Activated Gαq family members induce Rho GTPase activation and Rho-dependent actin filament assembly

AbstractRho GTPase is required for actin filament assembly and serum response element (SRE)-dependent gene transcription. Certain G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) induce Rho-dependent responses, but the intermediary signaling steps are poorly understood. The heterotrimeric Gα12 family can induce Rho-dependent responses. In contrast, there are conflicting reports on the role of the Gαq family in Rho signaling. We report that expression of activated Gαq members, or activation of endogenous Gαq via GPCR stimulation, induces SRE reporter activation via Rho, and increased GTP-Rho levels. Moreover, microinjection of activated Gαq in fibroblasts induces actin stress fiber formation via Rho. Gαq functionally cooperates with Lbc Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor. Overall, these findings indicate that Gαq family signals are sufficient to induce Rho-dependent cellular responses

Axillary silicone lymphadenopathy presenting with a lump and altered sensation in the breast: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Silicone lymphadenopathy is a rare but recognised complication of procedures involving the use of silicone. It has a poorly understood mechanism but is thought to occur following the transportation of silicone particles from silicone-containing prostheses to lymph nodes by macrophages.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report of a case involving a 35-year-old woman who presented to the breast clinic with a breast lump and altered sensation below her left nipple 5 years after bilateral cosmetic breast augmentations. A small lump was detected inferior to the nipple but clinical examination and initial ultrasound investigation showed both implants to be intact. However, mammography and magnetic resonance imaging of both breasts revealed both intracapsular and extracapsular rupture of the left breast prosthesis. The patient went on to develop a flu-like illness and tender lumps in the left axilla and right mastoid regions. An excision biopsy of the left axillary lesion and replacement of the ruptured implant was performed. Subsequent histological analysis showed that the axillary lump was a lymph node containing large amounts of silicone.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The exclusion of malignancy remains the priority when dealing with lumps in the breast or axilla. Silicone lymphadenopathy should however be considered as a differential diagnosis in patients in whom silicone prostheses are present.</p

Urokinase Receptor (CD87) Regulates Leukocyte Recruitment via β2 Integrins In Vivo

The urokinase receptor (CD87; uPAR) is found in close association with β2 integrins on leukocytes. We studied the functional consequence of this association for leukocyte adhesion and migration. In vivo, the β2 integrin–dependent recruitment of leukocytes to the inflamed peritoneum of uPAR-deficient mice was significantly reduced as compared with wild-type animals. In vitro, β2 integrin–mediated adhesion of leukocytes to endothelium was lost upon removal of uPAR from the leukocyte surface by phosphatidyl-inositol–specific phospholipase C. Leukocyte adhesion was reconstituted when soluble intact uPAR, but not a truncated form lacking the uPA-binding domain, was allowed to reassociate with the cell surface. uPAR ligation with a monoclonal antibody induced adhesion of monocytic cells and neutrophils to vascular endothelium by six- to eightfold, whereas ligation with inactivated uPA significantly reduced cell-to-cell adhesion irrespective of the β2 integrin–stimulating pathway. These data indicate that β2 integrin–mediated leukocyte–endothelial cell interactions and recruitment to inflamed areas require the presence of uPAR and define a new phenotype for uPAR-deficient mice. Moreover, uPAR ligation differentially modulates leukocyte adhesion to endothelium and provides novel targets for therapeutic strategies in inflammation-related vascular pathologies

Do breast implants after a mastectomy affect subsequent prognosis and survival?

In a large study, published in this issue of Breast Cancer Research, Le and colleagues report that women receiving implants after mastectomies for early-stage breast cancer experience lower breast cancer mortality than women not receiving implants. Assessment of survival patterns among women receiving reconstructive implants is complex given unique patient characteristics, disease attributes, and treatment patterns. The interpretation of reduced mortality from breast cancer must be assessed in light of significantly reduced risks of death from most other causes. In contrast, patients receiving post-mastectomy implants had elevated rates of suicide, consistent with findings among women with cosmetic implants. Additional well-designed investigations are needed to clarify survival patterns among women receiving reconstructive implants

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

Adjusting for dependent comorbidity in the calculation of healthy life expectancy

BACKGROUND: Healthy life expectancy – sometimes called health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) – is a form of health expectancy indicator that extends measures of life expectancy to account for the distribution of health states in the population. The World Health Organization has estimated healthy life expectancy for 192 WHO Member States using information from health interview surveys and from the Global Burden of Disease Study. The latter estimates loss of health by cause, age and sex for populations. Summation of prevalent years lived with disability (PYLD) across all causes would result in overestimation of the severity of the population average health state because of comorbidity between conditions. Earlier HALE calculations made adjustments for independent comorbidity in adding PYLD across causes. This paper presents a method for adjusting for dependent comorbidity using available empirical data. METHODS: Data from five large national health surveys were analysed by age and sex to estimate "dependent comorbidity" factors for pairs of conditions. These factors were defined as the ratio of the prevalence of people with both conditions to the product of the two total prevalences for each of the conditions. The resulting dependent comorbidity factors were used for all Member States to adjust for dependent comorbidity in summation of PYLD across all causes and in the calculation of HALE. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out for order effects in the proposed calculation method. RESULTS: There was surprising consistency in the dependent comorbidity factors across the five surveys. The improved estimation of dependent comorbidity resulted in reductions in total PYLD per capita ranging from a few per cent in younger adult ages to around 8% in the oldest age group (80 years and over) in developed countries and up to 15% in the oldest age group in the least developed countries. The effect of the dependent comorbidity adjustment on estimated healthy life expectancies is small for some regions (high income countries, Eastern Europe, Western Pacific) and ranges from an increase of 0.5 to 1.5 years for countries in Latin America, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. CONCLUSION: The available evidence suggests that dependent comorbidity is important, and that adjustment for it makes a significant difference to resulting HALE estimates for some regions of the world. Given the data limitations, we recommend a normative adjustment based on the available evidence, and applied consistently across all countries