Uromodulin is expressed in renal primary cilia and UMOD mutations result in decreased ciliary uromodulin expression

Uromodulin (UMOD) mutations are responsible for three autosomal dominant tubulo-interstitial nephropathies including medullary cystic kidney disease type 2 (MCKD2), familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy and glomerulocystic kidney disease. Symptoms include renal salt wasting, hyperuricemia, gout, hypertension and end-stage renal disease. MCKD is part of the ‘nephronophthisis-MCKD complex', a group of cystic kidney diseases. Both disorders have an indistinguishable histology and renal cysts are observed in either. For most genes mutated in cystic kidney disease, their proteins are expressed in the primary cilia/basal body complex. We identified seven novel UMOD mutations and were interested if UMOD protein was expressed in the primary renal cilia of human renal biopsies and if mutant UMOD would show a different expression pattern compared with that seen in control individuals. We demonstrate that UMOD is expressed in the primary cilia of renal tubules, using immunofluorescent studies in human kidney biopsy samples. The number of UMOD-positive primary cilia in UMOD patients is significantly decreased when compared with control samples. Additional immunofluorescence studies confirm ciliary expression of UMOD in cell culture. Ciliary expression of UMOD is also confirmed by electron microscopy. UMOD localization at the mitotic spindle poles and colocalization with other ciliary proteins such as nephrocystin-1 and kinesin family member 3A is demonstrated. Our data add UMOD to the group of proteins expressed in primary cilia, where mutations of the gene lead to cystic kidney diseas

Fluidal pyroclasts reveal the intensity of peralkaline rhyolite pumice cone eruptions

This work is a contribution to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded RiftVolc project (NE/L013932/1, Rift volcanism: past, present and future) through which several of the authors are supported. In addition, Clarke was funded by a NERC doctoral training partnership grant (NE/L002558/1).Peralkaline rhyolites are medium to low viscosity, volatile-rich magmas typically associated with rift zones and extensional settings. The dynamics of peralkaline rhyolite eruptions remain elusive with no direct observations recorded, significantly hindering the assessment of hazard and risk. Here we describe uniquely-preserved, fluidal-shaped pyroclasts found within pumice cone deposits at Aluto, a peralkaline rhyolite caldera in the Main Ethiopian Rift. We use a combination of field-observations, geochemistry, X-ray computed microtomography (XCT) and thermal-modelling to investigate how these pyroclasts are formed. We find that they deform during flight and, depending on size, quench prior to deposition or continue to inflate then quench in-situ. These findings reveal important characteristics of the eruptions that gave rise to them: that despite the relatively low viscosity of these magmas, and similarities to basaltic scoria-cone deposits, moderate to intense, unstable, eruption columns are developed; meaning that such eruptions can generate extensive tephra-fall and pyroclastic density currents.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

PCR-based diagnosis of enterovirus and parvovirus B19 in paraffin-embedded heart tissue of children with suspected sudden infant death syndrome. Lab Invest

Abstract Although immunohistochemical and molecular biological techniques have improved the diagnosis, the incidence of virus-induced lethal courses of myocarditis is still unclear. Therefore, it is desirable to investigate postmortem myocardial samples in cases of unknown cause of death. While enteroviruses are the most common agents of myocarditis, parvovirus B19 is also known to be highly cardiotropic. The enteroviral genome consists of a single-stranded RNA molecule. Parvovirus B19 is the only known human pathogen virus of the family Parvoviridae and consists of a linear single-stranded DNA molecule. In our investigation, RNA and DNA were specifically isolated and demonstrated from formalin-fixed material. Myocardial samples from 60 autopsy cases with unknown cause of death after autopsy were taken from different regions and investigated with a nested polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR). Enteroviruses could be detected in 14 cases. PCR revealed eight cases with myocardial infection due to parvovirus B19. In the myocardial sample of one case, both enteroviruses and parvovirus B19 were found. Our results emphasize the importance of modern molecular biological methods in cases of sudden death even when histological examination revealed no serious findings in heart muscle tissue.

