TY - JOUR A1 - Mitchell, Jonathan S. A1 - Li, Ni A1 - Weinhold, Niels A1 - Försti, Asta A1 - Ali, Mina A1 - van Duin, Mark A1 - Thorleifsson, Gudmar A1 - Johnson, David C. A1 - Chen, Bowang A1 - Halvarsson, Britt-Marie A1 - Gudbjartsson, Daniel F. A1 - Kuiper, Rowan A1 - Stephens, Owen W. A1 - Bertsch, Uta A1 - Broderick, Peter A1 - Campo, Chiara A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Gregory, Walter A. A1 - Gullberg, Urban A1 - Henrion, Marc A1 - Hillengass, Jens A1 - Hoffmann, Per A1 - Jackson, Graham H. A1 - Johnsson, Ellinor A1 - Jöud, Magnus A1 - Kristinsson, Sigurdur Y. A1 - Lenhoff, Stig A1 - Lenive, Oleg A1 - Mellqvist, Ulf-Henrik A1 - Migliorini, Gabriele A1 - Nahi, Hareth A1 - Nelander, Sven A1 - Nickel, Jolanta A1 - Nöthen, Markus M. A1 - Rafnar, Thorunn A1 - Ross, Fiona M. A1 - da Silva Filho, Miguel Inacio A1 - Swaminathan, Bhairavi A1 - Thomsen, Hauke A1 - Turesson, Ingemar A1 - Vangsted, Annette A1 - Vogel, Ulla A1 - Waage, Anders A1 - Walker, Brian A. A1 - Wihlborg, Anna-Karin A1 - Broyl, Annemiek A1 - Davies, Faith E. A1 - Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur A1 - Langer, Christian A1 - Hansson, Markus A1 - Kaiser, Martin A1 - Sonneveld, Pieter A1 - Stefansson, Kari A1 - Morgan, Gareth J. A1 - Goldschmidt, Hartmut A1 - Hemminki, Kari A1 - Nilsson, Björn A1 - Houlston, Richard S. T1 - Genome-wide association study identifies multiple susceptibility loci for multiple myeloma JF - Nature Communications N2 - Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy with a significant heritable basis. Genome-wide association studies have transformed our understanding of MM predisposition, but individual studies have had limited power to discover risk loci. Here we perform a meta-analysis of these GWAS, add a new GWAS and perform replication analyses resulting in 9,866 cases and 239,188 controls. We confirm all nine known risk loci and discover eight new loci at 6p22.3 (rs34229995, P=1.31 × 10−8), 6q21 (rs9372120, P=9.09 × 10−15), 7q36.1 (rs7781265, P=9.71 × 10−9), 8q24.21 (rs1948915, P=4.20 × 10−11), 9p21.3 (rs2811710, P=1.72 × 10−13), 10p12.1 (rs2790457, P=1.77 × 10−8), 16q23.1 (rs7193541, P=5.00 × 10−12) and 20q13.13 (rs6066835, P=1.36 × 10−13), which localize in or near to JARID2, ATG5, SMARCD3, CCAT1, CDKN2A, WAC, RFWD3 and PREX1. These findings provide additional support for a polygenic model of MM and insight into the biological basis of tumour development. KW - Cancer genetics KW - Genome-wide association studies KW - Myeloma Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165983 VL - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Van Haute, Lindsey A1 - Dietmann, Sabine A1 - Kremer, Laura A1 - Hussain, Shobbir A1 - Pearce, Sarah F. A1 - Powell, Christopher A. A1 - Rorbach, Joanna A1 - Lantaff, Rebecca A1 - Blanco, Sandra A1 - Sauer, Sascha A1 - Kotzaeridou, Urania A1 - Hoffmann, Georg F. A1 - Memari, Yasin A1 - Kolb-Kokocinski, Anja A1 - Durbin, Richard A1 - Mayr, Johannes A. A1 - Frye, Michaela A1 - Prokisch, Holger A1 - Minczuk, Michal T1 - Deficient methylation and formylation of mt-tRNA(Met) wobble cytosine in a patient carrying mutations in NSUN3 JF - Nature Communications N2 - Epitranscriptome modifications are required for structure and function of RNA and defects in these pathways have been associated with human disease. Here we identify the RNA target for the previously uncharacterized 5-methylcytosine (m5C) methyltransferase NSun3 and link m5C RNA modifications with energy metabolism. Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified loss-of-function mutations in NSUN3 in a patient presenting with combined mitochondrial respiratory chain complex deficiency. Patient-derived fibroblasts exhibit severe defects in mitochondrial translation that can be rescued by exogenous expression of NSun3. We show that NSun3 is required for deposition of m5C at the anticodon loop in the mitochondrially encoded transfer RNA methionine (mt-tRNAMet). Further, we demonstrate that m5C deficiency in mt-tRNAMet results in the lack of 5-formylcytosine (f5C) at the same tRNA position. Our findings demonstrate that NSUN3 is necessary for efficient mitochondrial translation and reveal that f5C in human mitochondrial RNA is generated by oxidative processing of m5C. KW - Methylation KW - RNA KW - Transferases Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165998 VL - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kernreiter, T. A1 - Governale, M. A1 - Zülicke, U. A1 - Hankiewicz, E. M. T1 - Anomalous Spin Response and Virtual-Carrier-Mediated Magnetism in a Topological Insulator JF - Physical Review X N2 - We present a comprehensive theoretical study of the static spin response in HgTe quantum wells, revealing distinctive behavior for the topologically nontrivial inverted structure. Most strikingly, the q=0 (long-wavelength) spin susceptibility of the undoped topological-insulator system is constant and equal to the value found for the gapless Dirac-like structure, whereas the same quantity shows the typical decrease with increasing band gap in the normal-insulator regime. We discuss ramifications for the ordering of localized magnetic moments present in the quantum well, both in the insulating and electron-doped situations. The spin response of edge states is also considered, and we extract effective Landé g factors for the bulk and edge electrons. The variety of counterintuitive spin-response properties revealed in our study arises from the system’s versatility in accessing situations where the charge-carrier dynamics can be governed by ordinary Schrödinger-type physics; it mimics the behavior of chiral Dirac fermions or reflects the material’s symmetry-protected topological order. KW - spin response KW - magnetism KW - nanophysics KW - topological insulators Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166582 VL - 6 IS - 021010 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kim, Seonghoon A1 - Zhang, Bo A1 - Wang, Zhaorong A1 - Fischer, Julian A1 - Brodbeck, Sebastian A1 - Kamp, Martin A1 - Schneider, Christian A1 - Höfling, Sven A1 - Deng, Hui T1 - Coherent Polariton Laser JF - Physical Review X N2 - The semiconductor polariton laser promises a new source of coherent light, which, compared to conventional semiconductor photon lasers, has input-energy threshold orders of magnitude lower. However, intensity stability, a defining feature of a coherent state, has remained poor. Intensity noise many times the shot noise of a coherent state has persisted, attributed to multiple mechanisms that are difficult to separate in conventional polariton systems. The large intensity noise, in turn, limits the phase coherence. Thus, the capability of the polariton laser as a source of coherence light is limited. Here, we demonstrate a polariton laser with shot-noise-limited intensity stability, as expected from a fully coherent state. This stability is achieved by using an optical cavity with high mode selectivity to enforce single-mode lasing, suppress condensate depletion, and establish gain saturation. Moreover, the absence of spurious intensity fluctuations enables the measurement of a transition from exponential to Gaussian decay of the phase coherence of the polariton laser. It suggests large self-interaction energies in the polariton condensate, exceeding the laser bandwidth. Such strong interactions are unique to matter-wave lasers and important for nonlinear polariton devices. The results will guide future development of polariton lasers and nonlinear polariton devices. KW - polariton laser KW - condensed matter physics KW - photonics KW - quantum physics KW - coherent light Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166597 VL - 6 IS - 011026 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Isles, Anthony R. A1 - Ingason, Andrés A1 - Lowther, Chelsea A1 - Walters, James A1 - Gawlick, Micha A1 - Stöber, Gerald A1 - Rees, Elliott A1 - Martin, Joanna A1 - Little, Rosie B. A1 - Potter, Harry A1 - Georgieva, Lyudmila A1 - Pizzo, Lucilla A1 - Ozaki, Norio A1 - Aleksic, Branko A1 - Kushima, Itaru A1 - Ikeda, Masashi A1 - Iwata, Nakao A1 - Levinson, Douglas F. A1 - Gejman, Pablo V. A1 - Shi, Jianxin A1 - Sanders, Alan R. A1 - Duan, Jubao A1 - Willis, Joseph A1 - Sisodiya, Sanjay A1 - Costain, Gregory A1 - Werge, Thomas M. A1 - Degenhardt, Franziska A1 - Giegling, Ina A1 - Rujescu, Dan A1 - Hreidarsson, Stefan J. A1 - Saemundsen, Evald A1 - Ahn, Joo Wook A1 - Ogilvie, Caroline A1 - Girirajan, Santhosh D. A1 - Stefansson, Hreinn A1 - Stefansson, Kari A1 - O'Donovan, Michael C. A1 - Owen, Michael J. A1 - Bassett, Anne A1 - Kirov, George T1 - Parental Origin of Interstitial Duplications at 15q11.2-q13.3 in Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders JF - PLoS Genetics N2 - Duplications at 15q11.2-q13.3 overlapping the Prader-Willi/Angelman syndrome (PWS/AS) region have been associated with developmental delay (DD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ). Due to presence of imprinted genes within the region, the parental origin of these duplications may be key to the pathogenicity. Duplications of maternal origin are associated with disease, whereas the pathogenicity of paternal ones is unclear. To clarify the role of maternal and paternal duplications, we conducted the largest and most detailed study to date of parental origin of 15q11.2-q13.3 interstitial duplications in DD, ASD and SZ cohorts. We show, for the first time, that paternal duplications lead to an increased risk of developing DD/ASD/multiple congenital anomalies (MCA), but do not appear to increase risk for SZ. The importance of the epigenetic status of 15q11.2-q13.3 duplications was further underlined by analysis of a number of families, in which the duplication was paternally derived in the mother, who was unaffected, whereas her offspring, who inherited a maternally derived duplication, suffered from psychotic illness. Interestingly, the most consistent clinical characteristics of SZ patients with 15q11.2-q13.3 duplications were learning or developmental problems, found in 76% of carriers. Despite their lower pathogenicity, paternal duplications are less frequent in the general population with a general population prevalence of 0.0033% compared to 0.0069% for maternal duplications. This may be due to lower fecundity of male carriers and differential survival of embryos, something echoed in the findings that both types of duplications are de novo in just over 50% of cases. Isodicentric chromosome 15 (idic15) or interstitial triplications were not observed in SZ patients or in controls. Overall, this study refines the distinct roles of maternal and paternal interstitial duplications at 15q11.2-q13.3, underlining the critical importance of maternally expressed imprinted genes in the contribution of Copy Number Variants (CNVs) at this interval to the incidence of psychotic illness. This work will have tangible benefits for patients with 15q11.2-q13.3 duplications by aiding genetic counseling. KW - interstitial duplications KW - schizophrenia KW - developmental delay KW - autism spectrum disorder KW - parental origin KW - genetics Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166706 VL - 12 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vendelova, Emilia A1 - de Lima, Jeferson Camargo A1 - Lorenzatto, Karina Rodrigues A1 - Monteiro, Karina Mariante A1 - Mueller, Thomas A1 - Veepaschit, Jyotishman A1 - Grimm, Clemens A1 - Brehm, Klaus A1 - Hrčková, Gabriela A1 - Lutz, Manfred B. A1 - Ferreira, Henrique B. A1 - Nono, Justin Komguep T1 - Proteomic Analysis of Excretory-Secretory Products of Mesocestoides corti Metacestodes Reveals Potential Suppressors of Dendritic Cell Functions JF - PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases N2 - Accumulating evidences have assigned a central role to parasite-derived proteins in immunomodulation. Here, we report on the proteomic identification and characterization of immunomodulatory excretory-secretory (ES) products from the metacestode larva (tetrathyridium) of the tapeworm Mesocestoides corti (syn. M. vogae). We demonstrate that ES products but not larval homogenates inhibit the stimuli-driven release of the pro-inflammatory, Th1-inducing cytokine IL-12p70 by murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Within the ES fraction, we biochemically narrowed down the immunosuppressive activity to glycoproteins since active components were lipid-free, but sensitive to heat- and carbohydrate-treatment. Finally, using bioassay-guided chromatographic analyses assisted by comparative proteomics of active and inactive fractions of the ES products, we defined a comprehensive list of candidate proteins released by M. corti tetrathyridia as potential suppressors of DC functions. Our study provides a comprehensive library of somatic and ES products and highlight some candidate parasite factors that might drive the subversion of DC functions to facilitate the persistence of M. corti tetrathyridia in their hosts. KW - proteomic analysis KW - excretory-secretory KW - Mesocestoides corti Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166742 VL - 10 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shi, Yaoyao A1 - Kuai, Yue A1 - Lei, Lizhen A1 - Weng, Yuanyuan A1 - Berberich-Siebelt, Friederike A1 - Zhang, Xinxia A1 - Wang, Jinjie A1 - Zhou, Yuan A1 - Jiang, Xin A1 - Ren, Guoping A1 - Pan, Hongyang A1 - Mao, Zhengrong A1 - Zhou, Ren T1 - The feedback loop of LITAF and BCL6 is involved in regulating apoptosis in B cell non-Hodgkin's-lymphoma JF - Oncotarget N2 - Dysregulation of the apoptotic pathway is widely recognized as a key step in lymphomagenesis. Notably, LITAF was initially identified as a p53-inducible gene, subsequently implicated as a tumor suppressor. Our previous study also showed LITAF to be methylated in 89.5% B-NHL samples. Conversely, deregulated expression of BCL6 is a pathogenic event in many lymphomas. Interestingly, our study found an oppositional expression of LITAF and BCL6 in B-NHL. In addition, LITAF was recently identified as a novel target gene of BCL6. Therefore, we sought to explore the feedback loop between LITAF and BCL6 in B-NHL. Here, our data for the first time show that LITAF can repress expression of BCL6 