Novel missense and truncating mutations in FUS/TLS in familial ALS

BACKGROUND

Mutations in the FUS/TLS gene have been associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS).

METHODS

We analyzed the presence and frequency of C-terminal FUS/TLS mutations in a German amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cohort, including 133 patients with sporadic ALS (SALS) and 58 patients with FALS by sequence analysis of exons 13-15.

RESULTS

We identified 2 novel heterozygous FUS/TLS mutations in 4 German ALS families including the novel missense mutation K510R and the truncating mutation R495X. The truncating mutation was associated with an aggressive disease course whereas the K510R mutation showed a mild phenotype with disease duration ranging from 6 to 8 years. No mutation was detected in 133 patients with SALS.

CONCLUSIONS

Mutations in FUS/TLS account for 7% (4 of 58) of FALS in our German cohort.

Effect of enalapril on the in vitro and in vivo peptidyl cleavage of a potent VLA-4 antagonist

BIO1211 is a small peptidyl potent antagonist of the activated form of alpha4beta1 integrin. The effect of enalapril on the in vitro and in vivo cleavage of BIO1211 was investigated. In heparinized blood, plasma and rat liver, lung and intestinal homogenates, BIO1211 was converted rapidly to BIO1588 by hydrolytic cleavage of the terminal dipeptide moiety. This cleavage could be inhibited by EDTA and the ACE inhibitor, enalaprilat, the de-esterified acid derivative of enalapril. Enalaprilat inhibited the hydrolysis of BIO1211 in a concentration-dependent manner with IC(50) values of 2 nM in human and sheep plasma and 10 nM in rat plasma. In rat lung homogenate supernatant, the maximum inhibition of the conversion of BIO1211 to BIO1588 was approximately 80% at 1 microM with no further effect up to 100 microM of enalaprilat. Following a concomitant IV administration of enalapril and BIO1211 at 3 mg/kg each, the AUC and the half-life values of BIO1211 increased 18- and 10-fold, respectively. The AUC of BIO1588 decreased approximately 2-fold with no change in its plasma half-life. When rats were dosed intravenously with enalapril followed by an intratracheal dose of BIO1211, there was approximately 2.5-fold decrease in the AUC of BIO1588 and a 2.4-fold increase in its plasma half-life.

Strong anisotropy of projected 3d moments in epitaxial CrO2 films

Soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectra have been investigated for different crystallographic projections of CrO2. Strong anisotropic orbital Cr 3d contributions and a change of sign of the XMCD signal is observed and attributed to t(2g) majority states near the Fermi level. Additionally, moment analysis exhibits anisotropic behavior in the projected spin contributions of CrO2 assigned to a strong magnetic dipole term T(z), consistent with an intrinsic magnetic easy axis behavior along the CrO2 [001] axis. A reduced projected isotropic Cr 3d spin moment has been interpreted in terms of hybridization with oxygen.

Photon beats from a single semiconductor quantum dot

Single-photon interference is observed on the ultranarrow long-term stable exciton resonance of an individual semiconductor quantum dot. This interference is related to the fine-structure splitting and allows direct conclusions about the coherence properties of the exciton. When selectively addressing a particular dot by quasiresonant phonon-assisted excitation, despite a rapid orientation relaxation on a 1-ps time scale, coherence is partly maintained. No significant further decoherence occurs when the ground state is reached until the exciton recombines radiatively (approximately 300 ps).

Effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on neuroendocrine responses to ovariectomy and estrogen replacement in female rats

The effects of streptozotocin-induced (STZ) diabetes on the negative feedback regulation of LH and FSH were evaluated in adult female rats. Rats were injected with STZ (50 mg/kg) or vehicle and ovariectomized 10 days later. Estrogen (EB; 100 micrograms/kg) or oil injections were given on alternate days, starting on the day of ovariectomy. Blood samples for LH, FSH and PRL assay were taken on days 10, 13, 15 and 17. The rats were decapitated on day 17. One hour prior to sacrifice, one half of the animals were injected with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine for determination of catecholamine turnover rates. Pituitaries were incubated to determine basal secretion rates. Rats treated with STZ exhibited the expected weight loss and elevation of plasma glucose levels. At the time of ovariectomy, FSH, but not LH or PRL, was depressed in the diabetic rats. The postovariectomy rise in LH and FSH was severely attenuated in the diabetic rats. EB treatment was more effective in lowering LH and FSH levels in the diabetic as compared to the control rats. Median eminence (ME) norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) turnover was higher in the oil-treated diabetic rats than oil-treated controls. EB also caused a greater decrease in ME NE and DA turnover in the diabetic rats. EB was more effective in decreasing in vitro LH secretion and increasing in vitro PRL secretion from pituitaries of control as compared to STZ-treated animals. These results demonstrated that STZ-induced diabetes leads to an attenuation of LH and FSH release after ovariectomy and potentiates the negative feedback effects of EB.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)