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Objectives: To investigate determinants of joint destruction and reduced bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) not treated with bisphosphonates or hormone replacement therapy and to evaluate if there are common markers of erosive disease and bone loss. Methods: BMD was measured using dual x ray absorptiometry and joint damage was examined by x ra

Chagasin is a protein produced by Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas' disease. This small protein belongs to a recently defined family of cysteine protease inhibitors. Although resembling well-known inhibitors like the cystatins in size (110 amino acid residues) and function (they all inhibit papain-like (Cl family) proteases), it has a unique amino acid sequence and structure. We

The distribution of sediment-dispersed extraterrestrial chromite grains and other Cr-rich spinels (> 63 mu m) has been studied in Middle Ordovician Orthoceratite Limestone from two quarries at Kinnekulle, southern Sweden. In the Thorsberg quarry, all similar to 3.2 m thick sequence of beds previously shown to be rich in fossil meteorites is also rich in sediment-dispersed extraterrestrial chromite

Affinity proteins were covalently immobilised on silicon microchips with overall dimensions of 13.1 x 3.2 mm, comprising 42 porous flow channels of 235 mum depth and 25 pm width, and used to develop microfluidic immunosensors based on horseradish peroxidase (HRP), catalysing the chemiluminescent oxidation of luminol/p-iodophenol (PIP). Different hydrophilic polymers with long flexible chains (poly

[NiFe] hydrogenases catalyse the reaction H2 <-> 2H(+) + 2e(-). Several states of the enzyme have been observed by spectroscopic methods. Among these, the two most oxidized states, called the unready Ni-A and Ni-SU states, have been especially intriguing, because they take a much longer time to activate than the corresponding ready Ni-B and Ni-SI states. It has recently been suggested that the unr

Background: An allogeneic antitumour effect has been reported for various cancers. We evaluated the experience of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in 124 patients from 21 European centres. Patients and methods: Reduced intensity conditioning and peripheral blood stem cells from an HLA-identical sibling (n = 106), a mismatched related (n = 5)

Context: SHBG regulates free sex steroid levels, which in turn regulate skeletal homeostasis. Twin studies have demonstrated that genetic factors largely account for interindividual variation in SHBG levels. Glucuronidated androgen metabolites have been proposed as markers of androgenic activity. Objective: Our objective was to investigate whether polymorphisms in the SHBG gene promoter [(TAAAA)(n

Popular Abstract in Swedish Forskning kring biomarkörer har revolutionerat cancersjukvården. Några av de mest kända exemplen är PSA-testet som kan användas för att identifiera patienter med ökad risk för prostata cancer eller de nya antikroppsbehandlingarna, t.ex mot HER2 (trastuzumab/Hercepin) eller CD20 (rituximab/Rituxan), som gör att man nu ofta kan förlänga eller bota patienter som tidigare hThe goal of biomarker discovery is to identify disease defining molecules, which could be used to improve early detection and/or to predict survival and response to treatment. This thesis is about the transcription factor SOX11, a protein discovered in the context of mantle cell lymphoma in 2008, which shows great potential to be used as a clinical relevant biomarker. The aim of this thesis is to

Popular Abstract in Swedish Denna avhandling visar att jordgubbar innehåller ett allergen, proteinet Fra a 1, som är mycket likt det allergen som orsakar besvär vid björkpollen-allergi. Den som får allergiska besvär av jordgubbar, t.ex. att det kliar och blir irriterat i munhålan och svalget när man äter , har ofta en björkpollen-allergi sen tidigare. Motsvarande allergen finns också i en del andrStrawberry (Fragaria ananassa) is an economically important crop, and recognised as an important source of antioxidants and bioactive compounds with health promoting effects. Yet increased incidence of allergy puts a limit to the choice of food for an increasing percentage of the population. As part of this thesis a strawberry allergen termed Fra a 1 was identified, which is related to a major bi

Two enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of polyamines, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, from human and Leishmania donovani) and spermidine synthase (SPDS, from Plasmodium falciparum and Caenorhabditis elegans) were studied using biochemical methods, homology modelling and X-ray crystallography. ODC catalyses the first and committed step in polyamine biosynthesis, the decarboxylation of ornithine to

Popular Abstract in Swedish Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning Öroninflammtionen är en av våra vanligaste åkommor, och den drabbar framför allt små barn. Av alla bakteriella infektioner är det den som oftast för oss till läkare. Vanligen resulterar läkarbesöket i en kur med bakteriedödande läkemedel som penicillin. P.g.a den idag höga konsumtionen av penicillin och liknande medel, är risken påtagAcute otitis media (AOM) is the most common illness diagnosed during early childhood. One of the major etiologic agents is Haemophilus influenzae. Apart from AOM, this organism can cause a broad range of infectious diseases such as meningitis, epiglottitis, arthritis, and pneumonia. Despite the importance of H.influenzae, the mechanisms by which this heterogenous group of bacteria mediates the inf

We investigated the mechanism of lysosome-mediated cell death using purified recombinant pro-apoptotic proteins, and cell-free extracts from the human neuronal progenitor cell line NT2, Potential effectors were either isolated lysosomes or purified lysosomal proteases. Purified lysosomal cathepsins B, H, K, L, S, and X or an extract of mouse lysosomes did not directly activate either recombinant c

The ADAM ( a disintegrin and metalloprotease) family consists of multidomain cell-surface proteins that have a major impact on cell behavior. These transmembrane-anchored proteins are synthesized as proforms that have ( from the N terminus): a prodomain; a metalloprotease, disintegrin-like-, cysteine-rich, epidermal growth factor-like, and transmembrane domain; and a cytoplasmic tail. The 90-kDa m

In our inbred strain of cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) 50% of the females develop spontaneous ECL cell-derived tumors in the acid-producing part of the stomach due to hypergastrinemia secondary to gastric hypoacidity. Although the mechanism behind the hypoacidity is unknown, the female cotton rat is an excellent model for studying ECL cell-related tumorigenesis. In this study we wanted to explore

Human blood group A and B antigens are produced by two closely related glycosyltransferase enzymes. An N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase (GTA) utilizes UDP-GalNAc to extend H antigen acceptors (Fuc alpha(1-2)Gal beta-OR) producing A antigens, whereas a galactosyltransferase (GTB) utilizes UDP-Gal as a donor to extend H structures producing B antigens. GTA and GTB have a characteristic (DVD213)-D-2

Recent ChIP experiments of human and mouse embryonic stem cells have elucidated the architecture of the transcriptional regulatory circuitry responsible for cell determination, which involves the transcription factors OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG. In addition to regulating each other through feedback loops, these genes also regulate downstream target genes involved in the maintenance and differentiation

Sustained neurotrophic factor treatment in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease is likely to affect both degenerating and intact neurons. To investigate the effect of long-term glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) overexpression on intact nigrostriatal dopamine neurons, we injected a recombinant lentiviral vector encoding GDNF, or green fluorescent protein, in the