Publications by authors named "Ruppel A"

Article Synopsis
  • EpCAM and Trop2 are cell surface markers linked to carcinoma, affecting myosin-based cell behaviors essential for adhesion and migration, but their specific roles in cancer metastasis are not well understood.
  • The study uses MCF7 breast cancer cell spheroids to explore how different levels of EpCAM and Trop2 influence cell spreading and cohesion, revealing that depleting EpCAM promotes spreading while depleting Trop2 inhibits it.
  • The findings suggest that EpCAM and Trop2 work together to regulate cell contractility and adhesion by affecting cortical tension at cell interfaces, indicating their potential function as a mechanostat that modulates cell behavior in cancer progression.
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Acute median nerve neuropathy is most often due to trauma; acute carpal tunnel syndrome is considered a surgical emergency and must be ruled out. A right-hand dominant male presented to the emergency department with progressive unilateral pain and numbness in the median nerve distribution after experiencing a pop while doing pushups. The evaluation was limited to pain, but there was no gross deformity, and the distal right upper extremity was neurovascularly intact.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Vaccine priming using germline-targeting immunogens could enhance the development of precision vaccines for serious human diseases, as shown in a clinical trial of eOD-GT8 60mer.
  • - The trial found that participants receiving a higher vaccine dose had more VRC01-class bnAb-precursor B cells compared to those receiving a lower dose, but the differences were primarily linked to their IGHV1-2 genotypes.
  • - The study highlights the importance of understanding genetic variations in immune response (specifically immunoglobulin alleles) when creating and testing new vaccines in clinical settings.
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The lymph node (LN) is a critical biological site for immune maturation after vaccination as it includes several cell populations critical for priming the antibody response. Here, we present a protocol for sampling the LN and isolating cell populations to evaluate immunogens targeting germline cells. We describe steps for media and tube preparation and sample collection using an ultrasound-guided LN fine-needle aspiration procedure.

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Cell-generated forces play a major role in coordinating the large-scale behavior of cell assemblies, in particular during development, wound healing, and cancer. Mechanical signals propagate faster than biochemical signals, but can have similar effects, especially in epithelial tissues with strong cell-cell adhesion. However, a quantitative description of the transmission chain from force generation in a sender cell, force propagation across cell-cell boundaries, and the concomitant response of receiver cells is missing.

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Climate change, access, and monopolies to raw material sources as well as politically motivated trade barriers are among the factors responsible for a shortage of raw materials. In the plastics industry, resource conservation can be achieved by substituting commercially available petrochemical-based plastics with components made from renewable raw materials. Innovation potentials are often not used due to a lack of information on the use of bio-based materials, efficient processing methods, and product technologies or because the costs for new developments are too high.

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  • Hypertrophic pachymeningitis (HPM) is a rare, debilitating condition that can occur with ANCA-negative vasculitis, exemplified in a case of a 28-year-old woman with worsening back pain and thoracic spinal cord involvement.
  • Imaging indicated dural-based masses and infectious causes were ruled out, with biopsies showing no signs of granulomatous inflammation or malignancy.
  • The patient's HPM was managed with steroid treatments, resulting in symptom relief and disease stability, presenting a unique case in the context of limited knowledge about HPM in ANCA-negative conditions.
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Article Synopsis
  • Vaccine priming immunogens that target specific immune responses show potential for creating effective vaccines against major diseases.
  • A clinical trial of the eOD-GT8 60mer found that participants receiving a higher dose had more B cells related to broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) than those on a lower dose.
  • The differences in response were more linked to genetic variations in immunoglobulin alleles among participants than to the vaccine dose, highlighting the importance of considering genetic diversity in vaccine design and testing.
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Autoimmune encephalitis is increasingly recognized in clinical practice. We are presenting a 72-year-old female patient who initially presented with a new onset seizure with temporal lobe abnormality on imaging. This was initially attributed to herpes encephalitis although herpes polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was negative.

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The mechanical properties of biological tissues are key to their physical integrity and function. Although external loading or biochemical treatments allow the estimation of these properties globally, it remains difficult to assess how such external stimuli compare with cell-generated contractions. Here we engineer microtissues composed of optogenetically-modified fibroblasts encapsulated within collagen.

