PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS IN PEOPLE USING SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS (SPICE)

The study involved the group of patients (n = 40) with psychotic disorders who used synthetic cannabinoids (spice). Among the psychotic disorders according to ICD-10 we allocated intoxication delirium (F12.03; 35 %), schizophreniform disorder (F12.50; 60 %), disorder with predominantly manic psychotic symptoms (F12.55; 5 %). The average age of patients was 25.2 ± 4.4 years. Hereditary aggravation in patients who consume synthetic cannabinoids was presented by alcoholism and substance abuse (20 %), affective disorders (7.5 %), schizophrenia (5 %); personality disorders (10 %); suicides (2.5 %). The group of patients with intoxication with delirium had significantly higher frequency of family history of alcoholism and addiction to psychoactive substances compared with patients with schizophreniform disorder (p < 0.02). Clinic intoxication delirium was characterized by disturbance of consciousness (delirium, twilight) lasting from several hours to 2-3 days, psychomotor agitation, aggression, shouting certain phrases and words, anxiety, fear, visual hallucinations. In patients with acute schizophreniform disorder (24 patients; 60 %) symptoms consisted of a dominant affect (depressive, or mixed), productive psychopathological symptoms within the list of F20 headings of ICD-10. Productive syndromes were limited to verbal hallucinosis (true or its limiting variants) in the form of voiced (which discuss the patient's behavior, threaten him/her with death, offer advice), reference of persecutory delusion. The coming out of a psychotic state was characterized by short-term postpsychotic depression. Patients received detoxification therapy and also combined psychopharmacotherapy with the use of antipsychotics, antidepressants, tranquilizers, normotymics, nootropics

Primary cilia regulate proliferation of amplifying progenitors in adult hippocampus: implications for learning and memory

Integration of new neurons into the adult hippocampus has been linked to specific types of learning. Primary cilia were found to be required for the formation of adult neural stem cells (NSCs) in the hippocampal dentate gyrus during development. However, the requirement of cilia in maintenance of adult NSCs is unknown. We developed a genetic mouse model in which fetal/perinatal brain development is unaffected, but adult hippocampal neurogenesis is constantly reduced by conditional ablation of primary cilia in adult GFAP(+) neural stem/progenitor cells. We found that this approach specifically reduces the number of hippocampal amplifying progenitors (also called type 2a cells) without affecting the number of radial NSCs (or type 1 cells). Constant reduction of adult hippocampal neurogenesis produced a delay rather than a permanent deficiency in spatial learning without affecting the retention of long-term memories. Decreased neurogenesis also altered spatial novelty recognition and hippocampus-independent cue conditioning. Here, we propose that adult hippocampal newborn neurons increase the efficiency of generating the new representations of spatial memories and that reduction of adult hippocampal neurogenesis may be biased toward cue-based strategies. This novel mouse model provides evidences that cognitive deficits associated with ciliary defects (ciliopathies) might be, in part, mediated by the deficiency of primary cilia in adult hippocampal stem/progenitor cells

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) regulates multipotent neural progenitor proliferation.

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) was previously identified in a screen for genes enriched in neural progenitors. Here, we demonstrate expression of MELK by progenitors in developing and adult brain and that MELK serves as a marker for self-renewing multipotent neural progenitors (MNPs) in cultures derived from the developing forebrain and in transgenic mice. Overexpression of MELK enhances (whereas knockdown diminishes) the ability to generate neurospheres from MNPs, indicating a function in self-renewal. MELK down-regulation disrupts the production of neurogenic MNP from glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive progenitors in vitro. MELK expression in MNP is cell cycle regulated and inhibition of MELK expression down-regulates the expression of B-myb, which is shown to also mediate MNP proliferation. These findings indicate that MELK is necessary for proliferation of embryonic and postnatal MNP and suggest that it regulates the transition from GFAP-expressing progenitors to rapid amplifying progenitors in the postnatal brain

Hair Follicle Reconstruction and Stem Cells

De novo hair follicle (HF) formation in embryonic skin and hair growth in postnatal skin are the result of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions between specialized mesenchymal dermal papilla (DP) and epithelial stem cells that give rise to hairs. Adult HF is a valuable source of different lineages of stem cells (SCs) with morphogenetic potential. Epithelial stem cells are residing in the special compartment of HF (the bulge) and can be mobilized to regenerate the new follicle with each hair cycle and to reepithelialize epidermis during wound repair. This review summarizes the current knowledge on key characteristics of HF SC populations in terms of regenerative potential. General biological principles that govern the mesenchymal-epithelial interactions within the HF and the signaling pathways that control HF development are discussed. The main focus is on recent approaches to reconstruct folliculogenesis in vitro and perspectives of the tissue engineering in alopecia therapy

Blocking Zika virus vertical transmission.

