Solid-State NMR of Membrane Protein Reconstituted in Proteoliposomes, the Case of TSPO.

Structural studies of membrane proteins (MP) in a native or native-like environment remain a challenge. X-ray crystallography of three-dimensional crystals of MP in lipids and cryo-electron microscopy of two-dimensional crystals also in lipids have given atomic structures of several MP. Recent developments of solid-state NMR (ssNMR) provided structural data of MP in lipids and should give access to the dynamic behavior of MP's in a native-like environment.

Coupling between phosphate and calcium homeostasis: a mathematical model.

We developed a mathematical model of calcium (Ca) and phosphate (PO) homeostasis in the rat to elucidate the hormonal mechanisms that underlie the regulation of Ca and PO balance. The model represents the exchanges of Ca and PO between the intestine, plasma, kidneys, bone, and the intracellular compartment, and the formation of Ca-PO-fetuin-A complexes. It accounts for the regulation of these fluxes by parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D, fibroblast growth factor 23, and Ca-sensing receptors.

De Novo Human Herpesvirus 8 Tumors Induced by Rituximab in Autoimmune or Inflammatory Systemic Diseases.

Objective: Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus, is involved in KS and other tumors, including multicentric Castleman's disease and primary effusion lymphoma. Rituximab (RTX) is currently used for the treatment of several autoimmune or inflammatory diseases and humoral organ transplant rejection. De novo HHV-8 tumors induced by RTX used for these indications have not been reported previously.

Hydrogels with Dual Thermoresponsive Mechanical Performance.

Dual thermoresponsive chemical hydrogels, combining poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) side-chains within a poly(N-acryloylglycinamide) network, are designed following a simple and versatile procedure. These hydrogels exhibit two phase transitions both at low (upper critical solution temperature) and high (lower critical solution temperature) temperatures, thereby modifying their swelling, rheological, and mechanical properties. These novel thermo-schizophrenic hydrogels pave the way for the development of thermotoughening wet materials in a broad range of temperatures.

The nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor/heme oxygenase-1 axis is critical for the inflammatory features of type 2 diabetes-associated osteoarthritis.

Epidemiological findings support the hypothesis that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA). Moreover, OA cartilage from patients with T2DM exhibits a greater response to inflammatory stress, but the molecular mechanism is unclear. To investigate whether the antioxidant defense system participates in this response, we examined here the expression of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf-2), a master antioxidant transcription factor, and of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), one of its main target genes, in OA cartilage from T2DM and non-T2DM patients as well as in murine chondrocytes exposed to high glucose (HG).

The early pregnancy placenta foreshadows DNA methylation alterations of solid tumors.

The placenta relies on phenotypes that are characteristic of cancer to successfully implant the embryo in the uterus during early pregnancy. Notably, it has to invade its host tissues, promote angiogenesis-while surviving hypoxia-, and escape the immune system. Similarities in DNA methylation patterns between the placenta and cancers suggest that common epigenetic mechanisms may be involved in regulating these behaviors.

Predictive factors of long-term outcomes of surgery for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy associated with hippocampal sclerosis.

Objective: The reasons for failure of surgical treatment for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) associated with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) remain unclear. This retrospective study analyzed seizure, cognitive, and psychiatric outcomes, searching for factors associated with seizure relapse or cognitive and psychiatric deterioration after MTLE-HS surgery.

Methods: Seizure, cognitive, and psychiatric outcomes were reviewed after 389 surgeries performed between 1990 and 2015 on patients aged 15-67 years at a tertiary center.

Fast, accurate and easy-to-teach QT interval assessment: The triplicate concatenation method.

Background: The gold standard method for assessing the QTcF (QT corrected for heart rate by Fridericia's cube root formula) interval is the "QTcF semiautomated triplicate averaging method" (TAM), which consists of measuring three QTcF values semiautomatically, for each 10-second sequence of a triplicate electrocardiogram set, and averaging them to get a global and unique QTcF value. Thus, TAM is time consuming. We have developed a new method, namely the "QTcF semiautomated triplicate concatenation method" (TCM), which consists of concatenating the three 10-second sequences of the triplicate electrocardiogram set as if they were a single 30-second electrocardiogram, and measuring QTcF only once for the triplicate electrocardiogram set.

Nomenclature and definition in asymmetric regional body overgrowth.

We designate a novel term "isolated lateralized overgrowth" (ILO) for the findings previously described as "isolated hemihypertrophy" and "isolated hemihyperplasia." ILO is defined as lateralized overgrowth in the absence of a recognized pattern of malformations, dysplasia, or morphologic variants. ILO is likely genetically heterogeneous.

Short and long-term evolutionary dynamics of subtelomeric piRNA clusters in Drosophila.

Two Telomeric Associated Sequences, TAS-R and TAS-L, form the principal subtelomeric repeat families identified in Drosophila melanogaster. They are PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) clusters involved in repression of Transposable Elements. In this study, we revisited TAS structural and functional dynamics in D.

Visual Impairment, Undercorrected Refractive Errors, and Activity Limitations in Older Adults: Findings From the Three-City Alienor Study.

