17.06.2021
Developmental Changes in Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel alpha(2)delta-S... Developmental Neuroscience, 2012
Abstract The voltage-gated calcium channel subunit alpha(2)delta plays a fundamental role in propagation of excitatory signals associated with release of glutamate and neuropeptides substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related protein (CGRP). It can be selectively inhibited by gabapentinoids. Hence, investigation of the alpha(2)delta subunit may predict the efficacy of gabapentinoid therapy in neuropathic pain. Since sensory processing underlies significant age-related changes, this study was conducted in order to elucidate the role...
11.06.2021
Disruption of endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria tethering proteins in... Neurobiology of Disease, 2020
Abstract Signaling between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria regulates a number of key neuronal functions, many of which are perturbed in Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, damage to ER-mitochondria signaling is seen in cell and transgenic models of Alzheimer's disease. However, as yet there is little evidence that ER-mitochondria signaling is altered in human Alzheimer's disease brains. ER-mitochondria signaling is mediated by interactions between the integral ER protein VAPB and the outer mitochondrial membrane prot...
02.07.2021
Characteristic CSF prion seeding efficiency in humans with prion disea... Molecular Neurobiology, 2015
Abstract The development of in vitro amplification systems allows detecting femtomolar amounts of prion protein scrapie (PrP(Sc)) in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We performed a CSF study to determine the effects of prion disease type, codon 129 genotype, PrP(Sc) type, and other disease-related factors on the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) response. We analyzed times to 10,000 relative fluorescence units, areas under the curve and the signal maximum of RT-QuIC response as seeding parameters of interest. Interestingly, ty...
03.06.2021
Activation of MC1R with BMS-470539 attenuates neuroinflammation via cA... Journal of Neuroinflammation, 2021
Abstract Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of hypoxic-ischemic (HI)-induced brain injury. Activation of melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects in several neurological diseases. In the present study, we have explored the role of MC1R activation on neuroinflammation and the potential underlying mechanisms after neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in rats. This study demonstrates that activation of MC1R with BMS-470539 attenuated neuro...
17.05.2021
Human perinatal stem cell derived extracellular matrix enables rapid m... Nature, 2020
Abstract The immature phenotype of human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) is a major limitation to the use of these valuable cells for pre-clinical toxicity testing and for disease modeling. Here we tested the hypothesis that human perinatal stem cell derived extracellular matrix (ECM) promotes hiPSC-CM maturation to a greater extent than mouse cell derived ECM. We refer to the human ECM as Matrix Plus (Matrix Plus) and compare effects to commercially available mouse ECM (Matrigel). hiPSC-CMs cultured on Mat...
14.05.2021
Dynamic spatiotemporal coordination of neural stemcell fate decisions... Cell Stem Cell, 2021
Abstract Neural stem cell (NSC) populations persist in the adult vertebrate brain over a lifetime, and their homeostasis is controlled at the population level through unknown mechanisms. Here, we combine dynamic imaging of entire NSC populations in their in vivo niche over several weeks with pharmacological manipulations, mathematical modeling, and spatial statistics and demonstrate that NSCs use spatiotemporally resolved local feedback signals to coordinate their decision to divide in adult zebrafish brains. These involve No...
05.05.2021
A novel highly potent inhibitor of TMPRSS2-like proteases blocks SARS-... bioRxiv, 2021
Abstract The host cell serine protease TMPRSS2is an attractive therapeutic target for COVID-19 drug discovery. This protease activates theSpike protein of Severe Acute Respiratory SyndromeCoronavirus 2 (SARS...
06.05.2021
pHLIP peptide targets nanogold particles to tumors PNAS, 2013
Abstract Progress in nanomedicine depends on the development of nanomaterials and targeted delivery methods. In this work, we describe a method for the preferential targeting of gold nanoparticles to a tumor in a mouse model. The method is based on the use of the pH Low Insertion Peptide (pHLIP), which targets various imaging agents to acidic tumors. We compare tumor targeting by nonfunctionalized nanogold particles with nanogold–pHLIP conjugates, where nanogold is covalently attached to the N terminus of pHLIP. Our most important fi...
30.04.2021
LincRNA-immunity landscape analysis identifies EPIC1 as a regulator of... Science Advances, 2021
The ability of tumor cells to evade immune detection plays a critical role in tumor development. Although mechanisms of immune evasion have been characterized, understanding of how tumor cells avoid detection by the immune system and acquire resistance to immunotherapy remains incomplete. Utilizing Bio X Cell’s anti-mouse PD-1 (clone J43) antibody, researchers discovered that expression of the intergenic long noncoding RNA (lincRNA) EPIC1 helps cancer...
23.04.2021
D614G Mutation Alters SARS-CoV-2 Spike Conformation and Enhances Prote... Cell Reports, 2021
In Brief: SARS-CoV-2 spike undergoes large conformational changes during cell fusion. Gobeil et al. identify a subdomain anchor that limits large motions in the receptor binding subunit of the pre-fusion spike from propagating to its fusion subunit. They demonstrate that theD614G mutation increases the rate off urin cleavage, which may impact infectivity. Jackson ImmunoResearch´s Peroxidase-AffiniPure Goat Anti-Human IgG, Fc gamma Fragment Specific JIM-109-035-098 was used...