TY - JOUR A1 - Lindner, Thomas A1 - Giesel, Frederik L. A1 - Kratochwil, Clemens A1 - Serfling, Sebastian E. T1 - Radioligands Targeting Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) JF - Cancers N2 - Simple Summary FAP-targeted radiotracers, recently introduced in cancer treatment, accumulate in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs). CAFs are present in tumor lesions but do not correspond to genuine cancer cells, although they behave in an abnormal and disease-promoting manner. One of their characteristic features, the expression of the surface protein FAP, can be utilized to discriminate between cancerous and healthy tissues. By the choice of an appropriate radionuclide, FAP-targeted tracers can be used for imaging or therapy in many cancer types. Therefore, the first successful application of FAP-targeted imaging has led to an enormous and growing interest in nuclear medicine and radiopharmacy. Abstract Targeting fibroblast activation protein (FAP) in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) has attracted significant attention in nuclear medicine. Since these cells are present in most cancerous tissues and FAP is rarely expressed in healthy tissues, anti-FAP tracers have a potential as pan-tumor agents. Compared to the standard tumor tracer [\(^{18}\)F]FDG, these tracers show better tumor-to-background ratios (TBR) in many indications. Unlike [\(^{18}\)F]FDG, FAP-targeted tracers do not require exhausting preparations, such as dietary restrictions on the part of the patient, and offer the possibility of radioligand therapy (RLT) in a theragnostic approach. Although a radiolabeled antibody was clinically investigated as early as the 1990s, the breakthrough event for FAP-targeting in nuclear medicine was the introduction and clinical application of the so-called FAPI-tracers in 2018. From then, the development and application of FAP-targeted tracers became hot topics for the radiopharmaceutical and nuclear medicine community, and attracted the interest of pharmaceutical companies. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the development of FAP-targeted radiopharmaceuticals and their application in nuclear medicine. KW - FAP KW - cancer associated fibroblasts KW - radiopharmaceuticals KW - drug discovery Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-250121 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 13 IS - 22 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pfister, Robert A1 - Klaffehn, Annika L. A1 - Kalckert, Andreas A1 - Kunde, Winfried A1 - Dignath, David T1 - How to lose a hand: Sensory updating drives disembodiment JF - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review N2 - Body representations are readily expanded based on sensorimotor experience. A dynamic view of body representations, however, holds that these representations cannot only be expanded but that they can also be narrowed down by disembodying elements of the body representation that are no longer warranted. Here we induced illusory ownership in terms of a moving rubber hand illusion and studied the maintenance of this illusion across different conditions. We observed ownership experience to decrease gradually unless participants continued to receive confirmatory multisensory input. Moreover, a single instance of multisensory mismatch – a hammer striking the rubber hand but not the real hand – triggered substantial and immediate disembodiment. Together, these findings support and extend previous theoretical efforts to model body representations through basic mechanisms of multisensory integration. They further support an updating model suggesting that embodied entities fade from the body representation if they are not refreshed continuously. KW - body representation KW - embodiment KW - disembodiment KW - moving rubber-hand illusion Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235195 SN - 1069-9384 VL - 28 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sequeira, Vasco T1 - When fat meets the engine: implications of dietary rumenic acid on myosin-targeting therapies in heart failure JF - Journal of Physiology N2 - No abstract available. KW - rumenic acid KW - cardiomyopathy KW - mavacamten KW - myosin KW - omecamtiv mecarbil Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259693 VL - 599 IS - 15 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adolfi, Mateus C. A1 - Du, Kang A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Cabau, Cédric A1 - Zahm, Margot A1 - Klopp, Christophe A1 - Feron, Romain A1 - Paixão, Rômulo V. A1 - Varela, Eduardo S. A1 - de Almeida, Fernanda L. A1 - de Oliveira, Marcos A. A1 - Nóbrega, Rafael H. A1 - Lopez-Roques, Céline A1 - Iampietro, Carole A1 - Lluch, Jérôme A1 - Kloas, Werner A1 - Wuertz, Sven A1 - Schaefer, Fabian A1 - Stöck, Matthias A1 - Guiguen, Yann A1 - Schartl, Manfred T1 - A duplicated copy of id2b is an unusual sex-determining candidate gene on the Y chromosome of arapaima (Arapaima gigas) JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Arapaima gigas is one of the largest freshwater fish species of high ecological and economic importance. Overfishing and habitat destruction are severe threats to the remaining wild populations. By incorporating a chromosomal Hi-C contact map, we improved the arapaima genome assembly to chromosome-level, revealing an unexpected high degree of chromosome rearrangements during evolution of the bonytongues (Osteoglossiformes). Combining this new assembly with pool-sequencing of male and female genomes, we identified id2bbY, a duplicated copy of the inhibitor of DNA binding 2b (id2b) gene on the Y chromosome as candidate male sex-determining gene. A PCR-test for id2bbY was developed, demonstrating that this gene is a reliable male-specific marker for genotyping. Expression analyses showed that this gene is expressed in juvenile male gonads. Its paralog, id2ba, exhibits a male-biased expression in immature gonads. Transcriptome analyses and protein structure predictions confirm id2bbY as a prime candidate for the master sex-determiner. Acting through the TGF beta signaling pathway, id2bbY from arapaima would provide the first evidence for a link of this family of transcriptional regulators to sex determination. Our study broadens our current understanding about the evolution of sex determination genetic networks and provide a tool for improving arapaima aquaculture for commercial and conservation purposes. KW - evolutionary genetics KW - genetic markers KW - genome Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265672 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baum, Petra A1 - Koj, Severin A1 - Klöting, Nora A1 - Blüher, Matthias A1 - Classen, Joseph A1 - Paeschke, Sabine A1 - Gericke, Martin A1 - Toyka, Klaus V. A1 - Nowicki, Marcin A1 - Kosacka, Joanna T1 - Treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes (TIND) — Developing a disease model in type 1 diabetic rats JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences N2 - Treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes (TIND) is defined by the occurrence of an acute neuropathy within 8 weeks of an abrupt decrease in glycated hemoglobin-A1c (HbA1c). The underlying pathogenic mechanisms are still incompletely understood with only one mouse model being explored to date. The aim of this study was to further explore the hypothesis that an abrupt insulin-induced fall in HbA1c may be the prime causal factor of developing TIND. BB/OKL (bio breeding/OKL, Ottawa Karlsburg Leipzig) diabetic rats were randomized in three groups, receiving insulin treatment by implanted subcutaneous osmotic insulin pumps for 3 months, as follows: Group one received 2 units per day; group two 1 unit per day: and group three 1 unit per day in the first month, followed by 2 units per day in the last two months. We serially examined blood glucose and HbA1c levels, motor- and sensory/mixed afferent conduction velocities (mNCV and csNCV) and peripheral nerve morphology, including intraepidermal nerve fiber density and numbers of Iba-1 (ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1) positive macrophages in the sciatic nerve. Only in BB/OKL rats of group three, with a rapid decrease in HbA1c of more than 2%, did we find a significant decrease in mNCV in sciatic nerves (81% of initial values) after three months of treatment as compared to those group three rats with a less marked decrease in HbA1c <2% (mNCV 106% of initial values, p ≤ 0.01). A similar trend was observed for sensory/mixed afferent nerve conduction velocities: csNCV were reduced in BB/OKL rats with a rapid decrease in HbA1c >2% (csNCV 90% of initial values), compared to those rats with a mild decrease <2% (csNCV 112% of initial values, p ≤ 0.01). Moreover, BB/OKL rats of group three with a decrease in HbA1c >2% showed significantly greater infiltration of macrophages by about 50% (p ≤ 0.01) and a decreased amount of calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) positive nerve fibers as compared to the animals with a milder decrease in HbA1c. We conclude that a mild acute neuropathy with inflammatory components was induced in BB/OKL rats as a consequence of an abrupt decrease in HbA1c caused by high-dose insulin treatment. This experimentally induced neuropathy shares some features with TIND in humans and may be further explored in studies into the pathogenesis and treatment of TIND. KW - BB/OKL rats KW - peripheral neuropathy KW - sciatic nerve KW - TIND KW - Type 1 diabetes Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285793 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 22 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fortmann, Ingmar A1 - Dammann, Marie-Theres A1 - Humberg, Alexander A1 - Siller, Bastian A1 - Stichtenoth, Guido A1 - Engels, Geraldine A1 - Marißen, Janina A1 - Faust, Kirstin A1 - Hanke, Kathrin A1 - Goedicke-Fritz, Sybelle A1 - Derouet, Christoph A1 - Meyer, Sascha A1 - Stutz, Regine A1 - Kaiser, Elisabeth A1 - Herting, Egbert A1 - Göpel, Wolfgang A1 - Härtel, Christoph A1 - Zemlin, Michael T1 - Five year follow up of extremely low gestational age infants after timely or delayed administration of routine vaccinations JF - Vaccines N2 - This study is aimed at detecting the rate of untimely immunization in a large cohort of extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs) of the German Neonatal Network (GNN) and at addressing risk factors for delayed vaccination and associated long-term consequences. We performed an observational study of the GNN between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2019. The immunization status for the hexavalent and pneumococcal immunization was evaluated in n = 8401 preterm infants <29 weeks of gestation. Univariate analysis and logistic/linear regression models were used to identify risk factors for vaccination delay and outcomes at a 5-year follow-up. In our cohort n = 824 (9.8%) ELGANs did not receive a timely first immunization with the hexavalent and pneumococcal vaccine. Risk factors for delayed vaccination were SGA status (18.1% vs. 13.5%; OR 1.3; 95% CI: 1.1–1.7), impaired growth and surrogates for complicated clinical courses (i.e., need for inotropes, necrotizing enterocolitis). At 5 years of age, timely immunized children had a lower risk of bronchitis (episodes within last year: 27.3% vs. 37.7%; OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.42–0.86) but spirometry measures were unaffected. In conclusion, a significant proportion of ELGANs are untimely immunized, specifically those with increased vulnerability, even though they might particularly benefit from the immune-promoting effects of a timely vaccination. KW - immunization KW - prematurity KW - trained immunity KW - long-term outcome Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239592 SN - 2076-393X VL - 9 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stangl, Stephanie A1 - Rauch, Sebastian A1 - Rauh, Jürgen A1 - Meyer, Martin A1 - Müller‐Nordhorn, Jacqueline A1 - Wildner, Manfred A1 - Wöckel, Achim A1 - Heuschmann, Peter U. T1 - Disparities in Accessibility to Evidence-Based Breast Cancer Care Facilities by Rural and Urban Areas in Bavaria, Germany JF - Cancer N2 - Background Breast cancer (BC), which is most common in elderly women, requires a multidisciplinary and continuous approach to care. With demographic changes, the number of patients with chronic diseases such as BC will increase. This trend will especially hit rural areas, where the majority of the elderly live, in terms of comprehensive health care. Methods Accessibility to several cancer facilities in Bavaria, Germany, was analyzed with a geographic information system. Facilities were identified from the national BC guideline and from 31 participants in a proof‐of‐concept study from the Breast Cancer Care for Patients With Metastatic Disease registry. The timeframe for accessibility was defined as 30 or 60 minutes for all population points. The collection of address information was performed with different sources (eg, a physician registry). Routine data from the German Census 2011 and the population‐based Cancer Registry of Bavaria were linked at the district level. Results Females from urban areas (n = 2,938,991 [ie, total of females living in urban areas]) had a higher chance for predefined accessibility to the majority of analyzed facilities in comparison with females from rural areas (n = 3,385,813 [ie, total number of females living in rural areas]) with an odds ratio (OR) of 9.0 for cancer information counselling, an OR of 17.2 for a university hospital, and an OR of 7.2 for a psycho‐oncologist. For (inpatient) rehabilitation centers (OR, 0.2) and genetic counselling (OR, 0.3), women from urban areas had lower odds of accessibility within 30 or 60 minutes. Conclusions Disparities in accessibility between rural and urban areas exist in Bavaria. The identification of underserved areas can help to inform policymakers about disparities in comprehensive health care. Future strategies are needed to deliver high‐quality health care to all inhabitants, regardless of residence. KW - accessibility KW - breast cancer KW - evidence‐based medicine KW - geographic information science KW - health care service research Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239854 VL - 127 IS - 13 SP - 2319 EP - 2332 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roth, Nicolas A1 - Hacker, Herrmann Heinrich A1 - Heidrich, Lea A1 - Friess, Nicolas A1 - García-Barroas, Enrique A1 - Habel, Jan Christian A1 - Thorn, Simon A1 - Müler, Jörg T1 - Host specificity and species colouration mediate the regional decline of nocturnal moths in central European forests JF - Ecography N2 - The high diversity of insects has limited the volume of long-term community data with a high taxonomic resolution and considerable geographic replications, especially in forests. Therefore, trends and causes of changes are poorly understood. Here we analyse trends in species richness, abundance and biomass of nocturnal macro moths in three quantitative data sets collected over four decades in forests in southern Germany. Two local data sets, one from coppiced oak forests and one from high oak forests included 125K and 48K specimens from 559 and 532 species, respectively. A third regional data set, representing all forest types in the temperate zone of central Europe comprised 735K specimens from 848 species. Generalized additive mixed models revealed temporal declines in species richness (−38%), abundance (−53%) and biomass (−57%) at the regional scale. These were more pronounced in plant host specialists and in dark coloured species. In contrast, the local coppiced oak forests showed an increase, in species richness (+62%), while the high oak forests showed no clear trends. Left and right censoring as well as cross validation confirmed the robustness of the analyses, which led to four conclusions. First, the decline in insects appears in hyper diverse insect groups in forests and affects species richness, abundance and biomass. Second, the pronounced decline in host specialists suggests habitat loss as an important driver of the observed decline. Third, the more severe decline in dark species might be an indication of global warming as a potential driver. Fourth, the trends in coppiced oak forests indicate that maintaining complex and diverse forest ecosystems through active management may be a promising conservation strategy in order to counteract negative trends in biodiversity, alongside rewilding approaches. KW - climate change KW - colour patterns KW - global change KW - Lepidoptera KW - macro moths KW - specialists KW - time series Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258731 VL - 44 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gall, Dominik A1 - Roth, Daniel A1 - Stauffert, Jan-Philipp A1 - Zarges, Julian A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Embodiment in Virtual Reality Intensifies Emotional Responses to Virtual Stimuli JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Modulating emotional responses to virtual stimuli is a fundamental goal of many immersive interactive applications. In this study, we leverage the illusion of illusory embodiment and show that owning a virtual body provides means to modulate emotional responses. In a single-factor repeated-measures experiment, we manipulated the degree of illusory embodiment and assessed the emotional responses to virtual stimuli. We presented emotional stimuli in the same environment as the virtual body. Participants experienced higher arousal, dominance, and more intense valence in the high embodiment condition compared to the low embodiment condition. The illusion of embodiment thus intensifies the emotional processing of the virtual environment. This result suggests that artificial bodies can increase the effectiveness of immersive applications psychotherapy, entertainment, computer-mediated social interactions, or health applications. KW - embodiment KW - virtual body ownership KW - avatars KW - agency KW - immersive interfaces KW - human-computer interaction KW - affective computing KW - emotions Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-245624 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hepbasli, Denis A1 - Gredy, Sina A1 - Ullrich, Melanie A1 - Reigl, Amelie A1 - Abeßer, Marco A1 - Raabe, Thomas A1 - Schuh, Kai T1 - Genotype- and Age-Dependent Differences in Ultrasound Vocalizations of SPRED2 Mutant Mice Revealed by Machine Deep Learning JF - Brain Sciences N2 - Vocalization is an important part of social communication, not only for humans but also for mice. Here, we show in a mouse model that functional deficiency of Sprouty-related EVH1 domain-containing 2 (SPRED2), a protein ubiquitously expressed in the brain, causes differences in social ultrasound vocalizations (USVs), using an uncomplicated and reliable experimental setting of a short meeting of two individuals. SPRED2 mutant mice show an OCD-like behaviour, accompanied by an increased release of stress hormones from the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, both factors probably influencing USV usage. To determine genotype-related differences in USV usage, we analyzed call rate, subtype profile, and acoustic parameters (i.e., duration, bandwidth, and mean peak frequency) in young and old SPRED2-KO mice. We recorded USVs of interacting male and female mice, and analyzed the calls with the deep-learning DeepSqueak software, which was trained to recognize and categorize the emitted USVs. Our findings provide the first classification of SPRED2-KO vs. wild-type mouse USVs using neural networks and reveal significant differences in their development and use of calls. Our results show, first, that simple experimental settings in combination with deep learning are successful at identifying genotype-dependent USV usage and, second, that SPRED2 deficiency negatively affects the vocalization usage and social communication of mice. KW - SPRED KW - SPRED2 KW - mice KW - neural networks KW - ultrasound vocalizations KW - DeepSqueak Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248525 SN - 2076-3425 VL - 11 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ibebuchi, Chibuike Chiedozie A1 - Paeth, Heiko T1 - The Imprint of the Southern Annular Mode on Black Carbon AOD in the Western Cape Province JF - Atmosphere N2 - This study examines the relationship between variations of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and black carbon (BC) at 550 nm aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the Western Cape province (WC). Variations of the positive (negative) phase of the SAM are found to be related to regional circulation types (CTs) in southern Africa, associated with suppressed (enhanced) westerly wind over the WC through the southward (northward) migration of Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude cyclones. The CTs related to positive (negative) SAM anomalies induce stable (unstable) atmospheric conditions over the southwestern regions of the WC, especially during the austral winter and autumn seasons. Through the control of CTs, positive (negative) SAM phases tend to contribute to the build-up (dispersion and dilution) of BC in the study region because they imply dry (wet) conditions which favor the build-up (washing out) of pollutant particles in the atmosphere. Indeed, recent years with an above-average frequency of CTs related to positive (negative) SAM anomalies are associated with a high (low) BC AOD over southwesternmost Africa. KW - black carbon AOD KW - Western Cape KW - southern annular mode KW - circulation type KW - air quality Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248387 SN - 2073-4433 VL - 12 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheitz, Jan F. A1 - Lim, Jess A1 - Broersen, Leonie H. A. A1 - Ganeshan, Ramanan A1 - Huo, Shufan A1 - Sperber, Pia S. A1 - Piper, Sophie K. A1 - Heuschmann, Peter U. A1 - Audebert, Heinrich J. A1 - Nolte, Christian H. A1 - Siegerink, Bob A1 - Endres, Matthias A1 - Liman, Thomas G. T1 - High‐Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T and Recurrent Vascular Events After First Ischemic Stroke JF - Journal of the American Heart Association N2 - Background Recent evidence suggests cardiac troponin levels to be a marker of increased vascular risk. We aimed to assess whether levels of high‐sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs‐cTnT) are associated with recurrent vascular events and death in patients with first‐ever, mild to moderate ischemic stroke. Methods and Results We used data from the PROSCIS‐B (Prospective Cohort With Incident Stroke Berlin) study. We computed Cox proportional hazards regression analyses to assess the association between hs‐cTnT levels upon study entry (Roche Elecsys, upper reference limit, 14 ng/L) and the primary outcome (composite of recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, and all‐cause death). A total of 562 patients were analyzed (mean age, 67 years [SD 13]; 38.6% women; median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale=2; hs‐cTnT above upper reference limit, 39.2%). During a mean follow‐up of 3 years, the primary outcome occurred in 89 patients (15.8%), including 40 (7.1%) recurrent strokes, 4 (0.7%) myocardial infarctions, and 51 (9.1%) events of all‐cause death. The primary outcome occurred more often in patients with hs‐cTnT above the upper reference limit (27.3% versus 10.2%; adjusted hazard ratio, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3–3.3), with a dose‐response relationship when the highest and lowest hs‐cTnT quartiles were compared (15.2 versus 1.8 events per 100 person‐years; adjusted hazard ratio, 4.8; 95% CI, 1.9–11.8). This association remained consistent in sensitivity analyses, which included age matching and stratification for sex. Conclusions Hs‐cTnT is dose‐dependently associated with an increased risk of recurrent vascular events and death within 3 years after first‐ever, mild to moderate ischemic stroke. These findings support further studies of the utility of hs‐cTnT for individualized risk stratification after stroke. KW - epidemiology KW - ischemic stroke KW - mortality/survival KW - troponin KW - vascular disease Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239039 VL - 10 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tischer, Christina A1 - Stupp, Carolin A1 - Janson, Patrick A1 - Willeke, Kristina A1 - Hung, Chu-Wei A1 - Flöter, Jessica A1 - Kirchner, Anna A1 - Zink, Katharina A1 - Eder, Lisa A1 - Hackl, Christina A1 - Mühle, Ursula A1 - Weidmann, Manfred A1 - Nennstiel, Uta A1 - Kuhn, Joseph A1 - Weidner, Christian A1 - Liebl, Bernhard A1 - Wildner, Manfred A1 - Keil, Thomas T1 - Evaluation of screening tests in Bavarian healthcare facilities during the second wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health N2 - Due to the lack of data on asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive persons in healthcare institutions, they represent an inestimable risk. