Injury incidence in elite youth field hockey players at the 2016 European Championships

Despite being an essential consideration when deciding rule changes, injury prevention strategies, and athlete development models, there is little epidemiological data of U18 field hockey player injuries–something explicitly referred to in the 2015 International Olympic Committee’s Consensus Statement on Youth Athlete Development. The aim of this study was to quantify incidence and characteristics of injuries in elite youth field hockey players during a major international tournament. Standardized reporting forms detailing time, location on pitch, mechanism and anatomical location of injury were completed for new musculoskeletal conditions resulting in a time stoppage by the umpire and where a player was noticeably affected by an injury for up to 20 s regardless of time stoppage. Injury incidence was 1.35 and 2.20 injuries/match or 53 and 86 injuries per 1000 player match hours for boys (B) and girls (G) respectively; girls were over three times more likely to have a minor injury. Most injuries were contusions due to being hit by the ball or stick (B: 12, G: 27), with high numbers of injuries to the torso (B: 8) and head/face (G: 7). Injuries during the penalty corner (B: 3, G: 4) were to the lower limb and hand, and boys were less likely to wear facial protection (B: 65.9%, G: 86.4%). Results form an essential initial dataset of injuries in U18 field hockey players. Current reporting protocols under-report injuries and must be addressed by the international governing body. The high number of head/face injuries, particularly in females, requires further investigation

Injuries in elite U18 field hockey players at a major tournament

Background: There is little data on injuries in elite U18 field hockey players, which limits development of appropriate evidence-based injury prevention strategies. Conclusions: Injury incidence in elite U18 field hockey is low but the high number of injuries due to being struck by the ball or stick highlights the importance of design and use of appropriate protective equipment for youth athletes

Functional analysis of phosphorylation of the mitotic centromere-associated kinesin by Aurora B kinase in human tumor cells

<p>Mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK) is the best characterized member of the kinesin-13 family and plays important roles in microtubule dynamics during mitosis. Its activity and subcellular localization is tightly regulated by an orchestra of mitotic kinases, such as Aurora B. It is well known that serine 196 of MCAK is the major phosphorylation site of Aurora B in <i>Xenopus leavis</i> extracts and that this phosphorylation regulates its catalytic activity and subcellular localization. In the current study, we have addressed the conserved phosphorylation site serine 192 in human MCAK to characterize its function in more depth in human cancer cells. Our data confirm that S192 is the major phosphorylation site of Aurora B in human MCAK and that this phosphorylation has crucial roles in regulating its catalytic activity and localization at the kinetochore/centromere region in mitosis. Interfering with this phosphorylation leads to a delayed progression through prometa- and metaphase associated with mitotic defects in chromosome alignment and segregation. We show further that MCAK is involved in directional migration and invasion of tumor cells, and interestingly, interference with the S192 phosphorylation affects this capability of MCAK. These data provide the first molecular explanation for clinical observation, where an overexpression of MCAK was associated with lymphatic invasion and lymph node metastasis in gastric and colorectal cancer patients.</p

B-cell lymphoma 6 promotes proliferation and survival of trophoblastic cells

<p>Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity and its pathogenesis is not fully understood. B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6), a key regulator of B-lymphocyte development, is altered in preeclamptic placentas. We show here that BCL6 is present in all 3 studied trophoblast cell lines and it is predominantly expressed in trophoblastic HTR-8/SVneo cells derived from a 1^st trimester placenta, suggestive of its involvement in trophoblast expansion in the early stage of placental development. BCL6 is strongly stabilized upon stress stimulation. Inhibition of BCL6, by administrating either small interfering RNA or a specific small molecule inhibitor 79–6, reduces proliferation and induces apoptosis in trophoblastic cells. Intriguingly, depletion of BCL6 in HTR-8/SVneo cells results in a mitotic arrest associated with mitotic defects in centrosome integrity, indicative of its involvement in mitotic progression. Thus, like in haematopoietic cells and breast cancer cells, BCL6 promotes proliferation and facilitates survival of trophoblasts under stress situation. Further studies are required to decipher its molecular roles in differentiation, migration and the fusion process of trophoblasts. Whether increased BCL6 observed in preeclamptic placentas is one of the causes or the consequences of preeclampsia warrants further investigations <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i>.</p