Pediatric health and life domain priorities: A national survey of people with spinal cord injury and their parents and caregivers.

Context/objective: No information is available regarding priorities for pediatric-onset spinal cord injury (SCI). This study described the Health and Life (H&L) domain priorities of youth with pediatric-onset SCI and their parents/caregivers living in Spain.

Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Polyaromatic cores for the exfoliation of popular 2D materials.

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have attracted interest from the scientific community due to their unique properties. The production of these materials has been carried out by diverse methodologies, the liquid phase exfoliation being the most promising one due to its simplicity and potential scalability. The use of several stabilizers allows to obtain dispersions of these 2D nanomaterials in solvents with low boiling points.

Post-COVID Complications after Pressure Ulcer Surgery in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury Associate with Creatine Kinase Upregulation in Adipose Tissue.

The risk of complications following surgical procedures is significantly increased in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the mechanisms underlying these correlations are not fully known. Spinal cord injury (SCI) patients who underwent reconstructive surgery for pressure ulcers (PUs) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were included in this study.

Endocannabinoid signaling in oligodendroglia.

In the central nervous system, oligodendrocytes synthesize the myelin, a specialized membrane to wrap axons in a discontinuous way allowing a rapid saltatory nerve impulse conduction. Oligodendrocytes express a number of growth factors and neurotransmitters receptors that allow them to sense the environment and interact with neurons and other glial cells. Depending on the cell cycle stage, oligodendrocytes may respond to these signals by regulating their survival, proliferation, migration, and differentiation.

What Happens If a Human Galectin Enters the Endoplasmic Reticulum?

Mammalian galectins have no signal peptide, and it is not known what would happen if a galectin is directed to take the classical export route. The corresponding engineering of galectin-specific cDNA will answer questions on the fate of a signal peptide-bearing protein variant after its entry into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Affinity chromatography and mass-spectrometric analysis of occupancy of potential N-glycosylation sites for the galectin, binding and functional assays with cells as well as subcellular fractionation by density gradient ultracentrifugation and immunocytochemical colocalization with ER/Golgi markers report on aspects of the consequences of letting a galectin enter new territory.

Formation and Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Porphyrin- and Phthalocyanine-Bearing N-Doped Graphene Hybrids Synthesized by Click Chemistry.

Graphene doped with heteroatoms such as nitrogen, boron, and phosphorous by replacing some of the skeletal carbon atoms is emerging as an important class of two-dimensional materials as it offers the much-needed bandgap for optoelectronic applications and provides better access for chemical functionalization at the heteroatom sites. Covalent grafting of photosensitizers onto such doped graphenes makes them extremely useful for light-induced applications. Herein, we report the covalent functionalization of N-doped graphene (NG) with two well-known electron donor photosensitizers, namely, zinc porphyrin (ZnP) and zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), using the simple click chemistry approach.

Cortical layer-specific modulation of neuronal activity after sensory deprivation due to spinal cord injury.

Cortical areas have the capacity of large-scale reorganization following sensory deafferentation. However, it remains unclear whether this phenomenon is a unique process that homogeneously affects the entire deprived cortical region or whether it is susceptible to changes depending on neuronal networks across distinct cortical layers. Here, we studied how the local circuitry within each layer of the deafferented cortex forms the basis for neuroplastic changes after immediate thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) in anaesthetized rats.

Early renal and vascular damage within the normoalbuminuria condition.

Objective: A continuous association between albuminuria and cardiorenal risk exists further below moderately increased albuminuria ranges. If only based in albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) higher than 30 mg/g, a significant percentage of individuals may be out of the scope for therapeutic management. Despite epidemiological outcomes, the identification of biochemical changes linked to early albuminuria is underexplored, and normoalbuminuric individuals are usually considered at no risk in clinical practice.

Self-Assembly-Directed Organization of a Fullerene-Bisporphyrin into Supramolecular Giant Donut Structures for Excited-State Charge Stabilization.

Functional materials composed of spontaneously self-assembled electron donor and acceptor entities capable of generating long-lived charge-separated states upon photoillumination are in great demand as they are key in building the next generation of light energy harvesting devices. However, creating such well-defined architectures is challenging due to the intricate molecular design, multistep synthesis, and issues associated in demonstrating long-lived electron transfer. In this study, we have accomplished these tasks and report the synthesis of a new fullerene-bis-Zn-porphyrin -bisadduct by tether-directed functionalization of C via a multistep synthetic protocol.

Cannabinoid Receptor 1 associates to different molecular complexes during GABAergic neuron maturation.

CB cannabinoid receptor is widely expressed in the central nervous system of animals from late prenatal development to adulthood. Appropriate activation and signaling of CB cannabinoid receptors in cortical interneurons are crucial during perinatal/postnatal ages and adolescence, when long-lasting changes in brain activity may elicit subsequent appearance of disorders in the adult brain. Here we used an optimized immunoprecipitation protocol based on specific antibodies followed by shot-gun proteomics to find CB interacting partners in postnatal rat GABAergic cortical neurons in vitro at two different stages of maturation.

RehabHand: Oriented-tasks serious games for upper limb rehabilitation by using Leap Motion Controller and target population in spinal cord injury.

Background: There is a growing interest in the use of technology in the field of neurorehabilitation in order to quantify and generate knowledge about sensorimotor disorders after neurological diseases, understanding that the technology has a high potential for its use as therapeutic tools. Taking into account that the rehabilitative process of motor disorders should extend beyond the inpatient condition, it's necessary to involve low-cost technology, in order to have technological solutions that can approach the outpatient period at home.

Objective: to present the virtual applications-based RehabHand prototype for the rehabilitation of manipulative skills of the upper limbs in patients with neurological conditions and to determine the target population with respect to spinal cord injured patients.

