@article{MansourSolimanShehabetal.2017, author = {Mansour, Ahmed M. and Soliman, Fatma A. and Shehab, Ola R. and Abdel-Ghani, Nour T.}, title = {Photodegradation of sulfadiazine catalyzed by p-benzoquinones and picric acid: application to charge transfer complexes}, series = {RSC Advances}, volume = {7}, journal = {RSC Advances}, number = {63}, doi = {10.1039/c7ra05433e}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181507}, pages = {39989-39996}, year = {2017}, abstract = {As the treatment of effluents containing the antibiotic drug sulfadiazine (SZ) is one of the challenging problems in the field of environmental chemistry, it is essential to determine the concentration of SZ by a rapid and accurate method and then find a suitable method to degrade the assayed products into harmless chemicals. The color of the charge transfer (CT) complexes developed from the reaction of SZ with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ), chloranilic acid (CHL) and picric acid (PA) was used to determine the concentration of SZ at 528, 510 and 410 nm, respectively. The Lambert-Beer's law is obeyed in the ranges of 6.80-68.06, 13.61-136.12 and 6.80-27.22 μg mL\(^{-1}\) for DDQ, CHL and PA complexes. The photolysis of SZ → DDQ in presence of sodium nitrite at 256 nm leads to faster degradation of SZ compared with the control experiments. This was simply spectrophotometrically followed by a decrease in the intensity of the CT band. The effect of some additives such as oxalic acid, and hematite nano particles was studied. For comparison, other π-acceptor reagents such as CHL and PA were used. About 80\% of SZ is degraded in 45 min upon the illumination of SZ → DDQ at 256 nm, whereas 90 min is required in the case of CHL and PA to attain the same degradation limit.}, language = {en} } @article{SharmaKhairnarMadunicetal.2017, author = {Sharma, Piyush and Khairnar, Vishal and Madunic, Ivana Vrhovac and Singh, Yogesh and Pandyra, Aleksandra and Salker, Madhuri S. and Koepsell, Hermann and Sabolic, Ivan and Lang, Florian and Lang, Pilipp A. and Lang, Karl S.}, title = {SGLT1 deficiency turns listeria infection into a lethal disease in mice}, series = {Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry}, volume = {42}, journal = {Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1159/000479197}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181496}, pages = {1358-1365}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Background: Cellular glucose uptake may involve either non-concentrative glucose carriers of the GLUT family or Na\(^+\)-coupled glucose-carrier SGLT1, which accumulates glucose against glucose gradients and may thus accomplish cellular glucose uptake even at dramatically decreased extracellular glucose oncentrations. SGLT1 is not only expressed in epithelia but as well in tumour cells and immune cells. Immune cell functions strongly depend on their metabolism, therefore we hypothesized that deficiency of SGLT1 modulates the defence against bacterial infection. To test this hypothesis, we infected wild type mice and gene targeted mice lacking functional SGLT1 with Listeria monocytogenes. Methods: SGLT1 deficient mice and wild type littermates were infected with 1x10\(^4\) CFU Listeria monocytogenes intravenously. Bacterial titers were determined by colony forming assay, SGLT1, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-12a transcript levels were determined by qRT-PCR, as well as SGLT1 protein abundance and localization by immunohistochemistry. Results: Genetic knockout of SGLT1 (Slc5a1\(^{-/-}\) mice) significantly compromised bacterial clearance following Listeria monocytogenes infection with significantly enhanced bacterial load in liver, spleen, kidney and lung, and significantly augmented hepatic expression of TNF-α and IL-12a. While all wild type mice survived, all SGLT1 deficient mice died from the infection. Conclusions: SGLT1 is required for bacterial clearance and host survival following murine Listeria infection.}, language = {en} } @article{MaGulbinsEdwardsetal.2017, author = {Ma, Jie and Gulbins, Erich and Edwards, Michael J. and Caldwell, Charles C. and Fraunholz, Martin and Becker, Katrin Anne}, title = {Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin induces inflammatory cytokines via lysosomal acid sphingomyelinase and ceramides}, series = {Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry}, volume = {43}, journal = {Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry}, number = {6}, doi = {10.1159/000484296}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181481}, pages = {2170-2184}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infections are a major clinical problem and range from mild skin and soft-tissue infections to severe and even lethal infections such as pneumonia, endocarditis, sepsis, osteomyelitis, and toxic