Fluorine speciation as a function of composition in peralkaline and peraluminous Na2O–CaO–Al2O3–SiO2 glasses : a multinuclear NMR study

The incorporation mechanisms of fluorine (F) into peralkaline and peraluminous Na2O–CaO aluminosilicate glasses with ∼65 mol% SiO2 (model system for phonolites) were investigated by magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In 19F MAS NMR spectra of the fluorine-bearing peralkaline glasses at least five F sites could be distinguished, while only three of these sites could be found in the corresponding peraluminous glasses, which shows that there are more F incorporation mechanisms in peralkaline than in peraluminous glasses. In the peralkaline glasses containing up to 6.2 mol% F the following F environments were identified: F–Ca(n) at ∼−113 ppm, Si–F–Na(n) or Al–F–Ca(n) at ∼−146 ppm, Al–F–Al at ∼−168 ppm, Al–F–Na(n) at ∼−188 ppm and F–Na(n) at ∼−225 ppm (“n” indicates that the number of atoms is variable or uncertain). F–Ca(n) is the most abundant site which is surprising as Ca is the least common cation in the glasses. The fraction of F–Ca(n) sites increases from 42% to 53% as the F content increases from 1.2 to 6.2 mol%. The addition of up to 16.5 mol% (5.3 wt%) water strongly affects F speciation in peralkaline glasses and results in a decrease in the fraction of F–Al sites compared to F–Ca(n) sites. It seems that hydroxyl groups (OH) and F occupy similar Al environments and that F cannot compete with OH. In the peraluminous glasses containing up to 18.3 mol% F only three F environments Si–F–Na(n) or Al–F–Ca(n) at ∼−149 ppm, Al–F–Al at ∼−170 ppm and Al–F–Na(n) at ∼−190 ppm are observed. Al–F–Na(n) is the most abundant site with a fraction of 54–61%. The F speciation also changes with the F concentration, with a minimum in Al–F–Na(n) sites between 3.5 and 9.7 mol% F. Fluorine has only a small effect on the 23Na and 29Si MAS NMR spectra. 27Al MAS NMR spectra of the peralkaline glasses show only four-coordinated Al while in the peraluminous glasses ∼5% of the Al was found to be five-coordinated. The amount of five-coordinate Al does not change with increasing F content, but the environment of the five-coordinate Al becomes more symmetric with increasing F

Constraints on the incorporation mechanism of chlorine in peralkaline and peraluminous Na2O-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 glasses

Incorporation mechanisms of Cl in peralkaline and peraluminous Na2O-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 glasses as a model system for phonolitic melts were investigated using 35Cl, 23Na, 27Al, and 29Si magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The size and large distribution of electric field gradients for 35Cl causes loss of signal in the MAS NMR experiment and this, in combination with the low concentration of Cl and the large chemical shift dispersion, means that even at the highest available fields we are at the limits of MAS NMR. Nevertheless clear differences in the Cl environment in peralkaline and peraluminous glasses can readily be seen. In both glass types Cl exists in relatively symmetric Na-Ca-Cl environments. The 35Cl chemical shift indicates that the Cl environment is dominated by the presence of Na cations, consistent with the Na/Ca ratio of 5/1 in the glasses. 35Cl MAS NMR spectra of the peraluminous glasses show a larger chemical shift distribution and a more positive isotropic chemical shift, ~−75 ppm, than the peralkaline glasses, ~−100 ppm. They also have a larger quadrupole coupling constant with a larger distribution, indicating greater disorder in the peraluminous glasses. It is likely that there are more Ca cations present in the Cl environments in the peraluminous glasses than in the peralkaline glasses despite their having the same Na/Ca ratio. In the peralkaline glasses the formation of Na-Ca-Cl environments leads to a decrease in the number of network-modifying cations, which causes a polymerization of the glass network. No effect on the glass polymerization was observed in the peraluminous glasses. Some 35Cl signal is also lost in the static spectra indicating that ~20% of Cl for a peralkaline glass and more than ~70% for a peraluminous glass must be in environments where there is a large enough electric field gradient that the resulting very broad line is unobservable. These environments could be simply Na-Ca-Cl with higher electric field gradients than those producing the observed 35Cl signal or non-bridging Cl environments like for example Al-Cl. The Cl environment in the present mixed Na2O-CaO aluminosilicate glasses appears to be more disordered than was to be expected from previous NMR spectroscopic studies on simpler glass compositions