Rational design of a hypoallergenic Phl p 7 variant for immunotherapy of polcalcin-sensitized patients.

Polcalcins are important respiratory panallergens, whose IgE-binding capacity depends on the presence of calcium. Since specific immunotherapy is not yet available for the treatment of polcalcin-sensitized patients, we aimed to develop a molecule for efficient and safe immunotherapy. We generated a hypoallergenic variant of the grass pollen polcalcin Phl p 7 by introducing specific point mutations into the allergen's calcium-binding regions.

Concentration of free amino acids in human milk of women with gestational diabetes mellitus and healthy women.

Objective: It is generally agreed that breastfeeding has a positive effect on the metabolic situation in diabetic mothers. However, negative long-term effects are described for breastfed offspring of diabetic women. It is unknown if the composition of free amino acids (FAAs) in breastmilk of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) differs from that in milk of healthy women.

Cu2+-cyclen as probe to identify conformational states in guanine nucleotide binding proteins.

(31)P NMR spectroscopy is a suitable method for identifying conformational states in the active site of guanine nucleotide binding proteins detecting the nucleotide placed there. Because there is no labeling necessary, this method is gaining increasing interest. By (31)P NMR spectroscopy two major conformational states, namely state 1(T) and state 2(T), can be detected in active Ras protein characterized by different chemical shifts.

Survey of pedestrian detection for advanced driver assistance systems.

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs), and particularly pedestrian protection systems (PPSs), have become an active research area aimed at improving traffic safety. The major challenge of PPSs is the development of reliable on-board pedestrian detection systems. Due to the varying appearance of pedestrians (e.

Absence of the JAK2 mutation V617F in CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from patients with BCR-ABL-positive CML in chronic phase and blast crisis.

In this study, we examined highly enriched CD34+ cells from patients with BCR-ABL-positve CML in chronic phase or blast crisis for the JAK2 V617F activation mutation by sequencing. The cells examined did not bear the mutation irrespective of the disease stage. This finding suggests that the previously described increase of expression and kinase activity of JAK2 in CML cells does not result from the JAK2 V617F activation mutation and that transformation into blast crisis is not associated with the occurrence of this mutation.

A novel mechanism for the modulation of the Ras-effector interaction by small molecules.

When proteins require different conformations for their biological function, all these functional states have to coexist simultaneously in solution. However, the corresponding Gibbs free energy differences are usually rather high and thus the conformation with lowest energy predominates in solution whereas the populations of the states with higher energy (excited states) are very small. A stabilization of these excited states can be used as a novel principle to influence the activity of proteins by small molecules.

Distinct molecular phenotype of malignant CD34(+) hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a malignant disorder of the hematopoietic stem cell characterized by the BCR-ABL oncogene. We examined gene expression profiles of highly enriched CD34(+) hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from patients with CML in chronic phase using cDNA arrays covering 1.185 genes.

Expression of the tyrosine kinase c-kit is an independent prognostic factor in patients with small cell lung cancer.

In a retrospective analysis of 203 patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), we examined the prognostic value of c-kit expression on survival. Expression of c-kit was examined immunohistochemically in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. c-kit was observed in 87.

Inhibition of angiogenesis in vitro by alphav integrin-directed antisense oligonucleotides.

The integrin alpha v beta 3 plays a central role in angiogenesis. In this study, we used antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ONs) directed against the alpha v subunit of alpha v beta 3 to inhibit integrin expression. Ten ON sequences, which were selected by systematic alignment of computer-predicted secondary structures of alpha v mRNA, were transfected into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).