TY - JOUR A1 - Weigand, Matthias A1 - Wurm, Michael A1 - Dech, Stefan A1 - Taubenböck, Hannes T1 - Remote sensing in environmental justice research—a review JF - ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information N2 - Human health is known to be affected by the physical environment. Various environmental influences have been identified to benefit or challenge people's physical condition. Their heterogeneous distribution in space results in unequal burdens depending on the place of living. In addition, since societal groups tend to also show patterns of segregation, this leads to unequal exposures depending on social status. In this context, environmental justice research examines how certain social groups are more affected by such exposures. Yet, analyses of this per se spatial phenomenon are oftentimes criticized for using “essentially aspatial” data or methods which neglect local spatial patterns by aggregating environmental conditions over large areas. Recent technological and methodological developments in satellite remote sensing have proven to provide highly detailed information on environmental conditions. This narrative review therefore discusses known influences of the urban environment on human health and presents spatial data and applications for analyzing these influences. Furthermore, it is discussed how geographic data are used in general and in the interdisciplinary research field of environmental justice in particular. These considerations include the modifiable areal unit problem and ecological fallacy. In this review we argue that modern earth observation data can represent an important data source for research on environmental justice and health. Especially due to their high level of spatial detail and the provided large-area coverage, they allow for spatially continuous description of environmental characteristics. As a future perspective, ongoing earth observation missions, as well as processing architectures, ensure data availability and applicability of ’big earth data’ for future environmental justice analyses. KW - satellite remote sensing KW - review KW - environmental justice KW - big earth data KW - urban environments Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-196950 SN - 2220-9964 VL - 8 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abdullahi, Sahra A1 - Wessel, Birgit A1 - Huber, Martin A1 - Wendleder, Anna A1 - Roth, Achim A1 - Kuenzer, Claudia T1 - Estimating penetration-related X-band InSAR elevation bias: a study over the Greenland ice sheet JF - Remote Sensing N2 - Accelerating melt on the Greenland ice sheet leads to dramatic changes at a global scale. Especially in the last decades, not only the monitoring, but also the quantification of these changes has gained considerably in importance. In this context, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) systems complement existing data sources by their capability to acquire 3D information at high spatial resolution over large areas independent of weather conditions and illumination. However, penetration of the SAR signals into the snow and ice surface leads to a bias in measured height, which has to be corrected to obtain accurate elevation data. Therefore, this study purposes an easy transferable pixel-based approach for X-band penetration-related elevation bias estimation based on single-pass interferometric coherence and backscatter intensity which was performed at two test sites on the Northern Greenland ice sheet. In particular, the penetration bias was estimated using a multiple linear regression model based on TanDEM-X InSAR data and IceBridge laser-altimeter measurements to correct TanDEM-X Digital Elevation Model (DEM) scenes. Validation efforts yielded good agreement between observations and estimations with a coefficient of determination of R\(^2\) = 68% and an RMSE of 0.68 m. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the benefits of X-band penetration bias estimation within the application context of ice sheet elevation change detection. KW - InSAR height KW - penetration bias KW - cryosphere KW - TanDEM-X KW - Greenland ice sheet KW - DEM Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193902 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 11 IS - 24 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Briegel, Wolfgang A1 - Greuel, Jan A1 - Stroth, Sanna A1 - Heinrichs, Nina T1 - Parents' perception of their 2−10-year-old children's contribution to the dyadic parent-child relationship in terms of positive and negative behaviors JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health N2 - Parent-child relationship is developed and changed through reciprocal interactions between a child and his/her parent, and these interactions can strongly influence the child's development across domains (e.g., emotional, physical, and intellectual). However, little is known about the parental perception of the child's contribution to the dyadic parent-child relationship in terms of positive and negative behaviors. We therefore aimed to develop and validate an economical parent-report instrument to assess these important aspects. The validation study included 1642 mothers (M\(_{age}\) = 37.1) and 1068 fathers (M\(_{age}\) = 40.4) of 1712 children aged 2–10 years (M\(_{age}\) = 6.6) who completed the new instrument, the Child Relationship Behavior Inventory (CRBI). Statistical results indicated that the CRBI is a reliable and valid measure. Mothers reported more positive child behaviors towards them, whereas fathers perceived fewer problems with problematic relationship behavior than mothers. In their parents' perception, girls showed more positive and less problematic relationship behaviors than boys. The frequency of problematic child relationship behavior significantly decreased with increasing child age while positive relationship behavior did not show any correlation with the child's age. To assess both positive and negative child relationship behaviors could be helpful to better understand the relevance of these different aspects for the development of the parent-child relationship. KW - parent-child relationship KW - child behavior KW - parental perception KW - inventory Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197411 SN - 1660-4601 VL - 16 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khare, Siddhartha A1 - Latifi, Hooman A1 - Rossi, Sergio A1 - Ghosh, Sanjay Kumar T1 - Fractional cover mapping of invasive plant species by combining very high-resolution stereo and multi-sensor multispectral imageries JF - Forests N2 - Invasive plant species are major threats to biodiversity. They can be identified and monitored by means of high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery. This study aimed to test the potential of multiple very high-resolution (VHR) optical multispectral and stereo imageries (VHRSI) at spatial resolutions of 1.5 and 5 m to quantify the presence of the invasive lantana (Lantana camara L.) and predict its distribution at large spatial scale using medium-resolution fractional cover analysis. We created initial training data for fractional cover analysis by classifying smaller extent VHR data (SPOT-6 and RapidEye) along with three dimensional (3D) VHRSI derived digital surface model (DSM) datasets. We modelled the statistical relationship between fractional cover and spectral reflectance for a VHR subset of the study area located in the Himalayan region of India, and finally predicted the fractional cover of lantana based on the spectral reflectance of Landsat-8 imagery of a larger spatial extent. We classified SPOT-6 and RapidEye data and used the outputs as training data to create continuous field layers of Landsat-8 imagery. The area outside the overlapping region was predicted by fractional cover analysis due to the larger extent of Landsat-8 imagery compared with VHR datasets. Results showed clear discrimination of understory lantana from upperstory vegetation with 87.38% (for SPOT-6), and 85.27% (for RapidEye) overall accuracy due to the presence of additional VHRSI derived DSM information. Independent validation for lantana fractional cover estimated root-mean-square errors (RMSE) of 11.8% (for RapidEye) and 7.22% (for SPOT-6), and R\(^2\) values of 0.85 and 0.92 for RapidEye (5 m) and SPOT-6 (1.5 m), respectively. Results suggested an increase in predictive accuracy of lantana within forest areas along with increase in the spatial resolution for the same Landsat-8 imagery. The variance explained at 1.5 m spatial resolution to predict lantana was 64.37%, whereas it decreased by up to 37.96% in the case of 5 m spatial resolution data. This study revealed the high potential of combining small extent VHR and VHRSI- derived 3D optical data with larger extent, freely available satellite data for identification and mapping of invasive species in mountainous forests and remote regions. KW - Lantana camara KW - SPOT-6 KW - RapidEye KW - 3D KW - DSM KW - Fractional cover analysis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197250 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 10 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ataee, Mohammad Sadegh A1 - Maghsoudi, Yasser A1 - Latifi, Hooman A1 - Fadaie, Farhad T1 - Improving estimation accuracy of growing stock by multi-frequency SAR and multi-spectral data over Iran's heterogeneously-structured broadleaf Hyrcanian forests JF - Forests N2 - Via providing various ecosystem services, the old-growth Hyrcanian forests play a crucial role in the environment and anthropogenic aspects of Iran and beyond. The amount of growing stock volume (GSV) is a forest biophysical parameter with great importance in issues like economy, environmental protection, and adaptation to climate change. Thus, accurate and unbiased estimation of GSV is also crucial to be pursued across the Hyrcanian. Our goal was to investigate the potential of ALOS-2 and Sentinel-1's polarimetric features in combination with Sentinel-2 multi-spectral features for the GSV estimation in a portion of heterogeneously-structured and mountainous Hyrcanian forests. We used five different kernels by the support vector regression (nu-SVR) for the GSV estimation. Because each kernel differently models the parameters, we separately selected features for each kernel by a binary genetic algorithm (GA). We simultaneously optimized R\(^2\) and RMSE in a suggested GA fitness function. We calculated R\(^2\), RMSE to evaluate the models. We additionally calculated the standard deviation of validation metrics to estimate the model's stability. Also for models over-fitting or under-fitting analysis, we used mean difference (MD) index. The results suggested the use of polynomial kernel as the final model. Despite multiple methodical challenges raised from the composition and structure of the study site, we conclude that the combined use of polarimetric features (both dual and full) with spectral bands and indices can improve the GSV estimation over mixed broadleaf forests. This was partially supported by the use of proposed evaluation criterion within the GA, which helped to avoid the curse of dimensionality for the applied SVR and lowest over estimation or under estimation. KW - GSV KW - nu SVR KW - uneven-aged mountainous KW - polarimetery KW - multi-spectral KW - optimization Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197212 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 10 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fux, Robert A1 - Arndt, Daniela A1 - Langenmayer, Martin C. A1 - Schwaiger, Julia A1 - Ferling, Hermann A1 - Fischer, Nicole A1 - Indenbirken, Daniela A1 - Grundhoff, Adam A1 - Dölken, Lars A1 - Adamek, Mikolaj A1 - Steinhagen, Dieter A1 - Sutter, Gerd T1 - Piscine orthoreovirus 3 is not the causative pathogen of proliferative darkening syndrome (PDS) of brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) JF - Viruses N2 - The proliferative darkening syndrome (PDS) is a lethal disease of brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) which occurs in several alpine Bavarian limestone rivers. Because mortality can reach 100%, PDS is a serious threat for affected fish populations. Recently, Kuehn and colleagues reported that a high throughput RNA sequencing approach identified a piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) as a causative agent of PDS. We investigated samples from PDS-affected fish obtained from two exposure experiments performed at the river Iller in 2008 and 2009. Using a RT-qPCR and a well-established next-generation RNA sequencing pipeline for pathogen detection, PRV-specific RNA was not detectable in PDS fish from 2009. In contrast, PRV RNA was readily detectable in several organs from diseased fish in 2008. However, similar virus loads were detectable in the control fish which were not exposed to Iller water and did not show any signs of the disease. Therefore, we conclude that PRV is not the causative agent of PDS of brown trout in the rhithral region of alpine Bavarian limestone rivers. The abovementioned study by Kuehn used only samples from the exposure experiment from 2008 and detected a subclinical PRV bystander infection. Work is ongoing to identify the causative agent of PDS. KW - proliferative darkening syndrome KW - black trout syndrome KW - piscine orthoreovirus KW - orthoreovirus KW - brown trout KW - Salmo trutta fario KW - next generation sequencing KW - RT-qPCR Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-196991 SN - 1999-4915 VL - 11 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shah, Nirav R. A1 - Bulitta, Jürgen B. A1 - Kinzig, Martina A1 - Landersdorfer, Cornelia B. A1 - Jiao, Yuanyuan A1 - Sutaria, Dhruvitkumar S. A1 - Tao, Xun A1 - Höhl, Rainer A1 - Holzgrabe, Ulrike A1 - Kees, Frieder A1 - Stephan, Ulrich A1 - Sörgel, Fritz T1 - Novel population pharmacokinetic approach to explain the differences between cystic fibrosis patients and healthy volunteers via protein binding JF - Pharmaceutics N2 - The pharmacokinetics in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has long been thought to differ considerably from that in healthy volunteers. For highly protein bound β-lactams, profound pharmacokinetic differences were observed between comparatively morbid patients with CF and healthy volunteers. These differences could be explained by body weight and body composition for β-lactams with low protein binding. This study aimed to develop a novel population modeling approach to describe the pharmacokinetic differences between both subject groups by estimating protein binding. Eight patients with CF (lean body mass [LBM]: 39.8 ± 5.4kg) and six healthy volunteers (LBM: 53.1 ± 9.5kg) received 1027.5 mg cefotiam intravenously. Plasma concentrations and amounts in urine were simultaneously modelled. Unscaled total clearance and volume of distribution were 3% smaller in patients with CF compared to those in healthy volunteers. After allometric scaling by LBM to account for body size and composition, the remaining pharmacokinetic differences were explained by estimating the unbound fraction of cefotiam in plasma. The latter was fixed to 50% in male and estimated as 54.5% in female healthy volunteers as well as 56.3% in male and 74.4% in female patients with CF. This novel approach holds promise for characterizing the pharmacokinetics in special patient populations with altered protein binding. KW - cystic fibrosis patients KW - healthy volunteers KW - cefotiam KW - beta-lactam antibiotics KW - population pharmacokinetics KW - protein binding KW - allometric scaling KW - body size KW - body composition KW - S-ADAPT Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-196934 SN - 1999-4923 VL - 11 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Homburg, Annika A1 - Weiß, Christian H. A1 - Alwan, Layth C. A1 - Frahm, Gabriel A1 - Göb, Rainer T1 - Evaluating approximate point forecasting of count processes JF - Econometrics N2 - In forecasting count processes, practitioners often ignore the discreteness of counts and compute forecasts based on Gaussian approximations instead. For both central and non-central point forecasts, and for various types of count processes, the performance of such approximate point forecasts is analyzed. The considered data-generating processes include different autoregressive schemes with varying model orders, count models with overdispersion or zero inflation, counts with a bounded range, and counts exhibiting trend or seasonality. We conclude that Gaussian forecast approximations should be avoided. KW - count time series KW - estimation error KW - Gaussian approximation KW - predictive performance KW - quantile forecasts KW - Value at Risk Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-196929 SN - 2225-1146 VL - 7 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Shan A1 - Li, Xin A1 - Link, Roman A1 - Li, Ren A1 - Deng, Liping A1 - Schuldt, Bernhard A1 - Jiang, Xiaomei A1 - Zhao, Rongjun A1 - Zheng, Jingming A1 - Li, Shuang A1 - Yin, Yafang T1 - Influence of cambial age and axial height on the spatial patterns of xylem traits in Catalpa bungei, a ring-porous tree species native to China JF - Forests N2 - Studying how cambial age and axial height affects wood anatomical traits may improve our understanding of xylem hydraulics, heartwood formation and axial growth. Radial strips were collected from six different heights (0–11.3 m) along the main trunk of three Manchurian catalpa (Catalpa bungei) trees, yielding 88 samples. In total, thirteen wood anatomical vessel and fiber traits were observed usinglight microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and linear models were used to analyse the combined effect of axial height, cambial age and their interaction. Vessel diameter differed by about one order of magnitude between early- and latewood, and increased significantly with both cambial age and axial height in latewood, while it was positively affected by cambial age and independent of height in earlywood. Vertical position further had a positive effect on earlywood vessel density, and negative effects on fibre wall thickness, wall thickness to diameter ratio and length. Cambial age had positive effects on the pit membrane diameter and vessel element length, while the annual diameter growth decreased with both cambial age and axial position. In contrast, early- and latewood fiber diameter were unaffected by both cambial age and axial height. We further observed an increasing amount of tyloses from sapwood to heartwood, accompanied by an increase of warty layers and amorphous deposits on cell walls, bordered pit membranes and pit apertures. This study highlights the significant effects of cambial age and vertical position on xylem anatomical traits, and confirms earlier work that cautions to take into account xylem spatial position when interpreting wood anatomical structures, and thus, xylem hydraulic functioning. KW - wood anatomy KW - vertical and radial variation KW - earlywood KW - latewood KW - growth ring width KW - tyloses KW - pit membrane diameter KW - vessel lumen diameter KW - fibre length Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-196297 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 10 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hickl, Oskar A1 - Heintz-Buschart, Anna A1 - Trautwein-Schult, Anke A1 - Hercog, Rajna A1 - Bork, Peer A1 - Wilmes, Paul A1 - Becher, Dörte T1 - Sample preservation and storage significantly impact taxonomic and functional profiles in metaproteomics studies of the human gut microbiome JF - Microorganisms N2 - With the technological advances of the last decade, it is now feasible to analyze microbiome samples, such as human stool specimens, using multi-omic techniques. Given the inherent sample complexity, there exists a need for sample methods which preserve as much information as possible about the biological system at the time of sampling. Here, we analyzed human stool samples preserved and stored using different methods, applying metagenomics as well as metaproteomics. Our results demonstrate that sample preservation and storage have a significant effect on the taxonomic composition of identified proteins. The overall identification rates, as well as the proportion of proteins from Actinobacteria were much higher when samples were flash frozen. Preservation in RNAlater overall led to fewer protein identifications and a considerable increase in the share of Bacteroidetes, as well as Proteobacteria. Additionally, a decrease in the share of metabolism-related proteins and an increase of the relative amount of proteins involved in the processing of genetic information was observed for RNAlater-stored samples. This suggests that great care should be taken in choosing methods for the preservation and storage of microbiome samples, as well as in comparing the results of analyses using different sampling and storage methods. Flash freezing and subsequent storage at −80 °C should be chosen wherever possible. KW - proteomics KW - metaproteomics KW - metagenomics KW - microbiome KW - microbiota KW - flash freezing KW - RNAlater KW - sample storage Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195976 SN - 2076-2607 VL - 7 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Graf, Christiana A1 - Mondorf, Antonia A1 - Knop, Viola A1 - Peiffer, Kai-Henrik A1 - Dietz, Julia A1 - Friess, Julia A1 - Wedemeyer, Heiner A1 - Buggisch, Peter A1 - Mauss, Stefan A1 - Berg, Thomas A1 - Rausch, Michael A1 - Sprinzl, Martin A1 - Klinker, Hartwig A1 - Hinrichsen, Holger A1 - Bronowicki, Jean-Pierre A1 - Haag, Sebastian A1 - Hüppe, Dietrich A1 - Lutz, Thomas A1 - Poynard, Thierry A1 - Zeuzem, Stefan A1 - Friedrich-Rust, Mireen A1 - Sarrazin, Christoph A1 - Vermehren, Johannes T1 - Evaluation of point shear wave elastography using acoustic radiation force impulse imaging for longitudinal fibrosis assessment in patients with HBeAg-Negative HBV infection JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine N2 - Background: Accurate assessment of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic HBeAg-negative Hepatitis B is of crucial importance not only to predict the long-term clinical course, but also to evaluate antiviral therapy indication. The aim of this study was to prospectively assess the utility of point shear wave elastography (pSWE) for longitudinal non-invasive fibrosis assessment in a large cohort of untreated patients with chronic HBeAg-negative hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Methods: 407 consecutive patients with HBeAg-negative HBV infection who underwent pSWE, transient elastography (TE) as well as laboratory fibrosis markers, including fibrosis index based on four factors (FIB-4), aspartate to platelet ratio index (APRI) and FibroTest, on the same day were prospectively followed up for six years. Patients were classified into one of the three groups: inactive carriers (IC; HBV-DNA <2000 IU/mL and ALT <40 U/L); grey zone group 1 (GZ-1; HBV DNA <2000 IU/mL and ALT >40 U/L); grey zone group 2 (GZ-2; HBV-DNA >2000 IU/mL and ALT <40 U/L). Results: pSWE results were significantly correlated with TE (r = 0.29, p < 0.001) and APRI (r = 0.17; p = 0.005). Median pSWE values did not differ between IC, GZ-1 and GZ-2 patients (p = 0.82, p = 0.17, p = 0.34). During six years of follow-up, median pSWE and TE values did not differ significantly over time (TE: p = 0.27; pSWE: p = 0.05). Conclusion: Our data indicate that pSWE could be useful for non-invasive fibrosis assessment and follow-up in patients with HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection. KW - HBV KW - non-invasive fibrosis assessment KW - point shear wave elastography KW - acoustic radiation force impulse imaging KW - transient elastography KW - fibrotest KW - APRI KW - FIB-4 Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193916 SN - 2077-0383 VL - 8 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sierra, Miguel A. A1 - Sánchez, David A1 - Gutierrez, Rafael A1 - Cuniberti, Gianaurelio A1 - Domínguez-Adame, Francisco A1 - Díaz, Elena T1 - Spin-polarized electron transmission in DNA-like systems JF - Biomolecules N2 - The helical distribution of the electronic density in chiral molecules, such as DNA and bacteriorhodopsin, has been suggested to induce a spin–orbit coupling interaction that may lead to the so-called chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect. Key ingredients for the theoretical modelling are, in this context, the helically shaped potential of the molecule and, concomitantly, a Rashba-like spin–orbit coupling due to the appearance of a magnetic field in the electron reference frame. Symmetries of these models clearly play a crucial role in explaining the observed effect, but a thorough analysis has been largely ignored in the literature. In this work, we present a study of these symmetries and how they can be exploited to enhance chiral-induced spin selectivity in helical molecular systems. KW - chirality-induced spin selectivity KW - helical molecules KW - spin transport KW - spin polarization KW - DNA electronic transport Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193813 SN - 2218-273X VL - 10 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tiane, Assia A1 - Schepers, Melissa A1 - Rombaut, Ben A1 - Hupperts, Raymond A1 - Prickaerts, Jos A1 - Hellings, Niels A1 - van den Hove, Daniel A1 - Vanmierlo, Tim T1 - From OPC to oligodendrocyte: an epigenetic journey JF - Cells N2 - Oligodendrocytes provide metabolic and functional support to neuronal cells, rendering them key players in the functioning of the central nervous system. Oligodendrocytes need to be newly formed from a pool of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). The differentiation of OPCs into mature and myelinating cells is a multistep process, tightly controlled by spatiotemporal activation and repression of specific growth and transcription factors. While oligodendrocyte turnover is rather slow under physiological conditions, a disruption in this balanced differentiation process, for example in case of a differentiation block, could have devastating consequences during ageing and in pathological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis. Over the recent years, increasing evidence has shown that epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, and microRNAs, are major contributors to OPC differentiation. In this review, we discuss how these epigenetic mechanisms orchestrate and influence oligodendrocyte maturation. These insights are a crucial starting point for studies that aim to identify the contribution of epigenetics in demyelinating diseases and may thus provide new therapeutic targets to induce myelin repair in the long run. KW - oligodendrocyte KW - epigenetics KW - myelination Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193267 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 