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Background: Here we examined myocardial microRNA (miRNA) expression profile in a sensory neuropathy model with cardiac diastolic dysfunction and aimed to identify key mRNA molecular targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs that may contribute to cardiac dysfunction. Methods: Male Wistar rats were treated with vehicle or capsaicin for 3 days to induce systemic sensory neuropathy. Seven days later, diastolic dysfunction was detected by echocardiography, and miRNAs were isolated from the whole ventricles. Results: Out of 711 known miRNAs measured by miRNA microarray, the expression of 257 miRNAs was detected in the heart. As compared to vehicle-treated hearts, miR-344b, miR-466b, miR-98, let-7a, miR-1, miR-206, and miR-34b were downregulated, while miR-181a was upregulated as validated also by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). By an in silico network analysis, we identified common mRNA targets (insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), solute carrier family 2 facilitated glucose transporter member 12 (SLC2a-12), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4e (EIF-4e), and Unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 2 (ULK-2)) targeted by at least three altered miRNAs. Predicted upregulation of these mRNA targets were validated by qRT-PCR. Conclusion: This is the first demonstration that sensory neuropathy affects cardiac miRNA expression network targeting IGF-1, SLC2a-12, EIF-4e, and ULK-2, which may contribute to cardiac diastolic dysfunction. These results further support the need for unbiased omics approach followed by in silico prediction and validation of molecular targets to reveal novel pathomechanisms.
To improve and focus preclinical testing, we combine tumor models based on a decellularized tissue matrix with bioinformatics to stratify tumors according to stage-specific mutations that are linked to central cancer pathways. We generated tissue models with BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer (CRC) cells (HROC24 and HROC87) and compared treatment responses to two-dimensional (2D) cultures and xenografts. As the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib is—in contrast to melanoma—not effective in CRC, we combined it with the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib. In general, our 3D models showed higher chemoresistance and in contrast to 2D a more active HGFR after gefitinib and combination-therapy. In xenograft models murine HGF could not activate the human HGFR, stressing the importance of the human microenvironment. In order to stratify patient groups for targeted treatment options in CRC, an in silico topology with different stages including mutations and changes in common signaling pathways was developed. We applied the established topology for in silico simulations to predict new therapeutic options for BRAF-mutated CRC patients in advanced stages. Our in silico tool connects genome information with a deeper understanding of tumor engines in clinically relevant signaling networks which goes beyond the consideration of single drivers to improve CRC patient stratification.
Background: While ICF-CY-based models of care are promising avenues for improving participation of children with chronic health conditions, feasible and valid instruments to assess participation as an outcome in routine are still needed. We aimed to validate a German parent-report version of the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation (CASP) in children with chronic health conditions of different severity.
Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected in 327 children (mean age 7.8 years, 55% boys) from two paediatric centres (n = 112) and one population-based sample (n = 215). Cronbach’s alpha, factor analyses, face validity assessments, correlation analyses, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves, and parent-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL: KINDL) were used to examine internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and capacity to differentiate between disease severity groups. Disease severity was operationalized according to ICD-diagnosis groups and/or parent-reports on health problems, medical and educational support, and medication. A newly developed item "overall perceived participation" was added to the CASP and evaluated.
Results: We found good to excellent content validity, excellent internal consistency, and good-to-excellent test-retest reliability of the instrument. While children with mild disease had a significantly greater extent of participation (higher CASP scores) than children with severe disease, they did not differ from healthy children. Children with mild compared to severe disease much more differed in participation as measured by the CASP compared to the KINDL (area under the ROC curve: 0.92 vs. 0.75). In addition, the item "overall perceived participation" was highly correlated (r = 0.86) with the CASP total score, indicating the potential value of this specific single item. Finally, we provided preliminary reference values for the CASP obtained in a population-based sample of children without chronic health conditions.
Conclusions: The German version of the CASP and the new item are efficient, valid and reliable measures of social participation in childhood. The CASP-measured participation focuses more on attendance than on involvement into social circumstances of everyday life. To detect children with a high burden of disease on everyday life, the CASP may be more accurate than HRQoL instruments such as the KINDL. As outcome measurement, the CASP may facilitate the implementation of patient-centred paediatric health care.
