Management of congenital chest wall deformities.

Congenital chest wall deformities are considered to be anomalies in chest wall growth. These can be categorized as either rib cage overgrowth or deformities related to inadequate growth (aplasia or dysplasia). Rib cage overgrowth leads to depression of the sternum (pectus excavatum) or protuberance of the sternum (pectus carinatum) and accounts for greater than 90% of congenital chest wall deformities.

T-cell activation is enhanced by targeting IL-10 cytokine production in toll-like receptor-stimulated macrophages.

Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists represent potentially useful cancer vaccine adjuvants in their ability to stimulate antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and subsequently amplify the cytotoxic T-cell response. The purpose of this study was to characterize APC responses to TLR activation and to determine the subsequent effect on lymphocyte activation. We exposed murine primary bone marrow-derived macrophages to increasing concentrations of agonists to TLRs 2, 3, 4, and 9.

Modulation of mitochondrial proteome and improved mitochondrial function by biventricular pacing of dyssynchronous failing hearts.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves chamber mechanoenergetics and morbidity and mortality of patients manifesting heart failure with ventricular dyssynchrony; however, little is known about the molecular changes underlying CRT benefits. We hypothesized that mitochondria may play an important role because of their involvement in energy production.

Methods And Results: Mitochondria isolated from the left ventricle in a canine model of dyssynchronous or resynchronized (CRT) heart failure were analyzed by a classical, gel-based, proteomic approach.

The mouse C2C12 myoblast cell surface N-linked glycoproteome: identification, glycosite occupancy, and membrane orientation.

Endogenous regeneration and repair mechanisms are responsible for replacing dead and damaged cells to maintain or enhance tissue and organ function, and one of the best examples of endogenous repair mechanisms involves skeletal muscle. Although the molecular mechanisms that regulate the differentiation of satellite cells and myoblasts toward myofibers are not fully understood, cell surface proteins that sense and respond to their environment play an important role. The cell surface capturing technology was used here to uncover the cell surface N-linked glycoprotein subproteome of myoblasts and to identify potential markers of myoblast differentiation.

Two-dimensional gel-based approaches for the assessment of N-Linked and O-GlcNAc glycosylation in human and simian immunodeficiency viruses.

The glycosylation state of envelope glycoproteins in human and simian immunodeficiency viruses (HIV/SIV) is critical to viral infectivity and tropism, viral protein processing, and in virus evasion of the immune system. Using a rapid fluorescent 2-D gel-based method coupled with enzymatic pre-treatment of virus with PNGase F (Peptide: N-Glycosidase F) and fluorescent 2-D gels or 2-D gel Western blotting, we show significant differences in the glycosylation patterns of two SIV strains widely used in animal models of HIV disease and vaccine studies. We also demonstrate the modification of a host protein important in HIV biology (HLA-DR) by O-GlcNAc.

Surgical resident research productivity over 16 years.

Background: General surgery training has changed over the past decade due to the 80-hour work week and increasing demands on the surgery faculty to generate clinical revenue with ever decreasing reimbursements. The purpose of this study was to evaluate surgery resident productivity over the years and the surgery resident's contribution to clinical and basic research literature.

Method: A PubMed literature search of all graduating chief residents (n = 95) over a 16-y period from a single university-based general surgery program were evaluated.

B-MYB is essential for normal cell cycle progression and chromosomal stability of embryonic stem cells.

Background: The transcription factor B-Myb is present in all proliferating cells, and in mice engineered to remove this gene, embryos die in utero just after implantation due to inner cell mass defects. This lethal phenotype has generally been attributed to a proliferation defect in the cell cycle phase of G1.

Methodology/principal Findings: In the present study, we show that the major cell cycle defect in murine embryonic stem (mES) cells occurs in G2/M.

Proteomic analysis of pharmacological preconditioning: novel protein targets converge to mitochondrial metabolism pathways.

Ischemic preconditioning is characterized by resistance to ischemia reperfusion injury in response to previous short ischemic episodes, a protective effect that can be mimicked pharmacologically. The underlying mechanism of protection remains controversial and requires greater understanding before it can be fully exploited therapeutically. To investigate the overall effect of preconditioning on the myocardial proteome, isolated rabbit ventricular myocytes were treated with drugs known to induce preconditioning, adenosine or diazoxide (each at 100 micromol/L for 60 minutes).

A robust, streamlined, and reproducible method for proteomic analysis of serum by delipidation, albumin and IgG depletion, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

Serum is a readily available source for diagnostic assays, but the identification of disease-specific serum biomarkers has been impeded by the dominance of human serum albumin and immunoglobulins (Igs) in the serum proteome. There is a need to reduce the technical variation in serum processing and analysis to allow for a reproducible analysis of large cohorts. To this end, we have developed a rapid and reproducible procedure for sample preparation and high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to analyze human serum.

Broad-based proteomic strategies: a practical guide to proteomics and functional screening.

Proteomics, the study of the proteome (the collection of all the proteins expressed from the genome in all isoforms, polymorphisms and post-translational modifications), is a rapidly developing field in which there are numerous new and often expensive technologies, making it imperative to use the most appropriate technology for the biological system and hypothesis being addressed. This review provides some guidelines on approaching a broad-based proteomics project, including strategies on refining hypotheses, choosing models and proteomic approaches with an emphasis on aspects of sample complexity (including abundance and protein characteristics), and separation technologies and their respective strengths and weaknesses. Finally, issues related to quantification, mass spectrometry and informatics strategies are discussed.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis database of murine R1 embryonic stem cells.

Embryonic stem (ES) cell lines represent a population of undifferentiated pluripotent cells capable of multilineage differentiation in vitro. Although very useful for studying developmental processes, human ES cell lines have also been suggested as a potential and unlimited source for cellular transplantation and the treatment of human disease. The proteomic basis of embryonic stemness (pluripotentiality and multilineage differentiation) and the transitions that lead to specific cell lineages however, remain to be defined.