8 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saddique, Naeem A1 - Usman, Muhammad A1 - Bernhofer, Christian T1 - Simulating the impact of climate change on the hydrological regimes of a sparsely gauged mountainous basin, northern Pakistan JF - Water N2 - Projected climate changes for the 21st century may cause great uncertainties on the hydrology of a river basin. This study explored the impacts of climate change on the water balance and hydrological regime of the Jhelum River Basin using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Two downscaling methods (SDSM, Statistical Downscaling Model and LARS-WG, Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator), three Global Circulation Models (GCMs), and two representative concentration pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for three future periods (2030s, 2050s, and 2090s) were used to assess the climate change impacts on flow regimes. The results exhibited that both downscaling methods suggested an increase in annual streamflow over the river basin. There is generally an increasing trend of winter and autumn discharge, whereas it is complicated for summer and spring to conclude if the trend is increasing or decreasing depending on the downscaling methods. Therefore, the uncertainty associated with the downscaling of climate simulation needs to consider, for the best estimate, the impact of climate change, with its uncertainty, on a particular basin. The study also resulted that water yield and evapotranspiration in the eastern part of the basin (sub-basins at high elevation) would be most affected by climate change. The outcomes of this study would be useful for providing guidance in water management and planning for the river basin under climate change. KW - water balance KW - hydrological regime KW - evapotranspiration KW - uncertainties KW - climate change KW - SWAT Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193175 SN - 2073-4441 VL - 11 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seethaler, Marius A1 - Hertlein, Tobias A1 - Wecklein, Björn A1 - Ymeraj, Alba A1 - Ohlsen, Knut A1 - Lalk, Michael A1 - Hilgeroth, Andreas T1 - Novel small-molecule antibacterials against Gram-positive pathogens of Staphylococcus and Enterococcus species JF - Antibiotics N2 - Defeat of the antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria is one great challenge today and for the future. In the last century many classes of effective antibacterials have been developed, so that upcoming resistances could be met with novel drugs of various compound classes. Meanwhile, there is a certain lack of research of the pharmaceutical companies, and thus there are missing developments of novel antibiotics. Gram-positive bacteria are the most important cause of clinical infections. The number of novel antibacterials in clinical trials is strongly restricted. There is an urgent need to find novel antibacterials. We used synthetic chemistry to build completely novel hybrid molecules of substituted indoles and benzothiophene. In a simple one-pot reaction, two novel types of thienocarbazoles were yielded. Both indole substituted compound classes have been evaluated as completely novel antibacterials against the Staphylococcus and Enterococcus species. The evaluated partly promising activities depend on the indole substituent type. First lead compounds have been evaluated within in vivo studies. They confirmed the in vitro results for the new classes of small-molecule antibacterials. KW - antibacterial activity KW - synthesis KW - substituent KW - structure-activity KW - inhibition Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193130 SN - 2079-6382 VL - 8 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scherthan, Harry A1 - Lee, Jin-Ho A1 - Maus, Emanuel A1 - Schumann, Sarah A1 - Muhtadi, Razan A1 - Chojowski, Robert A1 - Port, Matthias A1 - Lassmann, Michael A1 - Bestvater, Felix A1 - Hausmann, Michael T1 - Nanostructure of clustered DNA damage in leukocytes after in-solution irradiation with the alpha emitter Ra-223 JF - Cancers N2 - Background: Cancer patients are increasingly treated with alpha-particle-emitting radiopharmaceuticals. At the subcellular level, alpha particles induce densely spaced ionizations and molecular damage. Induction of DNA lesions, especially clustered DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), threatens a cell's survival. Currently, it is under debate to what extent the spatial topology of the damaged chromatin regions and the repair protein arrangements are contributing. Methods: Super-resolution light microscopy (SMLM) in combination with cluster analysis of single molecule signal-point density regions of DSB repair markers was applied to investigate the nano-structure of DNA damage foci tracks of Ra-223 in-solution irradiated leukocytes. Results: Alpha-damaged chromatin tracks were efficiently outlined by γ-H2AX that formed large (super) foci composed of numerous 60–80 nm-sized nano-foci. Alpha damage tracks contained 60–70% of all γ-H2AX point signals in a nucleus, while less than 30% of 53BP1, MRE11 or p-ATM signals were located inside γ-H2AX damage tracks. MRE11 and p-ATM protein fluorescent tags formed focal nano-clusters of about 20 nm peak size. There were, on average, 12 (±9) MRE11 nanoclusters in a typical γ-H2AX-marked alpha track, suggesting a minimal number of MRE11-processed DSBs per track. Our SMLM data suggest regularly arranged nano-structures during DNA repair in the damaged chromatin domain. KW - complex DNA damage KW - DNA repair KW - high LET irradiation KW - Single Molecule Localization Microscopy (SMLM) KW - DSB focus substructure Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193038 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 11 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pereira, A. R. A1 - Trivanović, D. A1 - Herrmann, M. T1 - Approaches to mimic the complexity of the skeletal mesenchymal stem/stromal cell niche in vitro JF - European Cells and Materials N2 - Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are an essential element of most modern tissue engineering and regenerative medicine approaches due to their multipotency and immunoregulatory functions. Despite the prospective value of MSCs for the clinics, the stem cells community is questioning their developmental origin, in vivo localization, identification, and regenerative potential after several years of far-reaching research in the field. Although several major progresses have been made in mimicking the complexity of the MSC niche in vitro, there is need for comprehensive studies of fundamental mechanisms triggered by microenvironmental cues before moving to regenerative medicine cell therapy applications. The present comprehensive review extensively discusses the microenvironmental cues that influence MSC phenotype and function in health and disease – including cellular, chemical and physical interactions. The most recent and relevant illustrative examples of novel bioengineering approaches to mimic biological, chemical, and mechanical microenvironmental signals present in the native MSC niche are summarized, with special emphasis on the forefront techniques to achieve bio-chemical complexity and dynamic cultures. In particular, the skeletal MSC niche and applications focusing on the bone regenerative potential of MSC are addressed. The aim of the review was to recognize the limitations of the current MSC niche in vitro models and to identify potential opportunities to fill the bridge between fundamental science and clinical application of MSCs. KW - Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells KW - skeletal progenitor cells KW - niche KW - in vitro models KW - bone KW - tissue engineering Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-268823 SN - 1473-2262 VL - 37 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saraceni, Francesco A1 - Labopin, Myriam A1 - Brecht, Arne A1 - Kröger, Nicolaus A1 - Eder, Matthias A1 - Tischer, Johanna A1 - Labussiere-Wallet, Helene A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Beelen, Dietrich A1 - Bunjes, Donald A1 - Niederwieser, Dietger A1 - Bochtler, Tilman A1 - Savani, Bipin N. A1 - Mohty, Mohamad A1 - Nagler, Arnon T1 - Fludarabine-treosulfan compared to thiotepa-busulfan-fludarabine or FLAMSA as conditioning regimen for patients with primary refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia: a study from the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) JF - Journal of Hematology & Oncology N2 - Background Limited data is available to guide the choice of the conditioning regimen for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) undergoing transplant with persistent disease. Methods We retrospectively compared outcome of fludarabine-treosulfan (FT), thiotepa-busulfan-fludarabine (TBF), and sequential fludarabine, intermediate dose Ara-C, amsacrine, total body irradiation/busulfan, cyclophosphamide (FLAMSA) conditioning in patients with refractory or relapsed AML. Results Complete remission rates at day 100 were 92%, 80%, and 88% for FT, TBF, and FLAMSA, respectively (p=0.13). Non-relapse mortality, incidence of relapse, acute (a) and chronic (c) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) rates did not differ between the three groups. Overall survival at 2years was 37% for FT, 24% for TBF, and 34% for FLAMSA (p=0.10). Independent prognostic factors for survival were Karnofsky performance score and patient CMV serology (p=0.01; p=0.02), while survival was not affected by age at transplant. The use of anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) was associated with reduced risk of grade III-IV aGVHD (p=0.02) and cGVHD (p=0.006), with no influence on relapse. Conclusions In conclusion, FT, TBF, and FLAMSA regimens provided similar outcome in patients undergoing transplant with active AML. Survival was determined by patient characteristics as Karnofsky performance score and CMV serology, however was not affected by age at transplant. ATG appears able to reduce the incidence of acute and chronic GVHD without influencing relapse risk. KW - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) KW - Active disease KW - Allogeneic transplantation KW - Sibling donor (MSD) KW - Unrelated donor (UD) KW - Conditioning regimen KW - Fludarabine-treosulfan (FT) KW - Thiotepa-busulfan-fludarabine (TBF) KW - Fludarabine KW - intermediate dose Ara-C KW - amsacrine KW - total body irradiation/busulfan KW - cyclophosphamide (FLAMSA) Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227345 VL - 12 IS - 44 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhou, Xiang A1 - Wuchter, Patrick A1 - Egerer, Gerlinde A1 - Kriegsmann, Mark A1 - Mataityte, Aiste A1 - Koelsche, Christian A1 - Witzens-Harig, Mathias A1 - Kriegsmann, Katharina T1 - Role of virological serum markers in patients with both hepatitis B virus infection and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma JF - European Journal of Haematology N2 - Background Causality between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was reported in various studies. However, the implication of different virological serum markers of HBV infection in patients with both HBV infection and DLBCL is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of HBV markers on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with both HBV infection and DLBCL. Methods In this study, patients (n = 40) diagnosed with both HBV infection and DLBCL were identified between 2000 and 2017. Six patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and/or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection were excluded from this study. We retrospectively analyzed patients’ demographic characteristics, treatment, and the prognostic impact of different HBV markers at first diagnosis of DLBCL (HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBeAg, anti-HBe, and HBV-DNA) on OS and PFS. Results The majority of patients (n = 21, 62%) had advanced disease stage (III/IV) at diagnosis. In the first-line therapy, 24 patients (70%) were treated with R-CHOP regimen (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone). HBeAg positive patients had a trend toward inferior OS and PFS compared with HBeAg negative patients. Anti-HBe positive patients had a statistically significant better OS and PFS compared with anti-HBe negative group (both P < .0001). Viremia with HBV-DNA ≥ 2 × 107 IU/L had a significant negative impact on OS and PFS (both P < .0001). Conclusion High activity of viral replication is associated with a poor survival outcome of patients with both HBV infection and DLBCL. KW - hepatitis B virus KW - diffuse large B-cell lymphoma KW - prognosis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258442 VL - 103 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vey, Johannes A1 - Kapsner, Lorenz A. A1 - Fuchs, Maximilian A1 - Unberath, Philipp A1 - Veronesi, Giulia A1 - Kunz, Meik T1 - A toolbox for functional analysis and the systematic identification of diagnostic and prognostic gene expression signatures combining meta-analysis and machine learning JF - Cancers N2 - The identification of biomarker signatures is important for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. However, the detection of clinical reliable signatures is influenced by limited data availability, which may restrict statistical power. Moreover, methods for integration of large sample cohorts and signature identification are limited. We present a step-by-step computational protocol for functional gene expression analysis and the identification of diagnostic and prognostic signatures by combining meta-analysis with machine learning and survival analysis. The novelty of the toolbox lies in its all-in-one functionality, generic design, and modularity. It is exemplified for lung cancer, including a comprehensive evaluation using different validation strategies. However, the protocol is not restricted to specific disease types and can therefore be used by a broad community. The accompanying R package vignette runs in ~1 h and describes the workflow in detail for use by researchers with limited bioinformatics training. KW - bioinformatics tool KW - R package KW - machine learning KW - meta-analysis KW - biomarker signature KW - gene expression analysis KW - survival analysis KW - functional analysis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193240 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 11 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Thomas S. B. A1 - Hayward, Matthew R. A1 - Coelho, Luiis P. A1 - Li, Simone S. A1 - Costea, Paul I. A1 - Voigt, Anita Y. A1 - Wirbel, Jakob A1 - Maistrenko, Oleksandr M. A1 - Alves, Renato J. C. A1 - Bergsten, Emma A1 - de Beaufort, Carine A1 - Sobhani, Iradj A1 - Heintz-Buschart, Anna A1 - Sunagawa, Shinichi A1 - Zeller, Georg A1 - Wilmes, Paul A1 - Bork, Peer T1 - Extensive transmission of microbes along the gastrointestinal tract JF - eLife N2 - The gastrointestinal tract is abundantly colonized by microbes, yet the translocation of oral species to the intestine is considered a rare aberrant event, and a hallmark of disease. By studying salivary and fecal microbial strain populations of 310 species in 470 individuals from five countries, we found that transmission to, and subsequent colonization of, the large intestine by oral microbes is common and extensive among healthy individuals. We found evidence for a vast majority of oral species to be transferable, with increased levels of transmission in colorectal cancer and rheumatoid arthritis patients and, more generally, for species described as opportunistic pathogens. This establishes the oral cavity as an endogenous reservoir for gut microbial strains, and oral-fecal transmission as an important process that shapes the gastrointestinal microbiome in health and disease. KW - Colonization KW - Annotation KW - Dynamics KW - Accurate KW - Strains KW - Barrier KW - Health KW - Acids KW - Research Article KW - Computational and Systems Biology KW - Microbiology and Infectious Disease KW - microbiome KW - gastrointestinal tract KW - colorectal cancer KW - rheumatoid arthritis KW - metagenomics Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228954 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Groll, J A1 - Burdick, J A A1 - Cho, D-W A1 - Derby, B A1 - Gelinsky, M A1 - Heilshorn, S C A1 - Jüngst, T A1 - Malda, J A1 - Mironov, V A A1 - Nakayama, K A1 - Ovsianikov, A A1 - Sun, W A1 - Takeuchi, S A1 - Yoo, J J A1 - Woodfield, T B F T1 - A definition of bioinks and their distinction from biomaterial inks JF - Biofabrication N2 - Biofabrication aims to fabricate biologically functional products through bioprinting or bioassembly (Groll et al 2016 Biofabrication 8 013001). In biofabrication processes, cells are positioned at defined coordinates in three-dimensional space using automated and computer controlled techniques (Moroni et al 2018 Trends Biotechnol. 36 384–402), usually with the aid of biomaterials that are either (i) directly processed with the cells as suspensions/dispersions, (ii) deposited simultaneously in a separate printing process, or (iii) used as a transient support material. Materials that are suited for biofabrication are often referred to as bioinks and have become an important area of research within the field. In view of this special issue on bioinks, we aim herein to briefly summarize the historic evolution of this term within the field of biofabrication. Furthermore, we propose a simple but general definition of bioinks, and clarify its distinction from biomaterial inks. KW - bioink KW - biomaterial ink KW - definition Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-253993 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Griesbeck, Stefanie A1 - Michail, Evripidis A1 - Rauch, Florian A1 - Ogasawara, Hiroaki A1 - Wang, Chenguang A1 - Sato, Yoshikatsu A1 - Edkins, Robert M. A1 - Zhang, Zuolun A1 - Taki, Masayasu A1 - Lambert, Christoph A1 - Yamaguchi, Shigehiro A1 - Marder, Todd B. T1 - The Effect of Branching on the One‐ and Two‐Photon Absorption, Cell Viability, and Localization of Cationic Triarylborane Chromophores with Dipolar versus Octupolar Charge Distributions for Cellular Imaging JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - Two different chromophores, namely a dipolar and an octupolar system, were prepared and their linear and nonlinear optical properties as well as their bioimaging capabilities were compared. Both contain triphenylamine as the donor and a triarylborane as the acceptor, the latter modified with cationic trimethylammonio groups to provide solubility in aqueous media. The octupolar system exhibits a much higher two‐photon brightness, and also better cell viability and enhanced selectivity for lysosomes compared with the dipolar chromophore. Furthermore, both dyes were applied in two‐photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) live‐cell imaging. KW - boranes KW - cell imaging KW - fluorescence KW - lysosome KW - two-photon excited fluorescence Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-212887 VL - 25 IS - 57 SP - 13164 EP - 13175 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lorkowski, Jan A1 - Krahfuß, Mirjam A1 - Kubicki, Maciej A1 - Radius, Udo A1 - Pietraszuk, Cezary T1 - Intramolecular Ring‐Expansion Reaction (RER) and Intermolecular Coordination of In Situ Generated Cyclic (Amino)(aryl)carbenes (cAArCs) JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - Cyclic (amino)(aryl)carbenes (cAArCs) based on the isoindoline core were successfully generated in situ by α‐elimination of 3‐alkoxyisoindolines at high temperatures or by deprotonation of isoindol‐2‐ium chlorides with sodium or copper(I) acetates at low temperatures. 3‐Alkoxy‐isoindolines 2 a,b‐OR (R=Me, Et, iPr) have been prepared in high yields by the addition of a solution of 2‐aryl‐1,1‐diphenylisoindol‐2‐ium triflate (1 a,b‐OTf; a: aryl=Dipp=2,6‐diisopropylphenyl; b: Mesityl‐, Mes=2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl) to the corresponding alcohol (ROH) with NEt3 at room temperature. Furthermore, the reaction of 2 a,b‐OMe in diethyl ether with a tenfold excess of hydrochloric acid led to the isolation of the isoindol‐2‐ium chlorides 1 a,b‐Cl in high yields. The thermally generated cAArC reacts with sulfur to form the thioamide 3 a. Without any additional trapping reagent, in situ generation of 1,1‐diphenylisoidolin‐3‐ylidenes does not lead to the isolation of these compounds, but to the reaction products of the insertion of the carbene carbon atom into an ortho C−H bond of a phenyl substituent, followed by ring‐expansion reaction; namely, anthracene derivatives 9‐N(H)aryl‐10‐Ph‐C14H8 4 a,b (a: Dipp; b: Mes). These compounds are conveniently synthesized by deprotonation of the isoindol‐2‐ium chlorides with sodium acetate in high yields. Deprotonation of 1 a‐Cl with copper(I) acetate at low temperatures afforded a mixture of 4 a and the corresponding cAArC copper(I) chloride 5 a, and allowed the isolation and structural characterization of the first example of a cAArC copper complex of general formula [(cAArC)CuCl]. KW - cAArC KW - complexes KW - copper KW - NHC KW - ring-expansion reaction Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-212496 VL - 25 IS - 48 SP - 11365 EP - 11374 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hartmann, Sylvia A1 - Plütschow, Annette A1 - Mottok, Anja A1 - Bernd, Heinz‐Wolfram A1 - Feller, Alfred C. A1 - Ott, German A1 - Cogliatti, Sergio A1 - Fend, Falko A1 - Quintanilla‐Martinez, Leticia A1 - Stein, Harald A1 - Klapper, Wolfram A1 - Möller, Peter A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Engert, Andreas A1 - Hansmann, Martin‐Leo A1 - Eichenauer, Dennis A. T1 - The time to relapse correlates with the histopathological growth pattern in nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma JF - American Journal of Hematology N2 - Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) can present with different histopathological growth patterns. The impact of these histopathological growth patterns on relapse characteristics is unknown. We therefore analyzed paired biopsies obtained at initial diagnosis and relapse from 33 NLPHL patients who had received first‐line treatment within German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) trial protocols, and from a second cohort of 41 relapsed NLPHL patients who had been treated outside GHSG studies. Among the 33 GHSG patients, 21 patients presented with a typical growth pattern at initial diagnosis, whereas 12 patients had a variant histology. The histopathological growth patterns at initial diagnosis and at relapse were consistent in 67% of cases. A variant histology at initial diagnosis was associated with a shorter median time to lymphoma recurrence (2.8 vs 5.2 years; P = .0219). A similar tendency towards a shorter median time to lymphoma recurrence was observed for patients presenting with a variant histology at relapse, irrespective of the growth pattern at initial diagnosis. Results obtained from the 41 NLPHL patients who had been treated outside GHSG studies were comparable (median time to lymphoma recurrence for variant histology vs typical growth pattern at initial diagnosis: 1.5 vs 7.0 years). In conclusion, the histopathological growth pattern remains consistent at relapse in the majority of NLPHL cases, and has major impact on the time of relapse. KW - Hodgkin lymphoma KW - relapse KW - growth patterns Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-212594 VL - 94 IS - 11 SP - 1208 EP - 1213 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raselli, Tina A1 - Hearn, Tom A1 - Wyss, Annika A1 - Atrott, Kirstin A1 - Peter, Alain A1 - Frey-Wagner, Isabelle A1 - Spalinger, Marianne R. A1 - Maggio, Ewerton M. A1 - Sailer, Andreas W. A1 - Schmitt, Johannes A1 - Schreiner, Philipp A1 - Moncsek, Anja A1 - Mertens, Joachim A1 - Scharl, Michael A1 - Griffiths, William J. A1 - Bueter, Marco A1 - Geier, Andreas A1 - Rogler, Gerhard A1 - Wang, Yuqin A1 - Misselwitz, Benjamin T1 - Elevated oxysterol levels in human and mouse livers reflect nonalcoholic steatohepatitis JF - Journal of Lipid Research N2 - Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a primary cause of liver disease, leads to complications such as fibrosis, cirrhosis, and carcinoma, but the pathophysiology of NASH is incompletely understood. Epstein-Barr virus-induced G protein-coupled receptor 2 (EBI2) and its oxysterol ligand 7 alpha,25-dihydroxycholesterol (7 alpha,25-diHC) are recently discovered immune regulators. Several lines of evidence suggest a role of oxysterols in NASH pathogenesis, but rigorous testing has not been performed. We measured oxysterol levels in the livers of NASH patients by LC-MS and tested the role of the EBI2-7 alpha,25-diHC system in a murine feeding model of NASH. Free oxysterol profiling in livers from NASH patients revealed a pronounced increase in 24- and 7-hydroxylated oxysterols in NASH compared with controls. Levels of 24- and 7-hydroxylated oxysterols correlated with histological NASH activity. Histological analysis of murine liver samples demonstrated ballooning and liver inflammation. No significant genotype-related differences were observed in Ebi2(-/-) mice and mice with defects in the 7 alpha,25-diHC synthesizing enzymes CH25H and CYP7B1 compared with wild-type littermate controls, arguing against an essential role of these genes in NASH pathogenesis. Elevated 24- and 7-hydroxylated oxysterol levels were confirmed in murine NASH liver samples. Our results suggest increased bile acid synthesis in NASH samples, as judged by the enhanced level of 7 alpha-hydroxycholest-4-en-3-one and impaired 24S-hydroxycholesterol metabolism as characteristic biochemical changes in livers affected by NASH. KW - nonalcoholic fatty liver disease KW - Epstein-Barr virus-induced gene 2 KW - cholesterol 25 hydroxylase KW - 25-hydroxycholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase KW - mouse feeding model Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-225004 VL - 60 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Belic, Stanislav A1 - Page, Lukas A1 - Lazariotou, Maria A1 - Waaga-Gasser, Ana Maria A1 - Dragan, Mariola A1 - Springer, Jan A1 - Loeffler, Juergen A1 - Morton, Charles Oliver A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Ullmann, Andrew J. A1 - Wurster, Sebastian T1 - Comparative Analysis of Inflammatory Cytokine Release and Alveolar Epithelial Barrier Invasion in a Transwell® Bilayer Model of Mucormycosis JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - Understanding the mechanisms of early invasion and epithelial defense in opportunistic mold infections is crucial for the evaluation of diagnostic biomarkers and novel treatment strategies. Recent studies revealed unique characteristics of the immunopathology of mucormycoses. We