Background: Neonatal manifestation of life-threatening hyperammonemic encephalopathy in urea cycle disorders (UCD) is often misdiagnosed as neonatal sepsis, resulting in significantly delayed start of specific treatment and poor outcome. The major aim of this study was to identify specific initial symptoms or signs to clinically distinguish hyperammonemic encephalopathy in neonates from neonatal sepsis in order to identify affected individuals with UCD and to start metabolic therapy without delay. Furthermore, we evaluated the impact of diagnostic delay, peak plasma ammonium (NH4+) concentration, mode of emergency treatment and transfer to a tertiary referral center on the outcome.
Methods: Detailed information of 17 patients (born between 1994 and 2012) with confirmed diagnosis of UCD and neonatal hyperammonemic encephalopathy were collected from the original medical records.
Results: The initially suspected diagnosis was neonatal sepsis in all patients, but was not confirmed in any of them. Unlike neonatal sepsis and not previously reported blood pressure increased above the 95th percentile in 13 (81%) of UCD patients before emergency treatment was started. Respiratory alkalosis was found in 11 (65%) of UCD patients, and in 14 (81%) plasma NH4+concentrations further increased despite initiation of metabolic therapy.
Conclusion: Detection of high blood pressure could be a valuable parameter for distinguishing neonatal sepsis from neonatal manifestation of UCD. Since high blood pressure is not typical for neonatal sepsis, other reasons such as encephalopathy and especially hyperammonemic encephalopathy (caused by e.g. UCD) should be searched for immediately. However, our result that the majority of newborns with UCD initially present with high blood pressure has to be evaluated in larger patient cohorts.
kurz und kn@pp news : Nr. 47
(2019)
In this paper we deal with an implementation as well as numerical experiments for the coupling of interior and exterior problems of the elastodynamic wave equation with transparent boundary conditions in 3D as described in a previous paper by this author. In more detail, the FEM‐BEM‐coupling as well as the time discretization by using leapfrog and convolution quadrature is considered. Our aim is to provide an insight into the necessary steps of the implementation. Based on this, we present numerical experiments for a non‐convex domain and analyze the errors.
To gain a better understanding of complex mechanisms in biological systems, simultaneous control over multiple processes is key. To this purpose selective photouncaging has been developed. Photo-uncaging is an experimental scheme in which a molecule of interest has been inactivated synthetically and is activated by light. Usually a bond is cleaved and a leaving group is set free. The molecule which inactivates the molecule of interest and sets the leaving group free is called (photo-)cage. In a selective photo-uncaging scheme a number of leaving groups can be released independently, usually by irradiation with light of different wavelengths. This approach is, however, seriously limited in its applicability due to the properties of the involved cages and irradiation schemes. A major drawback is the usually quite broad UV-Vis absorption of the cages. This makes a selective activation by light difficult and limits the maximal number of independent cages severely.
Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to introduce the Vibrationally Promoted Electronic Resonance (VIPER) 2D-IR pulse sequence in a alternative selective uncaging scheme.
The VIPER 2D-IR pulse sequence is a spectroscopic tool which allows to generate 2D-IR signals whose lifetime are independent of the vibrational relaxation lifetime. It has been first used to monitor chemical exchange. It consists of a narrowband infared pump pulse, a subsequent UV-Vis pump pulse and a broadband infrared probe pulse. The UV-Vis pump pulse is off-resonant with regard to the UV-Vis absorption band. Electronic excitation becomes only possible, if the infrared pump pulse modulates the UV-Vis transition of the IR-excited molecule. This modulation brings the UV-Vis transition in resonance with the UV-Vis pump pulse. Thereby, only the molecules which were pre-excited with the infrared pulse can be excited into the electronically excited state. A computational prediction of the modulation was carried out by Jan von Cosel in the Burghardt group.
The narrowband infrared pump pulse can be used to selectively excite a subensemble of molecules in a mixture into an electronically excited state even if the UV-Vis spectra of all molecules are virtually identical. For this the sub-ensemble needs to exhibit an identifiable infrared spectrum. Combined with the introduction of isotope labels, which lead to changes in the infrared absorption spectra, the larger selectivity in the infrared region can be exploited for an alternative selective uncaging approach. In VIPER uncaging the infrared pump pulse selects the species and the subsequent UV-Vis pulse provides the energy needed for electronic excitation upon which the photo cleavage can occur.