by binding to Region A (−87 to +65) containing a putative LITAF-binding motif (CTCCC) within the BCL6 promoter. Furthermore, the regulation of BCL6 targets (PRDM1 or c-Myc) by LITAF may be associated with B-cell differentiation. Results also demonstrate that ectopic expression of LITAF induces cell apoptosis, activated by releasing cytochrome c, cleaving PARP and caspase 3 in B-NHL cells whereas knockdown of LITAF robustly protected cells from apoptosis. Interestingly, BCL6, in turn, could reverse cell apoptosis mediated by LITAF. Collectively, our findings provide a novel apoptotic regulatory pathway in which LITAF, as a transcription factor, inhibits the expression of BCL6, which leads to activation of the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway and tumor apoptosis. Our study is expected to provide a possible biomarker as well as a target for clinical therapies to promote tumor cell apoptosis. KW - LITAF KW - BCL6 KW - apoptosis KW - lymphoma KW - B-cells Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166500 VL - 7 IS - 47 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vučićević, Dubravka A1 - Gehre, Maja A1 - Dhamija, Sonam A1 - Friis-Hansen, Lennart A1 - Meierhofer, David A1 - Sauer, Sascha A1 - Ørom, Ulf Andersson T1 - The long non-coding RNA PARROT is an upstream regulator of c-Myc and affects proliferation and translation JF - Oncotarget N2 - Long non-coding RNAs are important regulators of gene expression and signaling pathways. The expression of long ncRNAs is dysregulated in cancer and other diseases. The identification and characterization of long ncRNAs is often challenging due to their low expression level and localization to chromatin. Here, we identify a functional long ncRNA, PARROT (Proliferation Associated RNA and Regulator Of Translation) transcribed by RNA polymerase II and expressed at a relatively high level in a number of cell lines. The PARROT long ncRNA is associated with proliferation in both transformed and normal cell lines. We characterize the long ncRNA PARROT as an upstream regulator of c-Myc affecting cellular proliferation and translation using RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry following depletion of the long ncRNA. PARROT is repressed during senescence of human mammary epithelial cells and overexpressed in some cancers, suggesting an important association with proliferation through regulation of c-Myc. With this study, we add to the knowledge of cytoplasmic functional long ncRNAs and extent the long ncRNA-Myc regulatory network in transformed and normal cells. KW - PARROT KW - c-Myc KW - long ncRNA KW - upstream regulator Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166519 VL - 7 IS - 23 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eisenhardt, Anja E. A1 - Sprenger, Adrian A1 - Röring, Michael A1 - Herr, Ricarda A1 - Weinberg, Florian A1 - Köhler, Martin A1 - Braun, Sandra A1 - Orth, Joachim A1 - Diedrich, Britta A1 - Lanner, Ulrike A1 - Tscherwinski, Natalja A1 - Schuster, Simon A1 - Dumaz, Nicolas A1 - Schmidt, Enrico A1 - Baumeister, Ralf A1 - Schlosser, Andreas A1 - Dengjel, Jörn A1 - Brummer, Tilman T1 - Phospho-proteomic analyses of B-Raf protein complexes reveal new regulatory principles JF - Oncotarget N2 - B-Raf represents a critical physiological regulator of the Ras/RAF/MEK/ERK-pathway and a pharmacological target of growing clinical relevance, in particular in oncology. To understand how B-Raf itself is regulated, we combined mass spectrometry with genetic approaches to map its interactome in MCF-10A cells as well as in B-Raf deficient murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and B-Raf/Raf-1 double deficient DT40 lymphoma cells complemented with wildtype or mutant B-Raf expression vectors. Using a multi-protease digestion approach, we identified a novel ubiquitination site and provide a detailed B-Raf phospho-map. Importantly, we identify two evolutionary conserved phosphorylation clusters around T401 and S419 in the B-Raf hinge region. SILAC labelling and genetic/biochemical follow-up revealed that these clusters are phosphorylated in the contexts of oncogenic Ras, sorafenib induced Raf dimerization and in the background of the V600E mutation. We further show that the vemurafenib sensitive phosphorylation of the T401 cluster occurs in trans within a Raf dimer. Substitution of the Ser/Thr-residues of this cluster by alanine residues enhances the transforming potential of B-Raf, indicating that these phosphorylation sites suppress its signaling output. Moreover, several B-Raf phosphorylation sites, including T401 and S419, are somatically mutated in tumors, further illustrating the importance of phosphorylation for the regulation of this kinase. KW - BRAF KW - proteomics KW - phosphorylation KW - sorafenib KW - protein-protein interaction Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166529 VL - 7 IS - 18 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chenari, Hossein Mahmoudi A1 - Seibel, Christoph A1 - Hauschild, Dirk A1 - Reinert, Friedrich A1 - Abdollahian, Hossein T1 - Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles: Synthesis, X-Ray Line Analysis and Chemical Composition Study JF - Materials Research N2 - TiO2 nanoparticleshave been synthesized by the sol-gel method using titanium alkoxide and isopropanolas a precursor. The structural properties and chemical composition of the TiO2 nanoparticles were studied usingX-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.The X-ray powder diffraction pattern confirms that the particles are mainly composed of the anatase phase with the preferential orientation along [101] direction. The physical parameters such as strain, stress and energy density were investigated from the Williamson- Hall (W-H) plot assuming a uniform deformation model (UDM), and uniform deformation energy density model (UDEDM). The W-H analysis shows an anisotropic nature of the strain in nanopowders. The scanning electron microscopy image shows clear TiO2 nanoparticles with particle sizes varying from 60 to 80nm. The results of mean particle size of TiO2 nanoparticles show an inter correlation with the W-H analysis and SEM results. Our X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra show that nearly a complete amount of titanium has reacted to TiO2 KW - TiO\(_2\) KW - Nanoparticles KW - X-ray analysis KW - SEM KW - XPS Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165807 VL - 19 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dingemans, Josef A1 - Monsieurs, Pieter A1 - Yu, Sung-Huan A1 - Crabbé, Aurélie A1 - Förstner, Konrad U. A1 - Malfroot, Anne A1 - Cornelis, Pierre A1 - Van Houdt, Rob T1 - Effect of Shear Stress on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from the Cystic Fibrosis Lung JF - mBio N2 - Chronic colonization of the lungs by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. To gain insights into the characteristic biofilm phenotype of P. aeruginosa in the CF lungs, mimicking the CF lung environment is critical. We previously showed that growth of the non-CF-adapted P. aeruginosa PAO1 strain in a rotating wall vessel, a device that simulates the low fluid shear (LS) conditions present in the CF lung, leads to the formation of in-suspension, self-aggregating biofilms. In the present study, we determined the phenotypic and transcriptomic changes associated with the growth of a highly adapted, transmissible P. aeruginosa CF strain in artificial sputum medium under LS conditions. Robust self-aggregating biofilms were observed only under LS conditions. Growth under LS conditions resulted in the upregulation of genes involved in stress response, alginate biosynthesis, denitrification, glycine betaine biosynthesis, glycerol metabolism, and cell shape maintenance, while genes involved in phenazine biosynthesis, type VI secretion, and multidrug efflux were downregulated. In addition, a number of small RNAs appeared to be involved in the response to shear stress. Finally, quorum sensing was found to be slightly but significantly affected by shear stress, resulting in higher production of autoinducer molecules during growth under high fluid shear (HS) conditions. In summary, our study revealed a way to modulate the behavior of a highly adapted P. aeruginosa CF strain by means of introducing shear stress, driving it from a biofilm lifestyle to a more planktonic lifestyle. KW - biology Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165821 VL - 7 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Drgonova, Jana A1 - Walther, Donna A1 - Hartstein, G Luke A1 - Bukhari, Mohammad O A1 - Baumann, Michael H A1 - Katz, Jonathan A1 - Hall, F Scott A1 - Arnold, Elizabeth R A1 - Flax, Shaun A1 - Riley, Anthony A1 - Rivero, Olga A1 - Lesch, Klaus-Peter A1 - Troncoso, Juan A1 - Ranscht, Barbara A1 - Uhl, George R T1 - Cadherin 13: Human cis-Regulation and Selectively Altered Addiction Phenotypes and Cerebral Cortical Dopamine in Knockout Mice JF - Molecular Medicine N2 - The Cadherin 13 (CDH13) gene encodes a cell adhesion molecule likely to influence development and connections of brain circuits that modulate addiction, locomotion and cognition, including those that involve midbrain dopamine neurons. Human CDH13 mRNA expression differs by more than 80% in postmortem cerebral cortical samples from individuals with different CDH13 genotypes, supporting examination of mice with altered CDH13 expression as models for common human variation at this locus. Constitutive CDH13 knockout mice display evidence for changed cocaine reward: shifted dose response relationship in tests of cocaine-conditioned place preference using doses that do not alter cocaine-conditioned taste aversion. Reduced adult CDH13 expression in conditional knockouts also alters cocaine reward in ways that correlate with individual differences in cortical CDH13 mRNA levels. In control and comparison behavioral assessments, knockout mice display modestly quicker acquisition of rotarod and water maze tasks, with a trend toward faster acquisition of 5-choice serial reaction time tasks that otherwise displayed no genotype-related differences. They display significant differences in locomotion in some settings, with larger effects in males. In assessments of brain changes that might contribute to these behavioral differences, there are selective alterations of dopamine levels, dopamine/metabolite ratios, dopaminergic fiber densities and mRNA encoding the activity dependent transcription factor npas4 in cerebral cortex of knockout mice. These novel data and previously reported human associations of CDH13 variants with addiction, individual differences in responses to stimulant administration and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) phenotypes suggest that levels of CDH13 expression, through mechanisms likely to include effects on mesocortical dopamine, influence stimulant reward and may contribute modestly to cognitive and locomotor phenotypes relevant to ADHD. KW - Cadherin (CDH13) KW - CDH13 mRNA KW - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) KW - CDH13 Expression KW - Human CDH13 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165842 VL - 22 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van de Kerkhof, Nora WA A1 - Fekkes, Durk A1 - van der Heijden, Frank MMA A1 - Hoogendijk, Witte JG A1 - Stöber, Gerald A1 - Egger, Jos IM A1 - Verhoeven, Willem MA T1 - Cycloid psychoses in the psychosis spectrum: evidence for biochemical differences with schizophrenia JF - Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment N2 - Cycloid psychoses (CP) differ from schizophrenia regarding symptom profile, course, and prognosis and over many decades they were thought to be a separate entity within the psychosis spectrum. As to schizophrenia, research into the pathophysiology has focused on dopamine, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and glutamate signaling in which, concerning the latter, the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor plays a crucial role. The present study aims to determine whether CP can biochemically be delineated from schizophrenia. Eighty patients referred for psychotic disorders were assessed with the Comprehensive Assessment of Symptoms and History, and (both at inclusion and after 6 weeks of antipsychotic treatment) with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Clinical Global Impression. From 58 completers, 33 patients were diagnosed with schizophrenia and ten with CP according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, and Leonhard criteria, respectively. Fifteen patients were diagnosed with other disorders within the psychosis spectrum. At both time points, blood levels of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and amino acids related to glutamate neurotransmission were measured and compared with a matched control sample. Patients with CP showed a significantly better response to antipsychotic treatment as compared to patients with schizophrenia. In CP, glycine levels were elevated and tryptophan levels were lowered as compared to schizophrenia. Glutamate levels were increased in both patient groups as compared to controls. These results, showing marked differences in both treatment outcome and glutamate-related variable parameters, may point at better neuroplasticity in CP, necessitating demarcation of this subgroup within the psychosis spectrum. KW - cycloid psychoses KW - schizophrenia KW - glutamate KW - glycine KW - tryptophan KW - neuroplasticity Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166255 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hargart, F A1 - Roy-Choudhury, K A1 - John, T A1 - Portalupi, S L A1 - Schneider, C A1 - Höfling, S A1 - Kamp, M A1 - Hughes, S A1 - Michler, P T1 - Probing different regimes of strong field light-matter interaction with semiconductor quantum dots and few cavity photons JF - New Journal of Physics N2 - In this work we present an extensive experimental and theoretical investigation of different regimes of strong field light–matter interaction for cavity-driven quantum dot (QD) cavity systems. The electric field enhancement inside a high-Q micropillar cavity facilitates exceptionally strong interaction with few cavity photons, enabling