Auf Spurensuche im Archiv. Ein Arbeitsbericht Das Projekt Digital Formalism

Auf Spurensuche im Archiv. Ein Arbeitsbericht Das Projekt Digital Formalism will Dziga Vertovs formale Verfahren untersuchen, und sie vor dem Hintergrund historischer Debatten über die sogenannte formale Methode positionieren. Den Korpus der Untersuchung bildet die Vertov-Samm-lung im Österreichischen Filmmuseum (ÖFM) – die dort konservierten Filmkopien, aber auch fi lmbezogene Artefakte wie Skizzen, Montagepläne, schriftliche und bildliche Zeugnisse von Vertovs Werk, sowie dessen Rezeption in den 1920er bis 1970er Jahren. Aufgabe des ÖFM ist es, Filme für die digitale Analyse und die fi lm-wissenschaftliche Annotation bereitzustellen, film-philologische Recherchen über weltweit verfügbare Materialien anzustellen, und die Anwendbarkeit von Projekter-gebnissen für fi lmarchivarische und fi lmmuseale Tätigkeiten zu prüfen. Für den transdisziplinären Austausch zwischen Archiv und Wissenschaft bedeu-tet dies eine einmalige Chance. Im Archiv und in der Filmwissenschaft gibt es, im Unterschied zu früher, Gelegenheit, die Filme, oder zumindest was davon überliefert ist, zu sehen: ein nicht zu unterschätzender Fortschritt, da sich viele der vorlie-genden Beschreibungen, Interpretationen und Analysen auf zum Teil widersprüch-liches, zum Teil verlorenes Quellenmaterial stützen, ganz zu schweigen von dem Problem des »abwesenden Bildes«, mit dem sich die Filmanalyse in ihrer »Nachzeitlichkeit« (eine Zusammenschau von Analyse und fi lmischem »Primärtext« war 1 Das ÖFM hält als Filmarchiv eine der größten Sammlungen von Vertov-Filmkopien, die aus unterschiedlichen Quellen seit 1968 erworben wurde. Vgl. dazu Österreichisches Filmmuseum/ Th omas Tode/Barbara Wurm (Hg.), Dziga Vertov: Die Vertov-Sammlung im Österreichischen Film-museum, Wien: Synema 2006, S. 274–285

Peptide microarray based analysis of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 identifies unique epitopes with potential for diagnostic test development

Humoral immunity to the Severe Adult Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus (CoV)‐2 is not fully understood yet but is a crucial factor of immune protection. The possibility of antibody cross‐reactivity between SARS‐CoV‐2 and other human coronaviruses (HCoVs) would have important implications for immune protection but also for the development of specific diagnostic ELISA tests. Using peptide microarrays, n = 24 patient samples and n = 12 control samples were screened for antibodies against the entire SARS‐CoV‐2 proteome as well as the Spike (S), Nucleocapsid (N), VME1 (V), R1ab, and Protein 3a (AP3A) of the HCoV strains SARS, MERS, OC43 and 229E. While widespread cross‐reactivity was revealed across several immunodominant regions of S and N, IgG binding to several SARS‐CoV‐2‐derived peptides provided statistically significant discrimination between COVID‐19 patients and controls. Selected target peptides may serve as capture antigens for future, highly COVID‐19‐specific diagnostic antibody tests

The CHR promoter element controls cell cycle-dependent gene transcription and binds the DREAM and MMB complexes

Cell cycle-dependent gene expression is often controlled on the transcriptional level. Genes like cyclin B, CDC2 and CDC25C are regulated by cell cycle-dependent element (CDE) and cell cycle genes homology region (CHR) promoter elements mainly through repression in G0/G1. It had been suggested that E2F4 binding to CDE sites is central to transcriptional regulation. However, some promoters are only controlled by a CHR. We identify the DREAM complex binding to the CHR of mouse and human cyclin B2 promoters in G0. Association of DREAM and cell cycle-dependent regulation is abrogated when the CHR is mutated. Although E2f4 is part of the complex, a CDE is not essential but can enhance binding of DREAM. We show that the CHR element is not only necessary for repression of gene transcription in G0/G1, but also for activation in S, G2 and M phases. In proliferating cells, the B-myb-containing MMB complex binds the CHR of both promoters independently of the CDE. Bioinformatic analyses identify many genes which contain conserved CHR elements in promoters binding the DREAM complex. With Ube2c as an example from that screen, we show that inverse CHR sites are functional promoter elements that can bind DREAM and MMB. Our findings indicate that the CHR is central to DREAM/MMB-dependent transcriptional control during the cell cycle

Loss of NOTCH2 Positively Predicts Survival in Subgroups of Human Glial Brain Tumors

The structural complexity of chromosome 1p centromeric region has been an obstacle for fine mapping of tumor suppressor genes in this area. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 1p is associated with the longer survival of oligodendroglioma (OD) patients. To test the clinical relevance of 1p loss in glioblastomas (GBM) patients and identifiy the underlying tumor suppressor locus, we constructed a somatic deletion map on chromosome 1p in 26 OG and 118 GBM. Deletion hotspots at 4 microsatellite markers located at 1p36.3, 1p36.1, 1p22 and 1p11 defined 10 distinct haplotypes that were related to patient survival. We found that loss of 1p centromeric marker D1S2696 within NOTCH2 intron 12 was associated with favorable prognosis in OD (P = 0.0007) as well as in GBM (P = 0.0175), while 19q loss, concomitant with 1p LOH in OD, had no influence on GBM survival (P = 0.918). Assessment of the intra-chromosomal ratio between NOTCH2 and its 1q21 pericentric duplication N2N (N2/N2N-test) allowed delineation of a consistent centromeric breakpoint in OD that also contained a minimally lost area in GBM. OD and GBM showed distinct deletion patterns that converged to the NOTCH2 gene in both glioma subtypes. Moreover, the N2/N2N-test disclosed homozygous deletions of NOTCH2 in primary OD. The N2/N2N test distinguished OD from GBM with a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 97%. Combined assessment of NOTCH2 genetic markers D1S2696 and N2/N2N predicted 24-month survival with an accuracy (0.925) that is equivalent to histological classification combined with the D1S2696 status (0.954) and higher than current genetic evaluation by 1p/19q LOH (0.762). Our data propose NOTCH2 as a powerful new molecular test to detect prognostically favorable gliomas

Interaction of hyperalgesia and sensory loss in complex regional pain syndrome type I (CRPS I)

Sensory abnormalities are a key feature of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). In order to characterise these changes in patients suffering from acute or chronic CRPS I, we used Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) in comparison to an age and gender matched control group