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Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) can protect against HIV infection but have not been induced by human vaccination. A key barrier to bnAb induction is vaccine priming of rare bnAb-precursor B cells. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1 clinical trial, the HIV vaccine-priming candidate eOD-GT8 60mer adjuvanted with AS01 had a favorable safety profile and induced VRC01-class bnAb precursors in 97% of vaccine recipients with median frequencies reaching 0.

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Due to their valuable properties (low weight, and good thermal and mechanical properties), glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics are becoming increasingly important. Fiber-reinforced thermoplastics are mainly manufactured by injection molding and extrusion, whereby the extrusion compounding process is primarily used to produce fiber-filled granulates. Reproducible production of high-quality components requires a granulate in which the fiber length is even and high.

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Mechanics has been a central focus of physical biology in the past decade. In comparison, how cells manage their size is less understood. Here, we show that a parameter central to both the physics and the physiology of the cell, its volume, depends on a mechano-osmotic coupling.

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The neocortex is composed of layers. Whether layers constitute an essential framework for the formation of functional circuits is not well understood. We investigated the brain-wide input connectivity of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) expressing neurons in the reeler mouse.

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Tight-junction-regulated actomyosin activity determines epithelial and endothelial tension on adherens junctions and drives morphogenetic processes; however, whether or not tight junctions themselves are under tensile stress is not clear. Here, we use a tension sensor based on ZO-1, a scaffolding protein that links the junctional membrane to the cytoskeleton, to determine if tight junctions carry a mechanical load. Our data indicate that ZO-1 is under mechanical tension and that forces acting on ZO-1 are regulated by extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness and the junctional adhesion molecule JAM-A.

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Background: The obesity epidemic has been growing steadily across the whole world, and so far not a single country has been able to reverse it. The cause of obesity is stated by the World Health Organization as an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. However, growing evidence suggests that the calorie imbalance concept may not be sufficient to manage and reverse the obesity epidemic.

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Introduction: Due to the demographic trend, pertrochanteric fractures of the femur will gain increasing importance in the future. Both extra- and intramedullary implants are used with good results in the treatment of these fractures. New, angular stable extramedullary implants promise increased postoperative stability even with unstable fractures.

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Background: The 'Doctors to the Barrios' (DTTB) Program was launched in 1993 in response to the shortage of doctors in remote communities in the Philippines. While the Program has attracted physicians to work in such areas for the prescribed 2-year period, ongoing monitoring shows that very few chose to remain there for longer and be absorbed by their Local Government Unit (LGU). This assessment was carried out to explore the reasons for the low retention rates and to propose possible strategies to reverse the trend.

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Parvulins compose a family of small peptidyl-prolyl isomerases (PPIases) involved in protein folding and protein quality control. A number of amino acids in the catalytic cavity are highly conserved, but their precise role within the catalytic mechanism is unknown. The 0.

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Crude antigenic preparations from Setaria equina were used in ELISA and Western blotting to examine cross-reaction with human sera from areas endemic for bancroftian filariasis. Sera from normal subjects from non-endemic areas were included as negative controls. Cross-reaction was found between S.

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Mice responses to immunization with Schistosoma mansoni antigens were investigated. Priming with cercarial antigen preparation (CAP) induced significant (P < 0.05) IgM, IgG, IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgA increases, while booster caused a significant IgG1 increase.

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Ras is a small GTP-binding protein that is an essential molecular switch for a wide variety of signaling pathways including the control of cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis. In the GTP-bound state, Ras can interact with its effectors, triggering various signaling cascades in the cell. In the GDP-bound state, Ras looses its ability to bind to known effectors.

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A cyclohexanecarboxamide derivative, N-phenyl-N-[1-(piperidine-1-carbonyl)cyclohexyl] benzamide (MNRC-5), was evaluated for its inhibitory effects on Schistosoma mansoni cercarial serine protease activity and cercarial penetration. MNRC-5 exerted an inhibitory effect on S. mansoni cercarial serine protease at serial concentrations of the specific chromogenic substrate Boc-Val-Leu-Gly-Arg-PNA for such enzyme family and the inhibitory coefficient (Ki) value was deduced.

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It is widely accepted that the immune response of the host attacks the parasite and the parasite appears to develop strategies to evade the assault. However, there is increasing evidence that the development of a parasite may be also positively influenced by the immune response of host. In this paper, we explore the effects of T cell deficiency on the development of the worms and granuloma formation in mice infected with cercariae of Schistosoma japonicum.

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