the simultaneous investigation for a wide range of QD-laser detuning. In case of a resonant drive, the formation of dressed states and a Mollow triplet sideband splitting of up to 45 μeV is measured for amean cavity photon number \(\leq\) 1. In the asymptotic limit of the linear ACStark effect we systematically investigate the power and detuning dependence of more than 400 QDs. Some QD-cavity systems exhibit an unexpected anomalous Stark shift, which can be explained by an extended dressed 4-levelQDmodel.Weprovide a detailed analysis of the QD-cavity systems properties enabling this novel effect. The experimental results are successfully reproduced using a polaron master equation approach for the QD-cavity system, which includes the driving laser field, exciton-cavity and exciton-phonon interactions KW - light–matter interaction KW - quantum dots KW - AC Stark effect KW - dressed states Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166278 VL - 18 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Redlich, Christoph A1 - Lingnau, Benjamin A1 - Holzinger, Steffen A1 - Schlottmann, Elisabeth A1 - Kreinberg, Sören A1 - Schneider, Christian A1 - Kamp, Martin A1 - Höfling, Sven A1 - Wolters, Janik A1 - Reitzenstein, Stephan A1 - Lüdge, Kathy T1 - Mode-switching induced super-thermal bunching in quantum-dot microlasers JF - New Journal of Physics N2 - The super-thermal photon bunching in quantum-dot (QD) micropillar lasers is investigated both experimentally and theoretically via simulations driven by dynamic considerations. Using stochastic multi-mode rate equations we obtain very good agreement between experiment and theory in terms of intensity profiles and intensity-correlation properties of the examined QD micro-laser's emission. Further investigations of the time-dependent emission show that super-thermal photon bunching occurs due to irregular mode-switching events in the bimodal lasers. Our bifurcation analysis reveals that these switchings find their origin in an underlying bistability, such that spontaneous emission noise is able to effectively perturb the two competing modes in a small parameter region. We thus ascribe the observed high photon correlation to dynamical multistabilities rather than quantum mechanical correlations. KW - microlaser KW - nonlinear dynamics KW - correlation properties KW - photon statistics KW - noise and multimode dynamics KW - quantum dot laser Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166286 VL - 18 IS - 063011 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lisinetskaya, Polina A1 - Braun, Christian A1 - Proch, Sebastian A1 - Kim, Young Dok A1 - Ganteför, Gerd A1 - Mitrić, Roland T1 - Excited state nonadiabatic dynamics of bare and hydrated anionic gold clusters Au\(^−_3\)[H\(_2\)O]\(_n\) (n=0-2) JF - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics N2 - We present a joint theoretical and experimental study of excited state dynamics in pure and hydrated anionic gold clusters Au\(^-_3\)[H\(_2\)O]\(_n\) (n = 0-2). We employ mixed quantum-classical dynamics combined with femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy in order to investigate the influence of hydration on excited state lifetimes and photo-dissociation dynamics. A gradual decrease of the excited state lifetime with the number of adsorbed water molecules as well as gold cluster fragmentation quenching by two or more water molecules are observed both in experiment and in simulations. Non-radiative relaxation and dissociation in excited states are found to be responsible for the excited state population depletion. Time constants of these two processes strongly depend on the number of water molecules leading to the possibility to modulate excited state dynamics and fragmentation of the anionic cluster by adsorption of water molecules. KW - nonadiabatic dynamics KW - metal cluster KW - time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-159176 UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CP04297F SN - 1463-9076 N1 - Accepted version VL - 18 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lisinetskaya, Polina A1 - Röhr, Merle I. S. A1 - Mitrić, Roland T1 - First-principles simulation of light propagation and exciton dynamics in metal cluster nanostructures JF - Applied Physics B N2 - We present a theoretical approach for the simulation of the electric field and exciton propagation in ordered arrays constructed of molecular-sized noble metal clusters bound to organic polymer templates. In order to describe the electronic coupling between individual constituents of the nanostructure we use the ab initio parameterized transition charge method which is more accurate than the usual dipole-dipole coupling. The electronic population dynamics in the nanostructure under an external laser pulse excitation is simulated by numerical integration of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation employing the fully coupled Hamiltonian. The solution of the TDSE gives rise to time-dependent partial point charges for each subunit of the nanostructure, and the spatio-temporal electric field distribution is evaluated by means of classical electrodynamics methods. The time-dependent partial charges are determined based on the stationary partial and transition charges obtained in the framework of the TDDFT. In order to treat large plasmonic nanostructures constructed of many constituents, the approximate self-consistent iterative approach presented in (Lisinetskaya and Mitric in Phys Rev B 89:035433, 2014) is modified to include the transition-charge-based interaction. The developed methods are used to study the optical response and exciton dynamics of Ag-3(+) and porphyrin-Ag-4 dimers. Subsequently, the spatio-temporal electric field distribution in a ring constructed of ten porphyrin-Ag-4 subunits under the action of circularly polarized laser pulse is simulated. The presented methodology provides a theoretical basis for the investigation of coupled light-exciton propagation in nanoarchitectures built from molecular size metal nanoclusters in which quantum confinement effects are important. KW - metal-cluster hybrid systems KW - exciton transfer KW - optical response KW - transition density KW - total electric field KW - electric field distribution KW - transition dipole moment KW - transition charge Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-159193 UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-016-6436-6 SN - 0946-2171 N1 - This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Apllied Physcis B. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00340-016-6436-6 VL - 122 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wohlgemuth, Matthias A1 - Mitric, Roland T1 - Photochemical Chiral Symmetry Breaking in Alanine JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry A N2 - We introduce a general theoretical approach for the simulation of photochemical dynamics under the influence of circularly polarized light to explore the possibility of generating enantiomeric enrichment through polarized-light-selective photochemistry. The method is applied to the simulation of the photolysis of alanine, a prototype chiral amino acid. We show that a systematic enantiomeric enrichment can be obtained depending on the helicity of the circularly polarized light that induces the excited-state photochemistry of alanine. By analyzing the patterns of the photoinduced fragmentation of alanine we find an inducible enantiomeric enrichment up to 1.7%, which is also in good correspondence to the experimental findings. Our method is generally applicable to complex systems and might serve to systematically explore the photochemical origin of homochirality. KW - circularly-polarized light KW - amino-acids KW - homochirality KW - molecular dynamics KW - dichroism Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158557 UR - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpca.6b07611 N1 - This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Physical Chemistry A, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpca.6b07611 VL - 45 IS - 120 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Röhr, Merle I. S. A1 - Lisinetskaya, Polina G. A1 - Mitric, Roland T1 - Excitonic Properties of Ordered Metal Nanocluster Arrays: 2D Silver Clusters at Multiporphyrin Templates JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry A N2 - The design of ordered arrays of metal nanoclusters such as for example 2D cluster organic frameworks might open a new route towards the development of materials with tailored optical properties. Such systems could serve as plasmonically enhanced light-harvesting materials, sensors or catalysts. We present here a theoretical approach for the simulation of the optical properties of ordered arrays of metal clusters that is based on the ab initio parametrized Frenkel exciton model. We demonstrate that small atomically precise silver clusters can be assembled in one- and two-dimensional arrays on suitably designed porphyrin templates exhibiting remarkable optical properties. By employing explicit TDDFT calculations on smaller homologs, we show that the intrinsic optical properties of metal clusters are largely preserved but undergo J- and H-type excitonic coupling that results in controllable splitting of their excited states. Furthermore, ab initio parameterized Frenkel exciton model calculations allow us to predict an energetic splitting of up to 0.77 eV in extended two-dimensional square arrays and 0.79 eV in tilted square aggregates containing up to 25 cluster-porphyrin subunits. KW - Excitons KW - Porphyrin arrays Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-159464 UR - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpca.6b04243 N1 - Accepted version VL - 120 IS - 26 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Domschke, Katharina A1 - Zwanzger, Peter A1 - Rehbein, Maimu A. A1 - Steinberg, Christian A1 - Knoke, Kathrin A1 - Dobel, Christian A1 - Klinkenberg, Isabelle A1 - Kugel, Harald A1 - Kersting, Anette A1 - Arolt, Volker A1 - Pantev, Christo A1 - Junghofer, Markus T1 - Magnetoencephalographic Correlates of Emotional Processing in Major Depression Before and After Pharmacological Treatment JF - International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology N2 - Background: In major depressive disorder (MDD), electrophysiological and imaging studies suggest reduced neural activity in the parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex regions. In the present study, neural correlates of emotional processing in MDD were analyzed for the first time in a pre-/post-treatment design by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG), allowing for detecting temporal dynamics of brain activation. Methods: Twenty-five medication-free Caucasian in-patients with MDD and 25 matched controls underwent a baseline MEG session with passive viewing of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures. Fifteen patients were followed-up with a second MEG session after 4 weeks of antidepressant monopharmacotherapy with mirtazapine. The corresponding controls received no intervention between the measurements. The clinical course of depression was assessed using the Hamilton Depression scale. Results: Prior to treatment, an overall neocortical hypoactivation during emotional processing, particularly at the parietal regions and areas at the right temporoparietal junction, as well as abnormal valence-specific reactions at the right parietal and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) regions were observed in patients compared to controls. These effects occurred <150ms, suggesting dysfunctional processing of emotional stimuli at a preconscious level. Successful antidepressant treatment resulted in a normalization of the hypoactivation at the right parietal and right temporoparietal regions. Accordingly, both dlPFC regions revealed an increase of activity after therapy. Conclusions: The present study provides neurophysiological evidence for dysfunctional emotional processing in a fronto-parieto-temporal network, possibly contributing to the pathogenesis of MDD. These activation patterns might have the potential to serve as biomarkers of treatment success. KW - Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex KW - IAPS KW - MDD KW - EEG KW - MEG KW - parietal hypoactivation KW - temporoparietal junction Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165523 VL - 2016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pache, Florence A1 - Zimmermann, Hanna A1 - Mikolajczak, Janine A1 - Schumacher, Sophie A1 - Lacheta, Anna A1 - Oertel, Frederike C. A1 - Bellmann-Strobl, Judith A1 - Jarius, Sven A1 - Wildemann, Brigitte A1 - Reindl, Markus A1 - Waldman, Amy A1 - Soelberg, Kerstin A1 - Asgari, Nasrin A1 - Ringelstein, Marius A1 - Aktas, Orhan A1 - Gross, Nikolai A1 - Buttmann, Mathias A1 - Ach, Thomas A1 - Ruprecht, Klemens A1 - Paul, Friedemann A1 - Brandt, Alexander U. T1 - MOG-IgG in NMO and related disorders: a multicenter study of 50 patients. Part 4: Afferent visual system damage after optic neuritis in MOG-IgG-seropositive versus AQP4-IgG-seropositive patients JF - Journal of Neuroinflammation N2 - Background Antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgG) have been reported in patients with aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-IgG)-negative neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD). The objective of this study was to describe optic neuritis (ON)-induced neuro-axonal damage in the retina of MOG-IgG-positive patients in comparison with AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD patients. Methods Afferent visual system damage following ON was bilaterally assessed in 16 MOG-IgG-positive patients with a history of ON and compared with that in 16 AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD patients. In addition, 16 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and disease duration were analyzed. Study data included ON history, retinal optical coherence tomography, visual acuity, and visual evoked potentials. Results Eight MOG-IgG-positive patients had a previous diagnosis of AQP4-IgG-negative NMOSD with ON and myelitis, and eight of (mainly recurrent) ON. Twenty-nine of the 32 eyes of the MOG-IgG-positive patients had been affected by at least one episode of ON. Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFL) and ganglion cell and inner plexiform layer volume (GCIP) were significantly reduced in ON eyes of MOG-IgG-positive patients (pRNFL = 59 ± 23 μm; GCIP = 1.50 ± 0.34 mm3) compared with healthy controls (pRNFL = 99 ± 6 μm, p < 0.001; GCIP = 1.97 ± 0.11 mm3, p < 0.001). Visual acuity was impaired in eyes after ON in MOG-IgG-positive patients (0.35 ± 0.88 logMAR). There were no significant differences in any structural or functional visual parameters between MOG-IgG-positive and AQP4-IgG-positive patients (pRNFL: 59 ± 21 μm; GCIP: 1.41 ± 0.27 mm3; Visual acuity = 0.72 ± 1.09 logMAR). Importantly, MOG-IgG-positive patients had a significantly higher annual ON relapse rate than AQP4-IgG-positive patients (median 0.69 vs. 0.29 attacks/year, p = 0.004), meaning that on average a single ON episode caused less damage in MOG-IgG-positive than in AQP4-IgG-positive patients. pRNFL and GCIP loss correlated with the number of ON episodes in MOG-IgG-positive patients (p < 0.001), but not in AQP4-IgG-positive patients. Conclusions Retinal neuro-axonal damage and visual impairment after ON in MOG-IgG-positive patients are as severe as in AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD patients. In MOG-IgG-positive patients, damage accrual may be driven by higher relapse rates, whereas AQP4-IgG-positive patients showed fewer but more severe episodes of ON. Given the marked damage in some of our MOG-IgG-positive patients, early diagnosis and timely initiation and close monitoring of immunosuppressive therapy are important. KW - Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies (MOG-IgG) KW - aquaporin-4 antibodies (AQP4-IgG) KW - NMO-IgG KW - neuromyelitis optica KW - Devic syndrome KW - neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) KW - optic neuritis KW - optical coherence tomography KW - visual evoked potentials KW - visual acuity KW - retinal neuro-axonal damage Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165551 VL - 13 IS - 282 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jarius, Sven A1 - Ruprecht, Klemens A1 - Kleiter, Ingo A1 - Borisow, Nadja A1 - Asgari, Nasrin A1 - Pitarokoili, Kalliopi A1 - Pache, Florence A1 - Stich, Oliver A1 - Beume, Lena-Alexandra A1 - Hümmert, Martin W. A1 - Ringelstein, Marius A1 - Trebst, Corinna A1 - Winkelmann, Alexander A1 - Schwarz, Alexander A1 - Buttmann, Mathias A1 - Zimmermann, Hanna A1 - Kuchling, Joseph A1 - Franciotta, Diego A1 - Capobianco, Marco A1 - Siebert, Eberhard A1 - Lukas, Carsten A1 - Korporal-Kuhnke, Mirjam A1 - Haas, Jürgen A1 - Fechner, Kai A1 - Brandt, Alexander U. A1 - Schanda, Kathrin A1 - Aktas, Orhan A1 - Paul, Friedemann A1 - Reindl, Markus A1 - Wildemann, Brigitte T1 - MOG-IgG in NMO and related disorders: a multicenter study of 50 patients. Part 2: Epidemiology, clinical presentation, radiological and laboratory features, treatment responses, and long-term outcome JF - Journal of Neuroinflammation N2 - Background A subset of patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) has been shown to be seropositive for myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies (MOG-IgG). Objective To describe the epidemiological, clinical, radiological, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and electrophysiological features of a large cohort of MOG-IgG-positive patients with optic neuritis (ON) and/or myelitis (n = 50) as well as attack and long-term treatment outcomes. Methods Retrospective multicenter study. Results The sex ratio was 1:2.8 (m:f). Median age at onset was 31 years (range 6-70). The disease followed a multiphasic course in 80% (median time-to-first-relapse 5 months; annualized relapse rate 0.92) and resulted in significant disability in 40% (mean follow-up 75 ± 46.5 months), with severe visual impairment or functional blindness (36%) and markedly impaired ambulation due to paresis or ataxia (25%) as the most common long-term sequelae. Functional blindness in one or both eyes was noted during at least one ON attack in around 70%. Perioptic enhancement was present in several patients. Besides acute tetra-/paraparesis, dysesthesia and pain were common in acute myelitis (70%). Longitudinally extensive spinal cord lesions were frequent, but short lesions occurred at least once in 44%. Fourty-one percent had a history of simultaneous ON and myelitis. Clinical or radiological involvement of the brain, brainstem, or cerebellum was present in 50%; extra-opticospinal symptoms included intractable nausea and vomiting and respiratory insufficiency (fatal in one). CSF pleocytosis (partly neutrophilic) was present in 70%, oligoclonal bands in only 13%, and blood-CSF-barrier dysfunction in 32%. Intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) and long-term immunosuppression were often effective; however, treatment failure leading to rapid accumulation of disability was noted in many patients as well as flare-ups after steroid withdrawal. Full recovery was achieved by plasma exchange in some cases, including after IVMP failure. Breakthrough attacks under azathioprine were linked to the drug-specific latency period and a lack of cotreatment with oral steroids. Methotrexate was effective in 5/6 patients. Interferon-beta was associated with ongoing or increasing disease activity. Rituximab and ofatumumab were effective in some patients. However, treatment with rituximab was followed by early relapses in several cases; end-of-dose relapses occurred 9-12 months after the first infusion. Coexisting autoimmunity was rare (9%). Wingerchuk’s 2006 and 2015 criteria for NMO(SD) and Barkhof and McDonald criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) were met by 28%, 32%, 15%, 33%, respectively; MS had been suspected in 36%. Disease onset or relapses were preceded by infection, vaccination, or pregnancy/delivery in several cases. Conclusion Our findings from a predominantly Caucasian cohort strongly argue against the concept of MOG-IgG denoting a mild and usually monophasic variant of NMOSD. The predominantly relapsing and often severe disease course and the short median time to second attack support the use of prophylactic long-term treatments in patients with MOG-IgG-positive ON and/or myelitis. KW - Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies (MOG-IgG) KW - Aquaporin-4 antibodies (AQP4-IgG, NMO-IgG) KW - Optic neuritis KW - Transverse myelitis KW - Longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis KW - Magnetic resonance imaging KW - Autoantibodies KW - Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) KW - Cerebrospinal fluid KW - Oligoclonal bands KW - Electrophysiology KW - Evoked potentials KW - Treatment KW - Therapy KW - Methotrexate KW - Azathioprine KW - Rituximab KW - Ofatumumab KW - Interferon beta KW - Glatiramer acetate KW - Natalizumab KW - Outcome KW - Pregnancy KW - Infections KW - Vaccination KW - Multiple sclerosis KW - Barkhof criteria KW - McDonald criteria KW - Wingerchuk criteria 2006 and 2015 KW - IPND criteria KW - International consensus diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165570 VL - 13 IS - 280 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jarius, Sven A1 - Ruprecht, Klemens A1 - Kleiter, Ingo A1 - Borisow, Nadja A1 - Asgari, Nasrin A1 - Pitarokoili, Kalliopi A1 - Pache, Florence A1 - Stich, Oliver A1 - Beume, Lena-Alexandra A1 - Hümmert, Martin W. A1 - Trebst, Corinna A1 - Ringelstein, Marius A1 - Aktas, Orhan A1 - Winkelmann, Alexander A1 - Buttmann, Mathias A1 - Schwarz, Alexander A1 - Zimmermann, Hanna A1 - Brandt, Alexander U. A1 - Franciotta, Diego A1 - Capobianco, Marco A1 - Kuchling, Joseph A1 - Haas, Jürgen A1 - Korporal-Kuhnke, Mirjam A1 - Lillevang, Soeren Thue A1 - Fechner, Kai A1 - Schanda, Kathrin A1 - Paul, Friedemann A1 - Wildemann, Brigitte A1 - Reindl, Markus T1 - MOG-IgG in NMO and related disorders: a multicenter study of 50 patients. Part 1: Frequency, syndrome specificity, influence of disease activity, long-term course, association with AQP4-IgG, and origin JF - Journal of Neuroinflammation N2 - Background Antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgG) have been suggested to play a role in a subset of patients with neuromyelitis optica and related disorders. Objective To assess (i) the frequency of MOG-IgG in a large and predominantly Caucasian cohort of patients with optic neuritis (ON) and/or myelitis; (ii) the frequency of MOG-IgG among AQP4-IgG-positive patients and vice versa; (iii) the origin and frequency of MOG-IgG in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); (iv) the presence of MOG-IgG at disease onset; and (v) the influence of disease activity and treatment status on MOG-IgG titers. Methods 614 serum samples from patients with ON and/or myelitis and from controls, including 92 follow-up samples from 55 subjects, and 18 CSF samples were tested for MOG-IgG using a live cell-based assay (CBA) employing full-length human MOG-transfected HEK293A cells. Results MOG-IgG was detected in 95 sera from 50 patients with ON and/or myelitis, including 22/54 (40.7%) patients with a history of both ON and myelitis, 22/103 (21.4%) with a history of ON but no myelitis and 6/45 (13.3%) with a history of longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis but no ON, and in 1 control patient with encephalitis and a connective tissue disorder, all of whom were negative for AQP4-IgG. MOG-IgG was absent in 221 further controls, including 83 patients with AQP4-IgG-seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders and 85 with multiple sclerosis (MS). MOG-IgG was found in 12/18 (67%) CSF samples from MOG-IgG-seropositive patients; the MOG-IgG-specific antibody index was negative in all cases, indicating a predominantly peripheral origin of CSF MOG-IgG. Serum and CSF MOG-IgG belonged to the complement-activating IgG1 subclass. MOG-IgG was present already at disease onset. The antibodies remained detectable in 40/45 (89%) follow-up samples obtained over a median period of 16.5 months (range 0–123). Serum titers were higher during attacks than during remission (p < 0.0001), highest during attacks of simultaneous myelitis and ON, lowest during acute isolated ON, and declined following treatment. Conclusions To date, this is the largest cohort studied for IgG to human full-length MOG by means of an up-to-date CBA. MOG-IgG is present in a substantial subset of patients with ON and/or myelitis, but not in classical MS. Co-existence of MOG-IgG and AQP4-IgG is highly uncommon. CSF MOG-IgG is of extrathecal origin. Serum MOG-IgG is present already at disease onset and remains detectable in the long-term course. Serum titers depend on disease activity and treatment status. KW - Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) KW - Devic’s syndrome KW - Optic neuritis KW - Transverse Myelitis KW - Longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM) KW - Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) KW - Multiple sclerosis KW - Autoantibodies KW - Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies (MOG-IgG) KW - Neuromyelitis optica antibodies (NMO-IgG) KW - Aquaporin-4 antibodies (AQP4-IgG) KW - Cell-based assays KW - Cerebrospinal fluid KW - Antibody index Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165659 VL - 13 IS - 279 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kilian, Yvonne A1 - Wehmeier, Udo F. A1 - Wahl, Patrick A1 - Mester, Joachim A1 - Hilberg, Thomas A1 - Sperlich, Billy T1 - Acute Response of Circulating Vascular Regulating MicroRNAs during and after High-Intensity and High-Volume Cycling in Children JF - Frontiers in Physiology N2 - Aim: The aim of the present study was to analyze the response of vascular circulating microRNAs (miRNAs; miR-16, miR-21, miR-126) and the VEGF mRNA following an acute bout of HIIT and HVT in children. Methods: Twelve healthy competitive young male cyclists (14.4 ± 0.8 years; 57.9 ± 9.4 ml•min−1•kg−1 peak oxygen uptake) performed one session of high intensity 4 × 4 min intervals (HIIT) at 90–95% peak power output (PPO), each interval separated by 3 min of active recovery, and one high volume session (HVT) consisting of a constant load exercise for 90 min at 60% PPO. Capillary blood from the earlobe was collected under resting conditions, during exercise (d1 = 20 min, d2 = 30 min, d3 = 60 min), and 0, 30, 60, 180 min after the exercise to determine miR-16, -21, -126, and VEGF mRNA. Results: HVT significantly increased miR-16 and miR-126 during and after the exercise compared to pre-values, whereas HIIT showed no significant influence on the miRNAs compared to pre-values. VEGF mRNA significantly increased during and after HIIT (d1, 30′, 60′, 180′) and HVT (d3, 0′, 60′). Conclusion: Results of the present investigation suggest a volume dependent exercise regulation of vascular regulating miRNAs (miR-16, miR-21, miR-126) in children. In line with previous data, our data show that acute exercise can alter circulating miRNAs profiles that might be used as novel biomarkers to monitor acute and chronic changes due to exercise in various tissues. KW - children KW - endurance KW - exercise KW - microRNAs KW - training adaptation Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165261 VL - 7 IS - 92 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kempert, Sebastian A1 - Götz, Regina A1 - Blatter, Kristine A1 - Tibken, Catharina A1 - Artelt, Cordula A1 - Schneider, Wolfgang A1 - Stanat, Petra T1 - Training Early Literacy Related Skills: To Which Degree Does a Musical Training Contribute to Phonological Awareness Development? JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Well-developed phonological awareness skills are a core prerequisite for early literacy development. Although effective phonological awareness training programs exist, children at risk often do not reach similar levels of phonological awareness after the intervention as children with normally developed skills. Based on theoretical considerations and first promising results the present study explores effects of an early musical training in combination with a conventional phonological training in children with weak phonological awareness skills. