Towards liver-directed gene therapy: Retrovirus-mediated gene transfer into human hepatocytes

Liver-directed gene therapy is being considered in the treatment of inherited metabolic diseases. One approach we are considering is the transplantation of autologous hepatocytes that have been genetically modified with recombinant retroviruses ex vivo. We describe, in this report, techniques for isolating human hepatocytes and efficiently transducing recombinant genes into primary cultures. Hepatocytes were isolated from tissue of four different donors, plated in primary culture, and exposed to recombinant retroviruses expressing either the LacZ reporter gene or the cDNA for rabbit LDL receptor. The efficiency of gene transfer under optimal conditions, as determined by Southern blot analysis, varied from a maximum of one proviral copy per cell to a minimum of 0.1 proviral copy per cell. Cytochemical assays were used to detect expression of the recombinant derived proteins, E. coli β-galactosidase and rabbit LDL receptor. Hepatocytes transduced with the LDL receptor gene expressed levels of receptor protein that exceeded the normal endogenous levels. The ability to isolate and genetically modify human hepatocytes, as described in this report, is an important step towards the development of liver-directed gene therapies in humans.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45540/1/11188_2005_Article_BF01233625.pd

Character Strengths Among Youth

Four hundred and fiftynine students from 20 different high school classrooms in Michigan participated in focus group discussions about the character strengths included in the Values in Action Classification. Students were interested in the subject of good character and able to discuss with candor and sophistication instances of each strength. They were especially drawn to the positive traits of leadership, practical intelligence, wisdom, social intelligence, love of learning, spirituality, and the capacity to love and be loved. Students believed that strengths were largely acquired rather than innate and that these strengths developed through ongoing life experience as opposed to formal instruction. They cited an almost complete lack of contemporary role models exemplifying different strengths of character. Implications of these findings for the quantitative assessment of positive traits were discussed, as were implications for designing character education programs for adolescents. We suggest that peers can be an especially important force in encouraging the development and display of good character among youth.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45293/1/10964_2004_Article_379439.pd

Recovery of brachial plexus lesions resulting from heavy backpack use: A follow-up case series

Peer reviewe

Stroke in women — from evidence to inequalities

Stroke is the second largest cause of disability-adjusted life-years lost worldwide. The prevalence of stroke in women is predicted to rise rapidly, owing to the increasing average age of the global female population. Vascular risk factors differ between women and men in terms of prevalence, and evidence increasingly supports the clinical importance of sex differences in stroke. The influence of some risk factors for stroke — including diabetes mellitus and atrial fibrillation — are stronger in women, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy also affect the risk of stroke decades after pregnancy. However, in an era of evidence-based medicine, women are notably under-represented in clinical trials — despite governmental actions highlighting the need to include both men and women in clinical trials — resulting in a reduced generalizability of study results to women. The aim of this Review is to highlight new insights into specificities of stroke in women, to plan future research priorities, and to influence public health policies to decrease the worldwide burden of stroke in women

Monoclonal antibodies to rat Na+,K+-ATPase block enzymatic activity.

A panel of nine mouse monoclonal antibodies has been prepared against purified preparations of rat kidney Na+,K+-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3). Selection for specific antibody was based upon the ability of crude hybridoma fluids to inhibit Na+-ATPase activity (using luciferase-linked ATPase assays) and upon antibody binding to both the purified kidney membrane enzyme and to glutaraldehyde-fixed hepatocytes by using standard enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assays. After immunoaffinity purification, two of the antibodies (both of the IgG1 subclass) fully inhibit kidney and liver membrane Na+,K+-ATPase activity with Ki (apparent) values of 30 nM ("9-A5") and 600 nM ("9-B1"). Immunoblots demonstrate directly that three different 125I-labeled antibodies (6-4, 9-A5, and 9-B1) bind predominantly to a 94,000 Mr protein that comigrates in NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gels with the fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled alpha subunit of the Na+,K+-ATPase. Indirect immunofluorescence studies with these antibodies on paraformaldehyde-fixed liver slices reveal staining patterns congruent with bile canalicular membrane domains. These results together suggest that the antibodies exert inhibitory effects by recognizing alpha subunits of both liver and kidney Na+ pumps in their native conformations