Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

Estimation of Genetic Correlation via Linkage Disequilibrium Score Regression and Genomic Restricted Maximum Likelihood

J. Lönnqvist on työryhmän Psychiat Genomics Consortium jäsen.Genetic correlation is a key population parameter that describes the shared genetic architecture of complex traits and diseases. It can be estimated by current state-of-art methods, i.e., linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) and genomic restricted maximum likelihood (GREML). The massively reduced computing burden of LDSC compared to GREML makes it an attractive tool, although the accuracy (i.e., magnitude of standard errors) of LDSC estimates has not been thoroughly studied. In simulation, we show that the accuracy of GREML is generally higher than that of LDSC. When there is genetic heterogeneity between the actual sample and reference data from which LD scores are estimated, the accuracy of LDSC decreases further. In real data analyses estimating the genetic correlation between schizophrenia (SCZ) and body mass index, we show that GREML estimates based on similar to 150,000 individuals give a higher accuracy than LDSC estimates based on similar to 400,000 individuals (from combinedmeta-data). A GREML genomic partitioning analysis reveals that the genetic correlation between SCZ and height is significantly negative for regulatory regions, which whole genome or LDSC approach has less power to detect. We conclude that LDSC estimates should be carefully interpreted as there can be uncertainty about homogeneity among combined meta-datasets. We suggest that any interesting findings from massive LDSC analysis for a large number of complex traits should be followed up, where possible, with more detailed analyses with GREML methods, even if sample sizes are lesser.Peer reviewe

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

Is curettage and high-speed burring sufficient treatment for aneurysmal bone cysts?

© 2014, The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons®. Background: To decrease the recurrence rate after intralesional curettage for aneurysmal bone cysts, different adjuvant treatments have been recommended. Liquid nitrogen spray and argon beam coagulation have provided the lowest recurrence rates, but unlike the high-speed burr, these adjuvants are not always available in operating rooms.Questions/purposes: We asked: (1) Is high-speed burring alone sufficient as an adjuvant to curettage with respect to recurrence rates? (2) What is the complication rate from this technique? (3) What are the risk factors for local recurrence?Methods: A retrospective review of the database of the University Musculoskeletal Tumor Unit and the private files of the senior author (EHW) for a period of 19 years (1993–2011) was performed to identify all patients histologically diagnosed with primary aneurysmal bone cyst. During that period, patients with aneurysmal bone cysts were treated with intralesional curettage, burring, and bone grafting if the lesions showed an adequate cortical wall or a wall with thinned out portions which could be reconstructed with bone grafting. Based on those indications, we treated 54 patients for this condition. Of those, 18 were treated using approaches other than burring because they did not meet the defined indications, and an additional five patients were lost to followup before 2 years, leaving 31 patients for analysis, all of whom were followed up for at least 2 years (mean, 7 years; range, 2–18 years).Results: Of these 31 patients, one had a recurrence (3.2%). Complications using this approach occurred in three patients (9.7%), and included growth plate deformity (1) and genu varus (2) secondary to collapse of the reconstructed condyle. With only one recurrence, we cannot answer what the risk factors might be for recurrence; however, the one patient with recurrence presented with a large lesion and a pathologic fracture.Conclusions: Curettage, burring, and bone grafting compare favorably in the literature with other approaches for aneurysmal bone cysts, such as cryotherapy and argon-beam coagulation. We conclude that high-speed burring alone as an adjuvant to intralesional curettage is a reasonable approach to achieving a low recurrence rate for aneurysmal bone cysts.Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study. See the Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence

Halide homogenization for low energy loss in 2-eV-bandgap perovskites and increased efficiency in all-perovskite triple-junction solar cells

