The claudin gene family: expression in normal and neoplastic tissues

BACKGROUND: The claudin (CLDN) genes encode a family of proteins important in tight junction formation and function. Recently, it has become apparent that CLDN gene expression is frequently altered in several human cancers. However, the exact patterns of CLDN expression in various cancers is unknown, as only a limited number of CLDN genes have been investigated in a few tumors. METHODS: We identified all the human CLDN genes from Genbank and we used the large public SAGE database to ascertain the gene expression of all 21 CLDN in 266 normal and neoplastic tissues. Using real-time RT-PCR, we also surveyed a subset of 13 CLDN genes in 24 normal and 24 neoplastic tissues. RESULTS: We show that claudins represent a family of highly related proteins, with claudin-16, and -23 being the most different from the others. From in silico analysis and RT-PCR data, we find that most claudin genes appear decreased in cancer, while CLDN3, CLDN4, and CLDN7 are elevated in several malignancies such as those originating from the pancreas, bladder, thyroid, fallopian tubes, ovary, stomach, colon, breast, uterus, and the prostate. Interestingly, CLDN5 is highly expressed in vascular endothelial cells, providing a possible target for antiangiogenic therapy. CLDN18 might represent a biomarker for gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms previously known CLDN gene expression patterns and identifies new ones, which may have applications in the detection, prognosis and therapy of several human cancers. In particular we identify several malignancies that express CLDN3 and CLDN4. These cancers may represent ideal candidates for a novel therapy being developed based on CPE, a toxin that specifically binds claudin-3 and claudin-4

Search for Gravitational Waves from Primordial Black Hole Binary Coalescences in the Galactic Halo

We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole (PBH) binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2--$1.0 M_\odot$. The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50 kpc containing non-spinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2--$1.0 M_\odot$, we place an observational upper limit on the rate of PBH coalescence of 63 per year per Milky Way halo (MWH) with 90% confidence.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Sentencing drug offenders under the 2003 Criminal Justice Act: Challenges for the probation service

For the most part the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, which came into effect in England and Wales in April 2005, was accepted by the probation service with relatively little opposition. Given the enormity of its impact acquiescence to this degree of change ought to come as something of a surprise. The 2003 Act changed fundamentally the nature of community supervision, it brought to an end the traditional range of non-custodial penalties and replaced them with a single community order to which sentencers could add any of 12 possible requirements. This paper considers the impact of the 2003 legislation on one particular offender group - drug misusers. Drug misusing offenders have the potential to pose serious difficulties for probation officers; the habitual nature of drug addiction and a tendency toward an irregular lifestyle make drug misusers particularly susceptible to breach. Under the new legislation courts have significantly fewer options available to them when responding to incidents of offender non-compliance. This paper argues that many of the provisions of the 2003 Act together with developments elsewhere in the UK are likely to have impacted disproportionately on those groups whose lifestyles are chaotic and whose routines are incompatible with the terms and conditions of modern day probation practice. It concludes that greater flexibility towards non-compliance, supported by regular and consistent judicial review, would encourage improved rates of compliance and retention in treatment and improved outcomes for offenders

Endoscopic diagnosis of acute intestinal GVHD following allogeneic hematopoietic SCT: a retrospective analysis in 175 patients

Diagnosis of acute intestinal GVHD (aGVHD) following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is based on clinical symptoms and histological lesions. This retrospective analysis aimed to validate the ‘Freiburg Criteria' for the endoscopic grading of intestinal aGVHD. Grade 1: no clear-cut criteria; grade 2: spotted erythema; grade 3: aphthous lesions; and grade 4: confluent defects, ulcers, denudation of the mucosa. Having excluded patients with infectious diarrhea, we evaluated 175 consecutive patients between January 2001 and June 2009. Setting a cutoff between grade 1 (no change in therapy) and grade 2 (intensification of immunosuppression), macroscopy had a sensitivity of 89.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 80.4–94.9%), a specificity of 79.4% (95% CI: 69.6–87.1%), a positive-predictive value of 79.6% (95% CI: 70.0–87.2%) and a negative-predictive value of 89.0% (95% CI: 80.2–94.9%). In all, 20% of patients with aGVHD in the lower gastrointestinal tract (GIT) had lesions only in the terminal ileum. In all patients with aGVHD ⩾2 of the upper GIT, typical lesions were also found in the lower GIT. Ileo-colonoscopy showed the highest diagnostic yield for aGVHD. In conclusion, the ‘Freiburg Criteria' for macroscopic diagnosis of intestinal aGVHD provide high accuracy for identifying aGVHD ⩾2