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the first 1,000,000 reported screening tests of asymptomatic staff, patients, residents, and visitors in hospitals and long-term care (LTC) facilities in the State of Bavaria over a period of seven months. Data were used from the online database BayCoRei (Bavarian Corona Screening Tests), established in July 2020. Descriptive analyses were performed, describing the temporal pattern of persons that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or antigen tests, stratified by facility. Until 15 March 2021, this database had collected 1,038,146 test results of asymptomatic subjects in healthcare facilities (382,240 by RT-PCR, and 655,906 by antigen tests). Of the RT-PCR tests, 2.2% (n = 8380) were positive: 3.0% in LTC facilities, 2.2% in hospitals, and 1.2% in rehabilitation institutions. Of the antigen tests, 0.4% (n = 2327) were positive: 0.5% in LTC facilities, and 0.3% in both hospitals and rehabilitation institutions, respectively. In LTC facilities and hospitals, infection surveillance using RT-PCR tests, or the less expensive but less sensitive, faster antigen tests, could facilitate the long-term management of the healthcare workforce, patients, and residents. KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - asymptomatic screening KW - RT-PCR KW - antigen testing KW - infection surveillance Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-242637 SN - 1660-4601 VL - 18 IS - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hamm, H. A1 - Wilsmann-Theis, D. A1 - Tsianakas, A. A1 - Gambichler, T. A1 - Taipale, K. A1 - Lauterbach, J. A1 - Freudensprung, U. A1 - Makepeace, C. T1 - Efficacy and safety of fumaric acid esters in young patients aged 10-17 years with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial JF - British Journal of Dermatology N2 - Background Apart from biologics, no systemic drugs are approved in Europe for children with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Retrospective observational studies have shown promising results for fumaric acid esters (FAE) in this setting. Objectives To show superiority of FAE over placebo in terms of treatment response after 20 weeks in children and adolescents aged 10–17 years. Methods In a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIIb study, patients aged 10–17 years with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis requiring systemic therapy were randomized 2 : 1 to receive FAE (n = 91) or placebo (n = 43) over 20 weeks, followed by an open-label FAE treatment phase. The coprimary endpoints were ≥ 75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75) and Physician’s Global Assessment (PGA) score of 0 or 1 (clear or almost clear) at week 20. The study was registered with EudraCT number 2012-000035-82. Results At week 20, 55% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0·44–0·65] of FAE-treated patients achieved a PASI 75 response vs. 19% (95% CI 0·08–0·33) in the placebo group (absolute difference 36%, 95% CI 0·20–0·53; P < 0·001). In total, 42% (95% CI 0·32–0·53) in the FAE group vs. 7% (95% CI 0·01–0·19) in the placebo group achieved a PGA score of 0 or 1 at week 20 (absolute difference 35%, 95% CI 0·21–0·49; P < 0·001). During the double-blind period, drug-related adverse events occurred more frequently in patients receiving FAE compared with placebo (76% vs. 47%). Gastrointestinal disorders were the most common adverse events. Conclusions FAE administered over a period of 20 weeks demonstrated a better response than placebo; the difference was statistically significant and clinically meaningful. Application up to 40 weeks was generally well tolerated. However, further studies are required. KW - children KW - psoriasis KW - fumaric acid esters Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258318 VL - 185 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Almeida, R. A1 - Hristova, S. A1 - Dashkovskiy, S. T1 - Uniform bounded input bounded output stability of fractional‐order delay nonlinear systems with input JF - International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control N2 - The bounded input bounded output (BIBO) stability for a nonlinear Caputo fractional system with time‐varying bounded delay and nonlinear output is studied. Utilizing the Razumikhin method, Lyapunov functions and appropriate fractional derivatives of Lyapunov functions some new bounded input bounded output stability criteria are derived. Also, explicit and independent on the initial time bounds of the output are provided. Uniform BIBO stability and uniform BIBO stability with input threshold are studied. A numerical simulation is carried out to show the system's dynamic response, and demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical results. KW - bounded input bounded output stability KW - Caputo fractional derivative KW - Lyapunov functions KW - Razumikhin method KW - time‐varying delay Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-218554 VL - 31 IS - 1 SP - 225 EP - 249 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dorner, Daniela A1 - Mostafá, Miguel A1 - Satalecka, Konstancja T1 - High-energy alerts in the multi-messenger era JF - Universe N2 - The observation of electromagnetic counterparts to both high energy neutrinos and gravitational waves marked the beginning of a new era in astrophysics. The multi-messenger approach allows us to gain new insights into the most energetic events in the Universe such as gamma-ray bursts, supernovas, and black hole mergers. Real-time multi-messenger alerts are the key component of the observational strategies to unravel the transient signals expected from astrophysical sources. Focusing on the high-energy regime, we present a historical perspective of multi-messenger observations, the detectors and observational techniques used to study them, the status of the multi-messenger alerts and the most significant results, together with an overview of the future prospects in the field. KW - multi-messenger KW - real-time KW - high-energy KW - alerts Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248496 SN - 2218-1997 VL - 7 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rieser, Jakob A1 - Veste, Maik A1 - Thiel, Michael A1 - Schönbrodt-Stitt, Sarah T1 - Coverage and Rainfall Response of Biological Soil Crusts Using Multi-Temporal Sentinel-2 Data in a Central European Temperate Dry Acid Grassland JF - Remote Sensing N2 - Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are thin microbiological vegetation layers that naturally develop in unfavorable higher plant conditions (i.e., low precipitation rates and high temperatures) in global drylands. They consist of poikilohydric organisms capable of adjusting their metabolic activities depending on the water availability. However, they, and with them, their ecosystem functions, are endangered by climate change and land-use intensification. Remote sensing (RS)-based studies estimated the BSC cover in global drylands through various multispectral indices, and few of them correlated the BSCs’ activity response to rainfall. However, the allocation of BSCs is not limited to drylands only as there are areas beyond where smaller patches have developed under intense human impact and frequent disturbance. Yet, those areas were not addressed in RS-based studies, raising the question of whether the methods developed in extensive drylands can be transferred easily. Our temperate climate study area, the ‘Lieberoser Heide’ in northeastern Germany, is home to the country’s largest BSC-covered area. We applied a Random Forest (RF) classification model incorporating multispectral Sentinel-2 (S2) data, indices derived from them, and topographic information to spatiotemporally map the BSC cover for the first time in Central Europe. We further monitored the BSC response to rainfall events over a period of around five years (June 2015 to end of December 2020). Therefore, we combined datasets of gridded NDVI as a measure of photosynthetic activity with daily precipitation data and conducted a change detection analysis. With an overall accuracy of 98.9%, our classification proved satisfactory. Detected changes in BSC activity between dry and wet conditions were found to be significant. Our study emphasizes a high transferability of established methods from extensive drylands to BSC-covered areas in the temperate climate. Therefore, we consider our study to provide essential impulses so that RS-based biocrust mapping in the future will be applied beyond the global drylands. KW - biocrusts activity KW - random forest classification KW - rainfall response KW - Sentinel-2 multispectral indices KW - change detection KW - Lieberoser Heide Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-245006 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 13 IS - 16 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fakhri, Seyed Arvin A1 - Latifi, Hooman T1 - A consumer grade UAV-based framework to estimate structural attributes of coppice and high oak forest stands in semi-arid regions JF - Remote Sensing N2 - Semi-arid tree covers, in both high and coppice growth forms, play an essential role in protecting water and soil resources and provides multiple ecosystem services across fragile ecosystems. Thus, they require continuous inventories. Quantification of forest structure in these tree covers provides important measures for their management and biodiversity conservation. We present a framework, based on consumer-grade UAV photogrammetry, to separately estimate primary variables of tree height (H) and crown area (A) across diverse coppice and high stands dominated by Quercus brantii Lindl. along the latitudinal gradient of Zagros mountains of western Iran. Then, multivariate linear regressions were parametrized with H and A to estimate the diameter at breast height (DBH) of high trees because of its importance to accelerate the existing practical DBH inventories across Zagros Forests. The estimated variables were finally applied to a model tree aboveground biomass (AGB) for both vegetative growth forms by local allometric equations and Random Forest models. In each step, the estimated variables were evaluated against the field reference values, indicating practically high accuracies reaching root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.68 m and 4.74 cm for H and DBH, as well as relative RMSE < 10% for AGB estimates. The results generally suggest an effective framework for single tree-based attribute estimation over mountainous, semi-arid coppice, and high stands. KW - tree structure KW - biomass KW - DBH KW - Zagros Forests KW - Q. brantii Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248469 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 13 IS - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mayr, Stefan A1 - Klein, Igor A1 - Rutzinger, Martin A1 - Kuenzer, Claudia T1 - Determining temporal uncertainty of a global inland surface water time series JF - Remote Sensing N2 - Earth observation time series are well suited to monitor global surface dynamics. However, data products that are aimed at assessing large-area dynamics with a high temporal resolution often face various error sources (e.g., retrieval errors, sampling errors) in their acquisition chain. Addressing uncertainties in a spatiotemporal consistent manner is challenging, as extensive high-quality validation data is typically scarce. Here we propose a new method that utilizes time series inherent information to assess the temporal interpolation uncertainty of time series datasets. For this, we utilized data from the DLR-DFD Global WaterPack (GWP), which provides daily information on global inland surface water. As the time series is primarily based on optical MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) images, the requirement of data gap interpolation due to clouds constitutes the main uncertainty source of the product. With a focus on different temporal and spatial characteristics of surface water dynamics, seven auxiliary layers were derived. Each layer provides probability and reliability estimates regarding water observations at pixel-level. This enables the quantification of uncertainty corresponding to the full spatiotemporal range of the product. Furthermore, the ability of temporal layers to approximate unknown pixel states was evaluated for stratified artificial gaps, which were introduced into the original time series of four climatologic diverse test regions. Results show that uncertainty is quantified accurately (>90%), consequently enhancing the product's quality with respect to its use for modeling and the geoscientific community. KW - Earth observation KW - interpolation KW - MODIS KW - optical remote sensing KW - probability KW - reliability KW - validation KW - variability Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-245234 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 13 IS - 17 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hu, Chen A1 - Hahn, Lukas A1 - Yang, Mengshi A1 - Altmann, Alexander A1 - Stahlhut, Philipp A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Luxenhofer, Robert T1 - Improving printability of a thermoresponsive hydrogel biomaterial ink by nanoclay addition JF - Journal of Materials Science N2 - As a promising biofabrication technology, extrusion-based bioprinting has gained significant attention in the last decade and major advances have been made in the development of bioinks. However, suitable synthetic and stimuli-responsive bioinks are underrepresented in this context. In this work, we described a hybrid system of nanoclay Laponite XLG and thermoresponsive block copolymer poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-b-poly(2-n-propyl-2-oxazine) (PMeOx-b-PnPrOzi) as a novel biomaterial ink and discussed its critical properties relevant for extrusion-based bioprinting, including viscoelastic properties and printability. The hybrid hydrogel retains the thermogelling properties but is strengthened by the added clay (over 5 kPa of storage modulus and 240 Pa of yield stress). Importantly, the shear-thinning character is further enhanced, which, in combination with very rapid viscosity recovery (~ 1 s) and structure recovery (~ 10 s), is highly beneficial for extrusion-based 3D printing. Accordingly, various 3D patterns could be printed with markedly enhanced resolution and shape fidelity compared to the biomaterial ink without added clay. KW - printability KW - thermoresponsive hydrogel Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234894 SN - 0022-2461 VL - 56 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Luraghi, Silvia A1 - Inglese, Guglielmo A1 - Kölligan, Daniel T1 - The passive voice in ancient Indo-European languages: inflection, derivation, periphrastic verb forms JF - Folia Linguistica N2 - The IE languages developed different strategies for the encoding of the passive function. In some language branches, the middle voice extended to the passive function to varying extents. In addition, dedicated derivational formations arose in a number of languages, such as the Greek -ē-/-thē- aorist and the Indo-Aryan -ya-presents. Periphrastic formations involving a verbal adjective or a participle are also widely attested, and played an important role in the building of the passive paradigm in e.g. Romance and Germanic languages. As the periphrastic passive is also attested in Hittite alongside passive use of the middle, both strategies seem to be equally ancient. Some minor strategies include lexical passives and the extensive lability of verbs. A survey of possible strategies provides evidence for the rise of a disparate number of morphemes and constructions, and for their ongoing incorporation into the inflectional paradigms (paradigmaticization) of given languages, thus adding to our knowledge about cross-linguistic sources of passive morphology and grammaticalization processes involved. KW - ancient Indo-European languages KW - derivation KW - inflection KW - middle voice KW - passive KW - periphrastic forms Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-247034 SN - 0165-4004 SN - 1614-7308 VL - 55 IS - s42-s2 SP - 339 EP - 391 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Homburg, Annika A1 - Weiß, Christian H. A1 - Alwan, Layth C. A1 - Frahm, Gabriel A1 - Göb, Rainer T1 - A performance analysis of prediction intervals for count time series JF - Journal of Forecasting N2 - One of the major motivations for the analysis and modeling of time series data is the forecasting of future outcomes. The use of interval forecasts instead of point forecasts allows us to incorporate the apparent forecast uncertainty. When forecasting count time series, one also has to account for the discreteness of the range, which is done by using coherent prediction intervals (PIs) relying on a count model. We provide a comprehensive performance analysis of coherent PIs for diverse types of count processes. We also compare them to approximate PIs that are computed based on a Gaussian approximation. Our analyses rely on an extensive simulation study. It turns out that the Gaussian approximations do considerably worse than the coherent PIs. Furthermore, special characteristics such as overdispersion, zero inflation, or trend clearly affect the PIs' performance. We conclude by presenting two empirical applications of PIs for count time series: the demand for blood bags in a hospital and the number of company liquidations in Germany. KW - coherent forecasting KW - count time series KW - estimation error KW - Gaussian approximation KW - prediction interval Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-217906 VL - 40 IS - 4 SP - 603 EP - 609 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Natemeyer, Carolin A1 - Wachsmuth, Daniel T1 - A proximal gradient method for control problems with non-smooth and non-convex control cost JF - Computational Optimization and Applications N2 - We investigate the convergence of the proximal gradient method applied to control problems with non-smooth and non-convex control cost. Here, we focus on control cost functionals that promote sparsity, which includes functionals of L\(^{p}\)-type for p\in [0,1). We prove stationarity properties of weak limit points of the method. These properties are weaker than those provided by Pontryagin’s maximum principle and weaker than L-stationarity. KW - sparse control problems KW - proximal gradient method KW - non-smooth and non-convex optimization Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269069 SN - 1573-2894 VL - 80 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Apelblat, Alexander A1 - Consiglio, Armando A1 - Mainardi, Francesco T1 - The Bateman functions revisited after 90 years — a survey of old and new results JF - Mathematics N2 - The Bateman functions and the allied Havelock functions were introduced as solutions of some problems in hydrodynamics about ninety years ago, but after a period of one or two decades they were practically neglected. In handbooks, the Bateman function is only mentioned as a particular case of the confluent hypergeometric function. In order to revive our knowledge on these functions, their basic properties (recurrence functional and differential relations, series, integrals and the Laplace transforms) are presented. Some new results are also included. Special attention is directed to the Bateman and Havelock functions with integer orders, to generalizations of these functions and to the Bateman-integral function known in the literature. KW - bateman functions KW - havelock functions KW - integral-bateman functions KW - confluent hypergeometric functions Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-240970 SN - 2227-7390 VL - 9 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Falk, Michael A1 - Fuller, Timo T1 - New characterizations of multivariate Max-domain of attraction and D-Norms JF - Extremes N2 - In this paper we derive new results on multivariate extremes and D-norms. In particular we establish new characterizations of the multivariate max-domain of attraction property. The limit distribution of certain multivariate exceedances above high thresholds is derived, and the distribution of that generator of a D-norm on R\(^{d}\), whose components sum up to d, is obtained. Finally we introduce exchangeable D-norms and show that the set of exchangeable D-norms is a simplex. KW - extremal exchangeable D-norms KW - multivariate extreme value theory KW - multivariate max-domain of attraction KW - D-norm KW - generator of D-norm KW - multivariate exceedance KW - co-extremality coefficient KW - exchangeable D-norms Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269071 SN - 1572-915X VL - 24 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mönius, Katja T1 - Eigenvalues of zero-divisor graphs of finite commutative rings JF - Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics N2 - We investigate eigenvalues of the zero-divisor graph Γ(R) of finite commutative rings R and study the interplay between these eigenvalues, the ring-theoretic properties of R and the graph-theoretic properties of Γ(R). The graph Γ(R) is defined as the graph with vertex set consisting of all nonzero zero-divisors of R and adjacent vertices x, y whenever xy=0. We provide formulas for the nullity of Γ(R), i.e., the multiplicity of the eigenvalue 0 of Γ(R). Moreover, we precisely determine the spectra of \(\Gamma ({\mathbb {Z}}_p \times {\mathbb {Z}}_p \times {\mathbb {Z}}_p)\) and \(\Gamma ({\mathbb {Z}}_p \times {\mathbb {Z}}_p \times {\mathbb {Z}}_p \times {\mathbb {Z}}_p)\) for a prime number p. We introduce a graph product ×Γ with the property that Γ(R)≅Γ(R\(_1\))×Γ⋯×ΓΓ(R\(_r\)) whenever R≅R\(_1\)×⋯×R\(_r\). With this product, we find relations between the number of vertices of the zero-divisor graph Γ(R), the compressed zero-divisor graph, the structure of the ring R and the eigenvalues of Γ(R). KW - EJMA-D-19-00287 KW - Zero-divisor graphs KW - Graph eigenvalues KW - Graphnullity KW - Graph products KW - Local rings Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-232792 SN - 0925-9899 VL - 54 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kalousek, Martin A1 - Mitra, Sourav A1 - Schlömerkemper, Anja T1 - Existence of weak solutions of diffuse interface models for magnetic fluids JF - Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics N2 - In this article we collect some recent results on the global existence of weak solutions for diffuse interface models involving incompressible magnetic fluids. We consider both the cases of matched and unmatched specific densities. For the model involving fluids with identical densities we consider the free energy density to be a double well potential whereas for the unmatched density case it is crucial to work with a singular free energy density. KW - mathematics KW - magnetic fluids KW - diffuse interface models Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257642 VL - 21 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Traub, Jan A1 - Husseini, Leila A1 - Weber, Martin S. T1 - B cells and antibodies as targets of therapeutic intervention in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders JF - Pharmaceuticals N2 - The first description of neuromyelitis optica by Eugène Devic and Fernand Gault dates back to the 19th century, but only the discovery of aquaporin-4 autoantibodies in a major subset of affected patients in 2004 led to a fundamentally revised disease concept: Neuromyelits optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are now considered autoantibody-mediated autoimmune diseases, bringing the pivotal pathogenetic role of B cells and plasma cells into focus. Not long ago, there was no approved medication for this deleterious disease and off-label therapies were the only treatment options for affected patients. Within the last years, there has been a tremendous development of novel therapies with diverse treatment strategies: immunosuppression, B cell depletion, complement factor antagonism and interleukin-6 receptor blockage were shown to be effective and promising therapeutic interventions. This has led to the long-expected official approval of eculizumab in 2019 and inebilizumab in 2020. In this article, we review current pathogenetic concepts in NMOSD with a focus on the role of B cells and autoantibodies as major contributors to the propagation of these diseases. Lastly, by highlighting promising experimental and future treatment options, we aim to round up the current state of knowledge on the therapeutic arsenal in NMOSD. KW - neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders KW - B cells KW - antibodies KW - eculizumab KW - ravulizumab KW - inebilizumab KW - tocilizumab KW - satralizumab KW - ublituximab Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-222957 SN - 1424-8247 VL - 14 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Habenstein, Jens A1 - Schmitt, Franziska A1 - Liessem, Sander A1 - Ly, Alice A1 - Trede, Dennis A1 - Wegener, Christian A1 - Predel, Reinhard A1 - Rössler, Wolfgang A1 - Neupert, Susanne T1 - Transcriptomic, peptidomic, and mass spectrometry imaging analysis of the brain in the ant Cataglyphis nodus JF - Journal of Neurochemistry N2 - Behavioral flexibility is an important cornerstone for the ecological success of animals. Social Cataglyphis nodus ants with their age‐related polyethism characterized by age‐related behavioral phenotypes represent a prime example for behavioral flexibility. We propose neuropeptides as powerful candidates for the flexible modulation of age‐related behavioral transitions in individual ants. As the neuropeptidome of C. nodus was unknown, we collected a comprehensive peptidomic data set obtained by transcriptome analysis of the ants’ central nervous system combined with brain extract analysis by Q‐Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS) and direct tissue profiling of different regions of the brain by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) MS. In total, we identified 71 peptides with likely bioactive function, encoded on 49 neuropeptide‐, neuropeptide‐like, and protein hormone prepropeptide genes, including a novel neuropeptide‐like gene (fliktin). We next characterized the spatial distribution of a subset of peptides encoded on 16 precursor proteins with high resolution by MALDI MS imaging (MALDI MSI) on 14 µm brain sections. The accuracy of our MSI data were confirmed by matching the immunostaining patterns for tachykinins with MSI ion images from consecutive brain sections. Our data provide a solid framework for future research into spatially resolved qualitative and quantitative peptidomic changes associated with stage‐specific behavioral transitions and the functional role of neuropeptides in Cataglyphis ants. KW - brain KW - MALDI imaging KW - neuropeptides KW - neuropeptidomics KW - social insect KW - transcriptomics Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239917 VL - 158 IS - 2 SP - 391 EP - 412 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Diana A1 - Bessi, Irene A1 - Richter, Christian A1 - Schwalbe, Harald T1 - The Folding Landscapes of Human Telomeric RNA and DNA G‐Quadruplexes are Markedly Different JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - We investigated the folding kinetics of G‐quadruplex (G4) structures by comparing the K\(^{+}\)‐induced folding of an RNA G4 derived from the human telomeric repeat‐containing RNA (TERRA25) with a sequence homologous DNA G4 (wtTel25) using CD spectroscopy and real‐time NMR spectroscopy. While DNA G4 folding is biphasic, reveals kinetic partitioning and involves kinetically favoured off‐pathway intermediates, RNA G4 folding is faster and monophasic. The differences in kinetics are correlated to the differences in the folded conformations of RNA vs. DNA G4s, in particular with regard to the conformation around the glycosidic torsion angle χ that uniformly adopts anti conformations for RNA G4s and both, syn and anti conformation for DNA G4s. Modified DNA G4s with \(^{19}\)F bound to C2′ in arabino configuration adopt exclusively anti conformations for χ. These fluoro‐modified DNA (antiTel25) reveal faster folding kinetics and monomorphic conformations similar to RNA G4s, suggesting the correlation between folding kinetics and pathways with differences in χ angle preferences in DNA and RNA, respectively. KW - folding landscapes KW - G-quadruplexes KW - kinetics KW - real-time NMR spectroscopy KW - TERRA RNA Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-238917 VL - 60 IS - 19 SP - 10895 EP - 10901 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Sophie A1 - Köhler, Franziska A1 - Hendricks, Anne A1 - Kastner, Carolin A1 - Börner, Kevin A1 - Diers, Johannes A1 - Lock, Johan F. A1 - Petritsch, Bernhard A1 - Germer, Christoph-Thomas A1 - Wiegering, Armin T1 - Brain metastases from colorectal cancer: a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis to establish a guideline for daily treatment JF - Cancers N2 - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Most patients with metastatic CRC develop liver or lung metastases, while a minority suffer from brain metastases. There is little information available regarding the presentation, treatment, and overall survival of brain metastases (BM) from CRC. This systematic review and meta-analysis includes data collected from three major databases (PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase) based on the key words “brain”, “metastas*”, “tumor”, “colorectal”, “cancer”, and “malignancy”. In total, 1318 articles were identified in the search and 86 studies matched the inclusion criteria. The incidence of BM varied between 0.1% and 11.5%. Most patients developed metastases at other sites prior to developing BM. Lung metastases and KRAS mutations were described as risk factors for additional BM. Patients with BM suffered from various symptoms, but up to 96.8% of BM patients were asymptomatic at the time of BM diagnosis. Median survival time ranged from 2 to 9.6 months, and overall survival (OS) increased up to 41.1 months in patients on a multimodal therapy regimen. Several factors including age, blood levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), multiple metastases sites, number of brain lesions, and presence of the KRAS mutation were predictors of OS. For BM diagnosis, MRI was considered to be state of the art. Treatment consisted of a combination of surgery, radiation, or systemic treatment. KW - brain metastases KW - cerebral metastases KW - BM KW - colorectal cancer KW - CRC KW - systematic review KW - meta-analysis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228883 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 13 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Djuzenova, Cholpon S. A1 - Fischer, Thomas A1 - Katzer, Astrid A1 - Sisario, Dmitri A1 - Korsa, Tessa A1 - Streussloff, Gudrun A1 - Sukhorukov, Vladimir L. A1 - Flentje, Michael T1 - Opposite effects of the triple target (DNA-PK/PI3K/mTOR) inhibitor PI-103 on the radiation sensitivity of glioblastoma cell lines proficient and deficient in DNA-PKcs JF - BMC Cancer N2 - Background: Radiotherapy is routinely used to combat glioblastoma (GBM). However, the treatment efficacy is often limited by the radioresistance of GBM cells. Methods: Two GBM lines MO59K and MO59J, differing in intrinsic radiosensitivity and mutational status of DNA-PK and ATM, were analyzed regarding their response to DNA-PK/PI3K/mTOR inhibition by PI-103 in combination with radiation. To this end we assessed colony-forming ability, induction and repair of DNA damage by gamma H2AX and 53BP1, expression of marker proteins, including those belonging to NHEJ and HR repair pathways, degree of apoptosis, autophagy, and cell cycle alterations. Results: We found that PI-103 radiosensitized MO59K cells but, surprisingly, it induced radiation resistance in MO59J cells. Treatment of MO59K cells with PI-103 lead to protraction of the DNA damage repair as compared to drug-free irradiated cells. In PI-103-treated and irradiated MO59J cells the foci numbers of both proteins was higher than in the drug-free samples, but a large portion of DNA damage was quickly repaired. Another cell line-specific difference includes diminished expression of p53 in MO59J cells, which was further reduced by PI-103. Additionally, PI-103-treated MO59K cells exhibited an increased expression of the apoptosis marker cleaved PARP and increased subG1 fraction. Moreover, irradiation induced a strong G2 arrest in MO59J cells (similar to 80% vs. similar to 50% in MO59K), which was, however, partially reduced in the presence of PI-103. In contrast, treatment with PI-103 increased the G2 fraction in irradiated MO59K cells. Conclusions: The triple-target inhibitor PI-103 exerted radiosensitization on MO59K cells, but, unexpectedly, caused radioresistance in the MO59J line, lacking DNA-PK. The difference is most likely due to low expression of the DNA-PK substrate p53 in MO59J cells, which was further reduced by PI-103. This led to less apoptosis as compared to drug-free MO59J cells and enhanced survival via partially abolished cell-cycle arrest. The findings suggest that the lack of DNA-PK-dependent NHEJ in MO59J line might be compensated by DNA-PK independent DSB repair via a yet unknown mechanism. KW - DNA damage KW - DNA-PK KW - Histone gamma H2AX KW - p53 KW - Radiation sensitivity Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265826 VL - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Munter, Johannes A1 - Pavlov, Dmitrii A1 - Gorlova, Anna A1 - Sicker, Michael A1 - Proshin, Andrey A1 - Kalueff, Allan V. A1 - Svistunov, Andrey A1 - Kiselev, Daniel A1 - Nedorubov, Andrey A1 - Morozov, Sergey A1 - Umriukhin, Aleksei A1 - Lesch, Klaus-Peter A1 - Strekalova, Tatyana A1 - Schroeter, Careen A. T1 - Increased Oxidative Stress in the Prefrontal Cortex as a Shared Feature of Depressive- and PTSD-Like Syndromes: Effects of a Standardized Herbal Antioxidant JF - Frontiers in Nutrition N2 - Major depression (MD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) share common brain mechanisms and treatment strategies. Nowadays, the dramatically developing COVID-19 situation unavoidably results in stress, psychological trauma, and high incidence of MD and PTSD. Hence, the importance of the development of new treatments for these disorders cannot be overstated. Herbal medicine appears to be an effective and safe treatment with fewer side effects than classic pharmaca and that is affordable in low-income countries. Currently, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation attract increasing attention as important mechanisms of MD and PTSD. We investigated the effects of a standardized herbal cocktail (SHC), an extract of clove, bell pepper, basil, pomegranate, nettle, and other plants, that was designed as an antioxidant treatment in mouse models of MD and PTSD. In the MD model of “emotional” ultrasound stress (US), mice were subjected to ultrasound frequencies of 16–20 kHz, mimicking rodent sounds of anxiety/despair and “neutral” frequencies of 25–45 kHz, for three weeks and concomitantly treated with SHC. US-exposed mice showed elevated concentrations of oxidative stress markers malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl, increased gene and protein expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 and other molecular changes in the prefrontal cortex as well as weight loss, helplessness, anxiety-like behavior, and neophobia that were ameliorated by the SHC treatment. In the PTSD model of the modified forced swim test (modFST), in which a 2-day swim is followed by an additional swim on day 5, mice were pretreated with SHC for 16 days. Increases in the floating behavior and oxidative stress markers malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl in the prefrontal cortex of modFST-mice were prevented by the administration of SHC. Chromatography mass spectrometry revealed bioactive constituents of SHC, including D-ribofuranose, beta-D-lactose, malic, glyceric, and citric acids that can modulate oxidative stress, immunity, and gut and microbiome functions and, thus, are likely to be active antistress elements underlying the beneficial effects of SHC. Significant correlations of malondialdehyde concentration in the prefrontal cortex with altered measures of behavioral despair and anxiety-like behavior suggest that the accumulation of oxidative stress markers are a common biological feature of MD and PTSD that can be equally effectively targeted therapeutically with antioxidant therapy, such as the SHC investigated here. KW - antioxidant nutrients KW - oxidative stress KW - depression KW - post-traumatic stress disorder KW - pro-inflammatory cytokines KW - prefrontal cortex KW - forced swimming KW - mice Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236326 SN - 2296-861X VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Korkmaz, Yüksel A1 - Puladi, Behrus A1 - Galler, Kerstin A1 - Kämmerer, Peer W. A1 - Schröder, Agnes A1 - Gölz, Lina A1 - Sparwasser, Tim A1 - Bloch, Wilhelm A1 - Friebe, Andreas A1 - Deschner, James T1 - Inflammation in the human periodontium induces downregulation of the α\(_1\)- and β\(_1\)-subunits of the sGC in cementoclasts JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences N2 - Nitric oxide (NO) binds to soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), activates it in a reduced oxidized heme iron state, and generates cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate (cGMP), which results in vasodilatation and inhibition of osteoclast activity. In inflammation, sGC is oxidized and becomes insensitive to NO. NO- and heme-independent activation of sGC requires protein expression of the α\(_1\)- and β\(_1\)-subunits. Inflammation of the periodontium induces the resorption of cementum by cementoclasts and the resorption of the alveolar bone by osteoclasts, which can lead to tooth loss. As the presence of sGC in cementoclasts is unknown, we investigated the α\(_1\)- and β\(_1\)-subunits of sGC in cementoclasts of healthy and inflamed human periodontium using double immunostaining for CD68 and cathepsin K and compared the findings with those of osteoclasts from the same sections. In comparison to cementoclasts in the healthy periodontium, cementoclasts under inflammatory conditions showed a decreased staining intensity for both α\(_1\)- and β\(_1\)-subunits of sGC, indicating reduced protein expression of these subunits. Therefore, pharmacological activation of sGC in inflamed periodontal tissues in an NO- and heme-independent manner could be considered as a new treatment strategy to inhibit cementum resorption. KW - nitric oxide KW - soluble guanylyl cyclase KW - cGMP KW - cementoclasts KW - cementum KW - osteoclasts KW - alveolar bone KW - periodontitis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285783 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 22 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tamihardja, Jörg A1 - Cirsi, Sinan A1 - Kessler, Patrick A1 - Razinskas, Gary A1 - Exner, Florian A1 - Richter, Anne A1 - Polat, Bülent A1 - Flentje, Michael T1 - Cone beam CT-based dose accumulation and analysis of delivered dose to the dominant intraprostatic lesion in primary radiotherapy of prostate cancer JF - Radiation Oncology N2 - Background Evaluation of delivered dose to the dominant intraprostatic lesion (DIL) for moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy of prostate cancer by cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)-based dose accumulation and target coverage analysis. Methods Twenty-three patients with localized prostate cancer treated with moderately hypofractionated prostate radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) between December 2016 and February 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Included patients were required to have an identifiable DIL on bi-parametric planning magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). After import into the RayStation treatment planning system and application of a step-wise density override, the fractional doses were computed on each CBCT and were consecutively mapped onto the planning CT via a deformation vector field derived from deformable image registration. Fractional doses were accumulated for all CBCTs and interpolated for missing CBCTs, resulting in the delivered dose for PTV\(_{DIL}\), PTV\(_{Boost}\), PTV, and the organs at risk. The location of the index lesions was recorded according to the sector map of the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PIRADS) Version 2.1. Target coverage of the index lesions was evaluated and stratified for location. Results In total, 338 CBCTs were available for analysis. Dose accumulation target coverage of PTV\(_{DIL}\), PTV\(_{Boost}\), and PTV was excellent and no cases of underdosage in D\(_{Mean}\), D_95%, D_02%, and D_98% could be detected. Delivered rectum D\(_{Mean}\) did not significantly differ from the planned dose. Bladder mean DMean was higher than planned with 19.4 ± 7.4 Gy versus 18.8 ± 7.5 Gy, p < 0.001. The penile bulb showed a decreased delivered mean DMean with 29.1 ± 14.0 Gy versus 29.8 ± 14.4 Gy, p < 0.001. Dorsal DILs, defined as DILs in the posterior medial peripheral zone of the prostate, showed a significantly lower delivered dose with a mean DMean difference of 2.2 Gy (95% CI 1.3–3.1 Gy, p < 0.001) compared to ventral lesions. Conclusions CBCT-based dose accumulation showed an adequate delivered dose to the dominant intraprostatic lesion and organs at risk within planning limits. Cautious evaluation of the target coverage for index lesions adjacent to the rectum is warranted to avoid underdosage. KW - adaptive radiotherapy KW - deformable image registration KW - dominant intraprostatic lesion KW - dose accumulation KW - prostate cancer KW - prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265656 VL - 16 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gehrmann, Andrea A1 - Fiedler, Katrin A1 - Leutritz, Anna Linda A1 - Koreny, Carolin A1 - Kittel-Schneider, Sarah T1 - Lithium medication in pregnancy and breastfeeding — a case series JF - Medicina N2 - Lithium salts are the first-line prophylaxis treatment for bipolar disorder in most guidelines. The majority of bipolar women are treated with mood stabilizers at the time they wish to get pregnant. One reason for this is the rising average age at first childbirth, at least in the high-income countries, which increases in general the likelihood of a medication with psychotropic drugs. Previously, lithium exposition during pregnancy was thought to strongly increase the risk of severe cardiac malformation. However, recent studies only point to a low teratogenic risk, so nowadays an increasing number of women are getting pregnant with ongoing lithium treatment. Regarding lithium medication during breastfeeding, there is evidence that lithium transfers to the breastmilk and can also be detected in the infants' serum. The influence on the infant is still a largely understudied topic. Regular monitoring of the infants' renal clearance, thyroid function, and lithium levels is warranted when breastfeeding under lithium exposure. In this case series, we present three case reports of bipolar mothers who were treated with lithium during pregnancy and breastfeeding to add to the scarce literature on this important topic. In short, we strengthen the importance of therapeutic drug monitoring due to fluctuating plasma levels during pregnancy and after birth, and we can report the birth and development of three healthy infants despite lithium medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding. KW - lithium KW - pregnancy KW - lactation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285640 SN - 1648-9144 VL - 57 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Anger, Friedrich A1 - Döring, Anna A1 - van Dam, Jacob A1 - Lock, Johann Frisco A1 - Klein, Ingo A1 - Bittrich, Max A1 - Germer, Christoph-Thomas A1 - Wiegering, Armin A1 - Kunzmann, Volker A1 - van Eijck, Casper A1 - Löb, Stefan T1 - Impact of Borderline Resectability in Pancreatic Head Cancer on Patient Survival: Biology Matters According to the New International Consensus Criteria JF - Annals of Surgical Oncology N2 - Background International consensus criteria (ICC) have redefined borderline resectability for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) according to three dimensions: anatomical (BR-A), biological (BR-B), and conditional (BR-C). The present definition acknowledges that resectability is not just about the anatomic relationship between the tumour and vessels but that biological and conditional dimensions also are important. Methods Patients’ tumours were retrospectively defined borderline resectable according to ICC. The study cohort was grouped into either BR-A or BR-B and compared with patients considered primarily resectable (R). Differences in postoperative complications, pathological reports, overall (OS), and disease-free survival were assessed. Results A total of 345 patients underwent resection for PDAC. By applying ICC in routine preoperative assessment, 30 patients were classified as stage BR-A and 62 patients as stage BR-B. In total, 253 patients were considered R. The cohort did not contain BR-C patients. No differences in postoperative complications were detected. Median OS was significantly shorter in BR-A (15 months) and BR-B (12 months) compared with R (20 months) patients (BR-A vs. R: p = 0.09 and BR-B vs. R: p < 0.001). CA19-9, as the determining factor of BR-B patients, turned out to be an independent prognostic risk factor for OS. Conclusions Preoperative staging defining surgical resectability in PDAC according to ICC is crucial for patient survival. Patients with PDAC BR-B should be considered for multimodal neoadjuvant therapy even if considered anatomically resectable. KW - pancreatic head cancer Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235251 SN - 1068-9265 VL - 28 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Konijnenberg, Mark A1 - Herrmann, Ken A1 - Kobe, Carsten A1 - Verburg, Frederik A1 - Hindorf, Cecilia A1 - Hustinx, Roland A1 - Lassmann, Michael T1 - EANM position paper on article 56 of the Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom (basic safety standards) for nuclear medicine therapy JF - European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging N2 - The EC Directive 2013/59/Euratom states in article 56 that exposures of target volumes in nuclear medicine treatments shall be individually planned and their delivery appropriately verified. The Directive also mentions that medical physics experts should always be appropriately involved in those treatments. Although it is obvious that, in nuclear medicine practice, every nuclear medicine physician and physicist should follow national rules and legislation, the EANM considered it necessary to provide guidance on how to interpret the Directive statements for nuclear medicine treatments. For this purpose, the EANM proposes to distinguish three levels in compliance to the optimization principle in the directive, inspired by the indication of levels in prescribing, recording and reporting of absorbed doses after radiotherapy defined by the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU): Most nuclear medicine treatments currently applied in Europe are standardized. The minimum requirement for those treatments is ICRU level 1 (“activity-based prescription and patient-averaged dosimetry”), which is defined by administering the activity within 10% of the intended activity, typically according to the package insert or to the respective EANM guidelines, followed by verification of the therapy delivery, if applicable. Non-standardized treatments are essentially those in developmental phase or approved radiopharmaceuticals being used off-label with significantly (> 25% more than in the label) higher activities. These treatments should comply with ICRU level 2 (“activity-based prescription and patient-specific dosimetry”), which implies recording and reporting of the absorbed dose to organs at risk and optionally the absorbed dose to treatment regions. The EANM strongly encourages to foster research that eventually leads to treatment planning according to ICRU level 3 (“dosimetry-guided patient-specific prescription and verification”), whenever possible and relevant. Evidence for superiority of therapy prescription on basis of patient-specific dosimetry has not been obtained. However, the authors believe that a better understanding of therapy dosimetry, i.e. how much and where the energy is delivered, and radiobiology, i.e. radiation-related processes in tissues, are keys to the long-term improvement of our treatments. KW - nuclear medicine therapy KW - dosimetry KW - optimization KW - BSS directive Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235280 SN - 1619-7070 VL - 48 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Köhler, Franziska A1 - Hendricks, Anne A1 - Kastner, Carolin A1 - Müller, Sophie A1 - Boerner, Kevin A1 - Wagner, Johanna C. A1 - Lock, Johan F. A1 - Wiegering, Armin T1 - Laparoscopic appendectomy versus antibiotic treatment for acute appendicitis-a systematic review JF - International Journal of Colorectal Disease N2 - Background Over the last years, laparoscopic appendectomy has progressively replaced open appendectomy and become the current gold standard treatment for suspected, uncomplicated appendicitis. At the same time, though, it is an ongoing discussion that antibiotic therapy can be an equivalent treatment for patients with uncomplicated appendicitis. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the safety and efficacy of antibiotic therapy and compare it to the laparoscopic appendectomy for acute, uncomplicated appendicitis. Methods The PubMed database, Embase database, and Cochrane library were scanned for studies comparing laparoscopic appendectomy with antibiotic treatment. Two independent reviewers performed the study selection and data extraction. The primary endpoint was defined as successful treatment of appendicitis. Secondary endpoints were pain intensity, duration of hospitalization, absence from work, and incidence of complications. Results No studies were found that exclusively compared laparoscopic appendectomy with antibiotic treatment for acute, uncomplicated appendicitis. Conclusions To date, there are no studies comparing antibiotic treatment to laparoscopic appendectomy for patients with acute uncomplicated appendicitis, thus emphasizing the lack of evidence and need for further investigation. KW - acute appendicitis KW - open appendectomy KW - laparoscopic appendectomy KW - antibiotics Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266616 SN - 1432-1262 VL - 36 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Othman, Eman M. A1 - Bekhit, Amany A. A1 - Anany, Mohamed A. A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Ragab, Hanan M. A1 - Wahid, Ahmed T1 - Design, Synthesis, and Anticancer Screening for Repurposed Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine Derivatives on Four Mammalian Cancer Cell Lines JF - Molecules N2 - The present study reports the synthesis of new purine bioisosteres comprising a pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine scaffold linked to mono-, di-, and trimethoxy benzylidene moieties through hydrazine linkages. First, in silico docking experiments of the synthesized compounds against Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, Ki67, p21, and p53 were performed in a trial to rationalize the observed cytotoxic activity for the tested compounds. The anticancer activity of these compounds was evaluated in vitro against Caco-2, A549, HT1080, and Hela cell lines. Results revealed that two (5 and 7) of the three synthesized compounds (5, 6, and 7) showed high cytotoxic activity against all tested cell lines with IC50 values in the micro molar concentration. Our in vitro results show that there is no significant apoptotic effect for the treatment with the experimental compounds on the viability of cells against A549 cells. Ki67 expression was found to decrease significantly following the treatment of cells with the most promising candidate: drug 7. The overall results indicate that these pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives possess anticancer activity at varying doses. The suggested mechanism of action involves the inhibition of the proliferation of cancer cells. KW - pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine KW - anticancer activity KW - apoptosis KW - Ki67 Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239734 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 26 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breves, Priska A1 - Dodel, Nicola T1 - The influence of cybersickness and the media devices’ mobility on the persuasive effects of 360° commercials JF - Multimedia Tools and Applications N2 - With the rise of immersive media, advertisers have started to use 360° commercials to engage and persuade consumers. Two experiments were conducted to address research gaps and to validate the positive impact of 360° commercials in realistic settings. The first study (N = 62) compared the effects of 360° commercials using either a mobile cardboard head-mounted display (HMD) or a laptop. This experiment was conducted in the participants’ living rooms and incorporated individual feelings of cybersickness as a moderator. The participants who experienced the 360° commercial with the HMD reported higher spatial presence and product evaluation, but their purchase intentions were only increased when their reported cybersickness was low. The second experiment (N = 197) was conducted online and analyzed the impact of 360° commercials that were experienced with mobile (smartphone/tablet) or static (laptop/desktop) devices instead of HMDs. The positive effects of omnidirectional videos were stronger when participants used mobile devices. KW - virtual reality KW - immersive advertising KW - spatial presence KW - cybersickness KW - advertising effectiveness Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269194 SN - 1573-7721 VL - 80 IS - 18 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bohnert, Simone A1 - Reinert, Christoph A1 - Trella, Stefanie A1 - Schmitz, Werner A1 - Ondruschka, Benjamin A1 - Bohnert, Michael T1 - Metabolomics in postmortem cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics: a state-of-the-art method to interpret central nervous system–related pathological processes JF - International Journal of Legal Medicine N2 - In the last few years, quantitative analysis of metabolites in body fluids using LC/MS has become an established method in laboratory medicine and toxicology. By preparing metabolite profiles in biological specimens, we are able to understand pathophysiological mechanisms at the biochemical and thus the functional level. An innovative investigative method, which has not yet been used widely in the forensic context, is to use the clinical application of metabolomics. In a metabolomic analysis of 41 samples of postmortem cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples divided into cohorts of four different causes of death, namely, cardiovascular fatalities, isoIated torso trauma, traumatic brain injury, and multi-organ failure, we were able to identify relevant differences in the metabolite profile between these individual groups. According to this preliminary assessment, we assume that information on biochemical processes is not gained by differences in the concentration of individual metabolites in CSF, but by a combination of differently distributed metabolites forming the perspective of a new generation of biomarkers for diagnosing (fatal) TBI and associated neuropathological changes in the CNS using CSF samples. KW - CSF KW - cerebrospinal fluid KW - forensic neuropathology KW - forensic neurotraumatology KW - biomarker KW - metabolomics Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235724 SN - 0937-9827 VL - 135 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kessie, David K. A1 - Lodes, Nina A1 - Oberwinkler, Heike A1 - Goldman, William E. A1 - Walles, Thorsten A1 - Steinke, Maria A1 - Gross, Roy T1 - Activity of Tracheal Cytotoxin of Bordetella pertussis in a Human Tracheobronchial 3D Tissue Model JF - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology N2 - Bordetella pertussis is a highly contagious pathogen which causes whooping cough in humans. A major pathophysiology of infection is the extrusion of ciliated cells and subsequent disruption of the respiratory mucosa. Tracheal cytotoxin (TCT) is the only virulence factor produced by B. pertussis that has been able to recapitulate this pathology in animal models. This pathophysiology is well characterized in a hamster tracheal model, but human data are lacking due to scarcity of donor material. We assessed the impact of TCT and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the functional integrity of the human airway mucosa by using in vitro airway mucosa models developed by co-culturing human tracheobronchial epithelial cells and human tracheobronchial fibroblasts on porcine small intestinal submucosa scaffold under airlift conditions. TCT and LPS either alone and in combination induced blebbing and necrosis of the ciliated epithelia. TCT and LPS induced loss of ciliated epithelial cells and hyper-mucus production which interfered with mucociliary clearance. In addition, the toxins had a disruptive effect on the tight junction organization, significantly reduced transepithelial electrical resistance and increased FITC-Dextran permeability after toxin incubation. In summary, the results indicate that TCT collaborates with LPS to induce the disruption of the human airway mucosa as reported for the hamster tracheal model. KW - tracheal cytotoxin KW - airway epithelia KW - tissue model KW - ciliostasis KW - tight junction KW - Bordetella pertussis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-222736 SN - 2235-2988 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Muth, Felicitas V. A1 - Wirth, Robert A1 - Kunde, Winfried T1 - Temporal binding past the Libet clock: testing design factors for an auditory timer JF - Behavior Research Methods N2 - Voluntary actions and causally linked sensory stimuli are perceived to be shifted towards each other in time. This so-called temporal binding is commonly assessed in paradigms using the Libet Clock. In such experiments, participants have to estimate the timing of actions performed or ensuing sensory stimuli (usually tones) by means of a rotating clock hand presented on a screen. The aforementioned task setup is however ill-suited for many conceivable setups, especially when they involve visual effects. To address this shortcoming, the line of research presented here establishes an alternative measure for temporal binding by using a sequence of timed sounds. This method uses an auditory timer, a sequence of letters presented during task execution, which serve as anchors for temporal judgments. In four experiments, we manipulated four design factors of this auditory timer, namely interval length, interval filling, sequence predictability, and sequence length, to determine the most effective and economic method for measuring temporal binding with an auditory timer. KW - temporal binding KW - auditory timer KW - experimental design KW - measures KW - intentional binding Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234922 VL - 53 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meyer, Malin Tordis A1 - Watermann, Christoph A1 - Dreyer, Thomas A1 - Ergün, Süleyman A1 - Karnati, Srikanth T1 - 2021 update on diagnostic markers and translocation in salivary gland tumors JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences N2 - Salivary gland tumors are a rare tumor entity within malignant tumors of all tissues. The most common are malignant mucoepidermoid carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and acinic cell carcinoma. Pleomorphic adenoma is the most recurrent form of benign salivary gland tumor. Due to their low incidence rates and complex histological patterns, they are difficult to diagnose accurately. Malignant tumors of the salivary glands are challenging in terms of differentiation because of their variability in histochemistry and translocations. Therefore, the primary goal of the study was to review the current literature to identify the recent developments in histochemical diagnostics and translocations for differentiating salivary gland tumors. KW - salivary gland tumors KW - epithelial salivary gland KW - adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) KW - pleomorphic adenoma KW - mucoepidermoid carcinoma KW - diagnostic markers Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261057 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 22 IS - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Asch, Silke A1 - Kaufmann, Tobias Peter A1 - Walter, Michaela A1 - Leistner, Marcus A1 - Danner, Bernd C. A1 - Perl, Thorsten A1 - Kutschka, Ingo A1 - Niehaus, Heidi T1 - The effect of perioperative hemadsorption in patients operated for acute infective endocarditis—A randomized controlled study JF - Artificial Organs N2 - Patients operated for infective endocarditis (IE) are at high risk of developing an excessive systemic hyperinflammatory state, resulting in systemic inflammatory response syndrome and septic shock. Hemoadsorption (HA) by cytokine adsorbers has been successfully applied to remove inflammatory mediators. This randomized controlled trial investigates the effect of perioperative HA therapy on inflammatory parameters and hemodynamic status in patients operated for IE. A total of 20 patients were randomly assigned to either HA therapy or the control group. HA therapy was initiated intraoperatively and continued for 24 hours postoperatively. Cytokine levels (IL‐6, IL‐1b, TNF‐α), leukocytes, C‐reactive protein (CRP), and Procalcitonin (PCT) as well as catecholamine support, and volume requirement were compared between both groups. Operative procedures included aortic (n = 7), mitral (n = 6), and multiple valve surgery (n = 7). All patients survived to discharge. No significant differences concerning median cytokine levels (IL‐6 and TNF‐α) were observed between both groups. CRP and PCT baseline levels were significantly higher in the HA group (59.5 vs. 26.3 mg/dL, P = .029 and 0.17 vs. 0.05 µg/L, P = .015) equalizing after surgery. Patients in the HA group required significantly higher doses of vasopressors (0.093 vs. 0.025 µg/kg/min norepinephrine, P = .029) at 12 hours postoperatively as well as significantly more overall volume replacement (7217 vs. 4185 mL at 12 hours, P = .015; 12 021 vs. 4850 mL at 48 hours, P = .015). HA therapy did neither result in a reduction of inflammatory parameters nor result in an improvement of hemodynamic parameters in patients operated for IE. For a more targeted use of HA therapy, appropriate selection criteria are required. KW - cytokines KW - endocarditis KW - hemadsorption KW - sepsis KW - SIRS Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262681 VL - 45 IS - 11 SP - 1328 EP - 1337 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Frings, Verena Gerlinde A1 - Goebeler, Matthias A1 - Schilling, Bastian A1 - Kneitz, Hermann T1 - Aberrant cytoplasmic connexin43 expression as a helpful marker in vascular neoplasms JF - Journal of Cutaneous Pathology N2 - Background Gap junctions consisting of connexins (Cx) are fundamental in controlling cell proliferation, differentiation, and cell death. Cx43 is the most broadly expressed Cx in humans and is attributed an important role in skin tumor development. Its role in cutaneous vascular neoplasms is yet unknown. Methods Fifteen cases each of cutaneous angiosarcoma (cAS), Kaposi sarcoma (KS), and cherry hemangioma (CH) were assessed by immunohistochemistry for expression of Cx43. Expression pattern, intensity, and percentage of positively stained cells were analyzed. Solid basal cell carcinomas served as positive and healthy skin as negative controls. Results Most cases of cAS presented with a strong Cx43 staining of almost all tumor cells, whereas endothelia of KS showed medium expression and CH showed mostly weak expression. In comparison with KS or cAS, the staining intensity of CH was significantly lower (P ≤ 0.001). All tissue sections of both cAS and KS were characterized by a mostly diffuse, cytoplasmic staining pattern of the vascular endothelia. None of those showed nuclear staining. Conclusion The high-to-intermediate expression of Cx43 observed in all cases of cAS and KS suggests that this Cx may play a role in the development of malignant vascular neoplasms and serve as a helpful diagnostic marker. KW - Kaposi sarcoma KW - cutaneous angiosarcoma KW - Cx43 KW - hemangioma KW - immunohistochemistry Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258412 VL - 48 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Emmert, Adrian A1 - Kneisel, Christof T1 - Internal structure and palsa development at Orravatnsrústir Palsa Site (Central Iceland), investigated by means of integrated resistivity and ground‐penetrating radar methods JF - Permafrost and Periglacial Processes N2 - The natural cyclical development of palsas makes it difficult to use visible signs of decay as reference points for environmental change. Thus, to determine the actual development stage of a palsa, investigations of the internal structure are crucial. Our study presents 2‐D and 3‐D electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) and 2‐D ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) results, measurements of surface and subsurface temperatures, and of the soil matric potential from Orravatnsrústir Palsa Site in Central Iceland. By a joint interpretation of the results, we deduce the internal structure (i.e., thickness of thaw zone and permafrost, ice/water content) of five palsas of different size and shape. The results differentiate between initial and mature development stages and show that palsas of different development stages can exist in close proximity. While internal characteristics indicate undisturbed development of four palsas, one palsa shows indications of environmental change. Our study shows the value of the multimethod geophysical approach and introduces measurements of the soil matric potential as a promising method to assess the current state of the subsurface. KW - 3‐D electrical resistivity imaging KW - ground‐penetrating radar KW - palsa development KW - soil matric potential Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-238933 VL - 32 IS - 3 SP - 503 EP - 519 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chen, Menjia A1 - Liu, Dan A1 - Weidemann, Frank A1 - Lengenfelder, Björn Daniel A1 - Ertl, Georg A1 - Hu, Kai A1 - Frantz, Stefan A1 - Nordbeck, Peter T1 - Echocardiographic risk factors of left ventricular thrombus in patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction JF - ESC Heart Failure N2 - Aims This study aimed to identify echocardiographic determinants of left ventricular thrombus (LVT) formation after acute anterior myocardial infarction (MI). Methods and results This case–control study comprised 55 acute anterior MI patients with LVT as cases and 55 acute anterior MI patients without LVT as controls, who were selected from a cohort of consecutive patients with ischemic heart failure in our hospital. The cases and controls were matched for age, sex, and left ventricular ejection fraction. LVT was detected by routine/contrast echocardiography or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging during the first 3 months following MI. Formation of apical aneurysm after MI was independently associated with LVT formation [72.0% vs. 43.5%, odds ratio (OR) = 5.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.65–15.48, P = 0.005]. Echocardiographic risk factors associated with LVT formation included reduced mitral annular plane systolic excursion (<7 mm, OR = 4.69, 95% CI 1.84–11.95, P = 0.001), moderate–severe diastolic dysfunction (OR = 2.71, 95% CI 1.11–6.57, P = 0.028), and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction [reduced tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion < 17 mm (OR = 5.48, 95% CI 2.12–14.13, P < 0.001), reduced RV fractional area change < 0.35 (OR = 3.32, 95% CI 1.20–9.18, P = 0.021), and enlarged RV mid diameter (per 5 mm increase OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.12–2.34, P = 0.010)]. Reduced tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (<17 mm) significantly associated with increased risk of LVT in anterior MI patients (OR = 3.84, 95% CI 1.37–10.75, P = 0.010), especially in those patients without apical aneurysm (OR = 5.12, 95% CI 1.45–18.08, P = 0.011), independent of body mass index, hypertension, anaemia, mitral annular plane systolic excursion, and moderate–severe diastolic dysfunction. Conclusions Right ventricular dysfunction as determined by reduced TAPSE or RV fractional area change is independently associated with LVT formation in acute anterior MI patients, especially in the setting of MI patients without the formation of an apical aneurysm. This study suggests that besides assessment of left ventricular abnormalities, assessment of concomitant RV dysfunction is of importance on risk stratification of LVT formation in patients with acute anterior MI. KW - myocardial infarction KW - aneurysm KW - left ventricular thrombusv KW - right ventricular dysfunction KW - echocardiography KW - cardiovascular magnetic resonance Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261067 VL - 8 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weng, Andreas M. A1 - Köstler, Herbert A1 - Bley, Thorsten A. A1 - Ritter, Christian O. T1 - Effect of short-term smoking & L-arginine on coronary endothelial function assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance cold pressor testing: a pilot study JF - BMC Cardiovascular Disorders N2 - Background The effect of smoking on coronary vasomotion has been investigated in the past with various imaging techniques in both short- and long-term smokers. Additionally, coronary vasomotion has been shown to be normalized in long-term smokers by L-Arginine acting as a substrate for NO synthase, revealing the coronary endothelium as the major site of abnormal vasomotor response. Aim of the prospective cohort study was to investigate coronary vasomotion of young healthy short-term smokers via magnetic resonance cold pressor test with and without the administration of L-Arginine and compare obtained results with the ones from nonsmokers. Methods Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was quantified with first-pass perfusion MRI on a 1.5 T scanner in healthy short-term smokers (N = 10, age: 25.0 ± 2.8 years, 5.0 ± 2.9 pack years) and nonsmokers (N = 10, age: 34.3 ± 13.6) both at rest and during cold pressor test (CPT). Smokers underwent an additional examination after administration of L-Arginine within a median of 7 days of the naïve examination. Results MBF at rest turned out to be 0.77 ± 0.30 (smokers with no L-Arginine; mean ± standard deviation), 0.66 ± 0.21 (smokers L-Arginine) and 0.84 ± 0.08 (nonsmokers). Values under CPT were 1.21 ± 0.42 (smokers no L-Arginine), 1.09 ± 0.35 (smokers L-Arginine) and 1.63 ± 0.33 (nonsmokers). In all groups, MBF was significantly increased under CPT compared to the corresponding rest examination (p < 0.05 in all cases). Additionally, MBF under CPT was significantly different between the smokers and the nonsmokers (p = 0.002). MBF at rest was significantly different between the smokers when L-Arginine was given and the nonsmokers (p = 0.035). Conclusion Short-term smokers showed a reduced response to cold both with and without the administration of L-Arginine. However, absolute MBF values under CPT were lower compared to nonsmokers independently of L-Arginine administration. KW - MRI KW - myocardial perfusion KW - cold pressor test KW - endothelium KW - L-arginine KW - smoking Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260559 VL - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Kunkun A1 - Prada, Juan A1 - Damineli, Daniel S. C. A1 - Liese, Anja A1 - Romeis, Tina A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Feijó, José A. A1 - Hedrich, Rainer A1 - Konrad, Kai Robert T1 - An optimized genetically encoded dual reporter for simultaneous ratio imaging of Ca\(^{2+}\) and H\(^{+}\) reveals new insights into ion signaling in plants JF - New Phytologist N2 - Whereas the role of calcium ions (Ca\(^{2+}\)) in plant signaling is well studied, the physiological significance of pH‐changes remains largely undefined. Here we developed CapHensor, an optimized dual‐reporter for simultaneous Ca\(^{2+}\) and pH ratio‐imaging and studied signaling events in pollen tubes (PTs), guard cells (GCs), and mesophyll cells (MCs). Monitoring spatio‐temporal relationships between membrane voltage, Ca\(^{2+}\)‐ and pH‐dynamics revealed interconnections previously not described. In tobacco PTs, we demonstrated Ca\(^{2+}\)‐dynamics lag behind pH‐dynamics during oscillatory growth, and pH correlates more with growth than Ca\(^{2+}\). In GCs, we demonstrated abscisic acid (ABA) to initiate stomatal closure via rapid cytosolic alkalization followed by Ca2+ elevation. Preventing the alkalization blocked GC ABA‐responses and even opened stomata in the presence of ABA, disclosing an important pH‐dependent GC signaling node. In MCs, a flg22‐induced membrane depolarization preceded Ca2+‐increases and cytosolic acidification by c. 2 min, suggesting a Ca\(^{2+}\)/pH‐independent early pathogen signaling step. Imaging Ca2+ and pH resolved similar cytosol and nuclear signals and demonstrated flg22, but not ABA and hydrogen peroxide to initiate rapid membrane voltage‐, Ca\(^{2+}\)‐ and pH‐responses. We propose close interrelation in Ca\(^{2+}\)‐ and pH‐signaling that is cell type‐ and stimulus‐specific and the pH having crucial roles in regulating PT growth and stomata movement. KW - abscisic acid (ABA) KW - calcium KW - flg22 KW - guard cells KW - imaging KW - ion signaling KW - pH KW - pollen tube Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239847 VL - 230 IS - 6 SP - 2292 EP - 2310 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gentzsch, Christian A1 - Hoffmann, Matthias A1 - Ohshima, Yasuhiro A1 - Nose, Naoko A1 - Chen, Xinyu A1 - Higuchi, Takahiro A1 - Decker, Michael T1 - Synthesis and Initial Characterization of a Selective, Pseudo‐irreversible Inhibitor of Human Butyrylcholinesterase as PET Tracer JF - ChemMedChem N2 - The enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) represents a promising target for imaging probes to potentially enable early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to monitor disease progression in some forms of cancer. In this study, we present the design, facile synthesis, in vitro and preliminary ex vivo and in vivo evaluation of a morpholine‐based, selective inhibitor of human BChE as a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer with a pseudo‐irreversible binding mode. We demonstrate a novel protecting group strategy for 18F radiolabeling of carbamate precursors and show that the inhibitory potency as well as kinetic properties of our unlabeled reference compound were retained in comparison to the parent compound. In particular, the prolonged duration of enzyme inhibition of such a morpholinocarbamate motivated us to design a PET tracer, possibly enabling a precise mapping of BChE distribution. KW - carbamate KW - enzyme kinetics KW - fluorine-18 KW - positron emission tomography KW - radiotracers Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239904 VL - 16 IS - 9 SP - 1427 EP - 1437 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adam, Pia A1 - Kircher, Stefan A1 - Sbiera, Iuliu A1 - Koehler, Viktoria Florentine A1 - Berg, Elke A1 - Knösel, Thomas A1 - Sandner, Benjamin A1 - Fenske, Wiebke Kristin A1 - Bläker, Hendrik A1 - Smaxwil, Constantin A1 - Zielke, Andreas A1 - Sipos, Bence A1 - Allelein, Stephanie A1 - Schott, Matthias A1 - Dierks, Christine A1 - Spitzweg, Christine A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Kroiss, Matthias T1 - FGF-Receptors and PD-L1 in Anaplastic and Poorly Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Evaluation of the Preclinical Rationale JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - Background Treatment options for poorly differentiated (PDTC) and anaplastic (ATC) thyroid carcinoma are unsatisfactory and prognosis is generally poor. Lenvatinib (LEN), a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) 1-4 is approved for advanced radioiodine refractory thyroid carcinoma, but response to single agent is poor in ATC. Recent reports of combining LEN with PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (PEM) are promising. Materials and Methods Primary ATC (n=93) and PDTC (n=47) tissue samples diagnosed 1997-2019 at five German tertiary care centers were assessed for PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry using Tumor Proportion Score (TPS). FGFR 1-4 mRNA was quantified in 31 ATC and 14 PDTC with RNAscope in-situ hybridization. Normal thyroid tissue (NT) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) served as controls. Disease specific survival (DSS) was the primary outcome variable. Results PD-L1 TPS≥50% was observed in 42% of ATC and 26% of PDTC specimens. Mean PD-L1 expression was significantly higher in ATC (TPS 30%) than in PDTC (5%; p<0.01) and NT (0%, p<0.001). 53% of PDTC samples had PD-L1 expression ≤5%. FGFR mRNA expression was generally low in all samples but combined FGFR1-4 expression was significantly higher in PDTC and ATC compared to NT (each p<0.001). No impact of PD-L1 and FGFR 1-4 expression was observed on DSS. Conclusion High tumoral expression of PD-L1 in a large proportion of ATCs and a subgroup of PDTCs provides a rationale for immune checkpoint inhibition. FGFR expression is low thyroid tumor cells. The clinically observed synergism of PEM with LEN may be caused by immune modulation. KW - tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) KW - immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) KW - immunohistochemistry KW - immunotherapy KW - PD-L1 KW - FGFR Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-244653 SN - 1664-2392 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, Britta A1 - Schirbel, Andreas A1 - Nannen, Lukas A1 - Michelmann, David A1 - Hartrampf, Philipp E. A1 - Bluemel, Christina A1 - Schneider, Magdalena A1 - Herrmann, Ken A1 - Haenscheid, Heribert A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Buck, Andreas K. A1 - Hahner, Stefanie T1 - Novel CYP11B-ligand [\(^{123/131}\)I]IMAZA as promising theranostic tool for adrenocortical tumors: comprehensive preclinical characterization and first clinical experience JF - European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging N2 - Purpose Adrenal tumors represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Promising results have been obtained through targeting the cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 for molecular imaging, and [\(^{123/131}\)I]iodometomidate ([\(^{123/131}\)I]IMTO) has even been successfully introduced as a theranostic agent. As this radiopharmaceutical shows rapid metabolic inactivation, we aimed at developing new improved tracers. Methods Several IMTO derivatives were newly designed by replacing the unstable methyl ester by different carboxylic esters or amides. The inhibition of aldosterone and cortisol synthesis was tested in different adrenocortical cell lines. The corresponding radiolabeled compounds were assessed regarding their stability, in vitro cell uptake, in vivo biodistribution in mice, and their binding specificity to cryosections of human adrenocortical and non-adrenocortical tissue. Furthermore, a first investigation was performed in patients with known metastatic adrenal cancer using both [\(^{123}\)I]IMTO and the most promising compound (R)-1-[1-(4-[\(^{123/}\)I]iodophenyl)ethyl]-1H-imidazole-5-carboxylic acid azetidinylamide ([\(^{123}\)I]IMAZA) for scintigraphy. Subsequently, a first endoradiotherapy with [\(^{131}\)I]IMAZA in one of these patients was performed. Results We identified three analogues to IMTO with high-affinity binding to the target enzymes and comparable or higher metabolic stability and very high and specific accumulation in adrenocortical cells in vitro and in vivo. Labeled IMAZA exhibited superior pharmacokinetic and imaging properties compared to IMTO in mice and 3 patients, too. An endoradiotherapy with [\(^{131}\)I]IMAZA induced a 21-month progression-free interval in a patient with rapidly progressing ACC prior this therapy. Conclusion We developed the new radiopharmaceutical [\(^{123/131}\)I]IMAZA with superior properties compared to the reference compound IMTO and promising first experiences in humans. KW - CYP11B enzymes KW - adrenal incidentaloma KW - adrenocortical carcinoma Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265606 SN - 1619-7089 VL - 49 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kade, Juliane C. A1 - Tandon, Biranche A1 - Weichhold, Jan A1 - Pisignano, Dario A1 - Persano, Luana A1 - Luxenhofer, Robert A1 - Dalton, Paul D. T1 - Melt electrowriting of poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐trifluoroethylene) JF - Polymer International N2 - Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-co-TrFE)) is an electroactive polymer with growing interest for applications in biomedical materials and flexible electronics. In this study, a solvent-free additive manufacturing technique called melt electrowriting (MEW) has been utilized to fabricate well-defined microperiodic structures of the copolymer (P(VDF-co-TrFE)). MEW of the highly viscous polymer melt was initiated using a heated collector at temperatures above 120 °C and required remarkably slow collector speeds below 100 mm min\(^{-1}\). The fiber surface morphology was affected by the collector speed and an increase in β-phase was observed for scaffolds compared to the unprocessed powder. Videography shows vibrations of the P(VDF-co-TrFE) jet previously unseen during MEW, probably due to repeated charge buildup and discharge. Furthermore, piezo-force microscopy measurements demonstrated the electromechanical response of MEW-fabricated fibers. This research therefore achieves the melt electrohydrodynamic processing of fibers with micrometer resolution into defined structures with an important electroactive polymer. KW - polymer processing KW - additive manufacturing KW - electrohydrodynamic KW - electroactive Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257654 VL - 70 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kannapin, Felix A1 - Schmitz, Tobias A1 - Hansmann, Jan A1 - Schlegel, Nicolas A1 - Meir, Michael T1 - Measurements of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) are affected by junctional length in immature epithelial monolayers JF - Histochemistry and Cell Biology N2 - The measurement of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) is a common technique to determine the barrier integrity of epithelial cell monolayers. However, it is remarkable that absolute TEER values of similar cell types cultured under comparable conditions show an immense heterogeneity. Based on previous observations, we hypothesized that the heterogeneity of absolute TEER measurements can not only be explained by maturation of junctional proteins but rather by dynamics in the absolute length of cell junctions within monolayers. Therefore, we analyzed TEER in epithelial cell monolayers of Caco2 cells during their differentiation, with special emphasis on both changes in the junctional complex and overall cell morphology within monolayers. We found that in epithelial Caco2 monolayers TEER increased until confluency, then decreased for some time, which was then followed by an additional increase during junctional differentiation. In contrast, permeability of macromolecules measured at different time points as 4 kDA fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran flux across monolayers steadily decreased during this time. Detailed analysis suggested that this observation could be explained by alterations of junctional length along the cell borders within monolayers during differentiation. In conclusion, these observations confirmed that changes in cell numbers and consecutive increase of junctional length have a critical impact on TEER values, especially at stages of early confluency when junctions are immature. KW - Caco2 cells KW - TEER KW - barrier models KW - impedance spectroscopy KW - permeability Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267465 SN - 1432-119X VL - 156 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bartfeld, Sina T1 - Realizing the potential of organoids — an interview with Hans Clevers JF - Journal of Molecular Medicine N2 - No abstract available. KW - organoids KW - interview Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235804 SN - Journal of Molecular Medicine VL - 99 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Strunz, Patrick-Pascal A1 - Froehlich, Matthias A1 - Gernert, Michael A1 - Schwaneck, Eva Christina A1 - Fleischer, Anna A1 - Pecher, Ann-Christin A1 - Tony, Hans-Peter A1 - Henes, Joerg Christoph A1 - Schmalzing, Marc T1 - Immunological Adverse Events After Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Systemic Sclerosis Patients JF - Frontiers in Immunology N2 - Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) represents an effective treatment for systemic sclerosis (SSc), but it also can cause immunological adverse events (iAEs). Therefore, we aimed to determine the frequency of iAEs [engraftment syndrome (ES) and secondary autoimmune disorder (sAD)] and to identify potential risk factors for their development in a retrospective analysis on 22 patients similarly transplanted due to SSc. While nine patients (41%) suffered from ESs, seven sADs occurred in six patients (27%). Patients who developed ES were older in our cohort (52.45 vs. 42.58 years, p = .0433, Cohen’s d = 0.86), and cardiac involvement by SSc was associated with development of ES (OR = 40.11, p = .0017). Patients with manifestation of sAD had a higher modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) reduction after aHSCT (90.50% vs. 60.00%, p = .0064, r = .65). Thus, IAEs are common after aHSCT for SSc and can occur in different stages during and after aHSCT with characteristic clinical manifestations. Good cutaneous response after aHSCT might be considered as a risk factor for sAD, and higher age at aHSCT and cardiac involvement might be considered as risk factors for the development of ES. KW - scleroderma KW - fever KW - autoimmune disease KW - Grave’s disease KW - modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) KW - risk factor analysis KW - engraftment syndrome KW - Sjögren’s syndrome Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-245574 SN - 1664-3224 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thomann, Anna Sophie A1 - Schneider, Theresa A1 - Cyran, Laura A1 - Eckert, Ina Nathalie A1 - Kerstan, Andreas A1 - Lutz, Manfred B. T1 - Conversion of Anergic T Cells Into Foxp3\(^-\) IL-10\(^+\) Regulatory T Cells by a Second Antigen Stimulus In Vivo JF - Frontiers in Immunology N2 - T cell anergy is a common mechanism of T cell tolerance. However, although anergic T cells are retained for longer time periods in their hosts, they remain functionally passive. Here, we describe the induction of anergic CD4\(^+\) T cells in vivo by intravenous application of high doses of antigen and their subsequent conversion into suppressive Foxp3\(^-\) IL-10\(^+\) Tr1 cells but not Foxp3\(^+\) Tregs. We describe the kinetics of up-regulation of several memory-, anergy- and suppression-related markers such as CD44, CD73, FR4, CD25, CD28, PD-1, Egr-2, Foxp3 and CTLA-4 in this process. The conversion into suppressive Tr1 cells correlates with the transient intracellular CTLA-4 expression and required the restimulation of anergic cells in a short-term time window. Restimulation after longer time periods, when CTLA-4 is down-regulated again retains the anergic state but does not lead to the induction of suppressor function. Our data require further functional investigations but at this stage may suggest a role for anergic T cells as a circulating pool of passive cells that may be re-activated into Tr1 cells upon short-term restimulation with high and systemic doses of antigen. It is tentative to speculate that such a scenario may represent cases of allergen responses in non-allergic individuals. KW - T cells KW - anergy KW - Tr1 KW - conversion KW - in vivo Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241429 SN - 1664-3224 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dapergola, Eleni A1 - Menegazzi, Pamela A1 - Raabe, Thomas A1 - Hovhanyan, Anna T1 - Light Stimuli and Circadian Clock Affect Neural Development in Drosophila melanogaster JF - Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology N2 - Endogenous clocks enable organisms to adapt cellular processes, physiology, and behavior to daily variation in environmental conditions. Metabolic processes in cyanobacteria to humans are under the influence of the circadian clock, and dysregulation of the circadian clock causes metabolic disorders. In mouse and Drosophila, the circadian clock influences translation of factors involved in ribosome biogenesis and synchronizes protein synthesis. Notably, nutrition signals are mediated by the insulin receptor/target of rapamycin (InR/TOR) pathways to regulate cellular metabolism and growth. However, the role of the circadian clock in Drosophila brain development and the potential impact of clock impairment on neural circuit formation and function is less understood. Here we demonstrate that changes in light stimuli or disruption of the molecular circadian clock cause a defect in neural stem cell growth and proliferation. Moreover, we show that disturbed cell growth and proliferation are accompanied by reduced nucleolar size indicative of impaired ribosomal biogenesis. Further, we define that light and clock independently affect the InR/TOR growth regulatory pathway due to the effect on regulators of protein biosynthesis. Altogether, these data suggest that alterations in InR/TOR signaling induced by changes in light conditions or disruption of the molecular clock have an impact on growth and proliferation properties of neural stem cells in the developing Drosophila brain. KW - neuroblast growth KW - proliferation KW - circadian clock KW - light stimuli Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-231049 SN - 2296-634X VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Briese, Michael A1 - Sendtner, Michael T1 - Keeping the balance: the noncoding RNA 7SK as a master regulator for neuron development and function JF - BioEssays N2 - The noncoding RNA 7SK is a critical regulator of transcription by adjusting the activity of the kinase complex P-TEFb. Release of P-TEFb from 7SK stimulates transcription at many genes by promoting productive elongation. Conversely, P-TEFb sequestration by 7SK inhibits transcription. Recent studies have shown that 7SK functions are particularly important for neuron development and maintenance and it can thus be hypothesized that 7SK is at the center of many signaling pathways contributing to neuron function. 