Association of reading problems with speech and motor development: results from a British 1946 birth cohort

Association of reading problems with speech and motor development: results from a British 1946 birth cohor

Diverse Functionalization of Aurora-A Kinase at Specified Surface and Buried Sites by Native Chemical Modification

The ability to obtain a homogeneous sample of protein is invaluable when studying the effect of alterations such as post-translational modifications (PTMs). Selective functionalization of a protein to investigate the effect of PTMs on its structure or activity can be achieved by chemical modification of cysteine residues. We demonstrate here that one such technique, which involves conversion of cysteine to dehydroalanine followed by thiol nucleophile addition, is suitable for the site-specific installation of a wide range of chemical mimics of PTMs, including acetylated and dimethylated lysine, and other unnatural amino acids. These reactions, optimized for the clinically relevant kinase Aurora-A, readily proceed to completion as revealed by intact protein mass spectrometry. Moreover, these reactions proceed under non-denaturing conditions, which is desirable when working with large protein substrates. We have determined reactivity trends for a diverse range of thiol nucleophile addition reactions at two separate sites on Aurora-A, and we also highlight limitations when using thiol nucleophiles that contain basic functional groups. We show that chemical modification of cysteine residues is possible not only on a flexible surface-exposed loop, but also within a deep active site pocket at the conserved DFG motif, which reveals the potential use of this method in exploring enzyme function through modification of catalytic site residues

Use of procalcitonin for the diagnosis of pneumonia in patients presenting with a chief complaint of dyspnoea: Results from the BACH (Biomarkers in Acute Heart Failure) trial

Aims Biomarkers have proven their ability in the evaluation of cardiopulmonary diseases. We investigated the utility of concentrations of the biomarker procalcitonin (PCT) alone and with clinical variables for the diagnosis of pneumonia in patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with a chief complaint of shortness of breath. Methods and results The BACH trial was a prospective, international, study of 1641 patients presenting to EDs with dyspnoea. Blood samples were analysed for PCT and other biomarkers. Relevant clinical data were also captured. Patient outcomes were assessed at 90 days. The diagnosis of pneumonia was made using strictly validated guidelines. A model using PCT was more accurate [area under the curve (AUC) 72.3%] than any other individual clinical variable for the diagnosis of pneumonia in all patients, in those with obstructive lung disease, and in those with acute heart failure (AHF). Combining physician estimates of the probability of pneumonia with PCT values increased the accuracy to >86% for the diagnosis of pneumonia in all patients. Patients with a diagnosis of AHF and an elevated PCT concentration (>0.21 ng/mL) had a worse outcome if not treated with antibiotics (P = 0.046), while patients with low PCT values (<0.05 ng/mL) had a better outcome if they did not receive antibiotic therapy (P = 0.049). Conclusion Procalcitonin may aid in the diagnosis of pneumonia, particularly in cases with high diagnostic uncertainty. Importantly, PCT may aid in the decision to administer antibiotic therapy to patients presenting with AHF in which clinical uncertainty exists regarding a superimposed bacterial infection

Correction: The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study.

The arcOGEN Consortium should be listed as an author of this article. They contributed to the genome-wide association study results presented in this work. They should be listed in the author byline at position 292 and affiliated with The Arthritis Research UK Osteoarthritis Genetics Consortium. They should also be included in the footnote designating consortia which is underneath the author affiliation list in the PDF version of the article, and in the S2 Text. Please view the correct S2 Text below, containing correct consortia members. S2 Text. Consortia members and extended acknowledgments. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1006166.s001 (DOCX) [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005378.]