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Gewöhnliche Ausschnitte unserer Kulturlandschaft sind oft schlechter untersucht als unter Schutz stehende Landschaftsbestandteile. So war z.B. die Artenausstattung mancher Naturwälder eher bekannt als die Artenausstattung der umliegenden Nutzwälder. Durch die Initiativen und Forschungsprojekte u.a. von Ammer & al. (1995) wurde dann deutlich, dass auch Nutzwälder einen wertvollen Beitrag zur Artenvielfalt leisten können. Bei der Erforschung der Nutzwälder sind jedoch Kiefernforste nach wie vor vernachlässigt worden. Nur Arbeiten von Möller (2000) und Möller & Jakobitz (2003) in Brandenburg stellten hier wichtige Schritte dar, neuerdings ergänzt durch z.B. Reike & al. (2005). Im Folgenden werden neu ausgewertete Daten aus einem vom BMBF geförderten Forschungsprojekt vorgestellt, in dem sehr umfassende Grunderhebungen der in genutzten Kiefernforsten Brandenburgs vorkommenden Arthropoden durchgeführt wurden (Schulz & al. 2004, Majunke & al. 2005). Die folgenden Auswertungen konzentrieren sich auf die Artendiversität der an Kiefern (Pinus sylvestris L.) erfassten Käfer in Kiefernreinbeständen und auf die stratenspezifische Verteilung.
We describe a tiny new frog species of the genus Platypelis (Anura: Microhylidae: Cophylinae) from Marojejy National Park, northeastern Madagascar. Platypelis ravus sp. nov. differs from all other known Platypelis and Cophyla species by its small size (17-19 mm snout-vent length) and a combination of other morphological and bioacoustic characters. The new species seems to be most closely related to P. milloti with which it shares the principal colour pattern, but exhibits a yellow rather than red posterior venter. Uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence in a 16S rRNA gene fragment to all other known species of the genus (except P. cowanii for which no genetic data is available) is greater than 6%. We suggest the inclusion of the new species in the IUCN threat category “Data Deficient”.
In binocular rivalry, presentation of different images to the separate eyes leads to conscious perception alternating between the two possible interpretations every few seconds. During perceptual transitions, a stimulus emerging into dominance can spread in a wave-like manner across the visual field. These traveling waves of rivalry dominance have been successfully related to the cortical magnification properties and functional activity of early visual areas, including the primary visual cortex (V1). Curiously however, these traveling waves undergo a delay when passing from one hemifield to another. In the current study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate whether the strength of interhemispheric connections between the left and right visual cortex might be related to the delay of traveling waves across hemifields. We measured the delay in traveling wave times (ΔTWT) in 19 participants and repeated this test 6 weeks later to evaluate the reliability of our behavioral measures. We found large interindividual variability but also good test–retest reliability for individual measures of ΔTWT. Using DTI in connection with fiber tractography, we identified parts of the corpus callosum connecting functionally defined visual areas V1–V3. We found that individual differences in ΔTWT was reliably predicted by the diffusion properties of transcallosal fibers connecting left and right V1, but observed no such effect for neighboring transcallosal visual fibers connecting V2 and V3. Our results demonstrate that the anatomical characteristics of topographically specific transcallosal connections predict the individual delay of interhemispheric traveling waves, providing further evidence that V1 is an important site for neural processes underlying binocular rivalry.
Blunt thoracic trauma (TxT) deteriorates clinical post-injury outcomes. Ongoing inflammatory changes promote the development of post-traumatic complications, frequently causing Acute Lung Injury (ALI). Club Cell Protein (CC)16, a pulmonary anti-inflammatory protein, correlates with lung damage following TxT. Whether CC16-neutralization influences the inflammatory course during ALI is elusive. Ninety-six male CL57BL/6N mice underwent a double hit model of TxT and cecal ligation puncture (CLP, 24 h post-TxT). Shams underwent surgical procedures. CC16 was neutralized by the intratracheal application of an anti-CC16-antibody, either after TxT (early) or following CLP (late). Euthanasia was performed at 6 or 24 h post-CLP. Systemic and pulmonary levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and CXCL5 were determined, the neutrophils were quantified in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and histomorphological lung damage was assessed. ALI induced a significant systemic IL-6 increase among all groups, while the local inflammatory response was most prominent after 24 h in the double-hit groups as compared to the shams. Significantly increased neutrophilic infiltration upon double hit was paralleled with the enhanced lung damage in all groups as compared to the sham, after 6 and 24 h. Neutralization of CC16 did not change the systemic inflammation. However, early CC16-neutralization increased the neutrophilic infiltration and lung injury at 6 h post-CLP, while 24 h later, the lung injury was reduced. Late CC16-neutralization increased neutrophilic infiltration, 24 h post-CLP, and was concurrent with an enhanced lung injury. The data confirmed the anti-inflammatory potential of endogenous CC16 in the murine double-hit model of ALI.
Background: Recognizing patients at risk for pulmonary complications (PC) is of high clinical relevance. Migration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) to inflammatory sites plays an important role in PC, and is tightly regulated by specific chemokines including interleukin (IL)−8 and other mediators such as leukotriene (LT)B4. Previously, we have reported that LTB4 indicated early patients at risk for PC after trauma. Here, the relevance of LTB4 to indicating lung integrity in a newly established long-term porcine severe trauma model (polytrauma, PT) was explored.
Methods: mTwelve pigs (3 months old, 30 ± 5 kg) underwent PT including standardized femur fracture, lung contusion, liver laceration, hemorrhagic shock, subsequent resuscitation and surgical fracture fixation. Six animals served as controls (sham). After 72 h lung damage and inflammatory changes were assessed. LTB4 was determined in plasma before the experiment, immediately after trauma, and after 2, 4, 24 or 72 h. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)-fluid was collected prior and after the experiment.