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design and measurements across a period of 2 years, we tested the effects of two interventions: a consecutive combination of a musical and a phonological training and a phonological training alone. The design made it possible to disentangle effects of the musical training alone as well the effects of its combination with the phonological training. The outcome measures of these groups were compared with the control group with multivariate analyses, controlling for a number of background variables. The sample included N = 424 German-speaking children aged 4–5 years at the beginning of the study. We found a positive relationship between musical abilities and phonological awareness. Yet, whereas the well-established phonological training produced the expected effects, adding a musical training did not contribute significantly to phonological awareness development. Training effects were partly dependent on the initial level of phonological awareness. Possible reasons for the lack of training effects in the musical part of the combination condition as well as practical implications for early literacy education are discussed. KW - phonological awareness KW - musical training KW - phonological training KW - preschool children KW - early literacy Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165272 VL - 7 IS - 1803 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wunsch, Kathrin A1 - Pfister, Roland A1 - Henning, Anne A1 - Aschersleben, Gisa A1 - Weigelt, Matthias T1 - No Interrelation of Motor Planning and Executive Functions across Young Ages JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - The present study examined the developmental trajectories of motor planning and executive functioning in children. To this end, we tested 217 participants with three motor tasks, measuring anticipatory planning abilities (i.e., the bar-transport-task, the sword-rotation-task and the grasp-height-task), and three cognitive tasks, measuring executive functions (i.e., the Tower-of-Hanoi-task, the Mosaic-task, and the D2-attention-endurance-task). Children were aged between 3 and 10 years and were separated into age groups by 1-year bins, resulting in a total of eight groups of children and an additional group of adults. Results suggested (1) a positive developmental trajectory for each of the sub-tests, with better task performance as children get older; (2) that the performance in the separate tasks was not correlated across participants in the different age groups; and (3) that there was no relationship between performance in the motor tasks and in the cognitive tasks used in the present study when controlling for age. These results suggest that both, motor planning and executive functions are rather heterogeneous domains of cognitive functioning with fewer interdependencies than often suggested. KW - anticipatory planning KW - end-state comfort effect KW - developmental disorders KW - child development KW - motor development Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165281 VL - 7 IS - 1031 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gressmann, Marcel A1 - Janczyk, Markus T1 - The (Un)Clear Effects of Invalid Retro-Cues JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Studies with the retro-cue paradigm have shown that validly cueing objects in visual working memory long after encoding can still benefit performance on subsequent change detection tasks. With regard to the effects of invalid cues, the literature is less clear. Some studies reported costs, others did not. We here revisit two recent studies that made interesting suggestions concerning invalid retro-cues: One study suggested that costs only occur for larger set sizes, and another study suggested that inclusion of invalid retro-cues diminishes the retro-cue benefit. New data from one experiment and a reanalysis of published data are provided to address these conclusions. The new data clearly show costs (and benefits) that were independent of set size, and the reanalysis suggests no influence of the inclusion of invalid retro-cues on the retro-cue benefit. Thus, previous interpretations may be taken with some caution at present. KW - visual working memory KW - retro-cue KW - attention KW - replication Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165296 VL - 7 IS - 244 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Peperkorn, Henrik M. A1 - Diemer, Julia E. A1 - Alpers, Georg W. A1 - Mühlberger, Andreas T1 - Representation of Patients' Hand Modulates Fear Reactions of Patients with Spider Phobia in Virtual Reality JF - frontiers in Psychology N2 - Embodiment (i.e., the involvement of a bodily representation) is thought to be relevant in emotional experiences. Virtual reality (VR) is a capable means of activating phobic fear in patients. The representation of the patient’s body (e.g., the right hand) in VR enhances immersion and increases presence, but its effect on phobic fear is still unknown. We analyzed the influence of the presentation of the participant’s hand in VR on presence and fear responses in 32 women with spider phobia and 32 matched controls. Participants sat in front of a table with an acrylic glass container within reaching distance. During the experiment this setup was concealed by a head-mounted display (HMD). The VR scenario presented via HMD showed the same setup, i.e., a table with an acrylic glass container. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups. In one group, fear responses were triggered by fear-relevant visual input in VR (virtual spider in the virtual acrylic glass container), while information about a real but unseen neutral control animal (living snake in the acrylic glass container) was given. The second group received fear-relevant information of the real but unseen situation (living spider in the acrylic glass container), but visual input was kept neutral VR (virtual snake in the virtual acrylic glass container). Participants were instructed to touch the acrylic glass container with their right hand in 20 consecutive trials. Visibility of the hand was varied randomly in a within-subjects design. We found for all participants that visibility of the participant’s hand increased presence independently of the fear trigger. However, in patients, the influence of the virtual hand on fear depended on the fear trigger. When fear was triggered perceptually, i.e., by a virtual spider, the virtual hand increased fear. When fear was triggered by information about a real spider, the virtual hand had no effect on fear. Our results shed light on the significance of different fear triggers (visual, conceptual) in interaction with body representations. KW - virtual reality KW - presence KW - immersion KW - perception KW - fear KW - specific phobia Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165307 VL - 7 IS - 268 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Citron, Francesca M. M. A1 - Abugaber, David A1 - Herbert, Cornelia T1 - Approach and Withdrawal Tendencies during Written Word Processing: Effects of Task, Emotional Valence, and Emotional Arousal JF - frontiers in Psychology N2 - The affective dimensions of emotional valence and emotional arousal affect processing of verbal and pictorial stimuli. Traditional emotional theories assume a linear relationship between these dimensions, with valence determining the direction of a behavior (approach vs. withdrawal) and arousal its intensity or strength. In contrast, according to the valence-arousal conflict theory, both dimensions are interactively related: positive valence and low arousal (PL) are associated with an implicit tendency to approach a stimulus, whereas negative valence and high arousal (NH) are associated with withdrawal. Hence, positive, high-arousal (PH) and negative, low-arousal (NL) stimuli elicit conflicting action tendencies. By extending previous research that used several tasks and methods, the present study investigated whether and how emotional valence and arousal affect subjective approach vs. withdrawal tendencies toward emotional words during two novel tasks. In Study 1, participants had to decide whether they would approach or withdraw from concepts expressed by written words. In Studies 2 and 3 participants had to respond to each word by pressing one of two keys labeled with an arrow pointing upward or downward. Across experiments, positive and negative words, high or low in arousal, were presented. In Study 1 (explicit task), in line with the valence-arousal conflict theory, PH and NL words were responded to more slowly than PL and NH words. In addition, participants decided to approach positive words more often than negative words. In Studies 2 and 3, participants responded faster to positive than negative words, irrespective of their level of arousal. Furthermore, positive words were significantly more often associated with “up” responses than negative words, thus supporting the existence of implicit associations between stimulus valence and response coding (positive is up and negative is down). Hence, in contexts in which participants' spontaneous responses are based on implicit associations between stimulus valence and response, there is no influence of arousal. In line with the valence-arousal conflict theory, arousal seems to affect participants' approach-withdrawal tendencies only when such tendencies are made explicit by the task, and a minimal degree of processing depth is required. KW - approach KW - withdrawal KW - valence KW - arousal KW - emotion KW - words KW - polarity effects Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165318 VL - 6 IS - 1935 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wittmann, Katharina A1 - Sieber, Cornel A1 - von Stengel, Simon A1 - Kohl, Matthias A1 - Freiberger, Ellen A1 - Jakob, Franz A1 - Lell, Michael A1 - Engelke, Klaus A1 - Kemmler, Wolfgang T1 - Impact of whole body electromyostimulation on cardiometabolic risk factors in older women with sarcopenic obesity: the randomized controlled FORMOsA-sarcopenic obesity study JF - Clinical Interventions in Aging N2 - Background: Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is characterized by a combination of low muscle and high fat mass with an additive negative effect of both conditions on cardiometabolic risk. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) on the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in community-dwelling women aged ≥70 years with SO. Methods: The study was conducted in an ambulatory university setting. Seventy-five community-dwelling women aged ≥70 years with SO living in Northern Bavaria, Germany, were randomly allocated to either 6 months of WB-EMS application with (WB-EMS&P) or without (WB-EMS) dietary supplementation (150 kcal/day, 56% protein) or a non-training control group (CG). WB-EMS included one session of 20 min (85 Hz, 350 µs, 4 s of strain–4 s of rest) per week with moderate-to-high intensity. The primary study endpoint was the MetS Z-score with the components waist circumference (WC), mean arterial pressure (MAP), triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C); secondary study endpoints were changes in these determining variables. Results: MetS Z-score decreased in both groups; however, changes compared with the CG were significant (P=0.001) in the WB-EMS&P group only. On analyzing the components of the MetS, significant positive effects for both WB-EMS groups (P≤0.038) were identified for MAP, while the WB-EMS group significantly differed for WC (P=0.036), and the WB-EMS&P group significantly differed for HDL-C (P=0.006) from the CG. No significant differences were observed between the WB-EMS groups. Conclusion: The study clearly confirms the favorable effect of WB-EMS application on the MetS in community-dwelling women aged ≥70 years with SO. However, protein-enriched supplements did not increase effects of WB-EMS alone. In summary, we considered this novel technology an effective and safe method to prevent cardiometabolic risk factors and diseases in older women unable or unwilling to exercise conventionally. KW - sarcopenia KW - obesity KW - whole-body electromyostimulation KW - cardiovascular KW - metabolic risk KW - metabolic syndrome KW - community-dwelling KW - older people Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164930 VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Palamides, Pia A1 - Jodeleit, Henrika A1 - Föhlinger, Michael A1 - Beigel, Florian A1 - Herbach, Nadja A1 - Mueller, Thomas A1 - Wolf, Eckhard A1 - Siebeck, Matthias A1 - Gropp, Roswitha T1 - A mouse model for ulcerative colitis based on NOD-scid IL2R gamma(null) mice reconstituted with peripheral blood mononuclear cells from affected individuals JF - Disease Models & Mechanisms N2 - Animal models reflective of ulcerative colitis (UC) remain a major challenge, and yet are crucial to understand mechanisms underlying the onset of disease and inflammatory characteristics of relapses and remission. Mouse models in which colitis-like symptoms are induced through challenge with toxins such as oxazolone, dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) or 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) have been instrumental in understanding the inflammatory processes of UC. However, these neither reflect the heterogeneous symptoms observed in the UC-affected population nor can they be used to test the efficacy of inhibitors developed against human targets where high sequence and structural similarity of the respective ligands is lacking. In an attempt to overcome these problems, we have developed a mouse model that relies on NOD-scid IL2R γnull mice reconstituted with peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from UC-affected individuals. Upon challenge with ethanol, mice developed colitis-like symptoms and changes in the colon architecture, characterized by influx of inflammatory cells, edema, crypt loss, crypt abscesses and epithelial hyperplasia, as previously observed in immune-competent mice. TARC, TGFβ1 and HGF expression increased in distal parts of the colon. Analysis of human leucocytes isolated from mouse spleen revealed an increase in frequencies of CD1a+, CD64+, CD163+ and TSLPR+ CD14+ monocytes, and antigen-experienced CD44+ CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells in response to ethanol. Analysis of human leucocytes from the colon of challenged mice identified CD14+ monocytes and CD11b+ monocytes as the predominant populations. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR) analysis from distal parts of the colon indicated that IFNγ might be one of the cytokines driving inflammation. Treatment with infliximab ameliorated symptoms and pathological manifestations, whereas pitrakinra had no therapeutic benefit. Thus, this model is partially reflective of the human disease and might help to increase the translation of animal and clinical studies. KW - animal models KW - Ulcerative colitis KW - NSG mice KW - Infliximab KW - Pitrakinra Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164946 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jones, Julia C. A1 - Fruciano, Carmelo A1 - Keller, Anja A1 - Schartl, Manfred A1 - Meyer, Axel T1 - Evolution of the elaborate male intromittent organ of Xiphophorus fishes JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - Internally fertilizing animals show a remarkable diversity in male genital morphology that is associated with sexual selection, and these traits are thought to be evolving particularly rapidly. Male fish in some internally fertilizing species have “gonopodia,” highly modified anal fins that are putatively important for sexual selection. However, our understanding of the evolution of genital diversity remains incomplete. Contrary to the prediction that male genital traits evolve more rapidly than other traits, here we show that gonopodial traits and other nongonopodial traits exhibit similar evolutionary rates of trait change and also follow similar evolutionary models in an iconic genus of poeciliid fish (Xiphophorus spp.). Furthermore, we find that both mating and nonmating natural selection mechanisms are unlikely to be driving the diverse Xiphophorus gonopodial morphology. Putative holdfast features of the male genital organ do not appear to be influenced by water flow, a candidate selective force in aquatic habitats. Additionally, interspecific divergence in gonopodial morphology is not significantly higher between sympatric species, than between allopatric species, suggesting that male genitals have not undergone reproductive character displacement. Slower rates of evolution in gonopodial traits compared with a subset of putatively sexually selected nongenital traits suggest that different selection mechanisms may be acting on the different trait types. Further investigations of this elaborate trait are imperative to determine whether it is ultimately an important driver of speciation. KW - Male intromittent organ KW - reproductive character displacement KW - sexual selection KW - species diversification KW - Xiphophorus fish Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164956 VL - 6 IS - 20 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Drakulić, Sanja A1 - Feldhaar, Heike A1 - Lisičić, Duje A1 - Mioč, Mia A1 - Cizelj, Ivan A1 - Seiler, Michael A1 - Spatz, Theresa A1 - Rödel, Mark-Oliver T1 - Population-specific effects of developmental temperature on body condition and jumping performance of a widespread European frog JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - All physiological processes of ectotherms depend on environmental temperature. Thus, adaptation of physiological mechanisms to the thermal environments is important for achieving optimal performance and fitness. The European Common Frog, Rana temporaria, is widely distributed across different thermal habitats. This makes it an exceptional model for studying the adaptations to different thermal conditions. We raised tadpoles from Germany and Croatia at two constant temperature treatments (15°C, 20°C), and under natural temperature fluctuations (in outdoor treatments), and tested how different developmental temperatures affected developmental traits, that is, length of larval development, morphometrics, and body condition, as well as jumping performance of metamorphs. Our results revealed population‐specific differences in developmental time, body condition, and jumping performance. Croatian frogs developed faster in all treatments, were heavier, in better body condition, and had longer hind limbs and better jumping abilities than German metamorphs. The populations further differed in thermal sensitivity of jumping performance. While metamorphs from Croatia increased their jumping performance with higher temperatures, German metamorphs reached their performance maximum at lower temperatures. These population‐specific differences in common environments indicate local genetic adaptation, with southern populations being better adapted to higher temperatures than those from north of the Alps. KW - Amphibians KW - ectotherms KW - physiological traits KW - plasticity KW - thermal adaptation Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164960 VL - 6 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van Toor, Mariëlle L. A1 - Newman, Scott H. A1 - Takekawa, John Y. A1 - Wegmann, Martin A1 - Safi, Kamran T1 - Temporal segmentation of animal trajectories informed by habitat use JF - Ecosphere N2 - Most animals live in seasonal environments and experience very different conditions throughout the year. Behavioral strategies like migration, hibernation, and a life cycle adapted to the local seasonality help to cope with fluctuations in environmental conditions. Thus, how an individual utilizes the environment depends both on the current availability of habitat and the behavioral prerequisites of the individual at that time. While the increasing availability and richness of animal movement data has facilitated the development of algorithms that classify behavior by movement geometry, changes in the environmental correlates of animal movement have so far not been exploited for a behavioral annotation. Here, we suggest a method that uses these changes in individual–environment associations to divide animal location data into segments of higher ecological coherence, which we term niche segmentation. We use time series of random forest models to evaluate the transferability of habitat use over time to cluster observational data accordingly. We show that our method is able to identify relevant changes in habitat use corresponding to both changes in the availability of habitat and how it was used using simulated data, and apply our method to a tracking data set of common teal (Anas crecca). The niche segmentation proved to be robust, and segmented habitat suitability outperformed models neglecting the temporal dynamics of habitat use. Overall, we show that it is possible to classify animal trajectories based on changes of habitat use similar to geometric segmentation algorithms. We conclude that such an environmentally informed classification of animal trajectories can provide new insights into an individuals' behavior and enables us to make sensible predictions of how suitable areas might be connected by movement in space and time. KW - Anas crecca KW - animal movement KW - common teal KW - habitat use KW - life history KW - migration KW - niche dynamics KW - random forest models KW - segmentation KW - simulation KW - species distribution model KW - transferability Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164970 VL - 7 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chubanov, Vladimir A1 - Ferioli, Silvia A1 - Wisnowsky, Annika A1 - Simmons, David G. A1 - Leitzinger, Christin A1 - Einer, Claudia A1 - Jonas, Wenke A1 - Shymkiv, Yuriy A1 - Gudermann, Thomas A1 - Bartsch, Harald A1 - Braun, Attila A1 - Akdogan, Banu A1 - Mittermeier, Lorenz A1 - Sytik, Ludmila A1 - Torben, Friedrich A1 - Jurinovic, Vindi A1 - van der Vorst, Emiel P. C. A1 - Weber, Christian A1 - Yildirim, Önder A. A1 - Sotlar, Karl A1 - Schürmann, Annette A1 - Zierler, Susanna A1 - Zischka, Hans A1 - Ryazanov, Alexey G. T1 - Epithelial magnesium transport by TRPM6 is essential for prenatal development and adult survival JF - eLife N2 - Mg2+ regulates many physiological processes and signalling pathways. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the organismal balance of Mg2+. Capitalizing on a set of newly generated mouse models, we provide an integrated mechanistic model of the regulation of organismal Mg2+ balance during prenatal development and in adult mice by the ion channel TRPM6. We show that TRPM6 activity in the placenta and yolk sac is essential for embryonic development. In adult mice, TRPM6 is required in the intestine to maintain organismal Mg2+ balance, but is dispensable in the kidney. Trpm6 inactivation in adult mice leads to a shortened lifespan, growth deficit and metabolic alterations indicative of impaired energy balance. Dietary Mg2+ supplementation not only rescues all phenotypes displayed by Trpm6-deficient adult mice, but also may extend the lifespan of wildtype mice. Hence, maintenance of organismal Mg2+ balance by TRPM6 is crucial for prenatal development and survival to adulthood. KW - signalling pathways Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164987 VL - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mena, Wilson A1 - Diegelmann, Sören A1 - Wegener, Christian A1 - Ewer, John T1 - Stereotyped responses of Drosophila peptidergic neuronal ensemble depend on downstream neuromodulators JF - eLife N2 - Neuropeptides play a key role in the regulation of behaviors and physiological responses including alertness, social recognition, and hunger, yet, their mechanism of action is poorly understood. Here, we focus on the endocrine control ecdysis behavior, which is used by arthropods to shed their cuticle at the end of every molt. Ecdysis is triggered by ETH (Ecdysis triggering hormone), and we show that the response of peptidergic neurons that produce CCAP (crustacean cardioactive peptide), which are key targets of ETH and control the onset of ecdysis behavior, depends fundamentally on the actions of neuropeptides produced by other direct targets of ETH and released in a broad paracrine manner within the CNS; by autocrine influences from the CCAP neurons themselves; and by inhibitory actions mediated by GABA. Our findings provide insights into how this critical insect behavior is controlled and general principles for understanding how neuropeptides organize neuronal activity and behaviors. KW - neuropeptides Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165003 VL - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Busch, Martin A1 - Nadal, Jennifer A1 - Schmid, Matthias A1 - Paul, Katharina A1 - Titze, Stephanie A1 - Hübner, Silvia A1 - Köttgen, Anna A1 - Schultheiss, Ulla T. A1 - Baid-Agrawal, Seema A1 - Lorenzen, Johan A1 - Schlieper, Georg A1 - Sommerer, Claudia A1 - Krane, Vera A1 - Hilge, Robert A1 - Kielstein, Jan T. A1 - Kronenberg, Florian A1 - Wanner, Christoph A1 - Eckardt, Kai-Uwe A1 - Wolf, Gunter T1 - Glycaemic control and antidiabetic therapy in patients with diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease - cross-sectional data from the German Chronic Kidney Disease (GCKD) cohort JF - BMC Nephrology N2 - Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Little is known about practice patterns of anti-diabetic therapy in the presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and correlates with glycaemic control. We therefore aimed to analyze current antidiabetic treatment and correlates of metabolic control in a large contemporary prospective cohort of patients with diabetes and CKD. Methods The German Chronic Kidney Disease (GCKD) study enrolled 5217 patients aged 18–74 years with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) between 30–60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or proteinuria >0.5 g/d. The use of diet prescription, oral anti-diabetic medication, and insulin was assessed at baseline. HbA1c, measured centrally, was the main outcome measure. Results At baseline, DM was present in 1842 patients (35 %) and the median HbA1C was 7.0 % (25th–75th percentile: 6.8–7.9 %), equalling 53 mmol/mol (51, 63); 24.2 % of patients received dietary treatment only, 25.5 % oral antidiabetic drugs but not insulin, 8.4 % oral antidiabetic drugs with insulin, and 41.8 % insulin alone. Metformin was used by 18.8 %. Factors associated with an HbA1C level >7.0 % (53 mmol/mol) were higher BMI (OR = 1.04 per increase of 1 kg/m2, 95 % CI 1.02–1.06), hemoglobin (OR = 1.11 per increase of 1 g/dL, 95 % CI 1.04–1.18), treatment with insulin alone (OR = 5.63, 95 % CI 4.26–7.45) or in combination with oral antidiabetic agents (OR = 4.23, 95 % CI 2.77–6.46) but not monotherapy with metformin, DPP-4 inhibitors, or glinides. Conclusions Within the GCKD cohort of patients with CKD stage 3 or overt proteinuria, antidiabetic treatment patterns were highly variable with a remarkably high proportion of more than 50 % receiving insulin-based therapies. Metabolic control was overall satisfactory, but insulin use was associated with higher HbA1C levels. KW - Chronic kidney disease KW - Glycaemic control KW - Hemoglobin A1C KW - Insulin therapy KW - Oral antidiabetic drugs KW - Diabetes mellitus Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164687 VL - 17 IS - 59 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Alnawaiseh, Maged A1 - Schubert, Friederike A1 - Nelis, Pieter A1 - Wirths, Gabriele A1 - Rosentreter, André A1 - Eter, Nicole T1 - Optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography findings in retinal arterial macroaneurysms JF - BMC Ophthalmology N2 - Background Optical coherence tomography angiography is a novel imaging technique that allows dyeless in vivo visualization of the retinal and choroidal vasculature. The purpose of this study was to describe optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography findings in patients with retinal arterial macroaneurysms (RAMs). Methods Three eyes of three patients with RAMs were retrospectively included. Fundus photography, OCT, fluorescein angiography (FA), and OCT angiography were performed. The entire imaging data was analyzed in detail. Results OCT angiography could detect the RAMs