Immune Reconstitution After Gene Therapy Approaches in Patients With X-Linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease

X-linked severe immunodeficiency disease (SCID-X1) is an inherited, rare, and life-threating disease. The genetic origin is a defect in the interleukin 2 receptor γ chain (IL2RG) gene and patients are classically characterized by absence of T and NK cells, as well as presence of partially-functional B cells. Without any treatment the disease is usually lethal during the first year of life. The treatment of choice for these patients is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, with an excellent survival rate (>90%) if an HLA-matched sibling donor is available. However, when alternative donors are used, the success and survival rates are often lower. Gene therapy has been developed as an alternative treatment initially using γ-retroviral vectors to correct the defective γ chain in the absence of pre-conditioning treatment. The results were highly promising in SCID-X1 infants, showing long-term T-cell recovery and clinical benefit, although NK and B cell recovery was less robust. However, some infants developed T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia after the gene therapy, due to vector-mediated insertional mutagenesis. Consequently, considerable efforts have been made to develop safer vectors. The most recent clinical trials using lentiviral vectors together with a low-dose pre-conditioning regimen have demonstrated excellent sustained T cell recovery, but also B and NK cells, in both children and adults. This review provides an overview about the different gene therapy approaches used over the last 20 years to treat SCID-X1 patients, particularly focusing on lymphoid immune reconstitution, as well as the developments that have improved the process and outcomes

A new polymorph of N-phenyl­phthalimide

During an attempt to prepare a cocrystal of N-phenyl­phthalimide, C14H9NO2, with N-(2,3,4,5,6-penta­fluoro­phen­yl)phthalimide, a new ortho­rhom­bic polymorph of the first component was obtained. This new form has Z′ = 0.5 and the mol­ecule is located around a twofold axis, whereas in the previously reported polymorph (space group Pbca), the mol­ecule has no crystallographically imposed symmetry. Pairs of C—H⋯O inter­actions between inversion-related phthalimide units arrange mol­ecules into tapes that are further assembled into (010) layers via stacking inter­actions between phthalimide fragments [inter­planar distance = 3.37 (5) Å]

Culture restrictions as a trigger to the society development : history and modernity

Purpose: The main aim of this paper is to analyze cultural restrictions, taboos and bans inherent in society at any stage of its existence and their role in spiritual and intellectual transformations. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the purpose of investigating and classifying numerous cultural alternations which acted as a trigger to spiritual and intellectual transformations challenging a nation's cognitive potential it seems necessary to fulfill three conditions described in the text. Findings: The authors emphasized the fact that culture consists of several layers: spiritual, intellectual and technical. With the degradation of any of these layers culture suffers. The authors formulated the idea that such restrictions occuring in the society as censorship, for example, are likely to be relevant as long as the society itself exists and more over they present a rather stable element of a society. Practical Implications: The results may be implemented into sociocultural practices for better understanding of some main laws and cornerstones forming cultural foundations. Originality/Value: The main contribution of this study lies in the emphasis of the role of culture, especially its spiritual layer represented by religion, morale, philosophy, literature, art, history, in quite natural and unavoidable technological development and progresses.peer-reviewe

Gramm-software package for molecular dynamics on graphical processing units

© 2010, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. This work describes the software package and algorithms for molecular dynamics using NVIDEA GPU G80, G84, and G92. All potentials needed for MM2 and AMBER force fields are implemented and the combination of different potentials is allowed. The performance comparison of different MD algorithms on GPU and CPU is presented. All software is available from www.gpamm.mntech.ru

Structural stability of clean, passivated, and partially dehydrogenated cuboid and octahedral nanodiamonds up to 2 nanometers in size

