Bronchogenic cyst excision using a robotic laparoscopic transdiaphragmatic approach

AbstractWe describe one case of a bronchopulmonary foregut malformations (BPFM) excision using robotic technology in a pediatric patient. Traditionally, surgical resection is performed using a thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracic surgery. A 12-year-old girl with a previous medical history of cough was diagnosed with a left cystic paracardiac mass. Her operation employed a transdiaphragmatic approach to remove the mass. The postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged after four days. The subsequent pathology concluded that the mass was a bronchogenic cyst. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of transdiaphragmatic laparoscopic approach and first use of robotics-platform for BPFM excision by children. We elected to use this type of procedure to decrease the postoperative morbidity associated with the thoracic approach. The robotic technology permitted surgical resection with a similar efficiency as standard thoracic or laparoscopic procedures. We hypothesized that this technology would simplify some of the technical points, decreasing any postoperative complications

Nut directs p300-dependent, genome-wide H4 hyperacetylation in male germ cells

Nuclear protein in testis (Nut) is a universal oncogenic driver in the highly aggressive NUT midline carcinoma, whose physiological function in male germ cells has been unclear. Here we show that expression of Nut is normally restricted to post-meiotic spermatogenic cells, where its presence triggers p300-dependent genome-wide histone H4 hyperacetylation, which is essential for the completion of histone-to-protamine exchange. Accordingly, the inactivation of Nut induces male sterility with spermatogenesis arrest at the histone-removal stage. Nut uses p300 and/or CBP to enhance acetylation of H4 at both K5 and K8, providing binding sites for the first bromodomain of Brdt, the testis-specific member of the BET family, which subsequently mediates genome-wide histone removal. Altogether, our data reveal the detailed molecular basis of the global histone hyperacetylation wave, which occurs before the final compaction of the male genome. A transcription-independent histone hyperacetylation is associated with near-total histone replacement during mouse spermatogenesis. Shiota et al. show the oncogenic factor Nut is expressed in post-meiotic male germ cells, where it recruits p300 and/or CBP and enhances histone H4K5 and H4K8 acetylation, leading to histone-to-protamine replacement

Nut Directs p300-Dependent, Genome-Wide H4 Hyperacetylation in Male Germ Cells.

Nuclear protein in testis (Nut) is a universal oncogenic driver in the highly aggressive NUT midline carcinoma, whose physiological function in male germ cells has been unclear. Here we show that expression of Nut is normally restricted to post-meiotic spermatogenic cells, where its presence triggers p300-dependent genome-wide histone H4 hyperacetylation, which is essential for the completion of histone-to-protamine exchange. Accordingly, the inactivation of Nut induces male sterility with spermatogenesis arrest at the histone-removal stage. Nut uses p300 and/or CBP to enhance acetylation of H4 at both K5 and K8, providing binding sites for the first bromodomain of Brdt, the testis-specific member of the BET family, which subsequently mediates genome-wide histone removal. Altogether, our data reveal the detailed molecular basis of the global histone hyperacetylation wave, which occurs before the final compaction of the male genome

Taming the wild life of genes by law? Genes reconfiguring solidarity in private insurance

This article introduces thinking from science and technology studies (STS) and in particular the work of Callon to study the topic of genetic testing and private insurance markets. To explore the fruitfulness of this STS approach, I will reconstruct the conventional framing of genetics and insurance as a way of understanding the underlying mechanisms that have led to the solutions of enacting Genetic Non-Discrimination Acts (GNDAs) in private insurance markets. I argue how this conventional framing has been underpinned by a shared paradigm of genetic exceptionalism and I indicate the role of genes as operators of solidarity in aligning a hybrid coalition of concerned groups and people, captured by the trope of genetic discrimination. Using this STS approach, I will point to the unanticipated effects of GNDAs in insurance markets, in the sense that new issues may arise - for example new struggles for solidarity - issues that cannot be identified by the conventional framing of genetics and insurance. This may pave the way for new configurations of solidarity in insurance in the molecular age. I suggest how genes, instead of simply being an object of discrimination, can be important operators of solidarity. Sensibility to the co-shaping of genes and the social, and the new identities, groups and biosocial relations involved in the manufacture of biosciences, law and insurance classifications is essential for better understanding of the politics of insurance markets, for the role of genes in reconfiguring solidarity in insurance markets and for informed governance. This article should be seen as programmatic, fleshing out important contemporary issues in the relationship between genetic technologies, insurance markets and politics that really need much more detailed analyses and discussion