Hepcidin and ferritin levels as markers of immune cell activation during septic shock, severe COVID-19 and sterile inflammation.

Introduction: Major clinically relevant inflammatory events such as septic shock and severe COVID-19 trigger dynamic changes in the host immune system, presenting promising candidates for new biomarkers to improve precision diagnostics and patient stratification. Hepcidin, a master regulator of iron metabolism, has been intensively studied in many pathologies associated with immune system activation, however these data have never been compared to other clinical settings. Thus, we aimed to reveal the dynamics of iron regulation in various clinical settings and to determine the suitability of hepcidin and/or ferritin levels as biomarkers of inflammatory disease severity.

Prognostic value of soluble endoglin in patients with septic shock and severe COVID-19.

Sepsis is a clinical syndrome characterized by a dysregulated response to infection. It represents a leading cause of mortality in ICU patients worldwide. Although sepsis is in the point of interest of research for several decades, its clinical management and patient survival are improving slowly.

Polymorphonuclear Cells Show Features of Dysfunctional Activation During Fatal Sepsis.

Sepsis and septic shock remain leading causes of morbidity and mortality for patients in the intensive care unit. During the early phase, immune cells produce various cytokines leading to prompt activation of the immune system. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) respond to different signals producing inflammatory factors and executing their antimicrobial mechanisms, resulting in the engulfment and elimination of invading pathogens.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Panton-Valentine Leucocidin-Producing Staphylococcus aureus Sequence Type 154 Strain NRL 08/001, Isolated from a Fatal Case of Necrotizing Pneumonia.

Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL)-positive methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains cause life-threatening diseases. We present a draft genome sequence of PVL-positive MRSA sequence type 154 (ST154) strain NRL 08/001, isolated from a fatal case of necrotizing pneumonia. The genome consists of 2.

ProTAME Arrest in Mammalian Oocytes and Embryos Does Not Require Spindle Assembly Checkpoint Activity.

In both mitosis and meiosis, metaphase to anaphase transition requires the activity of a ubiquitin ligase known as anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C). The activation of APC/C in metaphase is under the control of the checkpoint mechanism, called the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), which monitors the correct attachment of all kinetochores to the spindle. It has been shown previously in somatic cells that exposure to a small molecule inhibitor, prodrug tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester (proTAME), resulted in cell cycle arrest in metaphase, with low APC/C activity.