7SK activates neuronal gene expression programs that are key for terminal differentiation of neurons. Proteomics studies revealed a complex protein interactome of 7SK that includes several RNA-binding proteins. Some of these novel 7SK subcomplexes exert non-canonical cytosolic functions in neurons by regulating axonal mRNA transport and fine-tuning spliceosome production in response to transcription alterations. Thus, a picture emerges according to which 7SK acts as a multi-functional RNA scaffold that is integral for neuron homeostasis. KW - medicine Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256613 VL - 43 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Barrea, Luigi A1 - Vetrani, Claudia A1 - Altieri, Barbara A1 - Verde, Ludovica A1 - Savastano, Silvia A1 - Colao, Annamaria A1 - Muscogiuri, Giovanna T1 - The importance of being a ‘lark’ in post-menopausal women with obesity: a ploy to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus? JF - Nutrients N2 - Chronotype is defined as the behavioral manifestation of circadian rhythms related to the external light–dark cycle. Evening chronotype has been associated with an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases in obesity. Menopause is a lifestage associated with an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases and a change in circadian rhythmicity compared to pre-menopause. However, the prevalence of chronotype categories in menopause and their role in determining menopause-related cardiometabolic risk, mostly in obesity, have not been investigated. Thus, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of chronotype categories in post-menopausal women with obesity and their role in menopause-related cardiometabolic risk. In this cross-sectional study we enrolled 49 pre-menopausal and 74 post-menopausal women with obesity. Anthropometric parameters, lifestyle habits, adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD), sleep quality, chronotype and the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were studied. No significance differences were detected in terms of lifestyle and adherence to the MD between pre- and post-menopausal women. Chronotype was classified as morning in 66 (53.6%), evening in 20 (16.3%) and intermediate in 37 (30.1%) women. In addition, pre-menopausal women with obesity showed a significantly higher chance to have an intermediate chronotype (OR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.28–3.83; p = 0.004), whereas post-menopausal women with obesity showed a trend to have a higher morning chronotype (OR = 1.42, 95% CI 0.98–2.06; p = 0.051), although this did not reach statistical significance. No significant differences were detected in terms of prevalence of evening chronotype between the two groups. However, the evening chronotype had a significantly higher risk to have T2DM compared to the morning (OR = 17.29, 95% CI 2.40–124.27; p = 0.005) and intermediate chronotypes (OR = 30.86, 95% CI 2.05–464.32; p = 0.013) in both pre- and post-menopausal women with obesity. In conclusion, the intermediate chronotype was significantly more prevalent in pre-menopausal women with obesity compared to post-menopausal women. Evening chronotype was associated to T2DM in both pre- and post-menopause. These results support the importance of including the assessment of chronotype in the management of women with obesity in post-menopause. KW - chronotype KW - circadian rhythms KW - menopause KW - obesity KW - type 2 diabetes KW - cardiovascular diseases Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248572 SN - 2072-6643 VL - 13 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blum, Carina A1 - Taskin, Mehmet Berat A1 - Shan, Junwen A1 - Schilling, Tatjana A1 - Schlegelmilch, Katrin A1 - Teßmar, Jörg A1 - Groll, Jürgen T1 - Appreciating the First Line of the Human Innate Immune Defense: A Strategy to Model and Alleviate the Neutrophil Elastase-Mediated Attack toward Bioactivated Biomaterials JF - Small N2 - Biointerface engineering is a wide-spread strategy to improve the healing process and subsequent tissue integration of biomaterials. Especially the integration of specific peptides is one promising strategy to promote the regenerative capacity of implants and 3D scaffolds. In vivo, these tailored interfaces are, however, first confronted with the innate immune response. Neutrophils are cells with pronounced proteolytic potential and the first recruited immune cells at the implant site; nonetheless, they have so far been underappreciated in the design of biomaterial interfaces. Herein, an in vitro approach is introduced to model and analyze the neutrophil interaction with bioactivated materials at the example of nano-bioinspired electrospun surfaces that reveals the vulnerability of a given biointerface design to the contact with neutrophils. A sacrificial, transient hydrogel coating that demonstrates optimal protection for peptide-modified surfaces and thus alleviates the immediate cleavage by neutrophil elastase is further introduced. KW - solution electrospinning KW - human neutrophil elastase (HNE) KW - peptide immobilization KW - polymeric matrix Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257691 VL - 17 IS - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kirschmann, Nicole A1 - Lenhard, Wolfgang A1 - Suggate, Sebastian T1 - Influences from working memory, word and sentence reading on passage comprehension and teacher ratings JF - Journal of Research in Reading N2 - Reading fluency is a major determinant of reading comprehension but depends on moderating factors such as auditory working memory (AWM), word recognition and sentence reading skills. We investigated how word and sentence reading skills relate to reading comprehension differentially across the first 6 years of schooling and tested which reading variable best predicted teacher judgements. We conducted our research in a rather transparent language, namely, German, drawing on two different data sets. The first was derived from the normative sample of a reading comprehension test (ELFE-II), including 2056 first to sixth graders with readings tests at the word, sentence and text level. The second sample included 114 students from second to fourth grade. The latter completed a series of tests that measured word and sentence reading fluency, pseudoword reading, AWM, reading comprehension, self-concept and teacher ratings. We analysed the data via hierarchical regression analyses to predict reading comprehension and teacher judgements. The impact of reading fluency was strongest in second and third grade, afterwards superseded by sentence comprehension. AWM significantly contributed to reading comprehension independently of reading fluency, whereas basic decoding skills disappeared after considering fluency. Students' AWM and reading comprehension predicted teacher judgements on reading fluency. Reading comprehension judgements depended both on the students' self-concept and reading comprehension. Our results underline that the role of word reading accuracy for reading comprehension quickly diminishes during elementary school and that teachers base their assessments mainly on the current reading comprehension skill. KW - word recognition KW - reading skills KW - reading comprehension KW - teacher assessments KW - passage comprehension Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258043 VL - 44 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Budiman, Yudha P. A1 - Lorenzen, Sabine A1 - Liu, Zhiqiang A1 - Radius, Udo A1 - Marder, Todd B. T1 - Base‐Free Pd‐Catalyzed C−Cl Borylation of Fluorinated Aryl Chlorides JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - Catalytic C−X borylation of aryl halides containing two ortho‐fluorines has been found to be challenging, as most previous methods require stoichiometric amounts of base and the polyfluorinated aryl boronates suffer from protodeboronation, which is accelerated by ortho‐fluorine substituents. Herein, we report that a combination of Pd(dba)2 (dba=dibenzylideneacetone) with SPhos (2‐dicyclohexylphosphino‐2’,6’‐dimethoxybiphenyl) as a ligand is efficient to catalyze the C‐Cl borylation of aryl chlorides containing two ortho‐fluorine substituents. This method, conducted under base‐free conditions, is compatible with the resulting di‐ortho‐fluorinated aryl boronate products which are sensitive to base. KW - boronate ester KW - borylation KW - cross-coupling KW - fluoroarene KW - palladium-catalyzed Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-225687 VL - 27 IS - 11 SP - 3869 EP - 3874 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rajendran, Ranjithkumar A1 - Böttiger, Gregor A1 - Stadelmann, Christine A1 - Karnati, Srikanth A1 - Berghoff, Martin T1 - FGF/FGFR pathways in multiple sclerosis and in its disease models JF - Cells N2 - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) affecting more than two million people worldwide. In MS, oligodendrocytes and myelin sheaths are destroyed by autoimmune-mediated inflammation, while remyelination is impaired. Recent investigations of post-mortem tissue suggest that Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling may regulate inflammation and myelination in MS. FGF2 expression seems to correlate positively with macrophages/microglia and negatively with myelination; FGF1 was suggested to promote remyelination. In myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)\(_{35–55}\)-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), systemic deletion of FGF2 suggested that FGF2 may promote remyelination. Specific deletion of FGF receptors (FGFRs) in oligodendrocytes in this EAE model resulted in a decrease of lymphocyte and macrophage/microglia infiltration as well as myelin and axon degeneration. These effects were mediated by ERK/Akt phosphorylation, a brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and downregulation of inhibitors of remyelination. In the first part of this review, the most important pharmacotherapeutic principles for MS will be illustrated, and then we will review recent advances made on FGF signaling in MS. Thus, we will suggest application of FGFR inhibitors, which are currently used in Phase II and III cancer trials, as a therapeutic option to reduce inflammation and induce remyelination in EAE and eventually MS. KW - FGF KW - FGFR KW - multiple sclerosis KW - EAE KW - ERK KW - Akt KW - BDNF KW - LINGO-1 KW - SEMA3A Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236594 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 10 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steininger, Michael A1 - Kobs, Konstantin A1 - Davidson, Padraig A1 - Krause, Anna A1 - Hotho, Andreas T1 - Density-based weighting for imbalanced regression JF - Machine Learning N2 - In many real world settings, imbalanced data impedes model performance of learning algorithms, like neural networks, mostly for rare cases. This is especially problematic for tasks focusing on these rare occurrences. For example, when estimating precipitation, extreme rainfall events are scarce but important considering their potential consequences. While there are numerous well studied solutions for classification settings, most of them cannot be applied to regression easily. Of the few solutions for regression tasks, barely any have explored cost-sensitive learning which is known to have advantages compared to sampling-based methods in classification tasks. In this work, we propose a sample weighting approach for imbalanced regression datasets called DenseWeight and a cost-sensitive learning approach for neural network regression with imbalanced data called DenseLoss based on our weighting scheme. DenseWeight weights data points according to their target value rarities through kernel density estimation (KDE). DenseLoss adjusts each data point’s influence on the loss according to DenseWeight, giving rare data points more influence on model training compared to common data points. We show on multiple differently distributed datasets that DenseLoss significantly improves model performance for rare data points through its density-based weighting scheme. Additionally, we compare DenseLoss to the state-of-the-art method SMOGN, finding that our method mostly yields better performance. Our approach provides more control over model training as it enables us to actively decide on the trade-off between focusing on common or rare cases through a single hyperparameter, allowing the training of better models for rare data points. KW - supervised learning KW - imbalanced regression KW - cost-sensitive learning KW - sample weighting KW - Kerneldensity estimation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269177 SN - 1573-0565 VL - 110 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Werner, Rudolf A. A1 - Higuchi, Takahiro A1 - Pomper, Martin G. A1 - Rowe, Steven P. T1 - Theranostics in oncology — thriving, now more than ever JF - Diagnostics N2 - Tracing its roots back to the 1940s, theranostics in nuclear oncology has proved successful mainly due to the beneficial effects of image-guided therapeutic concepts for patients afflicted with a variety of different cancers. The majority of these treatments are not only characterized by substantial prolongation of progression-free and overall survival, but are also generally safe, rendering theranostic agents as an attractive treatment option in various clinical scenarios in oncology. In this Special Issue Novel Theranostic Agents, nine original articles from around the globe provide further evidence on the use of the theranostic concept for neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN), prostate cancer (PC), meningioma, and neuroblastoma. The investigated diagnostic and therapeutic radiotracers target not only established structures, such as somatostatin receptor, prostate-specific membrane antigen or norepinephrine transporter, but also recently emerging targets such as the C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4. Moreover, the presented original articles also combine the concept of theranostics with in-depth read-out techniques such as radiomics or novel reconstruction algorithms on pretherapeutic scans, e.g., for outcome prediction. Even 80 years after its initial clinical introduction, theranostics in oncology continues to thrive, now more than ever. KW - theranostics KW - somatostatin receptor (SSTR) KW - prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) KW - prostate cancer KW - neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) KW - neuroendocrine tumors (NET) KW - meningioma KW - norepinephrine transporter KW - neuroblastoma Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236662 SN - 2075-4418 VL - 11 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziegler, Georg C. A1 - Radtke, Franziska A1 - Vitale, Maria Rosaria A1 - Preuße, André A1 - Klopocki, Eva A1 - Herms, Stefan A1 - Lesch, Klaus-Peter T1 - Generation of multiple human iPSC lines from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of two SLC2A3 deletion and two SLC2A3 duplication carriers JF - Stem Cell Research N2 - Copy number variants of SLC2A3, which encodes the glucose transporter GLUT3, are associated with several neuropsychiatric and cardiac diseases. Here, we report the successful reprogramming of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from two SLC2A3 duplication and two SLC2A3 deletion carriers and subsequent generation of two transgene-free iPSC clones per donor by Sendai viral transduction. All eight clones represent bona fide hiPSCs with high expression of pluripotency genes, ability to differentiate into cells of all three germ layers and normal karyotype. The generated cell lines will be helpful to enlighten the role of glucometabolic alterations in pathophysiological processes shared across organ boundaries. KW - congenital heart-deffects KW - transporter gene SLC2A3 KW - copy-number variation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-264696 VL - 56 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krahfuss, Mirjam J. A1 - Radius, Udo T1 - N‐Heterocyclic Silylene Main Group Element Chemistry: Adduct Formation, Insertion into E−X Bonds and Cyclization of Organoazides JF - European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry N2 - Investigations concerning the reactivity of the N‐heterocyclic silylene Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi (1, 1,3‐bis(2,6‐diisopropylphenyl)‐1,3‐diaza‐2‐silacyclopent‐4‐en‐2‐ylidene) towards selected alanes and boranes, elemental halides X\(_{2}\) (X=Br, I), selected halide containing substrates such as tin chlorides and halocarbons, as well as organoazides are presented. The NHSi adducts Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi⋅AlI\(_{3}\) (2), Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi⋅Al(C\(_{6}\)F\(_{5}\))\(_{3}\) (3), and Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi⋅B(C\(_{6}\)F\(_{5}\))\(_{3}\) (4) were formed by the reaction of Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi with the corresponding Lewis acids AlI\(_{3}\), Al(C\(_{6}\)F\(_{6}\))\(_{3}\) and B(C\(_{6}\)F\(_{5}\))\(_{3}\). Adducts 3 and 4 were tested with respect to their ability to activate small organic molecules, but no frustrated Lewis pair reactivity was observed. Reactions of Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi with Br\(_{2}\), I\(_{2}\), Ph\(_{2}\)SnCl\(_{2}\) and Me\(_{3}\)SnCl led to formation of Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSiBr\(_{2}\) (5), Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSiI\(_{2}\) (6), Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSiCl\(_{2}\) (7) and {(Me\(_{3}\)Sn)N(Dipp)CH}\(_{2}\) (8), respectively. The reaction with the halocarbons methyl iodide, benzyl chloride, and benzyl bromide afforded the insertion products Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi(I)(CH\(_{3}\)) (9), Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi(Cl)(CH\(_{2}\)Ph) (10) and Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi(Br)(CH\(_{2}\)Ph) (11). Reaction of Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi with the organoazides Ad‐N\(_{3}\) (Ad=adamantyl) and TMS‐N\(_{3}\) (TMS=trimethylsilyl) led to the formation of 1‐Dipp\(_{2}\)NHSi‐2,5‐bis(adamantyl)‐tetrazoline (12) and bis(trimethylsilyl)amido azido silane (13), respectively. For 2,6‐(diphenyl)phenyl‐N\(_{3}\) C−H activation occurs and a cyclosilamine 14 was isolated. KW - arbenes KW - E−X bond activation KW - acid/base adducts KW - Organoazides KW - Silylenes Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224507 VL - 2021 IS - 6 SP - 548 EP - 561 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oberdorf, Kai A1 - Hanft, Anna A1 - Ramler, Jacqueline A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Bickelhaupt, Matthias A1 - Poater, Jordi A1 - Lichtenberg, Crispin T1 - Bismuth Amides Mediate Facile and Highly Selective Pn–Pn Radical‐Coupling Reactions (Pn=N, P, As) JF - Angewandte Chemie, International Edition N2 - The controlled release of well‐defined radical species under mild conditions for subsequent use in selective reactions is an important and challenging task in synthetic chemistry. We show here that simple bismuth amide species [Bi(NAr\(_2\))\(_3\)] readily release aminyl radicals [NAr\(_2\)]. at ambient temperature in solution. These reactions yield the corresponding hydrazines, Ar\(_2\)N−NAr\(_2\), as a result of highly selective N−N coupling. The exploitation of facile homolytic Bi−Pn bond cleavage for Pn−Pn bond formation was extended to higher homologues of the pnictogens (Pn=N–As): homoleptic bismuth amides mediate the highly selective dehydrocoupling of HPnR\(_2\) to give R\(_2\)Pn−PnR\(_2\). Analyses by NMR and EPR spectroscopy, single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, and DFT calculations reveal low Bi−N homolytic bond‐dissociation energies, suggest radical coupling in the coordination sphere of bismuth, and reveal electronic and steric parameters as effective tools to control these reactions. KW - bismuth amides KW - radical species KW - pnictogen coupling KW - aminyl radicals KW - diphosphanes KW - heavier pnictogens KW - radical coupling Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236582 VL - 60 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brückner, Tobias A1 - Heß, Merlin A1 - Stennett, Tom E. A1 - Rempel, Anna A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - Synthesis of Boron Analogues of Enamines via Hydroamination of a Boron-Boron Triple Bond BT - Dedicated to Professor Wolfgang Kaim on the occasion of his 70th birthday JF - Angewandte Chemie, International Edition N2 - An N-heterocyclic-carbene-stabilized diboryne undergoes rapid, high-yielding and catalyst-free hydroamina- tion reactions with primary amines, yielding 1-amino-2-hydro- diborenes, which can be considered boron analogues of enamines. The electronics of the organic substituent at nitrogen influence the structure and further reactivity of the diborene product. With electron-rich anilines, a second hydroamination can occur at the diborene to generate 1,1-diamino-2,2-dihy- drodiboranes. With isopropylamine, the electronic influence of the alkyl substituent upon the diborene leads to an unprece- dented boron-mediated intramolecular N-dearylation reaction of an N-heterocyclic carbene unit. KW - boron KW - diborynes KW - diborenes KW - DFT KW - enamines KW - hydroamination KW - multiple bonds Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-240669 VL - 60 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Renner, Rebecca A1 - Mahlmeister, Bernhard A1 - Anhalt, Olga A1 - Stolte, Matthias A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Chiral Perylene Bisimide Dyes by Interlocked Arene Substituents in the Bay Area JF - Chemistry - A European Journal N2 - A series of perylene bisimide (PBI) dyes bearing various aryl substituents in 1,6,7,12 bay positions has been synthesized by Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. These molecules exhibit an exceptionally large and conformationally fixed twist angle of the PBI π-core due to the high steric congestion imparted by the aryl substituents in bay positions. Single crystal X-ray analyses of phenyl-, naphthyl- and pyrenyl-functionalized PBIs reveal interlocked π-π-stacking motifs, leading to conformational chirality and the possibility for the isolation of enantiopure atropoisomers by semipreparative HPLC. The interlocked arrangement endows these molecules with substantial racemization barriers of about 120 kJ mol\(^{−1}\) for the tetraphenyl- and tetra-2-naphthyl-substituted derivatives, which is among the highest racemization barriers for axially chiral PBIs. Variable temperature NMR studies reveal the presence of a multitude of up to fourteen conformational isomers in solution that are interconverted via smaller activation barriers of about 65 kJ mol\(^{−1}\). The redox and optical properties of these core-twisted PBIs have been characterized by cyclic voltammetry, UV/Vis/NIR and fluorescence spectroscopy and their respective atropo-enantiomers were further characterized by circular dichroism (CD) and circular polarized luminescence (CPL) spectroscopy. KW - Suzuki coupling KW - perylenebisimide dyes KW - circular polarized luminescence KW - chirality Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-249070 