parameters of LV function assessment.

Design: Prospective observational study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Existing evidence is inconclusive whether meropenem dosing should be adjusted in patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Therefore, the aim of this observational matched cohort study was to evaluate the effect of ECMO on pharmacokinetic (PK) variability and target attainment (TA) of meropenem. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) simultaneously treated with meropenem and ECMO were eligible.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the challenge of tracing SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains due to missed contacts and how viral sequencing can help reconstruct these networks.
  • An integrated genomic surveillance system was developed in collaboration with public health authorities, combining viral sequencing, cluster identification, contact tracing data, and a user-friendly dashboard for data analysis.
  • The system effectively characterized viral outbreaks, identified infection clusters, and enhanced hospital infection control, demonstrating its potential for better monitoring and management of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study describes the case of a third patient with brain small vessel disease 3 (BSVD3), revealing a more severe form than previous cases, linked to a specific genetic variant.
  • Whole exome sequencing was utilized on the patient and parents to identify a homozygous splice site variant, and further tests confirmed the genetic mutation affected mRNA splicing.
  • The patient exhibited severe neurological issues, including developmental delay and seizures, confirming the gene's role in this rare condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF