Meeting Report from the 2019 "Organelle Zone" Symposium in Osaka, Japan

International audienceOn May 29 at the Osaka University Hospital, Japan, the "Organelle Zones" research grant group (see http://organellezone.org/english/) organized a one day symposium for its own members and four guest speakers, with about 60 attendees. The research group studies three different ways in which regions within organelles carry out functions distinct from other parts of the organelle. Work at this sub-organellar level is increasingly recognised as an important aspect of cell biology. The group's projects are divided into these themes with 9 Principal Investigators and 18 Co-Investigators over 5 years. The symposium, followed a similar meeting in 2018, and had 4 external speakers and 4 internal members of the consortium. The talks were divided into three sessions, each show-casing one way of sub-compartmentalising organelles into zones

Real-Time Gait Analysis Using a Single Head-Worn Inertial Measurement Unit

The background of this paper is to apply advanced real-time gait analysis to walking interventions in daily life setting. A vast of wearable devices provide gait information but not more than pedometer functions such as step counting, displacement, and velocity. This paper suggests a real-time gait analysis method based on a head-worn inertial measurement unit. A novel analysis method implements real-time detection of gait events (heel strike, toe off, and mid-stance phase) and immediately provides detailed spatiotemporal parameters. The reliability of this method was proven by a measurement with over 11 000 steps from seven participants on a 400-m outdoor track. The advanced gait analysis was conducted without any limitation of a fixed reference frame (e.g., indoor stage and infrared cameras). The mean absolute error in step-counting was 0.24%. Compared to a pedometer, additional gait parameters were obtained such as foot-ground contact time (CT) and CT ratio. The gait monitoring system can be used as real-time and long-term feedback, which is applicable in the management of the health status and on injury prevention. © 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.European Commission/H2020-FETPROACT-2014/641321/E

Projekt Heimspiel: Wo Inhaftierung endet und Freiheit beginnt / Übergangseinrichtung für inhaftierte junge Männer: Evaluationsbericht 2012-2016

Das Projekt HEIMSPIEL ist eine Übergangseinrichtung für Jugendliche, Heranwachsende und junge Erwachsene aus dem Justizvollzug, die im Rahmen eines Langzeitausgangs ihre Entlassung wohnortnah vorbereiten. Die Ergebnisse der ausgewerteten qualitativen und quantitativen Daten aus dem Zeitraum 2012 bis 2016 bilden den Schwerpunkt dieses Berichtes. Sie geben Auskunft, wie gelingendes Übergangsmanagement insbesondere aus dem Jugendstrafvollzug gestaltet werden kann und welche Formen sozialpädagogischer Intervention dabei hilfreich sind

Aptamer-modified polymer nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery

The purpose of this study was to develop a model system for targeted drug delivery. This system should enable targeted drug release at a certain tissue in the body. In conventional drug delivery systems, drugs are often delivered unspecifically resulting in unwarranted adverse effects. To circumvent this problem, there is an increasing demand for the development of intelligent drug delivery systems allowing a tissue-specific mode of delivery. Within this study, nanoparticles consisting of two biocompatible polymers are used. Because of their small size, nanoparticles are well-suited for effective drug delivery. The small size affects their movement through cell and tissue barriers. Their cellular uptake is easier when compared to larger drug delivery systems. Paclitaxel was encapsulated into the nanoparticles as a model drug, and to achieve specific targeting an aptamer directed against lung cancer cells was coupled to the nanoparticles surface. Nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and nanotracking analysis (NTA). Also their surface charge was characterized from ζ-potential measurements. Their preparation was optimized and subsequently specificity of drug-loaded and aptamer-functionalized nanoparticles was investigated using lung cancer cells. © 2016 by De Gruyter

COVID-19 vaccination status among people with selected citizenships: results of the study GEDA Fokus