Intravital Assessment of Cells Responses to Conducting Polymer-Coated Carbon Microfibres for Bridging Spinal Cord Injury.

The extension of the lesion following spinal cord injury (SCI) poses a major challenge for regenerating axons, which must grow across several centimetres of damaged tissue in the absence of ordered guidance cues. Biofunctionalized electroconducting microfibres (MFs) that provide biochemical signals, as well as electrical and mechanical cues, offer a promising therapeutic approach to help axons overcome this blind journey. We used poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-coated carbon MFs functionalized with cell adhesion molecules and growth factors to bridge the spinal cord after a partial unilateral dorsal quadrant lesion (PUDQL) in mice and followed cellular responses by intravital two-photon (2P) imaging through a spinal glass window.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells support remyelination in a murine model of multiple sclerosis by promoting oligodendrocyte precursor cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation.

The most frequent variant of multiple sclerosis (MS) is the relapsing-remitting form, characterized by symptomatic phases followed by periods of total/partial recovery. Hence, it is possible that these patients can benefit from endogenous agents that control the inflammatory process and favor spontaneous remyelination. In this context, there is increasing interest in the role of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) during the clinical course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Why Does COVID-19 Affect Patients with Spinal Cord Injury Milder? A Case-Control Study: Results from Two Observational Cohorts.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented global challenge in this century. COVID-19 is a viral respiratory infection, yet the clinical characteristics of this infection differ in spinal cord injury patients from those observed in the general population. Cough and asthenia are the most frequent symptoms in this population.

Heterogeneity of the Endocannabinoid System Between Cerebral Cortex and Spinal Cord Oligodendrocytes.

In the last years, regional differences have been reported between the brain and spinal cord oligodendrocytes, which should be considered when designing therapeutic strategies for myelin repair. Promising targets to achieve myelin restoration are the different components of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) that modulate oligodendrocyte biology, but almost all studies have been focused on brain-derived cells. Therefore, we compared the ECS between the spinal cord and cerebral cortex-derived oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and mature oligodendrocytes (OLs).

Urinary metabolic signatures reflect cardiovascular risk in the young, middle-aged, and elderly populations.

The predictive value of traditional cardiovascular risk estimators is limited, and young and elderly populations are particularly underrepresented. We aimed to investigate the urine metabolome and its association with cardiovascular risk to identify novel markers that might complement current estimators based on age. Urine samples were collected from 234 subjects categorized into three age-grouped cohorts: 30-50 years (cohort I, young), 50-70 years (cohort II, middle-aged), and > 70 years (cohort III, elderly).

Astrocytes modulate sensory-evoked neuronal network activity.

While neurons principally mediate brain function, astrocytes are emerging as cells with important neuromodulatory actions in brain physiology. In addition to homeostatic roles, astrocytes respond to neurotransmitters with calcium transients stimulating the release of gliotransmitters that regulate synaptic and neuronal functions. We investigated astrocyte-neuronal network interactions in vivo by combining two-photon microscopy to monitor astrocyte calcium and electrocorticogram to record neuronal network activity in the somatosensory cortex during sensory stimulation.

Electro-responsive films containing voltage responsive gated mesoporous silica nanoparticles grafted onto PEDOT-based conducting polymer.

The characteristics and electromechanical properties of conductive polymers together to their biocompatibility have boosted their application as a suitable tool in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. However, conducting polymers as drug release materials are far from being ideal. A possibility to overcome this drawback is to combine conducting polymers with on-command delivery particles with inherent high-loading capacity.

NLRP3 inflammasome as prognostic factor and therapeutic target in primary progressive multiple sclerosis patients.

Primary progressive multiple sclerosis is a poorly understood disease entity with no specific prognostic biomarkers and scarce therapeutic options. We aimed to identify disease activity biomarkers in multiple sclerosis by performing an RNA sequencing approach in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a discovery cohort of 44 untreated patients with multiple sclerosis belonging to different clinical forms and activity phases of the disease, and 12 healthy control subjects. A validation cohort of 58 patients with multiple sclerosis and 26 healthy control subjects was included in the study to replicate the RNA sequencing findings.

Revisiting CB cannabinoid receptor detection and the exploration of its interacting partners.

Background: Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB) identification by western blot (WB) has generated a great deal of controversial data making the interpretation of the results difficult. Our purpose is to find the most adequate experimental conditions to detect CB by WB and immunoprecipitation (IP) as a first step towards the study of CB interactome.

New Method: We use CB knockout mice tissue as negative controls and describe appropriate sample handling conditions for CB detection by WB and IP from brain and cortical neuron cultures.

How presence of a signal peptide affects human galectins-1 and -4: Clues to explain common absence of a leader sequence among adhesion/growth-regulatory galectins.

Background: Galectins are multifunctional effectors, which all share absence of a signal sequence. It is not clear why galectins belong to the small set of proteins, which avoid the classical export route.

Methods: Products of recombinant galectin expression in P.

The sugar code: letters and vocabulary, writers, editors and readers and biosignificance of functional glycan-lectin pairing.

Ubiquitous occurrence in Nature, abundant presence at strategically important places such as the cell surface and dynamic shifts in their profile by diverse molecular switches qualifies the glycans to serve as versatile biochemical signals. However, their exceptional structural complexity often prevents one noting how simple the rules of objective-driven assembly of glycan-encoded messages are. This review is intended to provide a tutorial for a broad readership.

Enhanced spinal cord microstimulation using conducting polymer-coated carbon microfibers.

Intraspinal microstimulation (ISMS) may help to restore motor functions after spinal cord injury. ISMS caudal to the lesion activates motoneurons and evokes selective movements with graded force in rats and other mammals. We investigated the safety and effectiveness of conducting polymer (CP)-coated carbon microfibers (CMFs) for ISMS.