After an introduction of the principle idea of uncaging and VIPER spectroscopy, the concept of VIPER uncaging is introduced and its limits and requirements are discussed. Some examples for possible VIPER cages are reviewed.
A coumarin molecule (7-diethylamino coumarin) which can release an azide group was chosen as a first test molecule for VIPER uncaging. Its isotopomers were characterized to determine suitable spectroscopic markers for successful uncaging and to find fitting experimental conditions. The chosen coumarin cage has an UV-Vis absorption band at approximately 380 nm and a steep flank on the high wavelength side of the band. The quantum yield for the azide compound is between 10-20 % depending on the solvent’s water content. The release was found to be on a picosecond timescale which is among the fastest known photo reactions, but the photo reaction mechanism has proven to be not straightforward. For the VIPER experiment on the mixture two isotopomers were chosen with a 13C atom at different positions. In one species a ring mode of the coumarin is changed by the 13C atom. In the other isotopomer the carbonyl stretching mode is influenced. The change in the ring mode region allows to select one species or the other with the infrared pre-excitation. Because of experimental difficulties only isotopomers with the same leaving group could be used. The successful selective electronic excitation of the individual isotopomers in a mixture was monitored by probing the carbonyl region.
As a second VIPER cage, para-hydroxyphenacyl (pHP) was chosen. A thiocyanate group was selected as leaving group. pHP cages have their electronic transition in the UV, with a maximum absorption at 290 nm. The shape of the spectrum is suitable and the quantum yield is very high, with values in the literature of up to 90 %. Also the photo reaction is well studied and the expected byproducts are well characterized. The chosen isotopologues were characterized spectroscopically. The resulting data on the photo reaction were in agreement with the mechanism proposed in the literature. The mixture for the VIPER experiment consisted of two isotopologues, where for one species all the C atoms in the ring were labelled and for the other the C-atom in the thiocyanate leaving group was labelled. Here the release of the different leaving groups, labelled and unlabelled thiocyanate, could be monitored selectively. This shows that it is possible to selectively release a molecule in a mixture of caged molecules by applying the VIPER pulse sequence.
The samples were synthesized by Matiss Reinfelds from the Heckel group and the VIPER experiments were done together with Carsten Neumann and with support
of the Bredenbeck group.
The leaving groups were chosen because of their infrared absorption which allowed to directly monitor the successful cleavage by spectroscopy. This was needed for the proof-of-concept experiment and to allow direct optimization of the experimental parameters but is not necessarily a requirement for VIPER uncaging.
Concerning the selectivity of the VIPER uncaging, the approach is at the moment mainly limited by the infrared pulse energy. The selective VIPER excitation is competing with unselective excitation directly by just the UV-Vis pulse. A more intense infrared pump pulse would increase only the selective VIPER excitation and thereby improve the contrast to the unspecific background.
To address this issue, the first steps towards an alternative infrared light generation are undertaken. In this alternative approach the infrared light for preexcitation is directly generated by difference frequency generation of the laser output, i.e. the high energy 800 nm fundamental, and the output of a non-collinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA). To achieve a narrowband pump pulse the pulses are chirped before mixing. In the scope of this thesis a NOPA has been installed and the mixing has been tested with available test crystal medium. While infrared wavelength region and power were not in the aspired range with this alternative crystal the feasibility of mixing between a NOPA output and the fundamental could be shown.
Other possibilities to increase the contrast to the unspecific background excitation by the UV-Vis pump pulse are discussed. For most applications of selective VIPER uncaging the detection by fs-laser spectroscopy will not be needed and could be replaced by other methods e.g. chromatography. This will allow the experimental parameters of the VIPER pulse sequence to be changed in a way which reduces unspecific excitation i.e. reducing the UV-Vis-pump energy and result in much better contrast.