The use of precisely applied mechanical forces to induce site-specific chemical transformations is called positional mechanosynthesis, and diamond is an important early target for achieving mechanosynthesis experimentally. The next major experimental milestone may be the mechanosynthetic fabrication of atomically precise 3D structures, creating readily accessible diamond-based nanomechanical components engineered to form desired architectures possessing superlative mechanical strength, stiffness, and strength-to-weight ratio. To help motivate this future experimental work, the present paper addresses the basic stability of the simplest nanoscale diamond structures-cubes and octahedra-possessing clean, hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated surfaces. Computational studies using Density Functional Theory (DFT) with the Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics (CPMD) code, consuming ~1,466,852.53 CPU-hours of runtime on the IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer (23 TFlops), confirmed that fully hydrogenated nanodiamonds up to 2 nm (~900-1800 atoms) in size having only C(111) faces (octahedrons) or only C(110) and C(100) faces (cuboids) maintain stable sp 3 hybridization. Fully dehydrogenated cuboid nanodiamonds above 1 nm retain the diamond lattice pattern, but smaller dehydrogenated cuboids and dehydrogenated octahedron nanodiamonds up to 2 nm reconstruct to bucky-diamond or onion-like carbon (OLC). At least three adjacent passivating H atoms may be removed, even from the most graphitization-prone C(111) face, without reconstruction of the underlying diamond lattice. Copyright © 2011 American Scientific Publishers

Structural stability of clean and passivated nanodiamonds having ledge, step, or corner features

The use of precisely applied mechanical forces to induce site-specific chemical transformations is called positional mechanosynthesis, and diamond is an important early target for achieving mechanosynthesis experimentally. The next major experimental milestone may be the mechanosynthetic fabrication of atomically precise 3D structures, creating readily accessible diamond-based nanomechanical components engineered to form desired architectures possessing superlative mechanical strength, stiffness, and strength-to-weight ratio. To help motivate this future experimental work, the present paper addresses the basic stability of nanoscale diamond structures with clean or hydrogenated surfaces that possess certain simple features including ledges, steps, and corners. Computational studies using Density Functional Theory (DFT) with the Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics (CPMD) code, consuming~2,284,108.97 CPU-hours of runtime on the IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer (23 TFlops), confirm that fully hydrogenated nanodiamonds 1-2 nm in size possessing ledges with various combinations of convex or concave edgelines where any two of the three principal diamond faces meet will maintain stable sp 3 hybridization. © 2012 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved

Optimal approach trajectories for a hydrogen donation tool in positionally controlled diamond mechanosynthesis

The use of precisely applied mechanical forces to induce site-specific chemical transformations is called positional mechanosynthesis, and diamond is an important early target for achieving mechanosynthesis experimentally. A key step in diamond mechanosynthesis (DMS) may employ a Ge-substituted adamantane-based hydrogen donation tool (HDon) for the site-specific mechanical hydrogenation of depassivated diamond surfaces. This paper presents the first theoretical study of DMS tool-workpiece operating envelopes and optimal tool approach trajectories for a positionally controlled hydrogen donation tool during scanning-probe based UHV diamond mechanosynthesis. Trajectories were analyzed using Density Functional Theory (DFT) in PC-GAMESS at the B3LYP/6- 311G(d, p)//B3LYP/3-21G(2d, p) level of theory. The results of this study help to define equipment and tooltip motion requirements that may be needed to execute the proposed reaction sequence experimentally and provide support for early developmental targets as part of a comprehensive near-term DMS implementation program. © 2013 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved

Long-term lymphoid progenitors independently sustain naïve T and NK cell production in humans.

Our mathematical model of integration site data in clinical gene therapy supported the existence of long-term lymphoid progenitors capable of surviving independently from hematopoietic stem cells. To date, no experimental setting has been available to validate this prediction. We here report evidence of a population of lymphoid progenitors capable of independently maintaining T and NK cell production for 15 years in humans. The gene therapy patients of this study lack vector-positive myeloid/B cells indicating absence of engineered stem cells but retain gene marking in both T and NK. Decades after treatment, we can still detect and analyse transduced naïve T cells whose production is likely maintained by a population of long-term lymphoid progenitors. By tracking insertional clonal markers overtime, we suggest that these progenitors can support both T and NK cell production. Identification of these long-term lymphoid progenitors could be utilised for the development of next generation gene- and cancer-immunotherapies