Required minimal protein domain of flower for synaptobrevin2 endocytosis in cytotoxic T cells.

Flower, a highly conserved protein, crucial for endocytosis and cellular fitness, has been implicated in cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing efficiency through its role in cytotoxic granule (CG) endocytosis at the immune synapse (IS). This study explores the molecular cues that govern Flower-mediated CG endocytosis by analyzing uptake of Synaptobrevin2, a protein specific to CG in mouse CTL. Using immunogold electron microscopy and total internal fluorescence microscopy, we found that Flower translocates in a stimulus-dependent manner from small vesicles to the IS, thereby ensuring specificity in CG membrane protein recycling.

Standardized Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Congenital Aniridia.

Introduction: Congenital aniridia is a rare panocular disorder that is associated with varying degrees of impairment of visual acuity. The COST Action (CA18116) developed a survey (aniridia-net.eu) to assess patient-reported experiences with congenital aniridia and its impacts on vision and daily life.

GOLD COPD Exacerbation History Categories and Disease Outcomes.

Importance: Previous exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD) are associated with future events. For more than a decade, patients at high risk have been defined as individuals with a history of 2 or more moderate ECOPD, 1 or more severe ECOPD, or both within 12 months, and treatments have been allocated accordingly, but these cutoffs lack validation.

Objectives: To validate ECOPD history categories by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and explore alternative cutoffs to estimate moderate and severe ECOPD and all-cause mortality in COPD.

Evaluation of immunohistochemical TRPC3 and TRPC6 expression patterns in human endometriosis.

Background: Although to date the pathogenesis of endometriosis remains largely unexplained, it is known that processes of migration, proliferation and revascularization and thus calcium as a messenger substance play an important role. Consecutively, the present study examines the immunohistochemical expression of the calcium transient receptor potential channels 3 and 6 (TRPC3 and TRPC6) in ectopically located (outside the uterine cavity) endometrial tissue.

Methods: Laparoscopically collected and histomorphologically verified endometriosis tissues from several different intraabdominal locations were examined (n = 20) and immunohistochemical stainings were performed with anti-TRPC3 and anti-TRPC6 antibodies (Alomone Labs, Jerusalem).

The Effect of Lens Properties on Visual Acuity, Aniridia Associated Keratopathy and Secondary Glaucoma in Congenital Aniridia Subjects.

Purpose: The potential risks and benefits of cataract surgery, in context of congenital aniridia (CA), are not widely understood, yet. Our purpose was to investigate the effect of lens properties on visual acuity (VA), aniridia-associated keratopathy (AAK) stage and presence of glaucoma at the Homburg Aniridia Center.

Methods: CA subjects, examined at the Department of Ophthalmology of Saarland University between June 2003 and January 2022, were included.

Clinical utility of the Fibrosis-4 index for predicting mortality in patients with heart failure with or without metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: a prospective cohort study.

Background: The liver-heart axis potentially influences the risk of mortality in patients with heart failure. We aimed to identify the clinical utility of the fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index in patients with heart failure for predicting mortality in the context of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Methods: Patients with heart failure and a subsample of healthy participants were enrolled in the MyoVasc study (NCT04064450) and followed for nine years.

Endovascular thrombectomy: an effective and safe therapy for perioperative ischemic stroke.

Background: Perioperative ischemic stroke is a rare but devastating complication. Mechanical thrombectomy is a promising therapeutic method, but very little data is available on its efficacy and safety. This study aims to answer this question by comparing the clinical outcomes of perioperative and community-onset stroke patients after endovascular therapy.

Multifunctional Sensor Array for User Interaction Based on Dielectric Elastomers with Sputtered Metal Electrodes.

The integration of textile-based sensing and actuation elements has become increasingly important across various fields, driven by the growing demand for smart textiles in healthcare, sports, and wearable electronics. This paper presents the development of a small, smart dielectric elastomer (DE)-based sensing array designed for user control input in applications such as human-machine interaction, virtual object manipulation, and robotics. DE-based sensors are ideal for textile integration due to their flexibility, lightweight nature, and ability to seamlessly conform to surfaces without compromising comfort.

Selenium Disulfide from Sustainable Resources: An Example of "Redneck" Chemistry with a Pinch of Salt.

Selenium disulfide (often referred to as SeS) encompasses a family of mixed selenium-sulfide eight-membered rings, traditionally used as an anti-dandruff agent in shampoos. SeS can be produced by reacting hydrogen sulfide (HS) with selenite (SeO) under acidic conditions. This chemistry is also possible with natural spring waters that are rich in HS, thus providing an avenue for the more sustainable, green production of high-quality SeS particles from an abundant natural source.

Only Infant -Rearranged Leukemia Is Susceptible to an Inhibition of Polo-like Kinase 1 (PLK-1) by Volasertib.

-rearranged (r) leukemia is characterized by a poor prognosis. Depending on the cell of origin, it differs in the aggressiveness and therapy response. For instance, in adults, volasertib blocking Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1) exhibited limited success.

Genetic Downregulation of GABA Receptors from Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells Protects Against Demyelination in the Mouse Spinal Cord.