therefore adapted an alveolar Transwell® A549/HPAEC bilayer model for the assessment of epithelial barrier integrity and cytokine response to Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizomucor pusillus, and Cunninghamella bertholletiae. Hyphal penetration of the alveolar barrier was validated by 18S ribosomal DNA detection in the endothelial compartment. Addition of dendritic cells (moDCs) to the alveolar compartment led to reduced fungal invasion and strongly enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokine response, whereas epithelial CCL2 and CCL5 release was reduced. Despite their phenotypic heterogeneity, the studied Mucorales species elicited the release of similar cytokine patterns by epithelial and dendritic cells. There were significantly elevated lactate dehydrogenase concentrations in the alveolar compartment and epithelial barrier permeability for dextran blue of different molecular weights in Mucorales-infected samples compared to Aspergillus fumigatus infection. Addition of monocyte-derived dendritic cells further aggravated LDH release and epithelial barrier permeability, highlighting the influence of the inflammatory response in mucormycosis-associated tissue damage. An important focus of this study was the evaluation of the reproducibility of readout parameters in independent experimental runs. Our results revealed consistently low coefficients of variation for cytokine concentrations and transcriptional levels of cytokine genes and cell integrity markers. As additional means of model validation, we confirmed that our bilayer model captures key principles of Mucorales biology such as accelerated growth in a hyperglycemic or ketoacidotic environment or reduced epithelial barrier invasion upon epithelial growth factor receptor blockade by gefitinib. Our findings indicate that the Transwell® bilayer model provides a reliable and reproducible tool for assessing host response in mucormycosis. KW - mucormycosis KW - alveolar epithelium KW - in vitro model KW - cytokines KW - dendritic cells Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-252477 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Juranek, Stefan A. A1 - Marks, James A1 - De Magis, Alessio A1 - Kazemier, Hinke G A1 - Hilbig, Daniel A1 - Benhalevy, Daniel A1 - Wang, Xiantao A1 - Hafner, Markus A1 - Paeschke, Katrin T1 - DHX36 prevents the accumulation of translationally inactive mRNAs with G4-structures in untranslated regions JF - Nature Communications N2 - Translation efficiency can be affected by mRNA stability and secondary structures, including G-quadruplex structures (G4s). The highly conserved DEAH-box helicase DHX36/RHAU resolves G4s on DNA and RNA in vitro, however a systems-wide analysis of DHX36 targets and function is lacking. We map globally DHX36 binding to RNA in human cell lines and find it preferentially interacting with G-rich and G4-forming sequences on more than 4500 mRNAs. While DHX36 knockout (KO) results in a significant increase in target mRNA abundance, ribosome occupancy and protein output from these targets decrease, suggesting that they were rendered translationally incompetent. Considering that DHX36 targets, harboring G4s, preferentially localize in stress granules, and that DHX36 KO results in increased SG formation and protein kinase R (PKR/EIF2AK2) phosphorylation, we speculate that DHX36 is involved in resolution of rG4 induced cellular stress. KW - RNA metabolism KW - Translation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227486 VL - 10 IS - 2421 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mayer, Alexander E. A1 - Löffler, Mona C. A1 - Loza Valdés, Angel E. A1 - Schmitz, Werner A1 - El-Merahbi, Rabih A1 - Trujillo-Viera, Jonathan A1 - Erk, Manuela A1 - Zhang, Thianzhou A1 - Braun, Ursula A1 - Heikenwalder, Mathias A1 - Leitges, Michael A1 - Schulze, Almut A1 - Sumara, Grzegorz T1 - The kinase PKD3 provides negative feedback on cholesterol and triglyceride synthesis by suppressing insulin signaling JF - Science Signaling N2 - Hepatic activation of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms by diacylglycerol (DAG) promotes insulin resistance and contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). The closely related protein kinase D (PKD) isoforms act as effectors for DAG and PKC. Here, we showed that PKD3 was the predominant PKD isoform expressed in hepatocytes and was activated by lipid overload. PKD3 suppressed the activity of downstream insulin effectors including the kinase AKT and mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 and 2 (mTORC1 and mTORC2). Hepatic deletion of PKD3 in mice improved insulin-induced glucose tolerance. However, increased insulin signaling in the absence of PKD3 promoted lipogenesis mediated by SREBP (sterol regulatory element-binding protein) and consequently increased triglyceride and cholesterol content in the livers of PKD3-deficient mice fed a high-fat diet. Conversely, hepatic-specific overexpression of a constitutively active PKD3 mutant suppressed insulin-induced signaling and caused insulin resistance. Our results indicate that PKD3 provides feedback on hepatic lipid production and suppresses insulin signaling. Therefore, manipulation of PKD3 activity could be used to decrease hepatic lipid content or improve hepatic insulin sensitivity. KW - Protein kinase D3 (PKD3) KW - cholesterol KW - diacylglycerol (DAG) KW - liver KW - metabolism Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-250025 ET - accepted manuscript ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheer, Monika A1 - Vokuhl, Christian A1 - Blank, Bernd A1 - Hallmen, Erika A1 - von Kalle, Thekla A1 - Münter, Marc A1 - Wessalowski, Rüdiger A1 - Hartwig, Maite A1 - Sparber-Sauer, Monika A1 - Schlegel, Paul-Gerhardt A1 - Kramm, Christof M. A1 - Kontny, Udo A1 - Spriewald, Bernd A1 - Kegel, Thomas A1 - Bauer, Sebastian A1 - Kazanowska, Bernarda A1 - Niggli, Felix A1 - Ladenstein, Ruth A1 - Ljungman, Gustaf A1 - Jahnukainen, Kirsi A1 - Fuchs, Jörg A1 - Bielack, Stefan S. A1 - Klingebiel, Thomas A1 - Koscielniak, Ewa T1 - Desmoplastic small round cell tumors: Multimodality treatment and new risk factors JF - Cancer Medicine N2 - Background To evaluate optimal therapy and potential risk factors. Methods Data of DSRCT patients <40 years treated in prospective CWS trials 1997-2015 were analyzed. Results Median age of 60 patients was 14.5 years. Male:female ratio was 4:1. Tumors were abdominal/retroperitoneal in 56/60 (93%). 6/60 (10%) presented with a localized mass, 16/60 (27%) regionally disseminated nodes, and 38/60 (63%) with extraperitoneal metastases. At diagnosis, 23/60 (38%) patients had effusions, 4/60 (7%) a thrombosis, and 37/54 (69%) elevated CRP. 40/60 (67%) patients underwent tumor resection, 21/60 (35%) macroscopically complete. 37/60 (62%) received chemotherapy according to CEVAIE (ifosfamide, vincristine, actinomycin D, carboplatin, epirubicin, etoposide), 15/60 (25%) VAIA (ifosfamide, vincristine, adriamycin, actinomycin D) and, 5/60 (8%) P6 (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, ifosfamide, etoposide). Nine received high-dose chemotherapy, 6 received regional hyperthermia, and 20 received radiotherapy. Among 25 patients achieving complete remission, 18 (72%) received metronomic therapies. Three-year event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 11% (±8 confidence interval [CI] 95%) and 30% (±12 CI 95%), respectively, for all patients and 26.7% (±18.0 CI 95%) and 56.9% (±20.4 CI 95%) for 25 patients achieving remission. Extra-abdominal site, localized disease, no effusion or ascites only, absence of thrombosis, normal CRP, complete tumor resection, and chemotherapy with VAIA correlated with EFS in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, significant factors were no thrombosis and chemotherapy with VAIA. In patients achieving complete remission, metronomic therapy with cyclophosphamide/vinblastine correlated with prolonged time to relapse. Conclusion Pleural effusions, venous thrombosis, and CRP elevation were identified as potential risk factors. The VAIA scheme showed best outcome. Maintenance therapy should be investigated further. KW - C-reactive protein KW - desmoplastic small round cell tumor KW - maintenance therapy KW - soft tissue sarcoma KW - Trousseau's syndrome Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228444 VL - 8 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roth, Nicolas A1 - Doerfler, Inken A1 - Bässler, Claus A1 - Blaschke, Markus A1 - Bussler, Heinz A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Heideroth, Antje A1 - Thorn, Simon A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Müller, Jörg T1 - Decadal effects of landscape-wide enrichment of dead wood on saproxylic organisms in beech forests of different historic management intensity JF - Diversity and Distributions N2 - Aim: European temperate forests have lost dead wood and the associated biodiversity owing to intensive management over centuries. Nowadays, some of these forests are being restored by enrichment with dead wood, but mostly only at stand scales. Here, we investigated effects of a seminal dead-wood enrichment strategy on saproxylic organisms at the landscape scale. Location: Temperate European beech forest in southern Germany. Methods: In a before-after control-impact design, we compared assemblages and gamma diversities of saproxylic organisms in strictly protected old-growth forest areas (reserves) and historically moderately and intensively managed forest areas before and a decade after starting a landscape-wide strategy of dead-wood enrichment. Results: Before enrichment with dead wood, the gamma diversity of saproxylic organisms in historically intensively managed forest stands was significantly lower than in reserves and historically moderately managed forest stands; this difference disappeared after 10 years of dead-wood enrichment. The species composition of beetles in forest stands of the three historical management intensities differed before the enrichment strategy, but a decade thereafter, the species compositions of previously intensively logged and forest reserve plots were similar. However, the differences in fungal species composition between historical management categories before and after 10 years of enrichment persisted. Main conclusions: Our results demonstrate that intentional enrichment of dead wood at the landscape scale is a powerful tool for rapidly restoring saproxylic beetle communities and for restoring wood-inhabiting fungal communities, which need longer than a decade for complete restoration. We propose that a strategy of area-wide active restoration combined with some permanent strict refuges is a promising means of promoting the biodiversity of age-long intensively managed Central European beech forests. KW - dead-wood enrichment KW - integrative management strategy KW - land sharing KW - lowland beech forests KW - saproxylic organisms Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227061 VL - 25 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jungwirth, Gerhard A1 - Yu, Tao A1 - Moustafa, Mahmoud A1 - Rapp, Carmen A1 - Warta, Rolf A1 - Jungk, Christine A1 - Sahm, Felix A1 - Dettling, Steffen A1 - Zweckberger, Klaus A1 - Lamszus, Katrin A1 - Senft, Christian A1 - Loehr, Mario A1 - Keßler, Almuth F. A1 - Ketter, Ralf A1 - Westphal, Manfred A1 - Debus, Juergen A1 - von Deimling, Andreas A1 - Simon, Matthias A1 - Unterberg, Andreas A1 - Abdollahi, Amir A1 - Herold-Mende, Christel T1 - Identification of KIF11 as a Novel Target in Meningioma JF - Cancers N2 - Kinesins play an important role in many physiological functions including intracellular vesicle transport and mitosis. The emerging role of kinesins in different cancers led us to investigate the expression and functional role of kinesins in meningioma. Therefore, we re-analyzed our previous microarray dataset of benign, atypical, and anaplastic meningiomas (n = 62) and got evidence for differential expression of five kinesins (KIFC1, KIF4A, KIF11, KIF14 and KIF20A). Further validation in an extended study sample (n = 208) revealed a significant upregulation of these genes in WHO°I to °III meningiomas (WHO°I n = 61, WHO°II n = 88, and WHO°III n = 59), which was most pronounced in clinically more aggressive tumors of the same WHO grade. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed a WHO grade-associated upregulated protein expression in meningioma tissues. Furthermore, high mRNA expression levels of KIFC1, KIF11, KIF14 and KIF20A were associated with shorter progression-free survival. On a functional level, knockdown of kinesins in Ben-Men-1 cells and in the newly established anaplastic meningioma cell line NCH93 resulted in a significantly inhibited tumor cell proliferation upon siRNA-mediated downregulation of KIF11 in both cell lines by up to 95% and 71%, respectively. Taken together, in this study we were able to identify the prognostic and functional role of several kinesin family members of which KIF11 exhibits the most promising properties as a novel prognostic marker and therapeutic target, which may offer new treatment options for aggressive meningiomas. KW - meningioma KW - KIF KW - kinesin KW - KIF11 KW - NCH93 Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197402 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 11 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scherzad, Agmal A1 - Hagen, Rudolf A1 - Hackenberg, Stephan T1 - Current Understanding of Nasal Epithelial Cell Mis-Differentiation JF - Journal of Inflammation Research N2 - The functional role of the respiratory epithelium is to generate a physical barrier. In addition, the epithelium supports the innate and acquired immune system through various cytokines and chemokines. However, epithelial cells are also involved in the pathogenesis of various respiratory diseases, some of which are mediated by increased permeability of the mucosal membrane or disturbed mucociliary transport. In addition, it has been shown that epithelial cells are involved in the development of inflammatory respiratory diseases. The following review article focuses on the aspects of epithelial mis-differentiation, in particular with respect to nasal mucosal barrier function, epithelial immunogenicity, nasal epithelial-mesenchymal transition and nasal microbiome. KW - nasal mucosal barrier function KW - tight junction KW - epithelial-mesenchymal transition KW - microbiome Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228562 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scharnagl, Julian A1 - Kempf, Florian A1 - Schilling, Klaus T1 - Combining Distributed Consensus with Robust H-infinity-Control for Satellite Formation Flying JF - Electronics N2 - Control methods that guarantee stability in the presence of uncertainties are mandatory in space applications. Further, distributed control approaches are beneficial in terms of scalability and to achieve common goals, especially in multi-agent setups like formation control. This paper presents a combination of robust H-infinity control and distributed control using the consensus approach by deriving a distributed consensus-based generalized plant description that can be used in H-infinity synthesis. Special focus was set towards space applications, namely satellite formation flying. The presented results show the applicability of the developed distributed robust control method to a simple, though realistic space scenario, namely a spaceborne distributed telescope. By using this approach, an arbitrary number of satellites/agents can be controlled towards an arbitrary formation geometry. Because of the combination with robust H-infinity control, the presented method satisfies the high stability and robustness demands as found e.g., in space applications. KW - distributed control KW - robust control KW - consensus KW - H-infinity KW - satellite formation flying KW - formation control Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228431 VL - 8 IS - 319 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rydzek, Julian A1 - Nerreter, Thomas A1 - Peng, Haiyong A1 - Jutz, Sabrina A1 - Leitner, Judith A1 - Steinberger, Peter A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Rader, Christoph A1 - Hudecek, Michael T1 - Chimeric Antigen Receptor Library Screening Using a Novel NF-kappa B/NFAT Reporter Cell Platform JF - Molecular Therapy N2 - Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell immunotherapy is under intense preclinical and clinical investigation, and it involves a rapidly increasing portfolio of novel target antigens and CAR designs. We established a platform that enables rapid and high-throughput CAR-screening campaigns with reporter cells derived from the T cell lymphoma line Jurkat. Reporter cells were equipped with nuclear factor kappa B (NF kappa B) and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) reporter genes that generate a duplex output of enhanced CFP (ECFP) and EGFP, respectively. As a proof of concept, we modified reporter cells with CD19-specific and ROR1-specific CARs, and we detected high-level reporter signals that allowed distinguishing functional from non-functional CAR constructs. The reporter data were highly reproducible, and the time required for completing each testing campaign was substantially shorter with reporter cells (6 days) compared to primary CAR-T cells (21 days). We challenged the reporter platform to a large-scale screening campaign on a ROR1-CAR library, and we showed that reporter cells retrieved a functional CAR variant that was present with a frequency of only 6 in 1.05 x 10(6). The data illustrate the potential to implement this reporter platform into the preclinical development path of novel CAR-T cell products and to inform and accelerate the selection of lead CAR candidates for clinical translation. KW - NF-κB/NFAT reporter cells KW - chimeric antigen receptor KW - library screening KW - cancer immunotherapy KW - ROR1 Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227193 VL - 27 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raheem, Dotsha J. A1 - Tawfike, Ahmed F. A1 - Abdelmohsen, Usama R. A1 - Edrada-Ebel, RuAngelie A1 - Fitzsimmons-Thoss, Vera T1 - Application of metabolomics and molecular networking in investigating the chemical profile and antitrypanosomal activity of British bluebells (\(Hyacinthoides\) \(non-scripta\)) JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Bulb, leaf, scape and flower samples of British bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) were collected regularly for one growth period. Methanolic extracts of freeze-dried and ground samples showed antitrypanosomal activity, giving more than 50% inhibition, for 20 out of 41 samples. High-resolution mass spectrometry was used in the dereplication of the methanolic extracts of the different plant parts. The results revealed differences in the chemical profile with bulb samples being distinctly different from all aerial parts. High molecular weight metabolites were more abundant in the flowers, shoots and leaves compared to smaller molecular weight ones in the bulbs. The anti-trypanosomal activity of the extracts was linked to the accumulation of high molecular weight compounds, which were matched with saponin glycosides, while triterpenoids and steroids occurred in the inactive extracts. Dereplication studies were employed to identify the significant metabolites via chemotaxonomic filtration and considering their previously reported bioactivities. Molecular networking was implemented to look for similarities in fragmentation patterns between the isolated saponin glycoside at m/z 1445.64 [M + formic-H](-) equivalent to C64H104O33 and the putatively found active metabolite at m/z 1283.58 [M + formic-H](-) corresponding to scillanoside L-1. A combination of metabolomics and bioactivity-guided approaches resulted in the isolation of a norlanostane-type saponin glycoside with antitrypanosoma I activity of 98.9% inhibition at 20 mu M. KW - Drug discovery KW - Metabolomics Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224935 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ries, Lena K. A1 - Sander, Bodo A1 - Deol, Kirandeep K. A1 - Letzelter, Marie-Annick A1 - Strieter, Eric Robert A1 - Lorenz, Sonja T1 - Analysis of ubiquitin recognition by the HECT ligase E6AP provides insight into its linkage specificity JF - Journal of Biological Chemistry N2 - Deregulation of the HECT-type ubiquitin ligase E6AP (UBE3A) is implicated in human papilloma virus-induced cervical tumorigenesis and several neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet the structural underpinnings of activity and specificity in this crucial ligase are incompletely understood. Here, we unravel the determinants of ubiquitin recognition by the catalytic domain of E6AP and assign them to particular steps in the catalytic cycle. We identify a functionally critical interface that is specifically required during the initial formation of a thioester-linked intermediate between the C terminus of ubiquitin and the ligase-active site. This interface resembles the one utilized by NEDD4-type enzymes, indicating that it is widely conserved across HECT ligases, independent of their linkage specificities. Moreover, we uncover surface regions in ubiquitin and E6AP, both in the N- and C-terminal portions of the catalytic domain, that are important for the subsequent reaction step of isopeptide bond formation between two ubiquitin molecules. We decipher key elements of linkage specificity, including the C-terminal tail of E6AP and a hydrophilic surface region of ubiquitin in proximity to the acceptor site Lys-48. Intriguingly, mutation of Glu-51, a single residue within this region, permits formation of alternative chain types, thus pointing to a key role of ubiquitin in conferring linkage specificity to E6AP. We speculate that substrate-assisted catalysis, as described previously for certain RING-associated ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, constitutes a common principle during linkage-specific ubiquitin chain assembly by diverse classes of ubiquitination enzymes, including HECT ligases. KW - ubiquitin KW - ubiquitin ligase KW - ubiquitylation (ubiquitination) KW - post-translational modification KW - enzyme mechanism Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226207 VL - 294 IS - 15 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roy, Denis Claude A1 - Lachance, Sylvie A1 - Cohen, Sandra A1 - Delisle, Jean-Sébastien A1 - Kiss, Thomas A1 - Sauvageau, Guy A1 - Busque, Lambert A1 - Ahmad, Imran A1 - Bernard, Lea A1 - Bambace, Nadia A1 - Boumédine, Radia S. A1 - Guertin, Marie-Claude A1 - Rezvani, Katayoun A1 - Mielke, Stephan A1 - Perreault, Claude A1 - Roy, Jean T1 - Allodepleted T-cell immunotherapy after haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation without severe acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in the absence of GVHD prophylaxis JF - British Journal of Haematology N2 - Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a major cause of transplant-related mortality (TRM) after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and presents a challenge in haploidentical HSCT. GVHD may be prevented by ex vivo graft T-cell depletion or in vivo depletion of proliferating lymphocytes. However, both approaches pose significant risks, particularly infections and relapse, compromising survival. A photodepletion strategy to eliminate alloreactive T cells from mismatched donor lymphocyte infusions (enabling administration without immunosuppression), was used to develop ATIR101, an adjunctive therapy for use after haploidentical HSCT. In this phase I dose-finding study, 19 adults (median age: 54 years) with high-risk haematological malignancies were treated with T-cell-depleted human leucocyte antigen-haploidentical myeloablative HSCT followed by ATIR101 at doses of 1 x 10(4)-5 x 10(6) CD3(+) cells/kg (median 31 days post-transplant). No patient received post-transplant immunosuppression or developed grade III/IV acute GVHD, demonstrating the feasibility of ATIR101 infusion for evaluation in two subsequent phase 2 studies. Additionally, we report long-term follow -up of patients treated with ATIR101 in this study. At 1 year, all 9 patients receiving doses of 0 center dot 3-2 x 10(6) CD3(+) cells/kg ATIR101 remained free of serious infections and after more than 8 years, TRM was 0%, relapse-related mortality was 33% and overall survival was 67% in these patients. KW - haematopoietic stem cell KW - stem cell transplantation KW - graft-versus-host-disease KW - cell therapy and immunotherapy Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227075 VL - 186 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rullmann, Michael A1 - Preusser, Sven A1 - Poppitz, Sindy A1 - Heba, Stefanie A1 - Gousias, Konstantinos A1 - Hoyer, Jana A1 - Schütz, Tatjana A1 - Dietrich, Arne A1 - Müller, Karsten A1 - Hankir, Mohammed K. A1 - Pleger, Burkhard T1 - Adiposity Related Brain Plasticity Induced by Bariatric Surgery JF - Froniers in Human Neuroscience N2 - Previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies revealed structural-functional brain reorganization 12 months after gastric-bypass surgery, encompassing cortical and subcortical regions of all brain lobes as well as the cerebellum. Changes in the mean of cluster-wise gray/white matter density (GMD/WMD) were correlated with the individual loss of body mass index (BMI), rendering the BMI a potential marker of widespread surgery-induced brain plasticity. Here, we investigated voxel-by-voxel associations between surgery-induced changes in adiposity, metabolism and inflammation and markers of functional and structural neural plasticity. We re-visited the data of patients who underwent functional and structural MRI, 6 months (n = 27) and 12 months after surgery (n = 22), and computed voxel-wise regression analyses. Only the surgery-induced weight loss was significantly associated with brain plasticity, and this only for GMD changes. After 6 months, weight loss overlapped with altered GMD in the hypothalamus, the brain's homeostatic control site, the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, assumed to host reward and gustatory processes, as well as abdominal representations in somatosensory cortex. After 12 months, weight loss scaled with GMD changes in right cerebellar lobule VII, involved in language-related/cognitive processes, and, by trend, with the striatum, assumed to underpin (food) reward. These findings suggest time-dependent and weight-loss related gray matter plasticity in brain regions involved in the control of eating, sensory processing and cognitive functioning. KW - adiposity KW - magnetic resonance imaging KW - brain plasticity KW - bariatric surgery KW - gastric-bypass surgery Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227168 VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rayner, Christopher A1 - Coleman, Jonathan R. I. A1 - Purves, Kirstin L. A1 - Hodsoll, John A1 - Goldsmith, Kimberley A1 - Alpers, Georg W. A1 - Andersson, Evelyn A1 - Arolt, Volker A1 - Boberg, Julia A1 - Bögels, Susan A1 - Creswell, Cathy A1 - Cooper, Peter A1 - Curtis, Charles A1 - Deckert, Jürgen A1 - Domschke, Katharina A1 - El Alaoui, Samir A1 - Fehm, Lydia A1 - Fydrich, Thomas A1 - Gerlach, Alexander L. A1 - Grocholewski, Anja A1 - Hahlweg, Kurt A1 - Hamm, Alfons A1 - Hedman, Erik A1 - Heiervang, Einar R. A1 - Hudson, Jennifer L. A1 - Jöhren, Peter A1 - Keers, Robert A1 - Kircher, Tilo A1 - Lang, Thomas A1 - Lavebratt, Catharina A1 - Lee, Sang-hyuck A1 - Lester, Kathryn J. A1 - Lindefors, Nils A1 - Margraf, Jürgen A1 - Nauta, Maaike A1 - Pané-Farré, Christiane A. A1 - Pauli, Paul A1 - Rapee, Ronald M. A1 - Reif, Andreas A1 - Rief, Winfried A1 - Roberts, Susanna A1 - Schalling, Martin A1 - Schneider, Silvia A1 - Silverman, Wendy K. A1 - Ströhle, Andreas A1 - Teismann, Tobias A1 - Thastum, Mikael A1 - Wannemüller, Andre A1 - Weber, Heike A1 - Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich A1 - Wolf, Christiane A1 - Rück, Christian A1 - Breen, Gerome A1 - Eley, Thalia C. T1 - A genome-wide association meta-analysis of prognostic outcomes following cognitive behavioural therapy in individuals with anxiety and depressive disorders JF - Translational Psychiatry N2 - Major depressive disorder and the anxiety disorders are highly prevalent, disabling and moderately heritable. Depression and anxiety are also highly comorbid and have a strong genetic correlation (r(g) approximate to 1). Cognitive behavioural therapy is a leading evidence-based treatment but has variable outcomes. Currently, there are no strong predictors of outcome. Therapygenetics research aims to identify genetic predictors of prognosis following therapy. We performed genome-wide association meta-analyses of symptoms following cognitive behavioural therapy in adults with anxiety disorders (n = 972), adults with major depressive disorder (n = 832) and children with anxiety disorders (n = 920; meta-analysis n = 2724). We (h(SNP)(2)) and polygenic scoring was used to examine genetic associations between therapy outcomes and psychopathology, personality and estimated the variance in therapy outcomes that could be explained by common genetic variants learning. No single nucleotide polymorphisms were strongly associated with treatment outcomes. No significant estimate of h(SNP)(2) could be obtained, suggesting the heritability of therapy outcome is smaller than our analysis was powered to detect. Polygenic scoring failed to detect genetic overlap between therapy outcome and psychopathology, personality or learning. This study is the largest therapygenetics study to date. Results are consistent with previous, similarly powered genome-wide association studies of complex traits. KW - Human behaviour KW - Personalized medicine KW - Prognostic markers KW - Psychiatric disorders Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-225048 VL - 9 IS - 150 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kotseva, Kornelia A1 - De Backer, Guy A1 - De Bacquer, Dirk A1 - Rydén, Lars A1 - Hoes, Arno A1 - Grobbee, Diederick A1 - Maggioni, Aldo A1 - Marques-Vidal, Pedro A1 - Jennings, Catriona A1 - Abreu, Ana A1 - Aguiar, Carlos A1 - Badariene, Jolita A1 - Bruthans, Jan A1 - Castro Conde, Almudena A1 - Cifkova, Renata A1 - Crowley, Jim A1 - Davletov, Kairat A1 - Deckers, Jaap A1 - De Smedt, Delphine A1 - De Sutter, Johan A1 - Dilic, Mirza A1 - Dolzhenko, Marina A1 - Dzerve, Vilnis A1 - Erglis, Andrejs A1 - Fras, Zlatko A1 - Gaita, Dan A1 - Gotcheva, Nina A1 - Heuschmann, Peter A1 - Hasan-Ali, Hosam A1 - Jankowski, Piotr A1 - Lalic, Nebojsa A1 - Lehto, Seppo A1 - Lovic, Dragan A1 - Mancas, Silvia A1 - Mellbin, Linda A1 - Milicic, Davor A1 - Mirrakhimov, Erkin A1 - Oganov, Rafael A1 - Pogosova, Nana A1 - Reiner, Zeljko A1 - Stöerk, Stefan A1 - Tokgözoğlu, Lâle A1 - Tsioufis, Costas A1 - Vulic, Dusko A1 - Wood, David T1 - Lifestyle and impact on cardiovascular risk factor control in coronary patients across 27 countries: Results from the European Society of Cardiology ESC-EORP EUROASPIRE V registry JF - European Journal of Preventive Cardiology N2 - Aims The aim of this study was to determine whether the Joint European Societies guidelines on secondary cardiovascular prevention are followed in everyday practice. Design A cross-sectional ESC-EORP survey (EUROASPIRE V) at 131 centres in 81 regions in 27 countries. Methods Patients (<80 years old) with verified coronary artery events or interventions were interviewed and examined ≥6 months later. Results A total of 8261 patients (females 26%) were interviewed. Nineteen per cent smoked and 55% of them were persistent smokers, 38% were obese (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2), 59% were centrally obese (waist circumference: men ≥102 cm; women ≥88 cm) while 66% were physically active <30 min 5 times/week. Forty-two per cent had a blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg (≥140/85 if diabetic), 71% had low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥1.8 mmol/L (≥70 mg/dL) and 29% reported having diabetes. Cardioprotective medication was: anti-platelets 93%, beta-blockers 81%, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers 75% and statins 80%. Conclusion A large majority of coronary patients have unhealthy lifestyles in terms of smoking, diet and sedentary behaviour, which adversely impacts major cardiovascular risk factors. A majority did not achieve their blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and glucose targets. Cardiovascular prevention requires modern preventive cardiology programmes delivered by interdisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals addressing all aspects of lifestyle and risk factor management, in order to reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events. KW - EUROASPIRE KW - lifestyle KW - cardiovascular risk factors KW - secondary prevention KW - guidelines Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-205526 SN - 2047-4873 SN - 2047-4881 N1 - This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively. VL - 26 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Richter, Gesa M. A1 - Kruppa, Jochen A1 - Munz, Matthias A1 - Wiehe, Ricarda A1 - Häsler, Robert A1 - Franke, Andre A1 - Martins, Orlando A1 - Jockel-Schneider, Yvonne A1 - Bruckmann, Corinna A1 - Dommisch, Henrik A1 - Schaefer, Arne S. T1 - A combined epigenome- and transcriptome-wide association study of the oral masticatory mucosa assigns CYP1B1 a central role for epithelial health in smokers JF - Clinical Epigenetics N2 - Background The oral mucosa has an important role in maintaining barrier integrity at the gateway to the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. Smoking is a strong environmental risk factor for the common oral inflammatory disease periodontitis and oral cancer. Cigarette smoke affects gene methylation and expression in various tissues. This is the first epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) that aimed to identify biologically active methylation marks of the oral masticatory mucosa that are associated with smoking. Results Ex vivo biopsies of 18 current smokers and 21 never smokers were analysed with the Infinium Methylation EPICBeadChip and combined with whole transcriptome RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq; 16 mio reads per sample) of the same samples. We analysed the associations of CpG methylation values with cigarette smoking and smoke pack year (SPY) levels in an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Nine CpGs were significantly associated with smoking status, with three CpGs mapping to the genetic region of CYP1B1 (cytochrome P450 family 1 subfamily B member 1;best p=5.5x10(-8)) and two mapping to AHRR (aryl-hydrocarbon receptor repressor; best p=5.9x10(-9)). In the SPY analysis, 61 CpG sites at 52 loci showed significant associations of the quantity of smoking with changes in methylation values. Here, the most significant association located to the gene CYP1B1, with p=4.0x10(-10). RNA-Seq data showed significantly increased expression of CYP1B1 in smokers compared to non-smokers (p=2.2x10(-14)), together with 13 significantly upregulated transcripts. Six transcripts were significantly downregulated. No differential expression was observed for AHRR. In vitro studies with gingival fibroblasts showed that cigarette smoke extract directly upregulated the expression of CYP1B1. Conclusion This study validated the established role of CYP1B1 and AHRR in xenobiotic metabolism of tobacco smoke and highlights the importance of epigenetic regulation for these genes. For the first time, we give evidence of this role for the oral masticatory mucosa. KW - EWAS KW - Methylation KW - Expression KW - Masticatory mucosa KW - CYP1B1 KW - AHRR KW - Cytochrome P 450 pathway KW - OSCC KW - Smoking Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226175 VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sailer, Clara Odilia A1 - Wiedemann, Sophia Julia A1 - Strauss, Konrad A1 - Schnyder, Ingeborg A1 - Fenske, Wiebke Kristin A1 - Christ-Crain, Mirjam T1 - Markers of systemic inflammation in response to osmotic stimulus in healthy volunteers JF - Endocrine Connections N2 - Osmotic stimulus or stress results in vasopressin release. Animal and human in vitro studies have shown that inflammatory parameters, such as interle ukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), increase in parallel in the central nervous system and bronchial, corneal or intestinal epithelial cell lines in response to osmotic stimulus. Whether osmotic stimulus directly causes a systemic inflammatory response in humans is unknown. We therefore investigated the influence of osmotic stimulus on circulatory markers of systemic inflammation in healthy volunteers. In this prospective cohort study, 44 healthy volunteers underwent a standardized test protocol with an osmotic stimulus leading into the hyperosmotic/hypernatremic range (serum sodium >= 150 mmol/L) by hypertonic saline infusion. Copeptin - a marker indicating vasopressin activity - serum sodium and osmolality, plasma IL-8 and TNF-alpha were measured at baseline and directly after osmotic stimulus. Median (range) serum sodium increased from 141 mmol/L (136, 147) to 151 mmol/L (145, 154) (P < 0.01), serum osmolality increased from 295 mmol/L (281, 306) to 315 mmol/L (304, 325) (P < 0.01). Median (range) copeptin increased from 4.3 pg/L (1.1, 21.4) to 28.8 pg/L (19.9, 43.4) (P < 0.01). Median (range) IL-8 levels showed a trend to decrease from 0.79 pg/mL (0.37, 1.6) to 0.7 pg/mL (0.4, 1.9) (P < 0.09) and TNF-alpha levels decreased from 0.53 pg/mL (0.11, 1.1) to 0.45 pg/mL (0.1 2, 0.97) (P < 0.036). Contrary to data obtained in vitro, circulating proinflammatory cytokines tend to or decrease in human plasma after osmotic stimulus. In this study, osmotic stimulus does not increase circulating markers of systemic inflammation. KW - TNF-alpha KW - interleukin-8 KW - interleukin-6 KW - copeptin KW - hyperosmolality KW - Hyperosmotic Stress KW - Interleukin-6 KW - Expression KW - Protein KW - Neurons Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227204 VL - 8 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kühnisch, Jirko A1 - Herbst, Christopher A1 - Al‐Wakeel‐Marquard, Nadya A1 - Dartsch, Josephine A1 - Holtgrewe, Manuel A1 - Baban, Anwar A1 - Mearini, Giulia A1 - Hardt, Juliane A1 - Kolokotronis, Konstantinos A1 - Gerull, Brenda A1 - Carrier, Lucie A1 - Beule, Dieter A1 - Schubert, Stephan A1 - Messroghli, Daniel A1 - Degener, Franziska A1 - Berger, Felix A1 - Klaassen, Sabine T1 - Targeted panel sequencing in pediatric primary cardiomyopathy supports a critical role of TNNI3 JF - Clinical Genetics N2 - The underlying genetic mechanisms and early pathological events of children with primary cardiomyopathy (CMP) are insufficiently characterized. In this study, we aimed to characterize the mutational spectrum of primary CMP in a large cohort of patients ≤18 years referred to a tertiary center. Eighty unrelated index patients with pediatric primary CMP underwent genetic testing with a panel‐based next‐generation sequencing approach of 89 genes. At least one pathogenic or probably pathogenic variant was identified in 30/80 (38%) index patients. In all CMP subgroups, patients carried most frequently variants of interest in sarcomere genes suggesting them as a major contributor in pediatric primary CMP. In MYH7, MYBPC3, and TNNI3, we identified 18 pathogenic/probably pathogenic variants (MYH7 n = 7, MYBPC3 n = 6, TNNI3 n = 5, including one homozygous (TNNI3 c.24+2T>A) truncating variant. Protein and transcript level analysis on heart biopsies from individuals with homozygous mutation of TNNI3 revealed that the TNNI3 protein is absent and associated with upregulation of the fetal isoform TNNI1. The present study further supports the clinical importance of sarcomeric mutation—not only in adult—but also in pediatric primary CMP. TNNI3 is the third most important disease gene in this cohort and complete loss of TNNI3 leads to severe pediatric CMP. KW - cardiomyopathy KW - genetics KW - pediatrics KW - sarcomere KW - TNNI3 Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-213958 VL - 96 IS - 6 SP - 549 EP - 559 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Boch, Tobias A1 - Spiess, Birgit A1 - Heinz, Werner A1 - Cornely, Oliver A. A1 - Schwerdtfeger, Rainer A1 - Hahn, Joachim A1 - Krause, Stefan W. A1 - Duerken, Matthias A1 - Bertz, Hartmut A1 - Reuter, Stefan A1 - Kiehl, Michael A1 - Claus, Bernd A1 - Deckert, Peter Markus A1 - Hofmann, Wolf‐Karsten A1 - Buchheidt, Dieter A1 - Reinwald, Mark T1 - Aspergillus specific nested PCR from the site of infection is superior to testing concurrent blood samples in immunocompromised patients with suspected invasive aspergillosis JF - Mycoses N2 - Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a severe complication in immunocompromised patients. Early diagnosis is crucial to decrease its high mortality, yet the diagnostic gold standard (histopathology and culture) is time‐consuming and cannot offer early confirmation of IA. Detection of IA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) shows promising potential. Various studies have analysed its diagnostic performance in different clinical settings, especially addressing optimal specimen selection. However, direct comparison of different types of specimens in individual patients though essential, is rarely reported. We systematically assessed the diagnostic performance of an Aspergillus‐specific nested PCR by investigating specimens from the site of infection and comparing it with concurrent blood samples in individual patients (pts) with IA. In a retrospective multicenter analysis PCR was performed on clinical specimens (n = 138) of immunocompromised high‐risk pts (n = 133) from the site of infection together with concurrent blood samples. 