shock syndrome. Toxins that are released from S. aureus mediate many of these effects. Here, we aimed to identify molecular mechanisms how α-toxin, a major S. aureus toxin, induces inflammation. Methods: Macrophages were isolated from the bone marrow of wildtype and acid sphingomyelinase-deficient mice, stimulated with S. aureus α-toxin and activation of the acid sphingomyelinase was quantified. The subcellular formation of ceramides was determined by confocal microscopy. Release of cathepsins from lysosomes, activation of inflammasome proteins and formation of Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) were analyzed by western blotting, confocal microscopy and ELISA. Results: We demonstrate that S. aureus α-toxin activates the acid sphingomyelinase in ex vivo macrophages and triggers a release of ceramides. Ceramides induced by S. aureus α-toxin localize to lysosomes and mediate a release of cathepsin B and D from lysosomes into the cytoplasm. Cytosolic cathepsin B forms a complex with Nlrc4. Treatment of macrophages with α-toxin induces the formation of IL-1β and TNF-α. These events are reduced or abrogated, respectively, in cells lacking the acid sphingomyelinase and upon treatment of macrophages with amitriptyline, a functional inhibitor of acid sphingomyelinase. Pharmacological inhibition of cathepsin B prevented activation of the inflammasome measured as release of IL-1β, while the formation of TNF-α was independent of cathepsin B. Conclusion: We demonstrate a novel mechanism how bacterial toxins activate the inflammasome and mediate the formation and release of cytokines: S. aureus α-toxin triggers an activation of the acid sphingomyelinase and a release of ceramides resulting in the release of lysosomal cathepsin B and formation of pro-inflammatory cytokines.}, language = {en} } @article{WangZhangBaietal.2017, author = {Wang, Yiwen and Zhang, Zhen and Bai, Liying and Lin, Chongde and Osinsky, Roman and Hewig, Johannes}, title = {Ingroup/outgroup membership modulates fairness consideration: neural signatures from ERPs and EEG oscillations}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {7}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, doi = {10.1038/srep39827}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181461}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Previous studies have shown that ingroup/outgroup membership influences individual's fairness considerations. However, it is not clear yet how group membership influences brain activity when a recipient evaluates the fairness of asset distribution. In this study, subjects participated as recipients in an Ultimatum Game with alleged members of both an experimentally induced ingroup and outgroup. They either received extremely unequal, moderately unequal, or equal offers from proposers while electroencephalogram was recorded. Behavioral results showed that the acceptance rates for unequal offers were higher when interacting with ingroup partners than with outgroup partners. Analyses of event related potentials revealed that proposers' group membership modulated offer evaluation at earlier processing stages. Feedback-related negativity was more negative for extremely and moderately unequal offers compared to equal offers in the ingroup interaction whereas it did not show differential responses to different offers in the outgroup interaction. Analyses of event related oscillations revealed that the theta power (4-6 Hz) was larger for moderately unequal offers than equal offers in the ingroup interaction whereas it did not show differential responses to different offers in the outgroup interaction. Thus, early mechanisms of fairness evaluation are strongly modulated by the ingroup/outgroup membership of the interaction partner.}, language = {en} } @article{ScheunertCohenKullocketal.2017, author = {Scheunert, Gunther and Cohen, Sidney R. and Kullock, Ren{\´e} and McCarron, Ryan and Rechev, Katya and Kaplan-Ashiri, Ifat and Bitton, Ora and Dawson, Paul and Hecht, Bert and Oron, Dan}, title = {Grazing-incidence optical magnetic recording with super-resolution}, series = {Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology}, volume = {8}, journal = {Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology}, doi = {10.3762/bjnano.8.4}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181457}, pages = {28-37}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is often considered the next major step in the storage industry: it is predicted to increase the storage capacity, the read/write speed and the data lifetime of future hard disk drives. However, despite more than a decade of development work, the reliability is still a prime concern. Featuring an inherently fragile surface-plasmon resonator as a highly localized heat source, as part of a near-field transducer (NFT), the current industry concepts still fail to deliver drives with sufficient lifetime. This study presents a method to aid conventional NFT-designs by additional grazing-incidence laser illumination, which may open an alternative route to high-durability HAMR. Magnetic switching is demonstrated on consumer-grade CoCrPt perpendicular magnetic recording media using a green and a near-infrared diode laser. Sub-500 nm magnetic features are written in the absence of a NFT in a moderate bias field of only μ0H = 0.3 T with individual laser pulses of 40 mW power and 50 ns duration with a laser spot size of 3 μm (short axis) at the sample surface - six times larger than the magnetic features. Herein, the presence of a nanoscopic object, i.e., the tip of an atomic force microscope in the focus of the laser at the sample surface, has no impact on the recorded magnetic features - thus suggesting full compatibility with NFT-HAMR.}, language = {en} } @article{SzklarczykMorrisCooketal.2017, author = {Szklarczyk, Damian and Morris, John H. and Cook, Helen and Kuhn, Michael and Wyder, Stefan and Simonovic, Milan and Santos, Aalberto and Doncheva, Nadezhda T. and Roth, Alexander and Bork, Peer and Jensen, Lars J. and von Mering, Christian}, title = {The STRING database in 2017: quality-controlled protein-protein association networks, made broadly accessible}, series = {Nucleic Acids Research}, volume = {45}, journal = {Nucleic Acids Research}, number = {D1}, doi = {10.1093/nar/gkw937}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181445}, pages = {D362-D368}, year = {2017}, abstract = {A system-wide understanding of cellular function requires knowledge of all functional interactions between the expressed proteins. The STRING database aims to collect and integrate this information, by consolidating known and predicted protein-protein association data for a large number of organisms. The associations in STRING include direct (physical) interactions, as well as indirect (functional) interactions, as long as both are specific and biologically meaningful. Apart from collecting and reassessing available experimental data on protein-protein interactions, and importing known pathways and protein complexes from curated databases, interaction predictions are derived from the following sources: (i) systematic co-expression analysis, (ii) detection of shared selective signals across genomes, (iii) automated text-mining of the scientific literature and (iv) computational transfer of interaction knowledge between organisms based on gene orthology. In the latest version 10.5 of STRING, the biggest changes are concerned with data dissemination: the web frontend has been completely redesigned to reduce dependency on outdated browser technologies, and the database can now also be queried from inside the popular Cytoscape software framework. Further improvements include automated background analysis of user inputs for functional enrichments, and streamlined download options. The STRING resource is available online, at http://string-db.org/.}, language = {en} } @article{RheeChoiKimetal.2017, author = {Rhee, Jae-Sung and Choi, Beom-Soon and Kim, Jaebum and Kim, Bo-Mi and Lee, Young-Mi and Kim, Il-Chan and Kanamori, Akira and Choi, Ik-Young and Schartl, Manfred and Lee, Jae-Seong}, title = {Diversity, distribution, and significance of transposable elements in the genome of the only selfing hermaphroditic vertebrate Kryptolebias marmoratus}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {7}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, doi = {10.1038/srep40121}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181329}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The Kryptolebias marmoratus is unique because it is the only selffertilizing hermaphroditic vertebrate, known to date. It primarily reproduces by internal self-fertilization in a mixed ovary/testis gonad. Here, we report on a high-quality genome assembly for the K. marmoratus South Korea (SK) strain highlighting the diversity and distribution of transposable elements (TEs). We find that K. marmoratus genome maintains number and composition of TEs. This can be an important genomic attribute promoting genome recombination in this selfing fish, while, in addition to a mixed mating strategy, it may also represent a mechanism contributing to the evolutionary adaptation to ecological pressure of the species. Future work should help clarify this point further once genomic information is gathered for other taxa of the family Rivulidae that do not self-fertilize. We provide a valuable genome resource that highlights the potential impact of TEs on the genome evolution of a fish species with an uncommon life cycle.