Monolithic all-perovskite triple-junction solar cells have the potential to deliver power conversion efficiencies beyond those of state-of-art double-junction tandems and well beyond the detailed-balance limit for single junctions. Today, however, their performance is limited by large deficits in open-circuit voltage and unfulfilled potential in both short-circuit current density and fill factor in the wide-bandgap perovskite sub cell. Here we find that halide heterogeneity—present even immediately following materials synthesis—plays a key role in interfacial non-radiative recombination and collection efficiency losses under prolonged illumination for Br-rich perovskites. We find that a diammonium halide salt, propane-1,3-diammonium iodide, introduced during film fabrication, improves halide homogenization in Br-rich perovskites, leading to enhanced operating stability and a record open-circuit voltage of 1.44 V in an inverted (p–i–n) device; ~86% of the detailed-balance limit for a bandgap of 1.97 eV. The efficient wide-bandgap sub cell enables the fabrication of monolithic all-perovskite triple-junction solar cells with an open-circuit voltage of 3.33 V and a champion PCE of 25.1% (23.87% certified quasi-steady-state efficiency)

Apoptotic cell death in disease-Current understanding of the NCCD 2023

Apoptosis is a form of regulated cell death (RCD) that involves proteases of the caspase family. Pharmacological and genetic strategies that experimentally inhibit or delay apoptosis in mammalian systems have elucidated the key contribution of this process not only to (post-)embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis, but also to the etiology of multiple human disorders. Consistent with this notion, while defects in the molecular machinery for apoptotic cell death impair organismal development and promote oncogenesis, the unwarranted activation of apoptosis promotes cell loss and tissue damage in the context of various neurological, cardiovascular, renal, hepatic, infectious, neoplastic and inflammatory conditions. Here, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) gathered to critically summarize an abundant pre-clinical literature mechanistically linking the core apoptotic apparatus to organismal homeostasis in the context of disease

Dengue viruses cluster antigenically but not as discrete serotypes

The four genetically divergent dengue virus (DENV) types are traditionally classified as serotypes. Antigenic and genetic differences among the DENV types influence disease outcome, vaccine-induced protection, epidemic magnitude, and viral evolution.We scharacterized antigenic diversity in the DENV types by antigenic maps constructed from neutralizing antibody titers obtained from African green monkeys and after human vaccination and natural infections. Genetically, geographically, and temporally, diverse DENV isolates clustered loosely by type, but we found that many are as similar antigenically to a virus of a different type as to some viruses of the same type. Primary infection antisera did not neutralize all viruses of the same DENV type any better than other types did up to 2 years after infection and did not show improved neutralization to homologous type isolates. That the canonical DENV types are not antigenically homogeneous has implications for vaccination and research on the dynamics of immunity, disease, and the evolution of DENV

Baseline results of the Neuro NEXT

OBJECTIVE: This study prospectively assessed putative promising biomarkers for use in assessing infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). METHODS: This prospective, multi‐center natural history study targeted the enrollment of SMA infants and healthy control infants less than 6 months of age. Recruitment occurred at 14 centers within the NINDS National Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT) Network. Infant motor function scales and putative electrophysiological, protein and molecular biomarkers were assessed at baseline and subsequent visits. RESULTS: Enrollment began November, 2012 and ended September, 2014 with 26 SMA infants and 27 healthy infants enrolled. Baseline demographic characteristics of the SMA and control infant cohorts aligned well. Motor function as assessed by the Test for Infant Motor Performance Items (TIMPSI) and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Infant Test of Neuromuscular Disorders (CHOP‐INTEND) revealed significant differences between the SMA and control infants at baseline. Ulnar compound muscle action potential amplitude (CMAP) in SMA infants (1.4 ± 2.2 mV) was significantly reduced compared to controls (5.5 ± 2.0 mV). Electrical impedance myography (EIM) high‐frequency reactance slope (Ohms/MHz) was significantly higher in SMA infants than controls SMA infants had lower survival motor neuron (SMN) mRNA levels in blood than controls, and several serum protein analytes were altered between cohorts. INTERPRETATION: By the time infants were recruited and presented for the baseline visit, SMA infants had reduced motor function compared to controls. Ulnar CMAP, EIM, blood SMN mRNA levels, and serum protein analytes were able to distinguish between cohorts at the enrollment visit