[Osteochondrosis dissecans of the hip in adults--differential diagnosis of free joint bodies--case report].

The causes of hip pain in adults can vary greatly. We present the case of a 44-year-old woman with recurrent hip pain over a period of years. Medical history and clinical examination did not provide any decisive information.

[Revision surgery for knee prostheses using the DRG system].

Due to an increasing life expectancy and earlier primary implantation of total knee replacements, the number of patients requiring revision surgery in Germany is increasing by 7% every year. These revision cases belong to the most treatment and cost intensive operations in joint replacement surgery. Presently, the description of these procedures in the German DRG system, which defines the financial reimbursement for the hospitals, is changing yearly with the development of new catalogues.

Time reduction and process optimization of the baculovirus expression system for more efficient recombinant protein production in insect cells.

Rapid expression of recombinant proteins for structure determination is one of the major challenges in pharmaceutical and academic research, since the number of potential drug targets has increased significantly in the last decade. Despite the fact that the baculovirus expression vector system is widely used for this purpose, the system is hampered by three very slow and tedious procedures, namely generation of high titer baculovirus stock, determination of the virus titer and discovery of the best conditions for protein expression. We herein describe the development of the ultraBac system to address and overcome these issues for protein expression in insect cells.

A baculovirus expression vector system for simultaneous protein expression in insect and mammalian cells.

Since the number of potential drug targets identified has significantly increased in the past decade, rapid expression of recombinant proteins in sufficient amounts for structure determination and modern drug discovery is one of the major challenges in pharmaceutical research. As a result of its capacity for insertion of large DNA fragments, its high yield of recombinant protein and its high probability of success compared to protein expression in Escherichia coli, the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is used routinely to produce recombinant proteins in the milligram scale. For some targets, however, expression of the recombinant protein with the BEVS in insect cells fails and mammalian expression systems have to be used to achieve proper post-translational processing of the nascent polypeptide.

Baculovirus expression system for magnetic sorting of infected cells and enhanced titer determination.

Recombinant baculoviruses derived from the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) are widely used to express heterologous genes in insect cells, but the use of the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is hampered by slow and tedious procedures for the selection and separation of baculovirus-infected insect cells and for titer determination. Here we developed a new technology based on the bicistronic vector with a fusion protein of the human integral plasma membrane glycoprotein CD4 and green fluorescent protein (GFP) for concomitant expression of target proteins in insect Sf21 cells. Magnetic cell sorting (MACS) technology with anti-CD4 antibody-labeled superparamagnetic beads was used to separate the baculovirus-infected from the noninfected insect cells and therefore to increase the virus titer and to reduce process time.

FRET-based in vivo screening for protein folding and increased protein stability.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was used to establish a novel in vivo screening system that allows rapid detection of protein folding and protein variants with increased thermodynamic stability in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli. The system is based on the simultaneous fusion of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) to the C terminus of a protein X of interest, and of blue-fluorescent protein (BFP) to the N terminus of protein X. Efficient FRET from BFP to GFP in the ternary fusion protein is observed in vivo only when protein X is folded and brings BFP and GFP into close proximity, while FRET is lost when BFP and GFP are far apart due to unfolding or intracellular degradation of protein X.

Randomization of the entire active-site helix alpha 1 of the thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase DsbA from Escherichia coli.

DsbA from Escherichia coli is the most oxidizing member of the thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase family (E(o)' = -122 mV) and is required for efficient disulfide bond formation in the periplasm. The reactivity of the catalytic disulfide bond (Cys(30)-Pro(31)-His(32)-Cys(33)) is primarily due to an extremely low pK(a) value (3.4) of Cys(30), which is stabilized by the partial positive dipole charge of the active-site helix alpha1 (residues 30-37).

Interindividual reproducibility in perioperative rotational alignment of femoral components in knee prosthetic surgery using the transepicondylar axis.

Femoral component malalignment is one of the main causes of persisting anterior knee pain after knee replacement. This study examined interindividual reproducibility in perioperative definition of the transepicondylar axis (TEA) as a reference for measuring the rotational alignment of the femoral component. Eight surgeons experienced in knee prosthetic surgery marked on Thiel-embalmed cadaver specimens the reference points that they would normally use to define the TEA during knee replacement.

[Risk factors for anastomosis dehiscence after very deep colorectal and coloanal anastomosis].

Introduction: Very low colorectal anastomoses are considered to be more prone to complications than other anastomoses. We aimed to analyze possible risk factors for the surgically most relevant complication, anastomotic leakage.

Methods: Uni- and multivariate analysis of the relation between leakage and 18 patient- and procedure-dependent variables were performed in 98 patients after very low colorectal or coloanal anastomosis.

[Primary liposarcoma of the stomach wall--a rare mesenchymal tumor].

Introduction: Primary liposarcoma of the stomach wall is rare. Only eight cases have been described so far.

Material And Method: Here we report the ninth case, occurring in a 74-year-old woman who presented with weight loss and a therapy-resistant ulcer of the stomach wall.

Advances in the use of glass-ionomeric cement. Part 2: Functional results of fine application of low-viscosity glass-ionomeric cement: animal experimental results.

An experimentally developed technique for microapplication of low-viscosity glass-ionomeric cement (see part 1) was tested in animals over a 6-month period. The cement was used to firmly connect gold with titanium and gold with middle ear ossicles in 22 adult foxhounds. After a 6-month period of acoustic stimulation via parts of an implantable hearing aid, the finely applied glass-ionomeric cement was integrated in situ, stable and caused no adverse reactions.

Advances in the use of glass-ionomeric cement. Part 1: Experimental results and portrayal of a technique.

The objective of this study was to develop a method of cement microapplication using glass-ionomeric cement. The results of an experimental study to design a microapplication method of glass-ionomeric cement (Ionocem) are presented. Typical middle ear implant materials, as well as human temporal bones and middle ear ossicles, were used to test the efficiency of this application method.