Results: Lung injury, local gene expression of IL-8, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-18 and PMN-infiltration into lungs increased significantly in PT compared with sham. Systemic LTB4 increased markedly in both groups 4 h after trauma. Compared with declined plasma LTB4 levels in sham, LTB4 increased further in PT after 72 h. Similar increase was observed in BAL-fluid after PT.
Conclusions: In a severe trauma model, sustained changes in terms of lung injury and inflammation are determined at day 3 post-trauma. Specifically, increased LTB4 in this porcine long-term model indicated a rapid inflammatory alteration both locally and systemically. The results support the concept of LTB4 as a biomarker for PC after severe trauma and lung contusion.
Purpose: To investigate the prognostic value of survivin expression in pretreatment specimens from patients with anal cancer treated with concurrent 5-FU and mitomycin C-based chemoradiation (CRT).
Material and methods: Immunohistochemical staining for survivin was performed in pretreatment biopsies of 62 patients with anal carcinoma. Survivin expression was correlated with clinical and histopathological characteristics as well as local failure free- (LFFS), distant metastases free- (DMFS), cancer specific- (CSS), and overall survival (OS).
Results: Survivin staining intensity was weak in 10%, intermediate in 48% and intense in 42% of the patients. No association between survivin expression and clinicopathologic factors (tumor stage, age and HIV status) could be shown. In univariate analysis, the level of survivin staining was significantly correlated with DMFS (low survivin vs. high survivin: 94% vs. 74%, p=0.04). T-stage, N-stage and the tumor grading were significantly associated with OS and CSS and with DMFS and LFFS, respectively. In multivariate analysis, survivin was confirmed as independent prognostic parameter for DMFS (RR, 0.04; p=0.02) and for OS (RR, 0.27; p=0.04).
Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that the level of pretreatment survivin is correlated with the clinical outcome in patients with anal carcinoma treated with concurrent CRT. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the complex role of survivin for the oncologic treatment and to exploit the protein as a therapeutic target in combined modality treatment of anal cancer.
Purpose: The WSG-PRIMe Study prospectively evaluated the impact of the 70-gene signature MammaPrint® (MP) and the 80-gene molecular subtyping assay BluePrint® on clinical therapy decisions in luminal early breast cancer.
Methods: 452 hormone receptor (HR)-positive and HER2-negative patients were recruited (N0, N1). Physicians provided initial therapy recommendations based on clinicopathological factors. After prospective risk classification by MammaPrint/BluePrint was revealed, post-test treatment recommendations and actual treatment were recorded. Decisional Conflict and anxiety were measured by questionnaires.
Results: Post-test switch (in chemotherapy (CT) recommendation) occurred in 29.1% of cases. Overall, physician adherence to MP risk assessment was 92.3% for low-risk and 94.3% for high-risk MP scores. Adherence was remarkably high in “discordant” groups: 74.7% of physicians initially recommending CT switched to CT omission following low-risk MP scores; conversely, 88.9% of physicians initially recommending CT omission switched to CT recommendations following high-risk MP scores. Most patients (99.2%) recommended to forgo CT post-test and 21.3% of patients with post-test CT recommendations did not undergo CT; among MP low-risk patients with pre-test and post-test CT recommendations, 40% did not actually undergo CT. Luminal subtype assessment by BluePrint was discordant with IHC assessment in 34% of patients. Patients’ State Anxiety scores improved significantly overall, particularly in MP low-risk patients. Trait Anxiety scores increased slightly in MP high risk and decreased slightly in MP low-risk patients.
Conclusions: MammaPrint and BluePrint test results strongly impacted physicians’ therapy decisions in luminal EBC with up to three involved lymph nodes. The high adherence to genetically determined risk assessment represents a key prerequisite for achieving a personalized cost-effective approach to disease management of early breast cancer.
COMP and TSP-4 interact specifically with the novel GXKGHR motif only found in fibrillar collagens
(2018)
COMP (cartilage oligomeric matrix protein) is a member of the thrombospondin family and forms homopentamers as well as mixed heterooligomers with its closely related family member TSP-4. COMP is long known to bind to collagens and to influence collagen fibril formation. Recent work indicates that already intracellular interaction with collagen is important for collagen secretion. However, the exact binding site of COMP on the collagen triple helix has not been described up to now. In this study we have identified a GXKGHR motif on the collagen II helix to bind to COMP, using a recombinantly expressed collagen II peptide library. This binding sequence is conserved throughout evolution and we demonstrate that TSP-4 binds to the same sequence. The identified binding motif overlaps with the recognition sites of many other collagen-binding partners (e.g. PEDF, Heparin) and also spans the lysine residues, which form collagen cross-links. COMP might thereby protect collagen helices from premature modification and cross-linking. Interestingly, this motif is only found in classical fibrillar collagens, although COMP is known to also bind other types. This might indicate that COMP has a unique interface for fibrillar collagens, thus making it an interesting target for the development of antifibrotic drugs.
We describe the frog species Diasporus citrinobapheussp. n. from the Cordillera Central of western Panama. The new species differs from all other species in its genus in coloration, disk cover and disk pad shape, skin texture, advertisement call, and size. It is most similar to Diasporus tigrillo, from which it differs in dorsal skin texture, relative tibia length, number of vomerine teeth, ventral coloration, dorsal markings, and relative tympanum size, and to Diasporus gularis, from which it can be distinguished by the lack of membranes between the toes, adult size, posterior thigh coloration, and position of the choanae. We provide data on morpho- logy, vocalization, and distribution of the new species, as well as brief information on its natural history.