In conclusion, the experimental data in this thesis shows the VIPER pulse sequence to be applicable to selective uncaging schemes and indicates measures to arrive at the specificity necessary for uncaging applications. This thesis was focused on uncaging photo reactions with isotopomers and isotopologues, but other types of photo reactions could in principle be controlled in the same way. It should be possible to address different isomers in mixtures or different ground states of proteins selectively. The discussed experiments are a significant step towards control over photo reactions in mixtures.
Many processes in living cells involve interaction and cooperation of multiple proteins to fulfill a specific function. To understand biological processes in their full complexity, it is not sufficient to only identify the molecules being involved but also to understand the kinetic aspects of a reaction. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a very powerful tool which allows to precisely identify the molecules of a reaction. Usually this is done with tandem-MS experiments for purpose of de-novo peptide sequencing. However, since this involves protein digestion, a statement of the in-vivo constitution of non-covalently bound protein complexes is not possible. In order to detect an intact protein complex it is necessary to analyze the biological system softly and in a near-native environment with native MS. Native MS allows the non-destructive analysis of these non-covalent protein complexes as well as to detect their components. However, up to now native MS does not offer a possibility to resolve the timing of the constitution of protein complexes on a fast time-scale. Therefore, the progress of reactions on fast time-scales is invisible. However, a method which delivers both types of information - identification of the components of a protein complex, as well as time-resolving their interaction - would be of high interest.
A suitable ionization technique for native MS is laser-induced liquid-bead ion desorption (LILBID). LILBID employs well-defined droplets which are irradiated by IR laser pulses to generate gas phase ions. The not-continuous, repetitive nature of ion generation offers itself to the development of a time-resolved (TR) native MS system which is able to investigate protein complexes on a fast time scale. The LILBID-droplets can serve as reaction vessels if they are levitated in an electrodynamic Paul-trap. This new setup would allow sample manipulation and MS analysis on precise and fast reaction time-scales. The first part of this dissertation presents the construction and characterization of a setup for TR-LILBID-MS.
An example for a complex biological system is the self-assembly of beta-amyloid (Aβ). This small peptide is the major component in plaques related to Alzheimer’s disease. Clinically relevant is especially the 42 amino acid peptide Aβ42 which aggregates from monomers to oligomers through to fibrils. The oligomers are the neurotoxic species in this process and thus of high interest. Nevertheless, standard analytical techniques are unable to detect those oligomers which makes MS an optimal tool to study the oligomerization process of Aβ with the focus on disease relevant oligomers. TR-LILBID-MS allows to follow the oligomerization of Aβ enabling to study molecules which influence this kinetic. Combining MS with ion-mobility spectrometry adds an additional dimension - the collision cross section - to the mass-to-charge ratio obtained from MS. Therewith structural alterations induced by ligands can be correlated to differences in the aggregation kinetic. This allows to draw a picture of the aggregation process of Aβ for the development of disease-relevant small oligomers on a molecular level.
Die Steuerung biochemischer Prozesse oder die Verbesserung von Materialien erfordert zunächst ein tiefgründiges Verständnis über die zugrundeliegenden Systeme. Zur Untersuchung eignet sich Licht als ideales Werkzeug, da hiermit nützliche Informationen über die chemische Struktur, ihre Eigenschaften sowie den zusammenhängenden, schnellen Reaktionsabläufen erhalten werden können. Um die Aufklärung zu erleichtern können kleine, chemische Verbindungen eingeführt werden, welche beispielsweise ein Fluoreszenzmarker, eine photolabile Schutzgruppe oder eine photoschaltbare Verbindung sein können. Von jeweils einem Vertreter dieser Moleküle wurden unterschiedliche Studien durchgeführt, dessen Ergebnisse in dieser Arbeit in insgesamt drei Projekten zusammengefasst werden.
