Search results for "Mura"
showing 10 items of 356 documents
Molecular characterisation, evolution and expression analysis of g-type lysozymes in Ciona intestinalis
2017
Lysozyme is an important defense molecule of the innate immune system. Known for its bactericidal properties, lysozyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of b-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds between the N-acetyl glucosamine and N-acetyl muramic acid in the peptidoglycan layer of bacterial cell walls. In this study, the complete coding sequence of four g-type lysozymes were identified in Ciona intestinalis. Phylogenetic analysis and modelling supported the hypothesis of a close relationship with the vertebrate g-type lysozymes suggesting that the C. intestinalis g-type lysozyme genes (CiLys-g1, Cilys-g2, CiLys-g3, CiLys-g4) share a common ancestor in the chordate lineage. Protein motif searches indicated that …
The genomic history of Southern Europe
2018
Farming was first introduced to southeastern Europe in the mid-7th millennium BCE - brought by migrants from Anatolia who settled in the region before spreading throughout Europe. However, the dynamics of the interaction between the first farmers and the indigenous hunter-gatherers remain poorly understood because of the near absence of ancient DNA from the region. We report new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 204 individuals-65 Paleolithic and Mesolithic, 93 Neolithic, and 46 Copper, Bronze and Iron Age-who lived in southeastern Europe and surrounding regions between about 12,000 and 500 BCE. We document that the hunter-gatherer populations of southeastern Europe, the Baltic, and the Nor…
Associations between food consumption patterns and saliva composition: Specificities of eating difficulties children
2017
Identifying objective markers of dietwould be beneficial to research fields such as nutritional epidemiology. As a preliminary study on the validity of using saliva for this purpose, and in order to explore the relationship between saliva and diet, we focused on clearly contrasted groups of children: children with eating difficulties (ED) receiving at least 50% of their energy intake through artificial nutrition vs healthy controls (C). Saliva of ED and C children was analyzed by various methods (targeted biochemical analyses, 2-D electrophoresis coupled to MS, 1H NMR) and their diet was characterized using food frequency questionnaires, considering 148 food items grouped into 13 categories…
Genetic associations at 53 loci highlight cell types and biological pathways relevant for kidney function
2016
Reduced glomerular filtration rate defines chronic kidney disease and is associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), combining data across 133,413 individuals with replication in up to 42,166 individuals. We identify 24 new and confirm 29 previously identified loci. Of these 53 loci, 19 associate with eGFR among individuals with diabetes. Using bioinformatics, we show that identified genes at eGFR loci are enriched for expression in kidney tissues and in pathways relevant for kidney development and transmembrane transporter activity, kidney structure, and regulation o…
Clinical outcome of concomitant vs interrupted BRAF inhibitor therapy during radiotherapy in melanoma patients
2018
Background: Concomitant radiation with BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) therapy may increase radiation-induced side effects but also potentially improve tumour control in melanoma patients. Methods: A total of 155 patients with BRAF-mutated melanoma from 17 European skin cancer centres were retrospectively analysed. Out of these, 87 patients received concomitant radiotherapy and BRAFi (59 vemurafenib, 28 dabrafenib), while in 68 patients BRAFi therapy was interrupted during radiation (51 vemurafenib, 17 dabrafenib). Overall survival was calculated from the first radiation (OSRT) and from start of BRAFi therapy (OSBRAFi). Results: The median duration of BRAFi treatment interruption prior to radiothera…
Progression patterns under BRAF inhibitor treatment and treatment beyond progression in patients with metastatic melanoma
2017
Despite markedly improved treatment options for metastatic melanoma, resistance to targeted therapies such as BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi) or BRAFi plus MEK inhibitors (MEKi) remains a major problem. Our aim was to characterize progression on BRAFi therapy and outcome of subsequent treatment. One hundred and eighty patients with BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma who had progressed on treatment with single-agent BRAFi from February 2010 to April 2015 were included in a retrospective data analysis focused on patterns of progression, treatment beyond progression (TBP) and subsequent treatments after BRAFi therapy. Analysis revealed that 51.1% of patients progressed with both new and existing metastas…
Update on tolerability and overall survival in COLUMBUS: landmark analysis of a randomised phase 3 trial of encorafenib plus binimetinib vs vemurafen…
2020
Abstract Background BRAF/MEK inhibitor combinations are established treatments for BRAF V600–mutant melanoma based on demonstrated benefits on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Here, we report an updated analysis of the COLUMBUS (COmbined LGX818 [encorafenib] Used with MEK162 [binimetinib] in BRAF mutant Unresectable Skin cancer) trial with long-term follow-up. Methods In part 1 of the COLUMBUS trial, 577 patients with advanced/metastatic BRAF V600–mutant melanoma, untreated or progressed after first-line immunotherapy, were randomised 1:1:1 to 450 mg of encorafenib QD + 45 mg of binimetinib BID (COMBO450) vs 960 mg of vemurafenib BID (VEM) or 300 mg of encorafenib …
BRAF as a positive predictive biomarker: Focus on lung cancer and melanoma patients
2020
In the era of personalized medicine, BRAF mutational assessment is mandatory in advanced-stage melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The identification of actionable mutations is crucial for the adequate management of these patients. To date various drugs have been implemented in clinical practice. Similarly, various methods may be adopted for the identification of BRAF mutations. Here, we briefly review the current literature on BRAF in melanoma and NSCLC, focusing attention in particular on the different methods and drugs adopted in these patients. In addition, an overview of the real-world practice in different Italian laboratories with high expertise in molecular pre…
The Interplay between Genes and Psychosocial Home Environment on Physical Activity
2018
Introduction Genetic factors contribute to individual differences in physical activity, but it remains uncertain whether the magnitude of the genetic effects is modified by variations in home environments. We aimed to examine to what extent the psychosocial home environment in childhood and adolescence modifies the genetic influences on leisure time physical activity in young adulthood. Methods Participants were Finnish twins (N = 3305) who reported their leisure time physical activity at age 24 yr. The psychosocial home environment was assessed by twins at ages 12, 14, and 17 yr, as well as by their parents when the twins were age 12 yr. Gene–environment interaction modeling was performed …
Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies
2017
The marriage between immunology and cytometry is one of the most stable and productive in the recent history of science. A rapid search in PubMed shows that, as of July 2017, using “flow cytometry immunology” as a search term yields more than 68 000 articles, the first of which, interestingly, is not about lymphocytes. It might be stated that, after a short engagement, the exchange of the wedding rings between immunology and cytometry officially occurred when the idea to link fluorochromes to monoclonal antibodies came about. After this, recognizing different types of cells became relatively easy and feasible not only by using a simple fluorescence microscope, but also by a complex and some…