}, language = {en} } @article{ChenLuChenetal.2017, author = {Chen, Wei-Hua and Lu, Guanting and Chen, Xiao and Zhao, Xing-Ming and Bork, Peer}, title = {OGEE v2: an update of the online gene essentiality database with special focus on differentially essential genes in human cancer cell lines}, series = {Nucleic Acids Research}, volume = {45}, journal = {Nucleic Acids Research}, number = {D1}, doi = {10.1093/nar/gkw1013}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181334}, pages = {D940-D944}, year = {2017}, abstract = {OGEE is an Online GEne Essentiality database. To enhance our understanding of the essentiality of genes, in OGEE we collected experimentally tested essential and non-essential genes, as well as associated gene properties known to contribute to gene essentiality. We focus on large-scale experiments, and complement our data with text-mining results. We organized tested genes into data sets according to their sources, and tagged those with variable essentiality statuses across data sets as conditionally essential genes, intending to highlight the complex interplay between gene functions and environments/experimental perturbations. Developments since the last public release include increased number of species and gene essentiality data sets, inclusion of non-coding essential sequences and genes with intermediate essentiality statuses. In addition, we included 16 essentiality data sets from cancer cell lines, corresponding to 9 human cancers; with OGEE, users can easily explore the shared and differentially essential genes within and between cancer types. These genes, especially those derived from cell lines that are similar to tumor samples, could reveal the oncogenic drivers, paralogous gene expression pattern and chromosomal structure of the corresponding cancer types, and can be further screened to identify targets for cancer therapy and/or new drug development. OGEE is freely available at http://ogee.medgenius.info.}, language = {en} } @article{GhoshHoenscheidDueckersetal.2017, author = {Ghosh, Sujal and H{\"o}nscheid, Andrea and D{\"u}ckers, Gregor and Ginzel, Sebastian and Gohlke, Holger and Gombert, Michael and Kempkes, Bettina and Klapper, Wolfram and Kuhlen, Michaela and Laws, Hans-J{\"u}rgen and Linka, Ren{\´e} Martin and Meisel, Roland and Mielke, Christian and Niehues, Tim and Schindler, Detlev and Schneider, Dominik and Schuster, Friedhelm R. and Speckmann, Carsten and Borkhardt, Arndt}, title = {Human RAD52 - a novel player in DNA repair in cancer and immunodeficiency}, series = {Haematologica}, volume = {102}, journal = {Haematologica}, number = {2}, doi = {10.3324/haematol.2016.155838}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-180862}, pages = {e69-e72}, year = {2017}, abstract = {No abstract available.}, language = {en} } @article{SchwabMeeuwsenEhlickeetal.2017, author = {Schwab, Andrea and Meeuwsen, Annick and Ehlicke, Franziska and Hansmann, Jan and Mulder, Lars and Smits, Anthal and Walles, Heike and Kock, Linda}, title = {Ex vivo culture platform for assessment of cartilage repair treatment strategies}, series = {ALTEX - Alternatives to animal experimentation}, volume = {34}, journal = {ALTEX - Alternatives to animal experimentation}, number = {2}, doi = {10.14573/altex.1607111}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181665}, pages = {267-277}, year = {2017}, abstract = {There is a great need for valuable ex vivo models that allow for assessment of cartilage repair strategies to reduce the high number of animal experiments. In this paper we present three studies with our novel ex vivo osteochondral culture platform. It consists of two separated media compartments for cartilage and bone, which better represents the in vivo situation and enables supply of factors pecific to the different needs of bone and cartilage. We investigated whether separation of the cartilage and bone compartments and/or culture media results in the maintenance of viability, structural and functional properties of cartilage tissue. Next, we valuated for how long we can preserve cartilage matrix stability of osteochondral explants during long-term culture over 84 days. Finally, we determined the optimal defect size that does not show spontaneous self-healing in this culture system. It was demonstrated that separated compartments for cartilage and bone in combination with tissue-specific medium allow for long-term culture of osteochondral explants while maintaining cartilage viability, atrix tissue content, structure and mechanical properties for at least 56 days. Furthermore, we could create critical size cartilage defects of different sizes in the model. The osteochondral model represents a valuable preclinical ex vivo tool for studying clinically relevant cartilage therapies, such as cartilage biomaterials, for their regenerative potential, for evaluation of drug and cell therapies, or to study mechanisms of cartilage regeneration. It will undoubtedly reduce the number of animals needed for in vivotesting.}, language = {en} }