Surgical management of gingival recession using autogenous soft tissue grafts

One of the chief goals of periodontal plastic surgery is establishment of ideal pink esthetics through the reconstruction of gingival recessions. A gold standard treatment approach for coverage of gingival recession with predictable esthetic outcomes is the transplantation of autogenous soft tissue grafts. Various surgical techniques can be used in combination with autogenous soft tissue grafts for gingival recession coverage

Tyrosine Sulfation of the Amino Terminus of PSGL-1 Is Critical for Enterovirus 71 Infection

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the major causative agents of hand, foot, and mouth disease, a common febrile disease in children; however, EV71 has been also associated with various neurological diseases including fatal cases in large EV71 outbreaks particularly in the Asia Pacific region. Recently we identified human P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) as a cellular receptor for entry and replication of EV71 in leukocytes. PSGL-1 is a sialomucin expressed on the surface of leukocytes, serves as a high affinity counterreceptor for selectins, and mediates leukocyte rolling on the endothelium. The PSGL-1–P-selectin interaction requires sulfation of at least one of three clustered tyrosines and an adjacent O-glycan expressing sialyl Lewis x in an N-terminal region of PSGL-1. To elucidate the molecular basis of the PSGL-1–EV71 interaction, we generated a series of PSGL-1 mutants and identified the post-translational modifications that are critical for binding of PSGL-1 to EV71. We expressed the PSGL-1 mutants in 293T cells and the transfected cells were assayed for their abilities to bind to EV71 by flow cytometry. We found that O-glycosylation on T57, which is critical for PSGL-1–selectin interaction, is not necessary for PSGL-1 binding to EV71. On the other hand, site-directed mutagenesis at one or more potential tyrosine sulfation sites in the N-terminal region of PSGL-1 significantly impaired PSGL-1 binding to EV71. Furthermore, an inhibitor of sulfation, sodium chlorate, blocked the PSGL-1–EV71 interaction and inhibited PSGL-1-mediated viral replication of EV71 in Jurkat T cells in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, the results presented in this study reveal that tyrosine sulfation, but not O-glycosylation, in the N-terminal region of PSGL-1 may facilitate virus entry and replication of EV71 in leukocytes

Circulating microparticles: square the circle

Background: The present review summarizes current knowledge about microparticles (MPs) and provides a systematic overview of last 20 years of research on circulating MPs, with particular focus on their clinical relevance. Results: MPs are a heterogeneous population of cell-derived vesicles, with sizes ranging between 50 and 1000 nm. MPs are capable of transferring peptides, proteins, lipid components, microRNA, mRNA, and DNA from one cell to another without direct cell-to-cell contact. Growing evidence suggests that MPs present in peripheral blood and body fluids contribute to the development and progression of cancer, and are of pathophysiological relevance for autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious, cardiovascular, hematological, and other diseases. MPs have large diagnostic potential as biomarkers; however, due to current technological limitations in purification of MPs and an absence of standardized methods of MP detection, challenges remain in validating the potential of MPs as a non-invasive and early diagnostic platform. Conclusions: Improvements in the effective deciphering of MP molecular signatures will be critical not only for diagnostics, but also for the evaluation of treatment regimens and predicting disease outcomes

Novel parameters in blood cell counters

Many modern automated cell counters offer novel parameters. Some of these, such as the CHr, reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent, or immature platelet fraction, schistocytes have been accepted by many clinicians; the CHr has even become part of clinical practice guidelines for dialysis patients. Other parameters are still research-use only and lack well-defined reference ranges. One important albeit rare clinical problem is to characterize platelet volume in case of inherited thrombocytopenia. Most novel parameters are specific for certain instrument platforms, and results of even similar parameters from different manufacturers are often difficult to compare