39 research outputs found

    Приватизация жилья в России

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    textabstractIt has long been established that hyperthermia increases the therapeutic benefit of radiation and chemotherapy in cancer treatment. During the last few years there have been substantial technical improvements in the sources used to apply and measure heat, which greatly increases enthusiasm for the clinical use of hyperthermia. These advances are converging with a better understanding of the physiological and molecular effects of hyperthermia. Therefore, we are now at a juncture where the parameters that will influence the efficacy of hyperthermia in cancer treatment can be optimised in a more systematic and rational manner. In addition, the novel insights in hyperthermia’s many biological effects on tumour cells will ultimately result in new treatment regimes. For example, the molecular effects of hyperthermia on the essential cellular process of DNA repair suggest novel combination therapies, with DNA damage response targeting drugs that should now be clinically explored. Here, we provide an overview of recent studies on the various macroscopic and microscopic biological effects of hyperthermia. We indicate the significance of these effects on current treatments and suggest how they will help design novel future treatments

    Macrophage Replication Screen Identifies a Novel Francisella Hydroperoxide Resistance Protein Involved in Virulence

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    Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative facultative intracellular pathogen and the causative agent of tularemia. Recently, genome-wide screens have identified Francisella genes required for virulence in mice. However, the mechanisms by which most of the corresponding proteins contribute to pathogenesis are still largely unknown. To further elucidate the roles of these virulence determinants in Francisella pathogenesis, we tested whether each gene was required for replication of the model pathogen F. novicida within macrophages, an important virulence trait. Fifty-three of the 224 genes tested were involved in intracellular replication, including many of those within the Francisella pathogenicity island (FPI), validating our results. Interestingly, over one third of the genes identified are annotated as hypothetical, indicating that F. novicida likely utilizes novel virulence factors for intracellular replication. To further characterize these virulence determinants, we selected two hypothetical genes to study in more detail. As predicted by our screen, deletion mutants of FTN_0096 and FTN_1133 were attenuated for replication in macrophages. The mutants displayed differing levels of attenuation in vivo, with the FTN_1133 mutant being the most attenuated. FTN_1133 has sequence similarity to the organic hydroperoxide resistance protein Ohr, an enzyme involved in the bacterial response to oxidative stress. We show that FTN_1133 is required for F. novicida resistance to, and degradation of, organic hydroperoxides as well as resistance to the action of the NADPH oxidase both in macrophages and mice. Furthermore, we demonstrate that F. holarctica LVS, a strain derived from a highly virulent human pathogenic species of Francisella, also requires this protein for organic hydroperoxide resistance as well as replication in macrophages and mice. This study expands our knowledge of Francisella's largely uncharacterized intracellular lifecycle and demonstrates that FTN_1133 is an important novel mediator of oxidative stress resistance

    Extreme genome diversity in the hyper-prevalent parasitic eukaryote Blastocystis

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    Blastocystis is the most prevalent eukaryotic microbe colonizing the human gut, infecting approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide. Although Blastocystis has been linked to intestinal disorders, its pathogenicity remains controversial because most carriers are asymptomatic. Here, the genome sequence of Blastocystis subtype (ST) 1 is presented and compared to previously published sequences for ST4 and ST7. Despite a conserved core of genes, there is unexpected diversity between these STs in terms of their genome sizes, guanine-cytosine (GC) content, intron numbers, and gene content. ST1 has 6,544 protein-coding genes, which is several hundred more than reported for ST4 and ST7. The percentage of proteins unique to each ST ranges from 6.2% to 20.5%, greatly exceeding the differences observed within parasite genera. Orthologous proteins also display extreme divergence in amino acid sequence identity between STs (i.e., 59%–61%median identity), on par with observations of the most distantly related species pairs of parasite genera. The STs also display substantial variation in gene family distributions and sizes, especially for protein kinase and protease gene families, which could reflect differences in virulence. It remains to be seen to what extent these inter-ST differences persist at the intra-ST level. A full 26% of genes in ST1 have stop codons that are created on the mRNA level by a novel polyadenylation mechanism found only in Blastocystis. Reconstructions of pathways and organellar systems revealed that ST1 has a relatively complete membrane-trafficking system and a near-complete meiotic toolkit, possibly indicating a sexual cycle. Unlike some intestinal protistan parasites, Blastocystis ST1 has near-complete de novo pyrimidine, purine, and thiamine biosynthesis pathways and is unique amongst studied stramenopiles in being able to metabolize ?-glucans rather than ?-glucans. It lacks all genes encoding heme-containing cytochrome P450 proteins. Predictions of the mitochondrion-related organelle (MRO) proteome reveal an expanded repertoire of functions, including lipid, cofactor, and vitamin biosynthesis, as well as proteins that may be involved in regulating mitochondrial morphology and MRO/endoplasmic reticulum (ER) interactions. In sharp contrast, genes for peroxisome-associated functions are absent, suggesting Blastocystis STs lack this organelle. Overall, this study provides an important window into the biology of Blastocystis, showcasing significant differences between STs that can guide future experimental investigations into differences in their virulence and clarifying the roles of these organisms in gut health and disease

    Ketogenic Diet Improves Sleep Quality in Children with Therapy-resistant Epilepsy.

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    Summary: Purpose: The study purpose was to evaluate sleep structure during ketogenic diet (KD) treatment in children with therapy-resistant epilepsy and to correlate possible alterations with changes in clinical effects on seizure reduction, seizure severity, quality of life (QOL), and behavior. Methods: Eighteen children were examined with ambulatory polysomnographic recordings initially and after 3 months of KD treatment. Eleven children continued with the KD and were also evaluated after 12 months. Sleep parameters were estimated. Seizure frequency was recorded in a diary and seizure severity in the National Health Seizure Severity Scale (NHS3). QOL was assessed with a visual analogue scale. Child behavior checklist and Ponsford and Kinsella's rating scale of attentional behavior were used. Results: KD induced a significant decrease in total sleep (p = 0.05) and total night sleep (p = 0.006). Slow wave sleep was preserved, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep increased (p = 0.01), sleep stage 2 decreased (p = 0.004), and sleep stage 1 was unchanged. Eleven children continued with the KD and were also evaluated after 12 months. They showed a significant decrease in daytime sleep (p = 0.01) and a further increase in REM sleep (p = 0.06). Seizure frequency (p = 0.001, p = 0.003), seizure severity (p < 0.001, p = 0.005) and QOL (p < 0.001, p = 0.005) were significantly improved at 3 and 12 months. Attentional behavior was also improved, significantly so at 3 months (p = 0.003). There was a significant correlation between increased REM sleep and improvement in QOL (Spearman r = 0.6, p = 0.01) at 3 months. Conclusion: KD decreases sleep and improves sleep quality in children with therapy-resistant epilepsy. The improvement in sleep quality, with increased REM sleep, seems to contribute to the improvement in QOL
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