Drebrin in Renal Glomeruli.

The central function of renal glomeruli is plasma ultrafiltration for primary urine production. The glomerular filtration barrier consists of a fenestrated endothelium, the glomerular basement membrane and podocytes, mesenchymal-like cells with actin filament-rich protrusions, the "foot processes." Their architecture and function are maintained and regulated by actin and several actin-binding proteins, mutations of which can be causative of glomerular diseases.

Juxtanuclear Drebrin-Enriched Zone.

Drebrin E contributes to remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton and formation of cell processes. Therefore, its role in cell migration was studied in prototypes of motile cells with prominent lamellipodia such as murine B16F1 melanoma and Swiss 3T3 cells and in human SV80 fibroblasts. Confocal microscopy revealed absence of drebrin from the tips of lamellipodia but enrichment in the tail of the cells, in retraction zones and in a specific juxtanuclear actin filament compartment, named "drebrin-enriched zone.

Drebrin at Junctional Plaques.

Adhesion, segregation, and cellular plasticity are regulated by actin filaments anchored at the plaques of adherens junctions, sites of mechanical stabilization, and interfaces of multiple signaling networks. Drebrins were originally identified in neuronal cells, but the isoform drebrin E was also detected at adherens junctions of a wide range of non-neuronal cells, including polarized epithelia, endothelia, and fibroblasts. Here the protein is enriched at actin filament bundles associated with junctional plaques.

Impact of fumaric acid esters on cardiovascular risk factors and depression in psoriasis: a prospective pilot study.

Patients with psoriasis have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease that is partly attributable to chronic systemic inflammation. The aim of our prospective pilot study was to investigate the impact of fumaric acid esters (FAE), a first-line systemic antipsoriatic treatment in Germany, on cardiovascular risk parameters. Participants with moderate-to-severe psoriasis from the University Medical Center Mannheim and the University Hospital Würzburg were treated with FAE for 16 weeks according to standard dosage recommendations.