Polycystic kidney diseases: From molecular discoveries to targeted therapeutic strategies

Polycystic kidney diseases (PKDs) represent a large group of progressive renal disorders characterized by the development of renal cysts leading to end-stage renal disease. Enormous strides have been made in understanding the pathogenesis of PKDs and the development of new therapies. Studies of autosomal dominant and recessive polycystic kidney diseases converge on molecular mechanisms of cystogenesis, including ciliary abnormalities and intracellular calcium dysregulation, ultimately leading to increased proliferation, apoptosis and dedifferentiation. Here we review the pathobiology of PKD, highlighting recent progress in elucidating common molecular pathways of cystogenesis. We discuss available models and challenges for therapeutic discovery as well as summarize the results from preclinical experimental treatments targeting key disease-specific pathways

PCR-based RFLP analysis of DNA sequence diversity in the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori.

DNA sequence diversity among 60 independent isolates of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori was assessed by testing for restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in several PCR-amplified gene segments. 18 Mbol and 27 HaeIII RFLPs were found in the 2.4 kb ureA-ureB (urease) segment from the 60 strains; this identified 44 separate groups, with each group containing one to four isolates. With one exception, each isolate not distinguished from the others by RFLPs in ureA-ureB was distinguished by Mbol digestion of the neighboring 1.7 kb ureC-ureD segment. The 1.5 kb flaA (flagellin) gene, which is not close to ure gene cluster, was also highly polymorphic. In contrast, isolates from initial and followup biopsies yielded identical restriction patterns in each of the three cases tested. The potential of this method for detecting population heterogeneity was tested by mixing DNAs from different strains before amplification: the arrays of restriction fragments obtained indicated co-amplification from both genomes in each of the five pairwise combinations tested. These results show that H. pylori is a very diverse species, that indicate PCR-based RFLP tests are almost as sensitive as arbitrary primer PCR (RAPD) tests, and suggest that such RFLP tests will be useful for direct analysis of H. pylori in biopsy and gastric juice specimens

DNA diversity among clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori detected by PCR-based RAPD fingerprinting.

The RAPD (or AP-PCR) DNA fingerprinting method was used to distinguish among clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium whose long term carriage is associated with gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastric carcinomas. This method uses arbitrarily chosen oligonucleotides to prime DNA synthesis from genomic sites to which they are fortuitously matched, or almost matched. Most 10-nt primers with > or = 60% G + C yielded strain-specific arrays of up to 15 prominent fragments, as did most longer (> or = 17-nt) primers, whereas most 10-nt primers with 50% G+C did not. Each of 64 independent H. pylori isolates, 60 of which were from patients in the same hospital, was distinguishable with a single RAPD primer, which suggests a high level of DNA sequence diversity within this species. In contrast, isolates from initial and followup biopsies were indistinguishable in each of three cases tested

Investigation of functionals of neutron flux influencing onto VVER-440 reactor pressure vessel

The calculational procedure for determination of irradiation conditions of VVER-440 reactor internals is presented. Using the developed procedure, irradiation conditions of Rovno NPP Unit1&2 VVER-440 reactor internals – baffle, basket and barrel – are determined. Distributions of neutron flux functionals at surfaces of these internals at both reactors are analyzed for different core arrangements

Validation of the code package MCPV

The results of the validation of the code package MCPV that is used in the radiation exposure determination methodology for the pressure vessels of the VVER type reactors of Ukrainian NPPs are presented. The validation is carried out on the basis of the data obtained with the reactor LR-0 benchmark and of the results of dosimetry measurements behind reactor pressure vessels. It is shown the code package MCPV can be used to simulate the neutron transport through a complicated heterogeneous environment of nuclear reactor and to obtain the calculational values of functionals of the neutron flux influencing onto its pressure vessel

WWER-1000 core loading characteristic influence on irradiation conditions of surveillance specimens and reactor pressure vessel

Irradiation conditions of WWER-1000 surveillance specimens and reactor pressure vessel are comparative analyzed for various core loadings. It is proved that the fluences onto specimens don't correlate with ones onto pressure vessel. It is shown that the reconstitution technique using to surveillance specimens of the standard program implemented at the most of the power units with WWER-1000 allows obtaining reliable information on the reactor pressure vessel metal state

Distribution of Open Reading Frames of Plasticity Region of Strain J99 in Helicobacter pylori Strains Isolated from Gastric Carcinoma and Gastritis Patients in Costa Rica

The plasticity region of Helicobacter pylori strain J99 is a large chromosomal segment containing 33 strain-specific open reading frames (ORFs) with characteristics of a pathogenicity island. To study the diversity of the plasticity region, 22 probes corresponding to 20 ORFs inside the plasticity region and two ORFs on its boundaries were hybridized to genomic DNA isolated from clinical strains of H. pylori from patients with gastritis or gastric adenocarcinoma. Highly variable hybridization patterns were observed. The majority of the clinical strains presented a hybridization profile similar to that of J99; thus, these ORFs are not J99 strain specific. No association was found between a particular hybridization pattern and the clinical origin of the strain. Nevertheless, two single ORFs (JHP940 and JHP947) were more likely to be found in gastric cancer strains. They may be new pathogenicity markers. An in vitro expression study of these ORFs was also performed for the J99 strain, under different conditions. Thirteen ORFs were consistently expressed, six were consistently shut off, and three were expressed differentially. Most of the constitutionally expressed genes were located on the 3′ part of the plasticity region. Our results show that the plasticity region, rather than being considered a pathogenicity island per se, should be considered a genomic island, which represents a large fragment of foreign DNA integrated into the genome and not necessarily implicated in the pathogenic capacity of the strain