HIV-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Current perspectives

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, caused by the polyomavirus JC and occurring almost exclusively in the context of severe immune depression. AIDS represents the most common predisposing condition for PML development. Antiretroviral treatment has reduced PML incidence in HIV-infected subjects, but the disease remains a severe and life-threatening complication of AIDS, considering thus far the lack of an effective anti-JC virus (JCV) direct-acting antiviral drug. In the last decade, the use of monoclonal antibodies for treating immune-based diseases evidenced new predisposing conditions for PML development, promoting a renewed interest in PML pathogenesis. In this article, we review the current knowledge on JCV epidemiology and AIDS-associated PML incidence, JCV viral cycle, pathogenesis, and the interplay with HIV infection. We give an updated overview of diagnostic and prognostic tools available for PML diagnosis and describe past and current therapeutic approaches, including new strategies for PML cure

Long-term observations of foraminifera in situ

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Holocene carbon-cycle dynamics based on CO2 trapped in ice at Taylor Dome, Antarctica

A high-resolution ice-core record of atmospheric CO2 concentration over the Holocene epoch shows that the global carbon cycle has not been in steady state during the past 11,000 years. Analysis of the CO2 concentration and carbon stable-isotope records, using a one-dimensional carbon-cycle model,uggests that changes in terrestrial biomass and sea surface temperature were largely responsible for the observed millennial-scale changes of atmospheric CO2 concentrations

Independent mobility of proteins and lipids in the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Grant Number: BB/E009571, Oxford Centre for Integrative Systems Biology (OCISB), Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, Royal Society, Hertford College Oxfor