38 pts were classified as proven/probable, 67 as possible and 28 as no IA according to 2008 European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mycoses Study Group consensus definitions. A considerably superior performance of PCR from the site of infection was observed particularly in pts during antifungal prophylaxis (AFP)/antifungal therapy (AFT). Besides a specificity of 85%, sensitivity varied markedly in BAL (64%), CSF (100%), tissue samples (67%) as opposed to concurrent blood samples (8%). Our results further emphasise the need for investigating clinical samples from the site of infection in case of suspected IA to further establish or rule out the diagnosis. KW - antifungal KW - aspergillosis KW - BAL KW - blood KW - cerebrospinal fluid KW - comparison KW - PCR KW - Aspergillus Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-214065 VL - 62 IS - 11 SP - 1035 EP - 1042 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fiedler, David A1 - Hirsch, Daniela A1 - El Hajj, Nady A1 - Yang, Howard H. A1 - Hu, Yue A1 - Sticht, Carsten A1 - Nanda, Indrajit A1 - Belle, Sebastian A1 - Rueschoff, Josef A1 - Lee, Maxwell P. A1 - Ried, Thomas A1 - Haaf, Thomas A1 - Gaiser, Timo T1 - Genome‐wide DNA methylation analysis of colorectal adenomas with and without recurrence reveals an association between cytosine‐phosphate‐guanine methylation and histological subtypes JF - Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer N2 - Aberrant methylation of DNA is supposed to be a major and early driver of colonic adenoma development, which may result in colorectal cancer (CRC). Although gene methylation assays are used already for CRC screening, differential epigenetic alterations of recurring and nonrecurring colorectal adenomas have yet not been systematically investigated. Here, we collected a sample set of formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded colorectal low‐grade adenomas (n = 72) consisting of primary adenomas without and with recurrence (n = 59), recurrent adenomas (n = 10), and normal mucosa specimens (n = 3). We aimed to unveil differentially methylated CpG positions (DMPs) across the methylome comparing not only primary adenomas without recurrence vs primary adenomas with recurrence but also primary adenomas vs recurrent adenomas using the Illumina Human Methylation 450K BeadChip array. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering exhibited a significant association of methylation patterns with histological adenoma subtypes. No significant DMPs were identified comparing primary adenomas with and without recurrence. Despite that, a total of 5094 DMPs (false discovery rate <0.05; fold change >10%) were identified in the comparisons of recurrent adenomas vs primary adenomas with recurrence (674; 98% hypermethylated), recurrent adenomas vs primary adenomas with and without recurrence (241; 99% hypermethylated) and colorectal adenomas vs normal mucosa (4179; 46% hypermethylated). DMPs in cytosine‐phosphate‐guanine (CpG) islands were frequently hypermethylated, whereas open sea‐ and shelf‐regions exhibited hypomethylation. Gene ontology analysis revealed enrichment of genes associated with the immune system, inflammatory processes, and cancer pathways. In conclusion, our methylation data could assist in establishing a more robust and reproducible histological adenoma classification, which is a prerequisite for improving surveillance guidelines. KW - adenoma KW - DNA methylation KW - epigenetics KW - histological subtype KW - recurrence Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-212676 VL - 58 IS - 11 SP - 783 EP - 797 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wu, Hao A1 - Reimann, Sabine A1 - Siddiqui, Sophiya A1 - Haag, Rainer A1 - Siegmund, Britta A1 - Dernedde, Jens A1 - Glauben, Rainer T1 - dPGS Regulates the Phenotype of Macrophages via Metabolic Switching JF - Macromolecular Bioscience N2 - The synthetic compound dendritic polyglycerol sulfate (dPGS) is a pleiotropic acting molecule but shows a high binding affinity to immunological active molecules as L‐/P‐selectin or complement proteins leading to well described anti‐inflammatory properties in various mouse models. In order to make a comprehensive evaluation of the direct effect on the innate immune system, macrophage polarization is analyzed in the presence of dPGS on a phenotypic but also metabolic level. dPGS administered macrophages show a significant increase of MCP1 production paralleled by a reduction of IL‐10 secretion. Metabolic analysis reveals that dPGS could potently enhance the glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration in M0 macrophages as well as decrease the mitochondrial respiration of M2 macrophages. In summary the data indicate that dPGS polarizes macrophages into a pro‐inflammatory phenotype in a metabolic pathway‐dependent manner. KW - infection KW - macrophage polarization KW - MCP1 KW - metabolic switch KW - polyglycerol sulfates Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-212711 VL - 19 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jochmann, Svenja A1 - Elkenani, Manar A1 - Mohamed, Belal A. A1 - Buchholz, Eric A1 - Lbik, Dawid A1 - Binder, Lutz A1 - Lorenz, Kristina A1 - Shah, Ajay M. A1 - Hasenfuß, Gerd A1 - Toischer, Karl A1 - Schnelle, Moritz T1 - Assessing the role of extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 1 and 2 in volume overload‐induced cardiac remodelling JF - ESC Heart Failure N2 - Aims Volume overload (VO) and pressure overload (PO) induce differential cardiac remodelling responses including distinct signalling pathways. Extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), key signalling components in the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, modulate cardiac remodelling during pressure overload (PO). This study aimed to assess their role in VO‐induced cardiac remodelling as this was unknown. Methods and results Aortocaval fistula (Shunt) surgery was performed in mice to induce cardiac VO. Two weeks of Shunt caused a significant reduction of cardiac ERK1/2 activation in wild type (WT) mice as indicated by decreased phosphorylation of the TEY (Thr‐Glu‐Tyr) motif (−28% as compared with Sham controls, P < 0.05). Phosphorylation of other MAPKs was unaffected. For further assessment, transgenic mice with cardiomyocyte‐specific ERK2 overexpression (ERK2tg) were studied. At baseline, cardiac ERK1/2 phosphorylation in ERK2tg mice remained unchanged compared with WT littermates, and no overt cardiac phenotype was observed; however, cardiac expression of the atrial natriuretic peptide was increased on messenger RNA (3.6‐fold, P < 0.05) and protein level (3.1‐fold, P < 0.05). Following Shunt, left ventricular dilation and hypertrophy were similar in ERK2tg mice and WT littermates. Left ventricular function was maintained, and changes in gene expression indicated reactivation of the foetal gene program in both genotypes. No differences in cardiac fibrosis and kinase activation was found amongst all experimental groups, whereas apoptosis was similarly increased through Shunt in ERK2tg and WT mice. Conclusions VO‐induced eccentric hypertrophy is associated with reduced cardiac ERK1/2 activation in vivo. Cardiomyocyte‐specific overexpression of ERK2, however, does not alter cardiac remodelling during VO. Future studies need to define the pathophysiological relevance of decreased ERK1/2 signalling during VO. KW - ERK1/2 KW - volume overload KW - aortocaval fistula model KW - cardiac remodelling KW - eccentric hypertrophy Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-212735 VL - 6 IS - 5 SP - 1015 EP - 1026 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gonzalez‐Escamilla, Gabriel A1 - Muthuraman, Muthuraman A1 - Reich, Martin M. A1 - Koirala, Nabin A1 - Riedel, Christian A1 - Glaser, Martin A1 - Lange, Florian A1 - Deuschl, Günther A1 - Volkmann, Jens A1 - Groppa, Sergiu T1 - Cortical network fingerprints predict deep brain stimulation outcome in dystonia JF - Movement Disorders N2 - Background Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective evidence‐based therapy for dystonia. However, no unequivocal predictors of therapy responses exist. We investigated whether patients optimally responding to DBS present distinct brain network organization and structural patterns. Methods From a German multicenter cohort of 82 dystonia patients with segmental and generalized dystonia who received DBS implantation in the globus pallidus internus, we classified patients based on the clinical response 3 years after DBS. Patients were assigned to the superior‐outcome group or moderate‐outcome group, depending on whether they had above or below 70% motor improvement, respectively. Fifty‐one patients met MRI‐quality and treatment response requirements (mean age, 51.3 ± 13.2 years; 25 female) and were included in further analysis. From preoperative MRI we assessed cortical thickness and structural covariance, which were then fed into network analysis using graph theory. We designed a support vector machine to classify subjects for the clinical response based on individual gray‐matter fingerprints. Results The moderate‐outcome group showed cortical atrophy mainly in the sensorimotor and visuomotor areas and disturbed network topology in these regions. The structural integrity of the cortical mantle explained about 45% of the DBS stimulation amplitude for optimal response in individual subjects. Classification analyses achieved up to 88% of accuracy using individual gray‐matter atrophy patterns to predict DBS outcomes. Conclusions The analysis of cortical integrity, informed by group‐level network properties, could be developed into independent predictors to identify dystonia patients who benefit from DBS. KW - brain networks KW - clinical outcome KW - deep brain stimulation KW - dystonia Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-213532 VL - 34 IS - 10 SP - 1536 EP - 1545 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wintzheimer, Susanne A1 - Oppmann, Maximilian A1 - Dold, Martin A1 - Pannek, Carolin A1 - Bauersfeld, Marie‐Luise A1 - Henfling, Michael A1 - Trupp, Sabine A1 - Schug, Benedikt A1 - Mandel, Karl T1 - Indicator Supraparticles for Smart Gasochromic Sensor Surfaces Reacting Ultrafast and Highly Sensitive JF - Particle & Particle Systems Characterization N2 - The detection of toxic gases, such as NH\(_{3}\) and CO, in the environment is of high interest in chemical, electronic, and automotive industry as even small amounts can display a health risk for workers. Sensors for the real‐time monitoring of these gases should be simple, robust, reversible, highly sensitive, inexpensive and show a fast response. The indicator supraparticles presented herein can fulfill all of these requirements. They consist of silica nanoparticles, which are assembled to supraparticles upon spray‐drying. Sensing molecules such as Reichardt's dye and a binuclear rhodium complex are loaded onto the microparticles to target NH\(_{3}\) and CO detection, respectively. The spray‐drying technique affords high flexibility in primary nanoparticle size selection and thus, easy adjustment of the porosity and specific surface area of the obtained micrometer‐sized supraparticles. This ultimately enables the fine‐tuning of the sensor sensitivity and response. For the application of the indicator supraparticles in a gas detection device, they can be immobilized on a coating. Due to their microscale size, they are large enough to poke out of thin coating layers, thus guaranteeing their gas accessibility, while being small enough to be applicable to flexible substrates. KW - CO sensing KW - NH\(_{3}\) KW - sensor supports KW - silica supraparticles KW - smart surfaces Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-213671 VL - 36 IS - 10 ER -