Unilateral dynamic balance assessment: The test-retest reliability of the OptoJump next drift protocol.

Background: The OptoJump Next Drift Protocol is a test designed to assess unilateral dynamic balance. Participants are required to perform a series of unilateral jumps from which left/right and forward/back displacement (Drift) is calculated.

Objectives: This investigation set out to establish the test-retest reliability of the OptoJump Next Drift Protocol.

Changes in peripheral HCN2 channels during persistent inflammation.

Nociceptor sensitization following nerve injury or inflammation leads to chronic pain. An increase in the nociceptor hyperpolarization-activated current, I, is observed in many models of pathological pain. Pharmacological blockade of I prevents the mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity that occurs during pathological pain.

LFA-1 activates focal adhesion kinases FAK1/PYK2 to generate LAT-GRB2-SKAP1 complexes that terminate T-cell conjugate formation.

Lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) affinity and avidity changes have been assumed to mediate adhesion to intercellular adhesion molecule-1 for T-cell conjugation to dendritic cells (DC). Although the T-cell receptor (TCR) and LFA-1 can generate intracellular signals, the immune cell adaptor protein linker for the activation of T cells (LAT) couples the TCR to downstream events. Here, we show that LFA-1 can mediate both adhesion and de-adhesion, dependent on receptor clustering.

T-cell immune adaptor SKAP1 regulates the induction of collagen-induced arthritis in mice.

SKAP1 is an immune cell adaptor that couples the T-cell receptor with the 'inside-out' signalling pathway for LFA-1 mediated adhesion in T-cells. A connection of SKAP1 to the regulation of an autoimmune disorder has not previously been reported. In this study, we show that Skap1-deficient (skap1-/-) mice are highly resistant to the induction of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), both in terms of incidence or severity.

The chemokine CXCL12 generates costimulatory signals in T cells to enhance phosphorylation and clustering of the adaptor protein SLP-76.

The CXC chemokine CXCL12 mediates the chemoattraction of T cells and enhances the stimulation of T cells through the T cell receptor (TCR). The adaptor SLP-76 [Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing leukocyte protein of 76 kD] has two key tyrosine residues, Tyr(113) and Tyr(128), that mediate signaling downstream of the TCR. We investigated the effect of CXCL12 on SLP-76 phosphorylation and the TCR-dependent formation of SLP-76 microclusters.