GABAergic signaling and GABA receptors play crucial roles in regulating the physiology of oligodendrocyte-lineage cells, including their proliferation, differentiation, and myelination. Therefore, they are promising targets for studying how spinal oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) respond to injuries and neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis. Taking advantage of the temporally controlled and cell-specific genetic downregulation of GABA receptors from OPCs, our investigation addresses their specific influence on OPC behavior in the gray and white matter of the mouse spinal cord.

Effects of a symptom-titrated exercise program on fatigue and quality of life in people with post-COVID condition - a randomized controlled trial.

Fatigue is the most prevalent symptom within the post-COVID condition (PCC). Furthermore, many patients suffer from decreased physical performance capacity and post-exertional malaise. Although exercise has been proposed as an effective therapeutic strategy for PCC, there is limited evidence on individualised and symptom-titrated exercise interventions in patients with fatigue and PEM.

Probiotics as an adjunctive therapy in periodontitis treatment-reality or illusion-a clinical perspective.

Periodontitis, a prevalent oral health issue, involves various microorganisms and clinical effects. This review examines probiotics as adjunctive therapy for periodontitis by analyzing forty clinical studies. Findings showed mixed results due to differences in study design, probiotic types, and clinical parameters; however, probiotics improved outcomes in severe cases.

Fragment Discovery by X-Ray Crystallographic Screening Targeting the CTP Binding Site of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa IspD.

With antimicrobial resistance (AMR) reaching alarming levels, new anti-infectives with unprecedented mechanisms of action are urgently needed. The 2-C-methylerythritol-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway represents an attractive source of drug targets due to its essential role in numerous pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt), whilst being absent in human cells. Here, we solved the first crystal structure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) IspD, the third enzyme in the MEP pathway and present the discovery of a fragment-based compound class identified through crystallographic screening of PaIspD.

Development, validation, and prognostic evaluation of LiverPRO for the prediction of significant liver fibrosis in primary care: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Clinically significant liver fibrosis is associated with future adverse events in patients with steatotic liver disease. We designed a software tool for detection of clinically significant liver fibrosis in primary care.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we developed and validated LiverPRO using six independent cohorts from Denmark, Germany, and England that included patients from primary and secondary care with steatotic liver disease related to alcohol or metabolic dysfunction.

Temperature adaptation of yeast phospholipid molecular species at the acyl chain positional level.

Yeast is a poikilothermic organism and adapts its lipid composition to the environmental temperature to maintain membrane physical properties. Studies addressing temperature-dependent adaptation of the lipidome have described changes in the phospholipid composition at the level of sum composition (e.g.

Examination of the Corneal Endothelium in Patients With Congenital Aniridia With a PAX6 Mutation Using In Vivo Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy.

Purpose: In PAX6 syndrome, it is still not clear, whether prenatally, parallel to the iris tissue developmental anomaly, there is neural ectodermal, neural crest, or mesodermal cell deposition at the corneal endothelium, affecting endothelial structure and function. In addition, because of the postnatal corneal inflammation and commonly appearing secondary glaucoma, progressive endothelial changes are expected. Our purpose was to study the corneal endothelium in subjects with PAX6 aniridia, using in vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy.

Systematic Investigations of the Solid Solution Zr(VAl) Adopting the Laves Phase Structures.

Laves phases are an interesting field of research when it comes to structural chemistry and physical properties. Investigations of the ternary system Zr-V-Al showed, in contrast to the system Hf-V-Al, that no superstructures can be observed within the solid solution Zr(VAl) High values of x form aluminum rich phases that adopt the hexagonal MgZn type structure while low values of x lead to vanadium rich phases that adopt the cubic MgCu type. All samples were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction experiments.

Early orthodontic treatment need over a 10-year period and evaluation of short-term intervention stability.

Objective: Early orthodontic treatment with cost reimbursement within the framework of the German statutory health insurance (GKV) is only possible for a strictly defined malocclusion group as defined by the orthodontic indication groups (KIG). It is not yet clear whether the application of the KIG criteria and corresponding successful early orthodontic interventions result in no or significantly less need for treatment in the late mixed dentition or in the permanent dentition. This study therefore investigated short-term intervention stability from a 10-year-period.

Autologous DNA mobilization and multiplication expedite natural products discovery from bacteria.

The transmission of antibiotic-resistance genes, comprising mobilization and relocation events, orchestrates the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. Inspired by this evolutionarily successful paradigm, we developed ACTIMOT, a CRISPR-Cas9-based approach to unlock the vast chemical diversity concealed within bacterial genomes. ACTIMOT enables the efficient mobilization and relocation of large DNA fragments from the chromosome to replicative plasmids within the same bacterial cell.

Predisposition footprints in the somatic genome of Wilms tumours.

Ten percent of children with cancer harbour a mutation in a predisposition gene. In children with the kidney cancer, Wilms tumour, the prevalence is as high as 30%. Certain predispositions are associated with defined histological and clinical features, suggesting differences in tumourigenesis.

Independent Effects of Emotional Expression and Group Membership in the Evaluative Priming Task.

Research on automatic evaluative responses to faces varying in emotional expression and ethnicity has yielded conflicting results. Some paradigms, like the Approach/Avoidance task, demonstrated interactive evaluation. In contrast, recent studies using the Evaluative Priming Task (EPT) yielded independent effects of expression and ethnicity.