Zunächst wurde die Funktionalität der Helikase RhlB untersucht, die der Familie der DEAD-Box Proteine zugeordnet wird, und RNA-Duplexe in ihre Einzelstränge entwindet. Als RNA-Modellduplex diente JM2h, an dem ein RNA-Einzelstrang fluoreszenzmarkiert war (M2AP6). Die Einführung dieses Markers ermöglichte die Durchführung von statischen Fluoreszenzmessungen sowie von Mischexperimenten, die mit Hilfe der stopped-flow-Technik durchgeführt wurden. In den einleitenden Studien wurde die Helikase weggelassen, wodurch der Fokus auf den Fluoreszenzeigenschaften der RNA gelegt wurde. Die Ergebnisse hierzu zeigten, dass die Fluoreszenzintensität des Einzelstrangs durch Zugabe des komplementären Strangs deutlich abnimmt, wobei das Minimum bei einem äquimolaren Verhältnis erreicht wird. Die dazugehörigen stopped-flow-Messungen zeigten eine Beschleunigung der Hybridisierungsreaktion, wenn höhere Konzentrationen des Gegenstrangs in der Lösung vorhanden waren. Nach anschließender Zugabe der Helikase zur Lösung wurde ein Anstieg der Fluoreszenzintensität erwartet, der vom separierten Einzelstrang M2AP6 herrühren sollte. Dieser Anstieg wurde jedoch erst nach weiterer Zugabe von ATP beobachtet, der auf eine ATP-Abhängigkeit der Entwindungsreaktion von RhlB hindeutet. Diese Abhängigkeit wurde auch bereits für andere Helikasen der DEAD-Box Familie entdeckt. Die korrekte Funktionalität sowie die ATP-Abhängigkeit wurden in stopped-flow-Messungen verfiziert, bei denen der Fluoreszenzanstieg auch zeitaufgelöst betrachtet werden konnte. Für die spektralen Korrekturen der Fluoreszenzspektren wurde ein selbstgeschriebenes MATLAB-Programm namens FluCY verwendet (engl.: Fluorescence Correction & Quantum yield), welches eine schnelle und fehlerfreie Verarbeitung des Datensatzes ermöglichte.
Die zwei im folgenden beschriebenen Projekte handeln von photoaktivierbaren Molekülen. Zum einen photolabile Verbindungen, welche die Funktion z.B. eines Biomoleküls durch eine chemische Modifikation deaktivieren können. Durch eine lichtinduzierte Reaktion kommt es zur Abspaltung der Modifikation und die Funktion ist wiederhergestellt. In dieser Arbeit wurden verschiedene photolabile Schutzgruppen untersucht, die denselben Chromophor BIST (BIsStyryl-Thiophen) tragen. Durch die Einführung dieses Chromophors absorbierten sämtliche untersuchte Verbindungen sehr effizient sichtbares Licht (epsilon(445)=55.700 M^(-1) cm^(-1)), wodurch der photoinduzierte Bindungsbruch mit Wellenlängen durchgeführt werden, die bei einer biologischen Anwendungen keinen Schaden an der Zelle anrichten würden. Hieraufhin wurden in statischen und zeitaufgelösten Absorptionsmessungen Teilschritte der Freisetzungsreaktion untersucht, indem nach Photoanregung die Absorptionsänderungen auf verschiedenen Zeitskalen analysiert wurden. Die ultraschnelle Dynamik im Piko- bis Nanosekundenbereich (10^(-12)-10^(-9) s) wird durch eine spektral breite, positive Absorptionsänderng dominiert. Diese impliziert, dass die Deaktivierung über den Triplettpfad abläuft, der die vergleichsweise niedrigen Freisetzungsausbeuten erklärt (phi(u) < 5). Aufgrund des hohen Extinktionskoeffizienten reichen dennoch bereits niedrige Strahlungsdosen aus, um eine Freisetzung zu initiieren. Der geschwindigkeitsbestimmende Schritt dieser Reaktion ist dem Zerfall des aci-nitro Intermediats zugeordnet. Für ein sekundäres Amin, welches mit BIST geschützt wurde, ist eine Lebensdauer des Intermediats von 71 µs gefunden worden.
