Primary Repair of Ear Avulsion with Adjuvant Hyperbaric Therapy and Nitroglycerin Ointment.

Traumatic auricular avulsion is a rare and deforming injury. Classically, repair has required microvascular anastomosis. In this publication, we report two separate cases of pediatric auricular avulsion from dog bites.

Bedside Fluorescence Microangiography for Frostbite Diagnosis in the Emergency Department.

Introduction: Frostbite leads to progressive ischemia eventually causing tissue necrosis if not quickly reversed. Patients with frostbite tend to present to the emergency department (ED) for assessment and treatment. Acute management includes rewarming, pain management, and (when indicated) thrombolytic therapy.

An Institutional Protocol for the Treatment of Severe Frostbite Injury-A 6-Year Retrospective Analysis.

The treatment of severe frostbite injury has undergone rapid development in the past 30 years with many different diagnostic and treatment options now available. However, there is currently no consensus on the best method for management of this disease process. At our institution, we have designed a protocol for severe frostbite injury that includes diagnosis, medical treatment, wound cares, therapy, and surgery.

CASE SERIES OF HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY FOR CENTRAL RETINAL ARTERY OCCLUSION.

Purpose: To retrospectively report the outcomes of patients presenting to our facility with central retinal artery occlusion and receiving therapy with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO).

Methods: This was a retrospective, chart review at a single hospital center. Patients with diagnosed central retinal artery occlusion were treated with HBO twice daily for 5 days during their inpatient stay for a total of 10 HBO treatments.

Microangiography: An Alternative Tool for Assessing Severe Frostbite Injury.

Assessment of frostbite injury typically relies on computed tomography, angiography, or nuclear medicine studies to detect perfusion deficits prior to thrombolytic therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of a novel imaging method, microangiography, in the assessment of severe frostbite injury. Patients with severe frostbite were included if they received a post-thrombolytic Technetium 99 (Tc99) bone scan, a Tc99 bone scan without thrombolytic therapy, and/or post-thrombolytic microangiography (MA) study.

Esophageal Stricture Following Radiation, Concurrent Immunochemotherapy, Treated With Hyperbaric Oxygen and Dilation.

Low-dose palliative radiation may offer symptomatic relief in patients with spinal metastases from primary renal cell cancer and is unlikely to result in radiation injury. Patients with advanced malignancy requiring palliative radiation are often also receiving chemotherapy. Synergistic adverse effects resulting from combined palliative radiation and novel antiprogrammed cell death-1 (anti-PD 1) and/or multityrosine kinase inhibitors are rare.

Availability of Bedside and Laboratory Testing for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in the Upper Midwestern United States.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess the ability to test patients for carbon monoxide (CO) exposure in all hospitals in three United States (U.S.) Midwestern states.

The MYO6 interactome reveals adaptor complexes coordinating early endosome and cytoskeletal dynamics.

The intracellular functions of myosin motors requires a number of adaptor molecules, which control cargo attachment, but also fine-tune motor activity in time and space. These motor-adaptor-cargo interactions are often weak, transient or highly regulated. To overcome these problems, we use a proximity labelling-based proteomics strategy to map the interactome of the unique minus end-directed actin motor MYO6.

Myosin VI-Dependent Actin Cages Encapsulate Parkin-Positive Damaged Mitochondria.

Mitochondrial quality control is essential to maintain cellular homeostasis and is achieved by removing damaged, ubiquitinated mitochondria via Parkin-mediated mitophagy. Here, we demonstrate that MYO6 (myosin VI), a unique myosin that moves toward the minus end of actin filaments, forms a complex with Parkin and is selectively recruited to damaged mitochondria via its ubiquitin-binding domain. This myosin motor initiates the assembly of F-actin cages to encapsulate damaged mitochondria by forming a physical barrier that prevents refusion with neighboring populations.

MYO6 Regulates Spatial Organization of Signaling Endosomes Driving AKT Activation and Actin Dynamics.

APPL1- and RAB5-positive signaling endosomes play a crucial role in the activation of AKT in response to extracellular stimuli. Myosin VI (MYO6) and two of its cargo adaptor proteins, GIPC and TOM1/TOM1L2, localize to these peripheral endosomes and mediate endosome association with cortical actin filaments. Loss of MYO6 leads to the displacement of these endosomes from the cell cortex and accumulation in the perinuclear space.

Microangiography to Monitor Treatment Outcomes Following Severe Frostbite Injury to the Hands.