noninvasively without dye injection. By simultaneously observing the OCT scans, it was possible to determine the depth of the RAMs in the retina, to detect the exact localization in relation to the main vessel, and to determine the level of blood flow in the RAMs. Conclusions OCT angiography can clearly visualize RAMs without use of a dye. It also allows layer-specific observation of blood flow in each layer of the RAM. OCT angiography provides additional dynamic information on RAMs, which is not obtained with FA and facilitates a better understanding of its morphology and activity. This information in combination with ICG and fluorescein angiography can help to optimize direct laser treatment. KW - OCT angiography KW - Retinal arterial macroaneurysms KW - Fluorescein angiography Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164702 VL - 16 IS - 120 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tsiligianni, Ioanna G. A1 - Alma, Harma J. A1 - Kocks, Janwillem W. H. A1 - de Jong, Corina A1 - Jelusic, Danijel A1 - Wittmann, Michael A1 - Schuler, Michael A1 - Schultz, Konrad A1 - Kollen, Boudewijn J. A1 - van der Molen, Thys T1 - Investigating sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve of the Clinical COPD Questionnaire, COPD Assessment Test, and Modified Medical Research Council scale according to GOLD using St George's Respiratory Questionnaire cutoff 25 (and 20) as reference JF - International Journal of COPD N2 - Background: In the GOLD (Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) strategy document, the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), COPD Assessment Test (CAT), or modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale are recommended for the assessment of symptoms using the cutoff points of CCQ ≥1, CAT ≥10, and mMRC scale ≥2 to indicate symptomatic patients. The current study investigates the criterion validity of the CCQ, CAT and mMRC scale based on a reference cutoff point of St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) ≥25, as suggested by GOLD, following sensitivity and specificity analysis. In addition, areas under the curve (AUCs) of the CCQ, CAT, and mMRC scale were compared using two SGRQ cutoff points (≥25 and ≥20). Materials and methods: Two data sets were used: study A, 238 patients from a pulmonary rehabilitation program; and study B, 101 patients from primary care. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the correspondence between the recommended cutoff points of the questionnaires. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, and AUC scores for cutoff point SGRQ ≥25 were: study A, 0.99, 0.43, and 0.96 for CCQ ≥1, 0.92, 0.48, and 0.89 for CAT ≥10, and 0.68, 0.91, and 0.91 for mMRC ≥2; study B, 0.87, 0.77, and 0.9 for CCQ ≥1, 0.76, 0.73, and 0.82 for CAT ≥10, and 0.21, 1, and 0.81 for mMRC ≥2. Sensitivity, specificity, and AUC scores for cutoff point SGRQ ≥20 were: study A, 0.99, 0.73, and 0.99 for CCQ ≥1, 0.91, 0.73, and 0.94 for CAT ≥10, and 0.66, 0.95, and 0.94 for mMRC ≥2; study B, 0.8, 0.89, and 0.89 for CCQ ≥1, 0.69, 0.78, and 0.8 for CAT ≥10, and 0.18, 1, and 0.81 for mMRC ≥2. Conclusion: Based on data from these two different samples, this study showed that the suggested cutoff point for the SGRQ (≥25) did not seem to correspond well with the established cutoff points of the CCQ or CAT scales, resulting in low specificity levels. The correspondence with the mMRC scale seemed satisfactory, though not optimal. The SGRQ threshold of ≥20 corresponded slightly better than SGRQ ≥25, recently suggested by GOLD 2015, with the established cutoff points for the CCQ, CAT, and mMRC scale. KW - pulmonary disease KW - chronic obstructive KW - health status Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165427 VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ludwig, Nicole A1 - Werner, Tamara V. A1 - Backes, Christina A1 - Trampert, Patrick A1 - Gessler, Manfred A1 - Keller, Andreas A1 - Lenhof, Hans-Peter A1 - Graf, Norbert A1 - Meese, Eckart T1 - Combining miRNA and mRNA Expression Profiles in Wilms Tumor Subtypes JF - International Journal of Mokecular Sciences N2 - Wilms tumor (WT) is the most common childhood renal cancer. Recent findings of mutations in microRNA (miRNA) processing proteins suggest a pivotal role of miRNAs in WT genesis. We performed miRNA expression profiling of 36 WTs of different subtypes and four normal kidney tissues using microarrays. Additionally, we determined the gene expression profile of 28 of these tumors to identify potentially correlated target genes and affected pathways. We identified 85 miRNAs and 2107 messenger RNAs (mRNA) differentially expressed in blastemal WT, and 266 miRNAs and 1267 mRNAs differentially expressed in regressive subtype. The hierarchical clustering of the samples, using either the miRNA or mRNA profile, showed the clear separation of WT from normal kidney samples, but the miRNA pattern yielded better separation of WT subtypes. A correlation analysis of the deregulated miRNA and mRNAs identified 13,026 miRNA/mRNA pairs with inversely correlated expression, of which 2844 are potential interactions of miRNA and their predicted mRNA targets. We found significant upregulation of miRNAs-183, -301a/b and -335 for the blastemal subtype, and miRNAs-181b, -223 and -630 for the regressive subtype. We found marked deregulation of miRNAs regulating epithelial to mesenchymal transition, especially in the blastemal subtype, and miRNAs influencing chemosensitivity, especially in regressive subtypes. Further research is needed to assess the influence of preoperative chemotherapy and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes on the miRNA and mRNA patterns in WT KW - miRNA KW - Wilms tumor KW - blastemal KW - regressive Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165430 VL - 17 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lugo, Zulay R. A1 - Quitadamo, Lucia R. A1 - Bianchi, Luigi A1 - Pellas, Fréderic A1 - Veser, Sandra A1 - Lesenfants, Damien A1 - Real, Ruben G. L. A1 - Herbert, Cornelia A1 - Guger, Christoph A1 - Kotchoubey, Boris A1 - Mattia, Donatella A1 - Kübler, Andrea A1 - Laureys, Steven A1 - Noirhomme, Quentin T1 - Cognitive Processing in Non-Communicative Patients: What Can Event-Related Potentials Tell Us? JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience N2 - Event-related potentials (ERP) have been proposed to improve the differential diagnosis of non-responsive patients. We investigated the potential of the P300 as a reliable marker of conscious processing in patients with locked-in syndrome (LIS). Eleven chronic LIS patients and 10 healthy subjects (HS) listened to a complex-tone auditory oddball paradigm, first in a passive condition (listen to the sounds) and then in an active condition (counting the deviant tones). Seven out of nine HS displayed a P300 waveform in the passive condition and all in the active condition. HS showed statistically significant changes in peak and area amplitude between conditions. Three out of seven LIS patients showed the P3 waveform in the passive condition and five of seven in the active condition. No changes in peak amplitude and only a significant difference at one electrode in area amplitude were observed in this group between conditions. We conclude that, in spite of keeping full consciousness and intact or nearly intact cortical functions, compared to HS, LIS patients present less reliable results when testing with ERP, specifically in the passive condition. We thus strongly recommend applying ERP paradigms in an active condition when evaluating consciousness in non-responsive patients. KW - P300 KW - event-related potentials KW - locked-in syndrome KW - vegetative state KW - unresponsive wakefulness syndrome KW - minimally conscious state Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165165 VL - 10 IS - 569 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Enge, Sören A1 - Fleischhauer, Monika A1 - Gärtner, Anne A1 - Reif, Andreas A1 - Lesch, Klaus-Peter A1 - Kliegel, Matthias A1 - Strobel, Alexander T1 - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Val66Met) and Serotonin Transporter (5-HTTLPR) Polymorphisms Modulate Plasticity in Inhibitory Control Performance Over Time but Independent of Inhibitory Control Training JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience N2 - Several studies reported training-induced improvements in executive function tasks and also observed transfer to untrained tasks. However, the results are mixed and there is a large interindividual variability within and across studies. Given that training-related performance changes would require modification, growth or differentiation at the cellular and synaptic level in the brain, research on critical moderators of brain plasticity potentially explaining such changes is needed. In the present study, a pre-post-follow-up design (N = 122) and a 3-weeks training of two response inhibition tasks (Go/NoGo and Stop-Signal) was employed and genetic variation (Val66Met) in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promoting differentiation and activity-dependent synaptic plasticity was examined. Because Serotonin (5-HT) signaling and the interplay of BDNF and 5-HT are known to critically mediate brain plasticity, genetic variation in the 5-HTT gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) was also addressed. The overall results show that the kind of training (i.e., adaptive vs. non-adaptive) did not evoke genotype-dependent differences. However, in the Go/NoGo task, better inhibition performance (lower commission errors) were observed for BDNF Val/Val genotype carriers compared to Met-allele ones supporting similar findings from other cognitive tasks. Additionally, a gene-gene interaction suggests a more impulsive response pattern (faster responses accompanied by higher commission error rates) in homozygous l-allele carriers relative to those with the s-allele of 5-HTTLPR. This, however, is true only in the presence of the Met-allele of BDNF, while the Val/Val genotype seems to compensate for such non-adaptive responding. Intriguingly, similar results were obtained for the Stop-Signal task. Here, differences emerged at post-testing, while no differences were observed at T1. In sum, although no genotype-dependent differences between the relevant training groups emerged suggesting no changes in the trained inhibition function, the observed genotype-dependent performance changes from pre- to post measurement may reflect rapid learning or memory effects linked to BDNF and 5-HTTLPR. In line with ample evidence on BDNF and BDNF-5-HT system interactions to induce (rapid) plasticity especially in hippocampal regions and in response to environmental demands, the findings may reflect genotype-dependent differences in the acquisition and consolidation of task-relevant information, thereby facilitating a more adaptive responding to task-specific requirements. KW - executive function training KW - response inhibition KW - neuronal plasticity KW - BDNF Val66Met KW - 5-HTTLPR Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165176 VL - 10 IS - 370 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grote, Jessica A1 - Krysciak, Dagmar A1 - Petersen, Katrin A1 - Güllert, Simon A1 - Schmeisser, Christel A1 - Förstner, Konrad U. A1 - Krishnan, Hari B. A1 - Schwalbe, Harald A1 - Kubatova, Nina A1 - Streit, Wolfgang R. T1 - The Absence of the N-acyl-homoserine-lactone Autoinducer Synthase Genes tral and ngrl Increases the Copy Number of the Symbiotic Plasmid in Sinorhizobium fredii NGR234 JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - Plant-released flavonoids induce the transcription of symbiotic genes in rhizobia and one of the first bacterial responses is the synthesis of so called Nod factors. They are responsible for the initial root hair curling during onset of root nodule development. This signal exchange is believed to be essential for initiating the plant symbiosis with rhizobia affiliated with the Alphaproteobacteria. Here, we provide evidence that in the broad host range strain Sinorhizobium fredii NGR234 the complete lack of quorum sensing molecules results in an elevated copy number of its symbiotic plasmid (pNGR234a). This in turn triggers the expression of symbiotic genes and the production of Nod factors in the absence of plant signals. Therefore, increasing the copy number of specific plasmids could be a widespread mechanism of specialized bacterial populations to bridge gaps in signaling cascades. KW - Sinorhizobium fredii KW - plasmid copy number KW - plant symbioses KW - quorum sensing (QS) KW - RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165185 VL - 7 IS - 1858 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lupiañez, Carmen B. A1 - Villaescusa, Maria T. A1 - Carvalho, Agostinho A1 - Springer, Jan A1 - Lackner, Michaela A1 - Sánchez-Maldonado, José M. A1 - Canet, Luz M. A1 - Cunha, Cristina A1 - Segura-Catena, Joana A1 - Alcazar-Fuoli, Laura A1 - Solano, Carlos A1 - Fianchi, Luana A1 - Pagano, Livio A1 - Potenza, Leonardo A1 - Aguado, José M. A1 - Luppi, Mario A1 - Cuenca-Estrella, Manuel A1 - Lass-Flörl, Cornelia A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Vázquez, Lourdes A1 - Ríos-Tamayo, Rafael A1 - Loeffler, Jürgen A1 - Jurado, Manuel A1 - Sainz, Juan T1 - Common Genetic Polymorphisms within NF kappa B-Related Genes and the Risk of Developing Invasive Aspergillosis JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - Invasive Aspergillosis (IA) is an opportunistic infection caused by Aspergillus, a ubiquitously present airborne pathogenic mold. A growing number of studies suggest a major host genetic component in disease susceptibility. Here, we evaluated whether 14 single-nucleotide polymorphisms within NFκB1, NFκB2, RelA, RelB, Rel, and IRF4 genes influence the risk of IA in a population of 834 high-risk patients (157 IA and 677 non-IA) recruited through a collaborative effort involving the aspBIOmics consortium and four European clinical institutions. No significant overall associations between selected SNPs and the risk of IA were found in this large cohort. Although a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)-stratified analysis revealed that carriers of the IRF4rs12203592T/T genotype had a six-fold increased risk of developing the infection when compared with those carrying the C allele (ORREC = 6.24, 95%CI 1.25–31.2, P = 0.026), the association of this variant with IA risk did not reach significance at experiment-wide significant threshold. In addition, we found an association of the IRF4AATC and IRF4GGTC haplotypes (not including the IRF4rs12203592T risk allele) with a decreased risk of IA but the magnitude of the association was similar to the one observed in the single-SNP analysis, which indicated that the haplotypic effect on IA risk was likely due to the IRF4rs12203592 SNP. Finally, no evidence of significant interactions among the genetic markers tested and the risk of IA was found. These results suggest that the SNPs on the studied genes do not have a clinically relevant impact on the risk of developing IA. KW - Invasive Aspergillosis KW - genetic polymorphisms KW - susceptibility KW - NFkB-relatedgenes KW - interaction Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165209 VL - 7 IS - 1243 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Konte, Tilen A1 - Terpitz, Ulrich A1 - Plemenitaš, Ana T1 - Reconstruction of the High-Osmolarity Glycerol (HOG) Signaling Pathway from the Halophilic Fungus Wallemia ichthyophaga in Saccharomyces cerevisiae JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - The basidiomycetous fungus Wallemia ichthyophaga grows between 1.7 and 5.1 M NaCl and is the most halophilic eukaryote described to date. Like other fungi, W. ichthyophaga detects changes in environmental salinity mainly by the evolutionarily conserved high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signaling pathway. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the HOG pathway has been extensively studied in connection to osmotic regulation, with a valuable knock-out strain collection established. In the present study, we reconstructed the architecture of the HOG pathway of W. ichthyophaga in suitable S. cerevisiae knock-out strains, through heterologous expression of the W. ichthyophaga HOG pathway proteins. Compared to S. cerevisiae, where the Pbs2 (ScPbs2) kinase of the HOG pathway is activated via the SHO1 and SLN1 branches, the interactions between the W. ichthyophaga Pbs2 (WiPbs2) kinase and the W. ichthyophaga SHO1 branch orthologs are not conserved: as well as evidence of poor interactions between the WiSho1 Src-homology 3 (SH3) domain and the WiPbs2 proline-rich motif, the absence of a considerable part of the osmosensing apparatus in the genome of W. ichthyophaga suggests that the SHO1 branch components are not involved in HOG signaling in this halophilic fungus. In contrast, the conserved activation of WiPbs2 by the S. cerevisiae ScSsk2/ScSsk22 kinase and the sensitivity of W. ichthyophaga cells to fludioxonil, emphasize the significance of two-component (SLN1-like) signaling via Group III histidine kinase. Combined with protein modeling data, our study reveals conserved and non-conserved protein interactions in the HOG signaling pathway of W. ichthyophaga and therefore significantly improves the knowledge of hyperosmotic signal processing in this halophilic fungus. KW - signaling KW - protein-protein interaction KW - protein phosphorylation KW - mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) KW - high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) KW - signaling pathway KW - Saccharomyces cerevisiae KW - halophilic fungus KW - Wallemia ichthyophaga Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165214 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Contarino, Maria Fiorella A1 - Smit, Marenka A1 - van den Dool, Joost A1 - Volkmann, Jens A1 - Tijssen, Marina A. J. T1 - Unmet Needs in the Management of Cervical Dystonia JF - Frontiers in Neurology N2 - Cervical dystonia (CD) is a movement disorder which affects daily living of many patients. In clinical practice, several unmet treatment needs remain open. This article focuses on the four main aspects of treatment. We describe existing and emerging treatment approaches for CD, including botulinum toxin injections, surgical therapy, management of non-motor symptoms, and rehabilitation strategies. The unsolved issues regarding each of these treatments are identified and discussed, and possible future approaches and research lines are proposed. KW - cervical dystonia KW - botulinum toxin KW - deep brain stimulation KW - physical therapy modalities KW - non-motor features Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165225 VL - 7 IS - 165 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arimany-Nardi, Cristina A1 - Minuesa, Gerard A1 - Pastor-Anglada, Marçal A1 - Keller, Thorsten A1 - Erkizia, Itziar A1 - Koepsell, Hermann A1 - Martinez-Picado, Javier T1 - Role of Human Organic Cation Transporter 1 (hOCT1) Polymorphisms in Lamivudine (3TC) Uptake and Drug-Drug Interactions JF - Frontiers in Pharmacology N2 - Lamivudine (3TC), a drug used in the treatment of HIV infection, needs to cross the plasma membrane to exert its therapeutic action. Human Organic cation transporter 1 (hOCT1), encoded by the SLC22A1 gene, is the transporter responsible for its uptake into target cells. As SLC22A1 is a highly polymorphic gene, the aim of this study was to determine how SNPs in the OCT1-encoding gene affected 3TC internalization and its interaction with other co-administered drugs. HEK293 cells stably transfected with either the wild type form or the polymorphic variants of hOCT1 were used to perform kinetic and drug-drug interaction studies. Protein co-immunoprecipitation was used to assess the impact of selected polymorphic cysteines on the oligomerization of the transporter. Results showed that 3TC transport efficiency was reduced in all polymorphic variants tested (R61C, C88R, S189L, M420del, and G465R). This was not caused by lack of oligomerization in case of variants located at the transporter extracellular loop (R61C and C88R). Drug-drug interaction measurements showed that co-administered drugs [abacavir (ABC), zidovudine (AZT), emtricitabine (FTC), tenofovir diproxil fumarate (TDF), efavirenz (EFV) and raltegravir (RAL)], differently inhibited 3TC uptake depending upon the polymorphic variant analyzed. These data highlight the need for accurate analysis of drug transporter polymorphic variants of clinical relevance, because polymorphisms can impact on substrate (3TC) translocation but even more importantly they can differentially affect drug-drug interactions at the transporter level. KW - hOCT1 KW - pharmacogenetics KW - lamivudine KW - HIV infection KW - therapy Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165236 VL - 7 IS - 175 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Propping, Stefan A1 - Lorenz, Kristina A1 - Michel, Martin C. A1 - Wirth, Manfred P. A1 - Ravens, Ursula T1 - beta-Adrenoceptor-mediated Relaxation of Urinary Bladder Muscle in beta 2-Adrenoceptor Knockout Mice JF - Frontiers in Pharmacology N2 - Background and Objective: In order to characterize the β-adrenoceptor (AR) subtypes involved in agonist-stimulated relaxation of murine urinary bladder we studied the effects of (-)-isoprenaline and CL 316,243 on tonic contraction and spontaneous contractions in detrusor strips of wild-type (WT) and β2-AR knockout (β2-AR KO) mice. Materials and Methods: Urinary bladders were isolated from male WT and β2-AR KO mice. β-AR subtype expression was determined with quantitative real-time PCR. Intact muscle strips pre-contracted with KCl (40 mM) were exposed to cumulatively increasing concentrations of (-)-isoprenaline or β3-AR agonist CL 316,243 in the presence and absence of the subtype-selective β-AR blockers CGP 20712A (β1-ARs), ICI 118,551 (β2-ARs), and L748,337 (β3-ARs). Results: Quantitative real-time PCR confirmed lack of β2-AR expression in bladder tissue from β2-AR KO mice. In isolated detrusor strips, pre-contraction with KCl increased basal tone and enhanced spontaneous activity significantly more in β2-AR KO than in WT. (-)-Isoprenaline relaxed tonic tension and attenuated spontaneous activity with similar potency, but the concentrations required were two orders of magnitude higher in β2-AR KO than WT. The concentration-response curves (CRCs) for relaxation were not affected by CGP 20712A (300 nM), but were shifted to the right by ICI 118,551 (50 nM) and L748,337 (10 μM). The -logEC50 values for (-)-isoprenaline in WT and β2-AR KO tissue were 7.98 and 6.00, respectively, suggesting a large receptor reserve of β2-AR. (-)-CL 316,243 relaxed detrusor and attenuated spontaneous contractions from WT and β2-AR KO mice with a potency corresponding to the drug’s affinity for β3-AR. L743,337 shifted the CRCs to the right. Conclusion: Our findings in β2-AR KO mice suggest that there is a large receptor reserve for β2-AR in WT mice so that this β-AR subtype will mediate relaxation of tone and attenuation of spontaneous activity under physiological conditions. Nevertheless, upon removal of this reserve, β3-AR can also mediate murine detrusor relaxation. KW - detrusor muscle KW - relaxation KW - mucosa KW - beta2-adrenoceptor knockout KW - beta3 CL 316,243 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165245 VL - 7 IS - 118 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zinner, Christoph A1 - Morales-Alamo, David A1 - Ørtenblad, Niels A1 - Larsen, Filip J. A1 - Schiffer, Tomas A. A1 - Willis, Sarah J. A1 - Gelabert-Rebato, Miriam A1 - Perez-Valera, Mario A1 - Boushel, Robert A1 - Calbet, Jose A. L. A1 - Holmberg, Hans-Christer T1 - The Physiological Mechanisms of Performance Enhancement with Sprint Interval Training Differ between the Upper and Lower Extremities in Humans JF - Frontiers in Physiology N2 - To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the differences in adaptation of arm and leg muscles to sprint training, over a period of 11 days 16 untrained men performed six sessions of 4–6 × 30-s all-out sprints (SIT) with the legs and arms, separately, with a 1-h interval of recovery. Limb-specific VO2peak, sprint performance (two 30-s Wingate tests with 4-min recovery), muscle efficiency and time-trial performance (TT, 5-min all-out) were assessed and biopsies from the m. vastus lateralis and m. triceps brachii taken before and after training. VO2peak and Wmax increased 3–11% after training, with a more pronounced change in the arms (P < 0.05). Gross efficiency improved for the arms (+8.8%, P < 0.05), but not the legs (−0.6%). Wingate peak and mean power outputs improved similarly for the arms and legs, as did TT performance. After training, VO2 during the two Wingate tests was increased by 52 and 6% for the arms and legs, respectively (P < 0.001). In the case of the arms, VO2 was higher during the first than second Wingate test (64 vs. 44%, P < 0.05). During the TT, relative exercise intensity, HR, VO2, VCO2, VE, and Vt were all lower during arm-cranking than leg-pedaling, and oxidation of fat was minimal, remaining so after training. Despite the higher relative intensity, fat oxidation was 70% greater during leg-pedaling (P = 0.017). The aerobic energy contribution in the legs was larger than for the arms during the Wingate tests, although VO2 for the arms was enhanced more by training, reducing the O2 deficit after SIT. The levels of muscle glycogen, as well as the myosin heavy chain composition were unchanged in both cases, while the activities of 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase and citrate synthase were elevated only in the legs and capillarization enhanced in both limbs. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the variables that predict TT performance differ for the arms and legs. The primary mechanism of adaptation to SIT by both the arms and legs is enhancement of aerobic energy production. However, with their higher proportion of fast muscle fibers, the arms exhibit greater plasticity. KW - high-intensity training KW - lower body KW - performance KW - triceps brachii KW - upper body Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165257 VL - 7 IS - 426 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nyssen, Jan A1 - Van Nieuland, Jasper A1 - Vandenberghe, Dimitri A1 - Juilleret, Jérôme A1 - Terhorst, Birgit T1 - Grèzes litées and their genesis: the site of Enscherange in the Rhenish-Ardennes Massif as a case study JF - Die Erde : Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin N2 - The freeze-thaw cycles in periglacial areas during the Quaternary glacials increased frost weathering, leading to a disintegration of rock formations. Transported downslope, clasts allowed in some areas the formation of stratified slope deposits known as “grèzes litées”. This study reviews the existing theories and investigates the grèzes litées deposits of Enscherange and Rodershausen in Luxembourg. This process was reinforced by the lithostructural control of the parent material expressed by the dip of schistosity (66°) and its orientation parallel to the main slopes in the area. This gave opportunities to activate the frost-weathering process on top of the ridge where the parent material outcropped. As the stratified slope deposits have a dip of 23° and as there is no significant lateral variation in rock fragment size, slope processes that involve only gravity are excluded and transportation in solifluction lobes with significant slopewash and sorting processes is hypothesized. The Enscherange formation, the biggest known outcrop of grèzes litées in north-western Europe, shows evidence of clear layering over the whole profile depth. A palaeolandscape reconstruction shows that ridges must have been tens of metres higher than presently. The investigation of the matrix composition shows Laacher See tephra in the overlying periglacial cover bed with infiltrations of the minerals in the reworked upper layer of the grèzes litées deposit. Chronostratigraphic approaches using the underlying cryoturbation zone and Laacher See heavy minerals in the overlying topsoil place the formation of grèzes litées deposits in the Late Pleistocene. KW - Stratified scree KW - slope deposits KW - Pleistocene KW - Luxembourg KW - Oesling Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165032 VL - 147 IS - 1 ER -