Podocyte-specific deletion of miR-146a increases podocyte injury and diabetic kidney disease.

Diabetic glomerular injury is a major complication of diabetes mellitus and is the leading cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD). Healthy podocytes are essential for glomerular function and health. Injury or loss of these cells results in increased proteinuria and kidney dysfunction and is a common finding in various glomerulopathies.

Targeting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in human osteosarcoma cells.

Aberrant activation of Wnt signaling has been implicated in human osteosarcoma, which may provide a genetic vulnerability that can be targeted in osteosarcoma treatment. To test whether Wnt activation is necessary for osteosarcoma growth, colony formation, invasion, and metastasis, we treated human osteosarcoma cells with a small molecule inhibitor of Wnt/β-catenin, PRI-724, which suppresses Wnt/β-catenin-mediated transcription. We found increased protein levels of endogenous active-β-catenin in five human osteosarcoma cell lines.

Spread and persistence of VIM-1 Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in three German swine farms in 2011 and 2012.

The occurrence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in livestock is considered as a threat for public health. In Germany, VIM-1-producing Escherichia (E.) coli sequence type (ST) 88 and Salmonella Infantis isolates harbouring blaIncHI2 plasmids have been isolated from swine and poultry farms.

Diversity of STs, plasmids and ESBL genes among Escherichia coli from humans, animals and food in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare ESBL-producing Escherichia coli causing infections in humans with infecting or commensal isolates from animals and isolates from food of animal origin in terms of the strain types, the ESBL gene present and the plasmids that carry the respective ESBL genes.

Methods: A collection of 353 ESBL-positive E. coli isolates from the UK, the Netherlands and Germany were studied by MLST and ESBL genes were identified.

Comparative genome analysis of IncHI2 VIM-1 carbapenemase-encoding plasmids of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica isolated from a livestock farm in Germany.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae are not any more isolated only from human settings, but also from livestock. We reported for the first time the presence of VIM-1 carbapenemases in a livestock farm in Germany. The VIM-1 resistance gene found in these farms was located on IncHI2 plasmids.