37 research outputs found
Monitoring of post-match fatigue in professional soccer: Welcome to the real world
Participation in soccer match-play leads to acute and transient subjective, biochemical, metabolic and physical disturbances in players over subsequent hours and days. Inadequate time for rest and regeneration between matches can expose players to the risk of training and competing whilst not entirely recovered. In professional soccer, contemporary competitive schedules can require teams to compete in-excess of 60 matches over the course of the season while periods of fixture congestion occur prompting much attention from researchers and practitioners to the monitoring of fatigue and readiness to play. A comprehensive body of research has investigated post-match acute and residual fatigue responses. Yet the relevance of the research for professional soccer contexts is debatable notably in relation to the study populations and designs employed. Monitoring can indeed be invasive, expensive, time-inefficient and difficult to perform routinely and simultaneously in a large squad of regularly competing players. Uncertainty also exists regarding the meaningfulness and interpretation of changes in fatigue response values and their functional relevance, and practical applicability in the field. The real-world need and cost-benefit of monitoring must be carefully weighed up. In relation to professional soccer contexts, this opinion paper intends to: 1) debate the need for PMF monitoring, 2) critique the real-world relevance of the current research literature, 3) discuss the practical burden relating to measurement tools and protocols and the collection, interpretation and application of data in the field, and, 4) propose future research perspectives
Overlapping expression patterns and differential transcript levels of phosphate transporter genes in arbuscular mycorrhizal, Pi-fertilised and phytohormone-treated Medicago truncatula roots
A microarray carrying 5,648 probes of Medicago truncatula root-expressed genes was screened in order to identify those that are specifically regulated by the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Gigaspora rosea, by Pi fertilisation or by the phytohormones abscisic acid and jasmonic acid. Amongst the identified genes, 21% showed a common induction and 31% a common repression between roots fertilised with Pi or inoculated with the AM fungus G. rosea, while there was no obvious overlap in the expression patterns between mycorrhizal and phytohormone-treated roots. Expression patterns were further studied by comparing the results with published data obtained from roots colonised by the AM fungi Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices, but only very few genes were identified as being commonly regulated by all three AM fungi. Analysis of Pi concentrations in plants colonised by either of the three AM fungi revealed that this could be due to the higher Pi levels in plants inoculated by G. rosea compared with the other two fungi, explaining that numerous genes are commonly regulated by the interaction with G. rosea and by phosphate. Differential gene expression in roots inoculated with the three AM fungi was further studied by expression analyses of six genes from the phosphate transporter gene family in M. truncatula. While MtPT4 was induced by all three fungi, the other five genes showed different degrees of repression mirroring the functional differences in phosphate nutrition by G. rosea, G. mosseae and G. intraradices
Cancer Genomics Identifies Regulatory Gene Networks Associated with the Transition from Dysplasia to Advanced Lung Adenocarcinomas Induced by c-Raf-1
Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer morbidity. To improve an understanding of molecular causes of disease a transgenic mouse model was investigated where targeted expression of the serine threonine kinase c-Raf to respiratory epithelium induced initialy dysplasia and subsequently adenocarcinomas. This enables dissection of genetic events associated with precancerous and cancerous lesions. Methodology/Principal Findings: By laser microdissection cancer cell populations were harvested and subjected to whole genome expression analyses. Overall 473 and 541 genes were significantly regulated, when cancer versus transgenic and non-transgenic cells were compared, giving rise to three distinct and one common regulatory gene network. At advanced stages of tumor growth predominately repression of gene expression was observed, but genes previously shown to be upregulated in dysplasia were also up-regulated in solid tumors. Regulation of developmental programs as well as epithelial mesenchymal and mesenchymal endothelial transition was a hall mark of adenocarcinomas. Additionaly, genes coding for cell adhesion, i.e. the integrins and the tight and gap junction proteins were repressed, whereas ligands for receptor tyrosine kinase such as epi- and amphiregulin were up-regulated. Notably, Vegfr- 2 and its ligand Vegfd, as well as Notch and Wnt signalling cascades were regulated as were glycosylases that influence cellular recognition. Other regulated signalling molecules included guanine exchange factors that play a role in an activation of the MAP kinases while several tumor suppressors i.e. Mcc, Hey1, Fat3, Armcx1 and Reck were significantly repressed. Finally, probable molecular switches forcing dysplastic cells into malignantly transformed cells could be identified. Conclusions/Significance: This study provides insight into molecular pertubations allowing dysplasia to progress further to adenocarcinoma induced by exaggerted c-Raf kinase activity
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is strongly associated with productive infection by herpesvirus saimiri
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal disease without effective therapy or diagnostic test. To investigate a
potential role for c�herpesviruses in this disease, 21 paraffin-embedded lung biopsies from patients diagnosed
with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 21 lung biopsies from age-matched controls with pulmonary fibrosis of
known etiology were examined for a series of c�herpesviruses’ DNA/RNA and related proteins using in situ
hybridization and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based methods. We detected four
proteins known to be in the genome of several c�herpesviruses (cyclin D, thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate
reductase, and interleukin-17) that were strongly co-expressed in the regenerating epithelial cells of each of the
21 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cases and not in the benign epithelia of the controls. Among the c�
herpesviruses, only herpesvirus saimiri expresses all four of these ‘pirated’ mammalian proteins. We found
herpesvirus saimiri DNA in the regenerating epithelial cells of 21/21 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cases using
four separate probe sets but not in the 21 controls. RT-PCR showed that the source of the cyclin D RNA in active
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was herpesvirus saimiri and not human. We cloned and sequenced part of
genome corresponding to the DNA polymerase herpesvirus saimiri gene from an idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
sample and it matched 100% with the published viral sequence. These data are consistent with idiopathic
pulmonary fibrosis representing herpesvirus saimiri-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Thus, treatment directed
against viral proliferation and/or viral-associated proteins may halt disease progression. Further, demonstration
of the viral nucleic acids or proteins may help diagnose the disease