VL - 27 IS - 46 SP - 11997 EP - 12006 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Meza-Chincha, Ana-Lucia A1 - Schindler, Dorothee A1 - Natali, Mirco T1 - Effects of Photosensitizers and Reaction Media on Light‐Driven Water Oxidation with Trinuclear Ruthenium Macrocycles JF - ChemPhotoChem N2 - Photocatalytic water oxidation is a promising process for the production of solar fuels and the elucidation of factors that influence this process is of high significance. Thus, we have studied in detail light‐driven water oxidation with a trinuclear Ru(bda) (bda: 2,2’‐bipyridine‐6,6’‐dicarboxylate) macrocycle MC3 and its highly water soluble derivative m‐CH\(_2\)NMe\(_2\)‐MC3 using a series of ruthenium tris(bipyridine) complexes as photosensitizers under varied reaction conditions. Our investigations showed that the catalytic activities of these Ru macrocycles are significantly affected by the choice of photosensitizer (PS) and reaction media, in addition to buffer concentration, light intensity and concentration of the sensitizer. Our steady‐state and transient spectroscopic studies revealed that the photocatalytic performance of trinuclear Ru(bda) macrocycles is not limited by their intrinsic catalytic activities but rather by the efficiency of photogeneration of oxidant PS\(^+\) and its ability to act as an oxidizing agent to the catalysts as both are strongly dependent on the choice of photosensitizer and the amount of employed organic co‐solvent. KW - photosenitizers KW - water oxidation KW - ruthenium complexes KW - macrocycles KW - trinuclear KW - homogenous catalysis KW - photocatalysis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-230116 VL - 5 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Noll, Niklas T1 - A Calix[4]arene‐Based Cyclic Dinuclear Ruthenium Complex for Light‐Driven Catalytic Water Oxidation JF - Chemistry - A European Journal N2 - A cyclic dinuclear ruthenium(bda) (bda: 2,2’‐bipyridine‐6,6’‐dicarboxylate) complex equipped with oligo(ethylene glycol)‐functionalized axial calix[4]arene ligands has been synthesized for homogenous catalytic water oxidation. This novel Ru(bda) macrocycle showed significantly increased catalytic activity in chemical and photocatalytic water oxidation compared to the archetype mononuclear reference [Ru(bda)(pic)\(_2\)]. Kinetic investigations, including kinetic isotope effect studies, disclosed a unimolecular water nucleophilic attack mechanism of this novel dinuclear water oxidation catalyst (WOC) under the involvement of the second coordination sphere. Photocatalytic water oxidation with this cyclic dinuclear Ru complex using [Ru(bpy)\(_3\)]Cl\(_2\) as a standard photosensitizer revealed a turnover frequency of 15.5 s\(^{−1}\) and a turnover number of 460. This so far highest photocatalytic performance reported for a Ru(bda) complex underlines the potential of this water‐soluble WOC for artificial photosynthesis. KW - water KW - oxidation KW - ruthenium KW - dinuclear KW - catalytic KW - artificial photosynthesis KW - homogenous catalysis KW - photocatalysis KW - ruthenium complexes KW - water oxidation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-230030 UR - https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/chem.202004486 VL - 27 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schäfer, Natalie A1 - Bühler, Michael A1 - Heyer, Lisa A1 - Röhr, Merle I. S. A1 - Beuerle, Florian T1 - Endohedral Hydrogen Bonding Templates the Formation of a Highly Strained Covalent Organic Cage Compound JF - Chemistry—A European Journal N2 - A highly strained covalent organic cage compound was synthesized from hexahydroxy tribenzotriquinacene (TBTQ) and a meta-terphenyl-based diboronic acid with an additional benzoic acid substituent in 2’-position. Usually, a 120° bite angle in the unsubstituted ditopic linker favors the formation of a [4+6] cage assembly. Here, the introduction of the benzoic acid group is shown to lead to a perfectly preorganized circular hydrogen-bonding array in the cavity of a trigonal-bipyramidal [2+3] cage, which energetically overcompensates the additional strain energy caused by the larger mismatch in bite angles for the smaller assembly. The strained cage compound was analyzed by mass spectrometry and \(^{1}\)H, \(^{13}\)C and DOSY NMR spectroscopy. DFT calculations revealed the energetic contribution of the hydrogen-bonding template to the cage stability. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations on early intermediates indicate an additional kinetic effect, as hydrogen bonding also preorganizes and rigidifies small oligomers to facilitate the exclusive formation of smaller and more strained macrocycles and cages. KW - boronate esters KW - hydrogen bonding KW - dynamic covalent chemistry KW - density functional calculations KW - cage compounds Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256762 VL - 27 IS - 19 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mieczkowski, Mateusz A1 - Steinmetzger, Christian A1 - Bessi, Irene A1 - Lenz, Ann-Kathrin A1 - Schmiedel, Alexander A1 - Holzapfel, Marco A1 - Lambert, Christoph A1 - Pena, Vladimir A1 - Höbartner, Claudia T1 - Large Stokes shift fluorescence activation in an RNA aptamer by intermolecular proton transfer to guanine JF - Nature Communications N2 - Fluorogenic RNA aptamers are synthetic functional RNAs that specifically bind and activate conditional fluorophores. The Chili RNA aptamer mimics large Stokes shift fluorescent proteins and exhibits high affinity for 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxybenzylidene imidazolone (DMHBI) derivatives to elicit green or red fluorescence emission. Here, we elucidate the structural and mechanistic basis of fluorescence activation by crystallography and time-resolved optical spectroscopy. Two co-crystal structures of the Chili RNA with positively charged DMHBO+ and DMHBI+ ligands revealed a G-quadruplex and a trans-sugar-sugar edge G:G base pair that immobilize the ligand by π-π stacking. A Watson-Crick G:C base pair in the fluorophore binding site establishes a short hydrogen bond between the N7 of guanine and the phenolic OH of the ligand. Ultrafast excited state proton transfer (ESPT) from the neutral chromophore to the RNA was found with a time constant of 130 fs and revealed the mode of action of the large Stokes shift fluorogenic RNA aptamer. KW - Fluorogenic RNA Aptamers KW - Synthetic Functional RNAs KW - Chili RNA Aptamer KW - Co-Crystal Structures of Chili RNA KW - RNA KW - Optical Spectroscopy KW - Structural Biology KW - X-ray Crystallography Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254527 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ivanova, Svetlana A1 - Köster, Eva A1 - Holstein, Julian J. A1 - Keller, Niklas A1 - Clever, Guido H. A1 - Bein, Thomas A1 - Beuerle, Florian T1 - Isoreticular crystallization of highly porous cubic covalent organic cage compounds JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - Modular frameworks featuring well-defined pore structures in microscale domains establish tailor-made porous materials. For open molecular solids however, maintaining long-range order after desolvation is inherently challenging, since packing is usually governed by only a few supramolecular interactions. Here we report on two series of nanocubes obtained by co-condensation of two different hexahydroxy tribenzotriquinacenes (TBTQs) and benzene-1,4-diboronic acids (BDBAs) with varying linear alkyl chains in 2,5-position. n-Butyl groups at the apical position of the TBTQ vertices yielded soluble model compounds, which were analyzed by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. In contrast, methyl-substituted cages spontaneously crystallized as isostructural and highly porous solids with BET surface areas and pore volumes of up to 3426 m\(^2\) g\(^{-1}\) and 1.84 cm\(^3\) g\(^{-1}\). Single crystal X-ray diffraction and sorption measurements revealed an intricate cubic arrangement of alternating micro- and mesopores in the range of 0.97–2.2 nm that are fine-tuned by the alkyl substituents at the BDBA linker. KW - organic chemistry KW - structure elucidation KW - boronateesters KW - cage compounds KW - dynamic covalent chemistry KW - porousmaterials Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256462 VL - 60 IS - 32 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Turkin, Arthur A1 - Holzapfel, Marco A1 - Agarwal, Mohit A1 - Fischermeier, David A1 - Mitric, Roland A1 - Schweins, Ralf A1 - Gröhns, Franziska A1 - Lambert, Christoph T1 - Solvent Induced Helix Folding of Defined Indolenine Squaraine Oligomers JF - Chemistry—A European Journal N2 - A protecting group strategy was employed to synthesise a series of indolenine squaraine dye oligomers up to the nonamer. The longer oligomers show a distinct solvent dependence of the absorption spectra, that is, either a strong blue shift or a strong red shift of the lowest energy bands in the near infrared spectral region. This behaviour is explained by exciton coupling theory as being due to H- or J-type coupling of transition moments. The H-type coupling is a consequence of a helix folding in solvents with a small Hansen dispersity index. DOSY NMR, small angle neutron scattering (SANS), quantum chemical and force field calculations agree upon a helix structure with an unusually large pitch and open voids that are filled with solvent molecules, thereby forming a kind of clathrate. The thermodynamic parameters of the folding process were determined by temperature dependent optical absorption spectra. KW - UV/Vis spectroscopy KW - dye chemistry KW - solvent effects KW - superstructure KW - supramolecular folding Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256869 VL - 27 IS - 32 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Fangyuan A1 - Radacki, Krzysztof A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Lambert, Christoph A1 - Ravat, Prince T1 - Zinc-[7]helicenocyanine and its discrete π-stacked homochiral Dimer JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - In this communication, we demonstrate a novel approach to prepare a discrete dimer of chiral phthalocyanine (Pc) by exploiting the flexible molecular geometry of helicenes, which enables structural interlocking and strong aggregation tendency of Pcs. Synthesized [7]helicene-Pc hybrid molecular structure, zinc-[7]helicenocyanine (Zn-7HPc), exclusively forms a stable dimeric pair consisting of two homochiral molecules. The dimerization constants were estimated to be as high as 8.96×10\(^6\) M\(^{−1}\) and 3.42×107 M\(^{−1}\) in THF and DMSO, respectively, indicating remarkable stability of dimer. In addition, Zn\(^{-7}\)HPc exhibited chiral self-sorting behavior, which resulted in preferential formation of a homochiral dimer also in the racemic sample. Two phthalocyanine subunits in the dimeric form strongly communicate with each other as revealed by a large comproportionation constant and observation of an IV-CT band for the thermodynamically stable mixed-valence state. KW - organic chemistry KW - supramolecular assembly KW - chirality KW - helicenes KW - homochiral dimer KW - phthalocyanines Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256534 VL - 60 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rauschenberger, Lisa A1 - Knorr, Susanne A1 - Pisani, Antonio A1 - Hallett, Mark A1 - Volkmann, Jens A1 - Ip, Chi Wang T1 - Second hit hypothesis in dystonia: Dysfunctional cross talk between neuroplasticity and environment? JF - Neurobiology of Disease N2 - One of the great mysteries in dystonia pathophysiology is the role of environmental factors in disease onset and development. Progress has been made in defining the genetic components of dystonic syndromes, still the mechanisms behind the discrepant relationship between dystonic genotype and phenotype remain largely unclear. Within this review, the preclinical and clinical evidence for environmental stressors as disease modifiers in dystonia pathogenesis are summarized and critically evaluated. The potential role of extragenetic factors is discussed in monogenic as well as adult-onset isolated dystonia. The available clinical evidence for a "second hit" is analyzed in light of the reduced penetrance of monogenic dystonic syndromes and put into context with evidence from animal and cellular models. The contradictory studies on adult-onset dystonia are discussed in detail and backed up by evidence from animal models. Taken together, there is clear evidence of a gene-environment interaction in dystonia, which should be considered in the continued quest to unravel dystonia pathophysiology. KW - dystonia KW - second hit KW - pathophysiology KW - gene-environment interaction Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265028 VL - 159 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Crumbach, Merian A1 - Bachmann, Jonas A1 - Fritze, Lars A1 - Helbig, Andreas A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Helten, Holger T1 - Dithiophene‐Fused Oxadiborepins and Azadiborepins: A New Class of Highly Fluorescent Heteroaromatics JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - Access to dithiophene‐fused oxadiborepins and the first azadiborepins attained via a modular synthesis route are presented. The new compounds emit intense blue light, some of which demonstrate fluorescence quantum yields close to unity. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) revealed electrochemically reversible one‐electron reduction processes. The weak aromatic character of the novel 1,2,7‐azadiborepin ring is demonstrated with in‐depth theoretical investigations using nucleus‐independent chemical shift (NICS) scans and anisotropy of the induced current density (ACID) calculations. KW - aromaticity KW - BN compounds KW - boron KW - isoelectronic analogues KW - polycycles Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-238996 VL - 60 IS - 17 SP - 9290 EP - 9295 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferger, Matthias A1 - Berger, Sarina M. A1 - Rauch, Florian A1 - Schönitz, Markus A1 - Rühe, Jessica A1 - Krebs, Johannes A1 - Friedrich, Alexandra A1 - Marder, Todd B. T1 - Synthesis of Highly Functionalizable Symmetrically and Unsymmetrically Substituted Triarylboranes from Bench-Stable Boron Precursors JF - Chemistry—A European Journal N2 - A novel and convenient methodology for the one-pot synthesis of sterically congested triarylboranes by using bench-stable aryltrifluoroborates as the boron source is reported. This procedure gives systematic access to symmetrically and unsymmetrically substituted triarylboranes of the types BAr\(_{2}\)Ar’ and BArAr'Ar’’, respectively. Three unsymmetrically substituted triarylboranes as well as their iridium-catalyzed C−H borylation products are reported. These borylated triarylboranes contain one to three positions that can subsequently be orthogonally functionalized in follow-up reactions, such as Suzuki-Miyaura cross-couplings or Sonogashira couplings. KW - synthetic methods KW - boranes KW - borylation KW - chromophore KW - functionalization Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256827 VL - 27 IS - 35 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hose, Dorothea A1 - Schreder, Martin A1 - Hefner, Jochen A1 - Bittrich, Max A1 - Danhof, Sophia A1 - Strifler, Susanne A1 - Krauth, Maria-Theresa A1 - Schoder, Renate A1 - Gisslinger, Bettina A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Gisslinger, Heinz A1 - Knop, Stefan T1 - Elotuzumab, pomalidomide, and dexamethasone is a very well tolerated regimen associated with durable remission even in very advanced myeloma: a retrospective study from two academic centers JF - Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology N2 - Background The anti-SLAMF7 monoclonal antibody, elotuzumab (elo), plus lenalidomide (len) and dexamethasone (dex) is approved for relapsed/refractory MM in the U.S. and Europe. Recently, a small phase 2 study demonstrated an advantage in progression-free survival (PFS) for elo plus pomalidomide (pom)/dex compared to pom/dex alone and resulted in licensing of this novel triplet combination, but clinical experience is still limited. Purpose To analyze the efficacy and safety of elo/pom/dex in a “real world” cohort of patients with advanced MM, we queried the databases of the university hospitals of Würzburg and Vienna. Findings We identified 22 patients with a median number of five prior lines of therapy who received elo/pom/dex prior to licensing within an early access program. Patients received a median number of 5 four-week treatment cycles. Median PFS was 6.4 months with 12-month and 18-month PFS rates of 35% and 28%, respectively. The overall response rate was 50% and 64% of responding patients who achieved a longer PFS with elo/pom/dex compared to their most recent line of therapy. Objective responses were also seen in five patients who had been pretreated with pomalidomide. Low tumor burden was associated with improved PFS (13.5 months for patients with ISS stage I/II at study entry v 6.4 months for ISS III), although this difference did not reach statistical significance. No infusion-related reactions were reported. The most frequent grade 3/4 adverse events were neutropenia and pneumonia. Conclusion Elo/pom/dex is an active and well-tolerated regimen in highly advanced MM even after pretreatment with pomalidomide. KW - multiple myeloma KW - elotuzumab KW - SLAMF7 KW - pomalidomide KW - lenalidomide Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235762 SN - 0171-5216 VL - 147 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geyer, Gerd A1 - Landing, Ed T1 - The Souss lagerstatte of the Anti-Atlas, Morocco: discovery of the first Cambrian fossil lagerstatte from Africa JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Episodic low oxygenated conditions on the sea-floor are likely responsible for exceptional preservation of animal remains in the upper Amouslek Formation (lower Cambrian, Stage 3) on the northern slope of the western Anti-Atlas, Morocco. This stratigraphic interval has yielded trilobite, brachiopod, and hyolith fossils with preserved soft parts, including some of the oldest known trilobite guts. The "Souss fossil lagerstatte" (newly proposed designation) represents the first Cambrian fossil lagerstatte in Cambrian strata known from Africa and is one of the oldest trilobite-bearing fossil lagerstatten on Earth. Inter-regional correlation of the Souss fossil lagerstatte in West Gondwana suggests its development during an interval of high eustatic levels recorded by dark shales that occur in informal upper Cambrian Series 2 in Siberia, South China, and East Gondwana. KW - biodiversity KW - palaeontology KW - sedimentology Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259236 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Boelch, Sebastian Philipp A1 - Rüeckl, Kilian A1 - Streck, Laura Elisa A1 - Szewczykowski, Viktoria A1 - Weißenberger, Manuel A1 - Jakuscheit, Axel A1 - Rudert, Maximilian T1 - Diagnosis of chronic infection at total hip arthroplasty revision is a question of definition JF - Biomed Research International N2 - Purpose. Contradicting definitions of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) are in use. Joint aspiration is performed before total hip arthroplasty (THA) revision. This study investigated the influence of PJI definition on PJI prevalence at THA revision. Test quality of prerevision aspiration was evaluated for the different PJI definitions. Methods. 256 THA revisions were retrospectively classified to be infected or not infected. Classification was performed according to the 4 different definitions proposed by the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the International Consensus Meeting (ICM), and the European Bone and Joint Infection Society (EBJIS). Only chronic PJIs were included. Results. PJI prevalence at revision significantly correlated with the applied PJI definition (p=0.01, Cramer's V=0.093). PJI prevalence was 20.7% for the MSIS, 25.4% for the ICM, 28.1% for the IDSA, and 32.0% for the EBJIS definition. For synovial fluid white blood cell count, the best ROC-AUC for predicting PJI was 0.953 in combination with the MSIS definition. Conclusion. PJI definition significantly influences the rate of diagnosed PJIs at THA revision. Synovial fluid white blood cell count is a reliable means to rule out PJI. In cases with a borderline high synovial white blood cell count before THA revision as the only sign of chronic PJI, an extended diagnostic work-up should be considered. KW - periprosthetic joint infection KW - algorithm KW - consensus Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265762 VL - 2021 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kabinger, Florian A1 - Stiller, Carina A1 - Schmitzová, Jana A1 - Dienemann, Christian A1 - Kokic, Goran A1 - Hillen, Hauke S. A1 - Höbartner, Claudia A1 - Cramer, Patrick T1 - Mechanism of molnupiravir-induced SARS-CoV-2 mutagenesis JF - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology N2 - Molnupiravir is an orally available antiviral drug candidate currently in phase III trials for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Molnupiravir increases the frequency of viral RNA mutations and impairs SARS-CoV-2 replication in animal models and in humans. Here, we establish the molecular mechanisms underlying molnupiravir-induced RNA mutagenesis by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Biochemical assays show that the RdRp uses the active form of molnupiravir, β-d-\(N^4\)-hydroxycytidine (NHC) triphosphate, as a substrate instead of cytidine triphosphate or uridine triphosphate. When the RdRp uses the resulting RNA as a template, NHC directs incorporation of either G or A, leading to mutated RNA products. Structural analysis of RdRp–RNA complexes that contain mutagenesis products shows that NHC can form stable base pairs with either G or A in the RdRp active center, explaining how the polymerase escapes proofreading and synthesizes mutated RNA. This two-step mutagenesis mechanism probably applies to various viral polymerases and can explain the broad-spectrum antiviral activity of molnupiravir. KW - Molnupiravir KW - RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase KW - SARS-CoV2 Replication Impairment KW - Molnupiravir-Induced RNA Mutagenesis Mechanism KW - Cryoelectron Microscopy Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254603 VL - 28 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Terekhov, Maxim A1 - Elabyad, Ibrahim A. A1 - Schreiber, Laura M. T1 - Global optimization of default phases for parallel transmit coils for ultra-high-field cardiac MRI JF - PLoS One N2 - The development of novel multiple-element transmit-receive arrays is an essential factor for improving B\(_1\)\(^+\) field homogeneity in cardiac MRI at ultra-high magnetic field strength (B\(_0\) > = 7.0T). One of the key steps in the design and fine-tuning of such arrays during the development process is finding the default driving phases for individual coil elements providing the best possible homogeneity of the combined B\(_1\)\(^+\)-field that is achievable without (or before) subject-specific B\(_1\)\(^+\)-adjustment in the scanner. This task is often solved by time-consuming (brute-force) or by limited efficiency