Background: the COVID-19 vaccination offers protection against severe disease progression. Data show that people with a history of migration are less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 than people without a history of migration, but are at increased risk of infection. Methods: Data were used from the GEDA Fokus interview survey (November 2021 – May 2022), which included people living in Germany with Croatian, Italian, Polish, Syrian or Turkish citizenship (n=5,495). In addition to bivariate analyses, Poisson regressions were used to examine the association between uptake of at least one COVID-19 vaccination and sociodemographic, health- and migration-related factors. Results: 90.0% of participants reported having received at least one COVID-19 vaccination. Having visited a general practitioner or specialist in the past 12 months, living in Germany for 31 years or more, and having a greater sense of belonging to society in Germany were associated with vaccination uptake in bivariate analyses. Regression analysis showed that older people and those with higher education were more likely to be vaccinated. Conclusions: Sociodemographic factors are associated with uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among individuals with selected citizenships. Low-threshold information and vaccination offers are important to ensure equal access to vaccination

Cellular crosstalk between airway epithelial and endothelial cells regulates barrier functions during exposure to double-stranded RNA

Introduction: The epithelial and endothelial barriers of the airway mucosa are critical for regulation of tissue homeostasis and protection against pathogens or other tissue damaging agents. In response to a viral infection, epithelial cells must signal to the endothelium to initiate immune cell recruitment. This is a highly temporal regulated process; however, the mechanisms of this cross-talk are not fully understood. Methods: In a close-contact co-culture model of human airway epithelial and endothelial cells cellular crosstalk was analysed using transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) measurements, immunofluorescence, electron microscopy and ELISA. Viral infections were simulated by exposing airway epithelial cells apically to double-stranded RNA (Poly(I:C)). Using a microfluidic culture system the temporal release of mediators was analysed in the co-culture model. Results: Within 4h of challenge, double-stranded RNA induced the release of TNF-a by epithelial cells. This activated endothelial cells by triggering the release of the chemoattractant CX3CL1 (fractalkine) by 8h post-challenge and expression of adhesion molecules E-selectin and ICAM-1. These responses were significantly reduced by neutralising TNF-a. Conclusion: By facilitating kinetic profiling, the microfluidic co-culture system has enabled identification of a key signalling mechanism between the epithelial and endothelial barriers. Better understanding of cell-cell cross-talk and its regulatory mechanisms has the potential to identify new therapeutic strategies to control airway inflammation

Health of people with selected citizenships: results of the study GEDA Fokus

Background: The health situation of people with a history of migration is influenced by a variety of factors. This article provides an overview of the health of people with selected citizenships using various indicators. Methods: The analyses are based on the survey ‘German Health Update: Fokus (GEDA Fokus)’, which was conducted from November 2021 to May 2022 among people with Croatian, Italian, Polish, Syrian and Turkish citizenship. The prevalence for each health outcome is presented and differentiated by sociodemographic and migration-related characteristics. Poisson regressions were performed to identify relevant factors influencing health situation. Results: Self-assessed general health, the presence of depressive symptoms, prevalence of current smoking and the utilisation of general and specialist healthcare differed according to various factors considered here. In addition to sociodemographic determinants, the sense of belonging to society in Germany and self-reported experiences of discrimination were particularly associated with health outcomes. Conclusions: This article highlights the heterogeneity of the health situation of people with a history of migration and points to the need for further analyses to identify the reasons for health inequalities

Signal Peptide Peptidase-Like 2c (SPPL2c) impairs vesicular transport and cleavage of SNARE proteins

Members of the GxGD-type intramembrane aspartyl proteases have emerged as key players not only in fundamental cellular processes such as B-cell development or protein glycosylation, but also in development of pathologies, such as Alzheimer's disease or hepatitis virus infections. However, one member of this protease family, signal peptide peptidase-like 2c (SPPL2c), remains orphan and its capability of proteolysis as well as its physiological function is still enigmatic. Here, we demonstrate that SPPL2c is catalytically active and identify a variety of SPPL2c candidate substrates using proteomics. The majority of the SPPL2c candidate substrates cluster to the biological process of vesicular trafficking. Analysis of selected SNARE proteins reveals proteolytic processing by SPPL2c that impairs vesicular transport and causes retention of cargo proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. As a consequence, the integrity of subcellular compartments, in particular the Golgi, is disturbed. Together with a strikingly high physiological SPPL2c expression in testis, our data suggest involvement of SPPL2c in acrosome formation during spermatogenesis