The outbreak of the Zika virus (ZIKV) has been associated with increased incidence of congenital malformations. Although recent efforts have focused on vaccine development, treatments for infected individuals are needed urgently. Sofosbuvir (SOF), an FDA-approved nucleotide analog inhibitor of the Hepatitis C (HCV) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) was recently shown to be protective against ZIKV both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we show that SOF protected human neural progenitor cells (NPC) and 3D neurospheres from ZIKV infection-mediated cell death and importantly restored the antiviral immune response in NPCs. In vivo, SOF treatment post-infection (p.i.) decreased viral burden in an immunodeficient mouse model. Finally, we show for the first time that acute SOF treatment of pregnant dams p.i. was well-tolerated and prevented vertical transmission of the virus to the fetus. Taken together, our data confirmed SOF-mediated sparing of human neural cell types from ZIKV-mediated cell death in vitro and reduced viral burden in vivo in animal models of chronic infection and vertical transmission, strengthening the growing body of evidence for SOF anti-ZIKV activity

Involvement of circulating CEA in liver metastases from colorectal cancers re-examined in a new experimental model

Both experimental and clinical data show evidence of a correlation between elevated blood levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and the development of liver metastases from colorectal carcinomas. However, a cause-effect relationship between these two observations has not been demonstrated. For this reason, we developed a new experimental model to evaluate the possible role of circulating CEA in the facilitation of liver metastases. A CEA-negative subclone from the human colon carcinoma cell line CO115 was transfected either with CEA-cDNA truncated at its 3' end by the deletion of 78 base pairs leading to the synthesis of a secreted form of CEA or with a full-length CEA-cDNA leading to the synthesis of the entire CEA molecule linked to the cell surface by a GPI anchor. Transfectants were selected either for their high CEA secretion (clone CO115-2C2 secreting up to 13 microg CEA per 10(6) cells within 72 h) or for their high CEA membrane expression (clone CO115-5F12 expressing up to 1 x 10(6) CEA molecules per cell). When grafted subcutaneously, CO115-2C2 cells gave rise to circulating CEA levels that were directly related to the tumour volume (from 100 to 1000 ng ml(-1) for tumours ranging from 100 to 1000 mm3), whereas no circulating CEA was detectable in CO115 and CO115-5F12 tumour-bearing mice. Three series of nude mice bearing a subcutaneous xenograft from either clone CO115-2C2 or the CO115-5F12 transfectant, or an untransfected CO115 xenograft, were further challenged for induction of experimental liver metastases by intrasplenic injection of three different CEA-expressing human colorectal carcinoma cell lines (LoVo, LS174T or CO112). The number and size of the liver metastases were shown to be independent of the circulating CEA levels induced by the subcutaneous CEA secreting clone (CO115-2C2), but they were directly related to the metastatic properties of the intrasplenically injected tumour cells

АТИПИЧНЫЕ ФОРМЫ РАССЕЯННОГО СКЛЕРОЗА В ТОМСКОЙ

The study involved 280 patients aged 10 to 70 years old with a valid diagnosis of multiple sclerosis according to the McDonald criteria. There  are 6 (2.1%) patients had the first manifestation of disease overthe age of 45, 18 (6.4%) – 20 years earlier. In 7 (2.5%) of patients diagnosed with malignant progressof the MS, in 30 (10.7%) – soft progress.Обследовано 280 пациентов в возрасте от 10 до 70 лет с достоверным диагнозом «рассеянный склероз» (РС) согласно критериям Мак-Доналда. Среди них у 6 (2,1%) больных заболевание впервые  проявило себя в возрасте старше 45; у 18 (6,4%) – ранее 20 лет. У 7 (2,5%) больных диагностировано злокачественное течение РС; у 30 (10,7%) – мягкое течение.

Author Correction: Blocking Zika virus vertical transmission.

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Single domain antibody multimers confer protection against rabies infection

Post-exposure prophylactic (PEP) neutralizing antibodies against Rabies are the most effective way to prevent infection-related fatality. The outer envelope glycoprotein of the Rabies virus (RABV) is the most significant surface antigen for generating virus-neutralizing antibodies. The small size and uncompromised functional specificity of single domain antibodies (sdAbs) can be exploited in the fields of experimental therapeutic applications for infectious diseases through formatting flexibilities to increase their avidity towards target antigens. In this study, we used phage display technique to select and identify sdAbs that were specific for the RABV glycoprotein from a naïve llama-derived antibody library. To increase their neutralizing potencies, the sdAbs were fused with a coiled-coil peptide derived from the human cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP48) to form homogenous pentavalent multimers, known as combodies. Compared to monovalent sdAbs, the combodies, namely 26424 and 26434, exhibited high avidity and were able to neutralize 85-fold higher input of RABV (CVS-11 strain) pseudotypes in vitro, as a result of multimerization, while retaining their specificities for target antigen. 26424 and 26434 were capable of neutralizing CVS-11 pseudotypes in vitro by 90–95% as compared to human rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG), currently used for PEP in Rabies. The multimeric sdAbs were also demonstrated to be partially protective for mice that were infected with lethal doses of rabies virus in vivo. The results demonstrate that the combodies could be valuable tools in understanding viral mechanisms, diagnosis and possible anti-viral candidate for RABV infection