Upregulated Genes In Sporadic, Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

BACKGROUND: To elucidate further the pathogenesis of sporadic, idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and identify potential therapeutic avenues, differential gene expression in IPAH was examined by suppression subtractive hybridisation (SSH). METHODS: Peripheral lung samples were obtained immediately after removal from patients undergoing lung transplant for IPAH without familial disease, and control tissues consisted of similarly sampled pieces of donor lungs not utilised during transplantation. Pools of lung mRNA from IPAH cases containing plexiform lesions and normal donor lungs were used to generate the tester and driver cDNA libraries, respectively. A subtracted IPAH cDNA library was made by SSH. Clones isolated from this subtracted library were examined for up regulated expression in IPAH using dot blot arrays of positive colony PCR products using both pooled cDNA libraries as probes. Clones verified as being upregulated were sequenced. For two genes the increase in expression was verified by northern blotting and data analysed using Student's unpaired two-tailed t-test. RESULTS: We present preliminary findings concerning candidate genes upregulated in IPAH. Twenty-seven upregulated genes were identified out of 192 clones examined. Upregulation in individual cases of IPAH was shown by northern blot for tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 and decorin (P < 0.01) compared with the housekeeping gene glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. CONCLUSION: Four of the up regulated genes, magic roundabout, hevin, thrombomodulin and sucrose non-fermenting protein-related kinase-1 are expressed specifically by endothelial cells and one, muscleblind-1, by muscle cells, suggesting that they may be associated with plexiform lesions and hypertrophic arterial wall remodelling, respectively

Characterization of a fluvial aquifer at a range of depths and scales: the Triassic St Bees Sandstone Formation, Cumbria, UK

Fluvial sedimentary successions represent porous media that host groundwater and geothermal resources. Additionally, they overlie crystalline rocks hosting nuclear waste repositories in rift settings. The permeability characteristics of an arenaceous fluvial succession, the Triassic St Bees Sandstone Formation in England (UK), are described, from core-plug to well-test scale up to ~1 km depth. Within such lithified successions, dissolution associated with the circulation of meteoric water results in increased permeability (K~10−1–100 m/day) to depths of at least 150 m below ground level (BGL) in aquifer systems that are subject to rapid groundwater circulation. Thus, contaminant transport is likely to occur at relatively high rates. In a deeper investigation (> 150 m depth), where the aquifer has not been subjected to rapid groundwater circulation, well-test-scale hydraulic conductivity is lower, decreasing from K~10−2 m/day at 150–400 m BGL to 10−3 m/day down-dip at ~1 km BGL, where the pore fluid is hypersaline. Here, pore-scale permeability becomes progressively dominant with increasing lithostatic load. Notably, this work investigates a sandstone aquifer of fluvial origin at investigation depths consistent with highly enthalpy geothermal reservoirs (~0.7–1.1 km). At such depths, intergranular flow dominates in unfaulted areas with only minor contribution by bedding plane fractures. However, extensional faults represent preferential flow pathways, due to presence of high connective open fractures. Therefore, such faults may (1) drive nuclear waste contaminants towards the highly permeable shallow (< 150 m BGL) zone of the aquifer, and (2) influence fluid recovery in geothermal fields

Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914

A gravitational-wave (GW) transient was identified in data recorded by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors on 2015 September 14. The event, initially designated G184098 and later given the name GW150914, is described in detail elsewhere. By prior arrangement, preliminary estimates of the time, significance, and sky location of the event were shared with 63 teams of observers covering radio, optical, near-infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths with ground- and space-based facilities. In this Letter we describe the low-latency analysis of the GW data and present the sky localization of the first observed compact binary merger. We summarize the follow-up observations reported by 25 teams via private Gamma-ray Coordinates Network circulars, giving an overview of the participating facilities, the GW sky localization coverage, the timeline, and depth of the observations. As this event turned out to be a binary black hole merger, there is little expectation of a detectable electromagnetic (EM) signature. Nevertheless, this first broadband campaign to search for a counterpart of an Advanced LIGO source represents a milestone and highlights the broad capabilities of the transient astronomy community and the observing strategies that have been developed to pursue neutron star binary merger events. Detailed investigations of the EM data and results of the EM follow-up campaign are being disseminated in papers by the individual teams