Purpose: As vision is required in almost all activities of daily living, visual impairment (VI) may be one of the major treatable factors for preventing activity limitations. We aimed to evaluate the attributable risk of VI associated with activity limitations and the extent to which limitations are avoidable with optimal optical correction of undercorrected refractive errors.

Methods: We analyzed 709 older adults from the Three-City-Alienor population-based study.

Integrated Computational Approach to the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Characterization of Rigid 3-Helical Peptides with TOAC Nitroxide Spin Labels.

We address the interpretation, via an integrated computational approach, of the experimental continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (cw-EPR) spectra of a complete set of conformationally highly restricted, stable 3-helical peptides from hexa- to nonamers, each bis-labeled with nitroxide radical-containing TOAC (4-amino-1-oxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-4-carboxylic acid) residues. The usefulness of TOAC for this type of analysis has been shown already to be due to its cyclic piperidine side chain, which is rigidly connected to the peptide backbone α-carbon. The TOAC α-amino acids are separated by two, three, four, and five intervening residues.

The signs of Antarctic ozone hole recovery.

Absorption of solar radiation by stratospheric ozone affects atmospheric dynamics and chemistry, and sustains life on Earth by preventing harmful radiation from reaching the surface. Significant ozone losses due to increases in the abundances of ozone depleting substances (ODSs) were first observed in Antarctica in the 1980s. Losses deepened in following years but became nearly flat by around 2000, reflecting changes in global ODS emissions.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Chronic HCV-Infected Patients Switching to Pegylated-Interferon-Free Regimens (ANRS CO20 CUPIC Cohort Study and SIRIUS Trial).

Objective: We aimed to compare health-related quality of life (HRQL) during and after hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment in patients receiving pegylated-interferon (PEG-IFN)-containing therapy (including boceprevir or telaprevir-ANRS CO20 CUPIC cohort) who subsequently switched to PEG-IFN-free regimens (sofosbuvir + ledipasvir with or without ribavirin [RBV]-SIRIUS trial).

Methods: Two analyses were performed. The first compared physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) HRQL (MOS SF-12) scores during treatment between CUPIC and SIRIUS.

Genetic Characterization of a French Cohort of GNE-mutation negative inclusion body myopathy patients with exome sequencing.

Introduction: Hereditary inclusion body myopathy (hIBM) refers to a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous diseases. The overlapping histochemical features of hIBM with other genetic disorders lead to low diagnostic rates with targeted single-gene sequencing. This is true for the most prevalent form of hIBM, GNEpathy.

Superconducting parity effect across the Anderson limit.

How small can superconductors be? For isolated nanoparticles subject to quantum size effects, P.W. Anderson in 1959 conjectured that superconductivity could only exist when the electronic level spacing δ is smaller than the superconducting gap energy Δ.

In Vitro Differentiation of Mature Myofibers for Live Imaging.

Skeletal muscles are composed of myofibers, the biggest cells in the mammalian body and one of the few syncytia. How the complex and evolutionarily conserved structures that compose it are assembled remains under investigation. Their size and physiological features often constrain manipulation and imaging applications.

A Unifying Comparative Phylogenetic Framework Including Traits Coevolving Across Interacting Lineages.

Models of phenotypic evolution fit to phylogenetic comparative data are widely used to make inferences regarding the tempo and mode of trait evolution. A wide range of models is already available for this type of analysis, and the field is still under active development. One of the most needed development concerns models that better account for the effect of within- and between-clade interspecific interactions on trait evolution, which can result from processes as diverse as competition, predation, parasitism, or mutualism.

TGF- and VEGF cooperatively control the immunotolerant tumor environment and the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies.

Tregs imprint an early immunotolerant tumor environment that prevents effective antitumor immune responses. Using transcriptomics of tumor tissues, we identified early upregulation of VEGF and TGF-β pathways compatible with tolerance imprinting. Silencing of VEGF or TGF-β in tumor cells induced early and pleiotropic modulation of immune-related transcriptome signatures in tumor tissues.

Activated monocytes resist elimination by retinal pigment epithelium and downregulate their OTX2 expression via TNF-α.

Orthodenticle homeobox 2 (OTX2) controls essential, homeostatic retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) genes in the adult. Using cocultures of human CD14 blood monocytes (Mos) and primary porcine RPE cells and a fully humanized system using human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived RPE cells, we show that activated Mos markedly inhibit RPEOTX2 expression and resist elimination in contact with the immunosuppressive RPE. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that TNF-α, secreted from activated Mos, mediates the downregulation of OTX2 and essential RPE genes of the visual cycle among others.

Prevalence of and factors associated with depression among people living with HIV in France.

Objectives: Depression is common among people living with HIV (PLWHIV) and is associated with poorer therapeutic outcomes and risky behaviours. We sought to estimate the prevalence of major depressive episode (MDE) across PLWHIV groups, to compare this with its prevalence in the general population and to assess factors associated with it.

Methods: We used data from the Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le Sida et les Hépatites Virales (ANRS)-Vespa2 study, a national study on a representative sample of PLWHIV conducted in France in 2011.