In einigen Fällen ist es erwünscht, eine vorliegende Aktivität nicht nur ein-, sondern auch ausschalten zu können, wofür photochrome Verbindungen (oder Photoschalter) verwendet werden. Die in dieser Arbeit untersuchte Verbindung ceCAM ist ein Alken-Photoschalter und vollführt bei Bestrahlung mit Licht eine cis/trans-Isomerisierung. ceCAM ist das Cyanoester-Derivat (ce) von Cumarin-substituierten Allylidenmalonat, von denen beide Konformere sehr effizient sichtbares Licht absorbieren trans: epsilon(489)=50.300 M^(-1) cm^(-1); cis: epsilon(437)=18.600 M^(-1) cm^(-1)). Andere photophysikalische Eigenschaften umfassen u.a. hohe thermische und photochemische Stabilität. Letztere wurde über ein Experiment nachgewiesen, bei dem die lichtinduzierte Isomerisierung alternierend durchgeführt wurde und selbst bei über 250 Zyklen keine signifikate Abnahme der Absorption beobachtet werden konnte. Des Weiteren konnte die Reaktion mit Quantenausbeuten von 39% (trans) und 42% (cis) induziert werden, wobei im photostationären Gleichgewicht auch hohe Isomerenverhältnisse mit bis zu 80% (trans) und 96% (cis) akkumuliert werden konnten. Die Geschwindigkeit der Reaktion wurde mit Hilfe der Ultakurzzeit-Spektroskopie untersucht. Die Dynamik im Zeitbereich von ps-ns zeigte, dass die trans/cis-Isomerisierung unterhalb von 0,5 ns und die umgekehrte Reaktion noch viel schneller (wenige ps) abgeschlossen ist. Durch die Untersuchungen in dieser Arbeit an den BIST-Verbindungen und ceCAM sind viele vorteilhafte, photophysikalische Eigenschaften charakterisiert worden, wodurch sie als verbesserte Alternative zu den bisher bekannten photolabilen Schutzgruppen oder Photoschaltern anzusehen sind.
Since the early 2000s, nucleic acid aptamers have gained considerable attention of life science communities. This is in particular due to the fact that aptamers are known to function as artificial riboswitches, which presents an efficient way to regulate gene expression. A promising candidate is the tetracycline-binding RNA aptamer (TC-aptamer) since the TC-aptamer is known to function in vivo and exhibits a very high affinity towards its ligand tetracycline (TC) (Kd = 800 pM at 10mM Mg2+). Although a highly resolved crystal structure exists in the ligand bound state, questions related to dynamics cannot be answered with X-ray crystallography. In this work, pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to study different biochemical and structural aspects of the TC-aptamer.
On the one hand, pulsed hyperfine spectroscopy was used to study the binding of TC via Mn2+ to the TC-aptamer at lower and thus more physiological divalent metal ion concentrations. In a first step, a protocol for the relatively new pulsed hyperfine technique electron-electron double resonance detected NMR (ELDORdetected NMR or just EDNMR) was developed for Q-band frequencies (34 GHz). After a successful verification of the EDNMR technique at Q-band frequencies on Mn2+ model complexes ([Mn(H2O)6]2+ and Mn-DOTA), two dimensional hyperfine techniques were used to confirm the formation of a ternary RNA-Mn2+- TC complex at physiological divalent metal ion concentrations. Correlation signals between 13C (13C-labeled TC) and 31P (from the RNA backbone) to the same Mn2+ electron spin were detected with 2D-EDNMR and triple hyperfine correlation spectroscopy (THYCOS).
On the other hand, pulsed electron-electron double resonance (PELDOR) spectroscopy on a doubly nitroxide-labeled TC-aptamer was used to investigate the conformational rearrangement upon ligand binding and how the conformational flexibility is affected by different Mg2+ concentrations. The Çm spin label was used as a nitroxide spin probe. Due to its rigidity and low degree of internal flexibility, the Çm spin label yields very narrow distance distributions and pronounced orientation selection (OS). As a consequence, the width of the distance distributions can be used to draw conclusions about the conformational flexibility of the spin-labeled helices. Analysis of the distance distributions showed that at high Mg2+ concentrations, the TC-aptamer is in its folded state, irrespective of the fact if TC is present or absent. Orientation selective PELDOR revealed that the orientation of the spin-labeled helices in frozen solution is the same as in the crystal structure. First Mn2+-nitroxide pulsed electron electron double resonance (PELDOR) measurements on a singly nitroxide-labeled and Mg2+/Mn2+-substituted TCaptamer at different Mn2+ concentrations in the presence and absence of TC gave insight into the affinities of the additional divalent metal ion binding sites of the TC-aptamer.