optimization methods. In this work, we propose a robust technique to find phase vectors providing optimization of the B-1-homogeneity in the default setup of multiple-element transceiver arrays. The key point of the described method is the pre-selection of starting vectors for the iterative solver-based search to maximize the probability of finding a global extremum for a cost function optimizing the homogeneity of a shaped B\(_1\)\(^+\)-field. This strategy allows for (i) drastic reduction of the computation time in comparison to a brute-force method and (ii) finding phase vectors providing a combined B\(_1\)\(^+\)-field with homogeneity characteristics superior to the one provided by the random-multi-start optimization approach. The method was efficiently used for optimizing the default phase settings in the in-house-built 8Tx/16Rx arrays designed for cMRI in pigs at 7T. KW - optimization KW - magnetic resonance imaging KW - power grids KW - swine KW - electromagnetics KW - linear regression analysis KW - thorax KW - wave interference Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265737 VL - 16 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koelmel, Wolfgang A1 - Kuper, Jochen A1 - Kisker, Caroline T1 - Cesium based phasing of macromolecules: a general easy to use approach for solving the phase problem JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Over the last decades the phase problem in macromolecular x-ray crystallography has become more controllable as methods and approaches have diversified and improved. However, solving the phase problem is still one of the biggest obstacles on the way of successfully determining a crystal structure. To overcome this caveat, we have utilized the anomalous scattering properties of the heavy alkali metal cesium. We investigated the introduction of cesium in form of cesium chloride during the three major steps of protein treatment in crystallography: purification, crystallization, and cryo-protection. We derived a step-wise procedure encompassing a "quick-soak"-only approach and a combined approach of CsCl supplement during purification and cryo-protection. This procedure was successfully applied on two different proteins: (i) Lysozyme and (ii) as a proof of principle, a construct consisting of the PH domain of the TFIIH subunit p62 from Chaetomium thermophilum for de novo structure determination. Usage of CsCl thus provides a versatile, general, easy to use, and low cost phasing strategy. KW - structural biology KW - X-ray crystallography Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261644 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krieter, Detlef H. A1 - Jeyaseelan, Jarline A1 - Rüth, Marieke A1 - Lemke, Horst-Dieter A1 - Wanner, Christoph A1 - Drechsler, Christiane T1 - Clinical hemocompatibility of double-filtration lipoprotein apheresis comparing polyethersulfone and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer membranes JF - Artificial Organs N2 - Activation of the complement system and leukocytes by blood–membrane interactions may further promote arteriosclerosis typically present in patients on lipoprotein apheresis. As clinical data on the hemocompatibility of lipoprotein apheresis are scarce, a controlled clinical study comparing two different types of plasma separation and fractionation membranes used in double-filtration lipoprotein apheresis was urgently needed, as its outcome may influence clinical decision-making. In a prospective, randomized, crossover controlled trial, eight patients on double-filtration lipoprotein apheresis were subjected to one treatment with recent polyethersulfone (PES) plasma separation and fractionation membranes and one control treatment using a set of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVAL) membranes. White blood cell (WBC) and platelet (PC) counts, complement factor C5a and thrombin–antithrombin III (TAT) concentrations were determined in samples drawn at defined times from different sites of the extracorporeal blood and plasma circuit. With a nadir at 25 minutes, WBCs in EVAL decreased to 33.5 ± 10.7% of baseline compared with 63.8 ± 22.0% at 20 minutes in PES (P < .001). The maximum C5a levels in venous blood reentering the patients were measured at 30 minutes, being 30.0 ± 11.2 µg/L with EVAL and 12.3 ± 9.0 µg/L with PES (P < .05). The highest C5a concentrations were found in plasma after the plasma filters (EVAL 56.1 ± 22.0 µg/L at 15 minutes vs PES 23.3 ± 15.2 µg/L at 10 minutes; P < .001). PC did not significantly decrease over time with both membrane types, whereas TAT levels did not rise until the end of the treatment without differences between membranes. Regarding lipoprotein(a) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol removal, both membrane sets performed equally. Compared with EVAL, PES membranes cause less leukocyte and complement system activation, the classical parameters of hemocompatibility of extracorporeal treatment procedures, at identical treatment efficacy. Better hemocompatibility may avoid inflammation-promoting effects through blood–material interactions in patients requiring double-filtration lipoprotein apheresis. KW - lipoprotein(a) KW - biocompatibility KW - fractionation membranev KW - hypercholesterolemia KW - LDL cholesterol KW - lipoprotein apheresis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258307 VL - 45 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schlee, Winfried A1 - Simoes, Jorge A1 - Pryss, Rüdiger T1 - Auricular acupressure combined with self-help intervention for treating chronic tinnitus: a longitudinal observational study JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine N2 - Tinnitus is a phantom sound perception in the ears or head and can arise from many different medical disorders. Currently, there is no standard treatment for tinnitus that reliably reduces tinnitus. Individual patients reported that acupressure at various points around the ear can help to reduce tinnitus, which was investigated here. With this longitudinal observational study, we report a systematic evaluation of auricular acupressure on 39 tinnitus sufferers, combined with a self-help smartphone app. The participants were asked to report on tinnitus, stress, mood, neck, and jaw muscle tensions twice a day using an ecological momentary assessment study design for six weeks. On average, 123.6 questionnaires per person were provided and used for statistical analysis. The treatment responses of the participants were heterogeneous. On average, we observed significant negative trends for tinnitus loudness (Cohen's d effect size: −0.861), tinnitus distress (d = −0.478), stress (d = −0.675), and tensions in the neck muscles (d = −0.356). Comparison with a matched control group revealed significant improvements for tinnitus loudness (p = 0.027) and self-reported stress level (p = 0.003). The positive results of the observational study motivate further research including a randomized clinical trial and long-term assessment of the clinical improvement. KW - tinnitus KW - acupressure KW - self-help KW - ecological momentary assessment KW - stress Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-246209 SN - 2077-0383 VL - 10 IS - 18 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heimberg, Linda A1 - Knop, Stefan T1 - Updated Perspectives on the Management of Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma JF - Oncology Research and Treatment N2 - Background: With the availability of T-cell-directed therapy and next-generation compounds of established classes of drugs, the treatment of relapsed/refractory (r/r) myeloma is getting more complex. However, treatment options in practice are limited by availability, approval, and patient comorbidity. The aim of this article is to provide a practical approach toward the choice of treatment for r/r myeloma patients. Summary: Regarding market authorization and current guidelines, at least in Germany, most patients nowadays will have received a doublet or triplet combination as first-line therapy containing a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory drug, mostly lenalidomide. We focus on the treatment options for patients that are ineligible for (another) stem cell transplantation. We will review treatment options for relapse after first- or second-line therapy and beyond third-line. Key Messages: There is promising data supporting the efficacy and safety of triplet combinations containing anti-CD38-monoclonal antibodies (anti-CD38 mAbs) at first or second relapse in combination with next-generation compounds. For the treatment beyond third-line, comparative studies are scarce but some promising compounds are available via conditional authorization, and there is more to come in the future. We will present some early phase trials featuring promising results. KW - lenalidomide-refractory patients KW - myeloma Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-249773 SN - 2296-5270 SN - 2296-5262 VL - 44 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stratos, Ioannis A1 - Scarlat, Marius M. A1 - Rudert, Maximilian T1 - Bibliometrics of orthopaedic articles published by authors of Germanophone countries JF - International Orthopaedics N2 - No abstract available. KW - scientific publications KW - orthopaedics KW - germanophone Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266343 VL - 45 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Höhne, Christin A1 - Prokopov, Dmitry A1 - Kuhl, Heiner A1 - Du, Kang A1 - Klopp, Christophe A1 - Wuertz, Sven A1 - Trifonov, Vladimir A1 - Stöck, Matthias T1 - The immune system of sturgeons and paddlefish (Acipenseriformes): a review with new data from a chromosome‐scale sturgeon genome JF - Reviews in Aquaculture N2 - Sturgeon immunity is relevant for basic evolutionary and applied research, including caviar‐ and meat‐producing aquaculture, protection of wild sturgeons and their re‐introduction through conservation aquaculture. Starting from a comprehensive overview of immune organs, we discuss pathways of innate and adaptive immune systems in a vertebrate phylogenetic and genomic context. The thymus as a key organ of adaptive immunity in sturgeons requires future molecular studies. Likewise, data on immune functions of sturgeon‐specific pericardial and meningeal tissues are largely missing. Integrating immunological and endocrine functions, the sturgeon head kidney resembles that of teleosts. Recently identified pattern recognition receptors in sturgeon require research on downstream regulation. We review first acipenseriform data on Toll‐like receptors (TLRs), type I transmembrane glycoproteins expressed in membranes and endosomes, initiating inflammation and host defence by molecular pattern‐induced activation. Retinoic acid‐inducible gene‐I‐like (RIG‐like) receptors of sturgeons present RNA and key sensors of virus infections in most cell types. Sturgeons and teleosts share major components of the adaptive immune system, including B cells, immunoglobulins, major histocompatibility complex and the adaptive cellular response by T cells. The ontogeny of the sturgeon innate and onset of adaptive immune genes in different organs remain understudied. In a genomics perspective, our new data on 100 key immune genes exemplify a multitude of evolutionary trajectories after the sturgeon‐specific genome duplication, where some single‐copy genes contrast with many duplications, allowing tissue specialization, sub‐functionalization or both. Our preliminary conclusion should be tested by future evolutionary bioinformatics, involving all >1000 immunity genes. This knowledge update about the acipenseriform immune system identifies several important research gaps and presents a basis for future applications. KW - evolution KW - genomics KW - immune genes KW - immune organs KW - immune system KW - sturgeon Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239865 VL - 13 IS - 3 SP - 1709 EP - 1729 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schubert, Jonathan A1 - Schulze, Andrea A1 - Prodromou, Chrisostomos A1 - Neuweiler, Hannes T1 - Two-colour single-molecule photoinduced electron transfer fluorescence imaging microscopy of chaperone dynamics JF - Nature Communications N2 - Many proteins are molecular machines, whose function is dependent on multiple conformational changes that are initiated and tightly controlled through biochemical stimuli. Their mechanistic understanding calls for spectroscopy that can probe simultaneously such structural coordinates. Here we present two-colour fluorescence microscopy in combination with photoinduced electron transfer (PET) probes as a method that simultaneously detects two structural coordinates in single protein molecules, one colour per coordinate. This contrasts with the commonly applied resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique that requires two colours per coordinate. We demonstrate the technique by directly and simultaneously observing three critical structural changes within the Hsp90 molecular chaperone machinery. Our results reveal synchronicity of conformational motions at remote sites during ATPase-driven closure of the Hsp90 molecular clamp, providing evidence for a cooperativity mechanism in the chaperone’s catalytic cycle. Single-molecule PET fluorescence microscopy opens up avenues in the multi-dimensional exploration of protein dynamics and allosteric mechanisms. KW - chaperones KW - fluorescence spectroscopy KW - molecular conformation KW - single-molecule biophysics KW - total internal reflection microscopy Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265754 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breitenbach, Tim A1 - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte A1 - Dandekar, Thomas T1 - An effective model of endogenous clocks and external stimuli determining circadian rhythms JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Circadian endogenous clocks of eukaryotic organisms are an established and rapidly developing research field. To investigate and simulate in an effective model the effect of external stimuli on such clocks and their components we developed a software framework for download and simulation. The application is useful to understand the different involved effects in a mathematical simple and effective model. This concerns the effects of Zeitgebers, feedback loops and further modifying components. We start from a known mathematical oscillator model, which is based on experimental molecular findings. This is extended with an effective framework that includes the impact of external stimuli on the circadian oscillations including high dose pharmacological treatment. In particular, the external stimuli framework defines a systematic procedure by input-output-interfaces to couple different oscillators. The framework is validated by providing phase response curves and ranges of entrainment. Furthermore, Aschoffs rule is computationally investigated. It is shown how the external stimuli framework can be used to study biological effects like points of singularity or oscillators integrating different signals at once. The mathematical framework and formalism is generic and allows to study in general the effect of external stimuli on oscillators and other biological processes. For an easy replication of each numerical experiment presented in this work and an easy implementation of the framework the corresponding Mathematica files are fully made available. They can be downloaded at the following link: https://www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/bioinfo/computing/circadian/. KW - computational biology and bioinformatics KW - systems biology Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261655 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shityakov, Sergey A1 - Skorb, Ekaterina V. A1 - Förster, Carola Y. A1 - Dandekar, Thomas T1 - Scaffold Searching of FDA and EMA-Approved Drugs Identifies Lead Candidates for Drug Repurposing in Alzheimer’s Disease JF - Frontiers in Chemistry N2 - Clinical trials of novel therapeutics for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) have consumed a significant amount of time and resources with largely negative results. Repurposing drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), or Worldwide for another indication is a more rapid and less expensive option. Therefore, we apply the scaffold searching approach based on known amyloid-beta (Aβ) inhibitor tramiprosate to screen the DrugCentral database (n = 4,642) of clinically tested drugs. As a result, menadione bisulfite and camphotamide substances with protrombogenic and neurostimulation/cardioprotection effects were identified as promising Aβ inhibitors with an improved binding affinity (ΔGbind) and blood-brain barrier permeation (logBB). Finally, the data was also confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations using implicit solvation, in particular as Molecular Mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area (MM-GBSA) model. Overall, the proposed in silico pipeline can be implemented through the early stage rational drug design to nominate some lead candidates for AD, which will be further validated in vitro and in vivo, and, finally, in a clinical trial. KW - scaffold search KW - approved drugs KW - drug repurposing KW - alzheimer's disease KW - chemical similarity KW - molecular modeling Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248703 SN - 2296-2646 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bakari-Soale, Majeed A1 - Ikenga, Nonso Josephat A1 - Scheibe, Marion A1 - Butter, Falk A1 - Jones, Nicola G. A1 - Kramer, Susanne A1 - Engstler, Markus T1 - The nucleolar DExD/H protein Hel66 is involved in ribosome biogenesis in Trypanosoma brucei JF - Scientific Reports N2 - The biosynthesis of ribosomes is a complex cellular process involving ribosomal RNA, ribosomal proteins and several further trans-acting factors. DExD/H box proteins constitute the largest family of trans-acting protein factors involved in this process. Several members of this protein family have been directly implicated in ribosome biogenesis in yeast. In trypanosomes, ribosome biogenesis differs in several features from the process described in yeast. Here, we have identified the DExD/H box helicase Hel66 as being involved in ribosome biogenesis. The protein is unique to Kinetoplastida, localises to the nucleolus and its depletion via RNAi caused a severe growth defect. Loss of the protein resulted in a decrease of global translation and accumulation of rRNA processing intermediates for both the small and large ribosomal subunits. Only a few factors involved in trypanosome rRNA biogenesis have been described so far and our findings contribute to gaining a more comprehensive picture of this essential process. KW - infection KW - parasite evolution KW - parasite genetics KW - RNA Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-263872 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lasway, Julius V. A1 - Kinabo, Neema R. A1 - Mremi, Rudolf F. A1 - Martin, Emanuel H. A1 - Nyakunga, Oliver C. A1 - Sanya, John J. A1 - Rwegasira, Gration M. A1 - Lesio, Nicephor A1 - Gideon, Hulda A1 - Pauly, Alain A1 - Eardley, Connal A1 - Peters, Marcell K. A1 - Peterson, Andrew T. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Njovu, Henry K. T1 - A synopsis of the Bee occurrence data of northern Tanzania JF - Biodiversity Data Journal N2 - Background Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) are the most important group of pollinators with about 20,507 known species worldwide. Despite the critical role of bees in providing pollination services, studies aiming at understanding which species are present across disturbance gradients are scarce. Limited taxononomic information for the existing and unidentified bee species in Tanzania make their conservation haphazard. Here, we present a dataset of bee species records obtained from a survey in nothern Tanzania i.e. Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara regions. Our findings serve as baseline data necessary for understanding the diversity and distribution of bees in the northern parts of the country, which is a critical step in devising robust conservation and monitoring strategies for their populations. New information In this paper, we present information on 45 bee species belonging to 20 genera and four families sampled using a combination of sweep-netting and pan trap methods. Most species (27, ~ 60%) belong to the family Halictidae followed by 16 species (35.5%) from the family Apidae. Megachilidae and Andrenidae were the least represented, each with only one species (2.2%). Additional species of Apidae and Megachilidae sampled during this survey are not yet published on Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), once they will be available on GBIF, they will be published in a subsequent paper. From a total of 953 occurrences, highest numbers were recorded in Kilimanjaro Region (n = 511), followed by Arusha (n = 410) and Manyara (n = 32), but this pattern reflects the sampling efforts of the research project rather than real bias in the distributions of bee species in northern Tanzania. KW - agriculture KW - bee pollinator KW - distribution KW - disturbance gradient KW - grazing KW - species diversity KW - Tanzania Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265018 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mayr, Antonia V. A1 - Keller, Alexander A1 - Peters, Marcell K. A1 - Grimmer, Gudrun A1 - Krischke, Beate A1 - Geyer, Mareen A1 - Schmitt, Thomas A1 - Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Cryptic species and hidden ecological interactions of halictine bees along an elevational gradient JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - Changes of abiotic and biotic conditions along elevational gradients represent serious challenges to organisms which may promote the turnover of species, traits and biotic interaction partners. Here, we used molecular methods to study cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles, biotic interactions and phylogenetic relationships of halictid bees of the genus Lasioglossum along a 2,900 m elevational gradient at Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. We detected a strong species turnover of morphologically indistinguishable taxa with phylogenetically clustered cryptic species at high elevations, changes in CHC profiles, pollen resource diversity, and a turnover in the gut and body surface microbiome of bees. At high elevations, increased proportions of saturated compounds in CHC profiles indicate physiological adaptations to prevent desiccation. More specialized diets with higher proportions of low‐quality Asteraceae pollen imply constraints in the availability of food resources. Interactive effects of climatic conditions on gut and surface microbiomes, CHC profiles, and pollen diet suggest complex feedbacks among abiotic conditions, ecological interactions, physiological adaptations, and phylogenetic constraints as drivers of halictid bee communities at Mt. Kilimanjaro. KW - COI KW - cuticular chemistry KW - elevational gradient KW - Halictidae KW - microbiome metabarcoding KW - pollen metabarcoding Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-238853 VL - 11 IS - 12 SP - 7700 EP - 7712 ER -