Frostbite injury causes direct damage to tissues following exposure to temperatures below their freezing point causing tissue death potentially leading to serious amputations. After rewarming, a variety of treatment options have been employed to avoid amputation. This case report details the use of indocyanine green fluorescence microangiography to monitor the clinical progression of perfusion following hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for severe frostbite injury.

Filopodia formation and endosome clustering induced by mutant plus-end-directed myosin VI.

Myosin VI (MYO6) is the only myosin known to move toward the minus end of actin filaments. It has roles in numerous cellular processes, including maintenance of stereocilia structure, endocytosis, and autophagosome maturation. However, the functional necessity of minus-end-directed movement along actin is unclear as the underlying architecture of the local actin network is often unknown.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the prevention of arterial gas embolism in food grade hydrogen peroxide ingestion.

Food grade hydrogen peroxide ingestion is a relatively rare presentation to the emergency department. There are no defined guidelines at this time regarding the treatment of such exposures, and providers may not be familiar with the potential complications associated with high concentration hydrogen peroxide ingestions. In this case series, we describe four patients who consumed 35% hydrogen peroxide, presented to the emergency department, and were treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Myosins: Domain Organisation, Motor Properties, Physiological Roles and Cellular Functions.

Myosins are cytoskeletal motor proteins that use energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to generate force and movement along actin filaments. Humans express 38 myosin genes belonging to 12 classes that participate in a diverse range of crucial activities, including muscle contraction, intracellular trafficking, cell division, motility, actin cytoskeletal organisation and cell signalling. Myosin malfunction has been implicated a variety of disorders including deafness, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Usher syndrome, Griscelli syndrome and cancer.

F-actin waves, actin cortex disassembly and focal exocytosis driven by actin-phosphoinositide positive feedback.

Actin polymerization is controlled by the phosphoinositide composition of the plasma membrane. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the spatiotemporal regulation of actin network organization over extended length scales are still unclear. To observe phosphoinositide-dependent cytoskeletal dynamics we combined the model system of frustrated phagocytosis, total internal reflection microscopy and manipulation of the buffer tonicity.

Plasma membrane tension orchestrates membrane trafficking, cytoskeletal remodeling, and biochemical signaling during phagocytosis.

Phagocytes clear the body of undesirable particles such as infectious agents and debris. To extend pseudopods over the surface of targeted particles during engulfment, cells must change shape through extensive membrane and cytoskeleton remodeling. We observed that pseudopod extension occurred in two phases.

Restricted state selection in fluorescent protein Förster resonance energy transfer.

The measurement of donor lifetime modification by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a widely used tool for detecting protein-protein interactions and protein conformation change. Such measurements can be compromised by the presence of a significant noninteracting fraction of molecules. Combining time-resolved intensity and anisotropy measurements gives access to both molecular distance and orientation.

Easy fabrication of thin membranes with through holes. Application to protein patterning.

Since protein patterning on 2D surfaces has emerged as an important tool in cell biology, the development of easy patterning methods has gained importance in biology labs. In this paper we present a simple, rapid and reliable technique to fabricate thin layers of UV curable polymer with through holes. These membranes are as easy to fabricate as microcontact printing stamps and can be readily used for stencil patterning.

Mechanical feedback between membrane tension and dynamics.

The plasma membrane represents a physical inelastic barrier with a given area that adheres to the underlying cytoskeleton. The tension in the membrane physically affects cell functions and recent studies have highlighted that this physical signal orchestrates complex aspects of trafficking and motility. Despite its undeniable importance, little is known about the mechanisms by which membrane tension regulates cell functions or stimulates signals.

Evidence for a fence that impedes the diffusion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate out of the forming phagosomes of macrophages.

To account for the many functions of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)), several investigators have proposed that there are separate pools of PIP(2) in the plasma membrane. Recent experiments show the surface concentration of PIP(2) is indeed enhanced in regions where phagocytosis, exocytosis, and cell division occurs. Kinases that produce PIP(2) are also concentrated in these regions.

Regulation of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 activity by homodimerization in live cells.

3-Phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1) plays a central role in regulating the activity of protein kinases that are essential for signaling; however, how PDK1 itself is regulated is largely unknown. We found that homodimerization of PDK1 is a spatially and temporally regulated mechanism for controlling PDK1 activity. We used Förster resonance energy transfer monitored by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy to observe PDK1 homodimerization in live cells.

Sternal nourishment in various conditions of vascularization.

Background: Early changes in sternal perfusion were studied after midline sternotomy and different methods of mammary artery (MA) harvesting.

Methods: Our observations were made in the swine model after midline sternotomy. In group 1 (6 animals), after unilateral skeletonized MA harvesting, (99m)Tc particles were injected intravenously.