The hydrology of the humid tropics

Hydrological processes in the humid tropics differ from other regions in having greater energy inputs and faster rates of change, including human-induced change. Human influences on population growth, land use and climate change will profoundly influence tropical hydrology, yet understanding of key hydrological interactions is limited. We propose that efforts to collect tropical data should explicitly emphasize characterizing moisture and energy fluxes from below the ground surface into the atmosphere. Research needs to chiefly involve field-based characterizations and modelling of moisture cycling and catchment processes, as well as long-term data acquisition and organization

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Conditional mouse models support the role of SLC39A14 (ZIP14) in Hyperostosis Cranialis Interna and in bone homeostasis

Contains fulltext : 191585.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Acquired haemophilia A in a patient with systemic sclerosis treated with autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

status: publishe

A mosaic variant in CTNNB1/\u3b2-catenin as a novel cause for osteopathia striata with cranial sclerosis

Abstract: Context: Osteopathia striata with cranial sclerosis (OSCS) is a rare bone disorder with X-linked dominant inheritance, characterized by a generalized hyperostosis in the skull and long bones and typical metaphyseal striations in the long bones. So far, loss-of-function variants in AMER1 (also known as WTX or FAM123B), encoding the APC membrane recruitment protein 1 (AMER1), have been described as the only molecular cause for OSCS. AMER1 promotes the degradation of beta-catenin via AXIN stabilization, acting as a negative regulator of the WNT/beta-catenin signaling pathway, a central pathway in bone formation.Objective: In this study, we describe a Dutch adult woman with an OSCS-like phenotype, namely, generalized high bone mass and characteristic metaphyseal striations, but no genetic variant affecting AMER1.Results: Whole exome sequencing led to the identification of a mosaic missense variant (c.876A > C; p.Lys292Asn) in CTNNB1, coding for beta-catenin. The variant disrupts an amino acid known to be crucial for interaction with AXIN, a key factor in the beta-catenin destruction complex. Western blotting experiments demonstrate that the p.Lys292Asn variant does not significantly affect the beta-catenin phosphorylation status, and hence stability in the cytoplasm. Additionally, luciferase reporter assays were performed to investigate the effect of p.Lys292Asn beta-catenin on canonical WNT signaling. These studies indicate an average 70-fold increase in canonical WNT signaling activity by p.Lys292Asn beta-catenin.Conclusion: In conclusion, this study indicates that somatic variants in the CTNNB1 gene could explain the pathogenesis of unsolved cases of osteopathia striata