Synaptic pruning by microglia is necessary for normal brain development.

Microglia are highly motile phagocytic cells that infiltrate and take up residence in the developing brain, where they are thought to provide a surveillance and scavenging function. However, although microglia have been shown to engulf and clear damaged cellular debris after brain insult, it remains less clear what role microglia play in the uninjured brain. Here, we show that microglia actively engulf synaptic material and play a major role in synaptic pruning during postnatal development in mice.

Metabolic laparoscopic gastric bypass for obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Bariatric surgery has been proposed as the most effective treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and body mass index (BMI) above 35 kg/m(2). The purpose of our study was to access remission rate and improvement of metabolic control of T2DM after gastric bypass.

Methods: A prospective study was carried out on 94 diabetic patients, who underwent gastric bypass with a 200-cm biliopancreatic limb.

Sensitized phenotypic screening identifies gene dosage sensitive region on chromosome 11 that predisposes to disease in mice.

The identification of susceptibility genes for human disease is a major goal of current biomedical research. Both sequence and structural variation have emerged as major genetic sources of phenotypic variability and growing evidence points to copy number variation as a particularly important source of susceptibility for disease. Here we propose and validate a strategy to identify genes in which changes in dosage alter susceptibility to disease-relevant phenotypes in the mouse.

Cell homeostasis in a Leishmania major mutant overexpressing the spliced leader RNA is maintained by an increased proteolytic activity.

Although several stage-specific genes have been identified in Leishmania, the molecular mechanisms governing developmental gene regulation in this organism are still not well understood. We have previously reported an attenuation of virulence in Leishmania major and L. braziliensis carrying extra-copies of the spliced leader RNA gene.

Serotonin receptor 1A modulates actin dynamics and restricts dendritic growth in hippocampal neurons.

Mice lacking serotonin receptor 1A (Htr1a) display increased anxiety behavior that depends on the expression of the receptor in the forebrain during the third to fifth postnatal weeks. Within the forebrain, Htr1a is prominently expressed in the soma and dendrites of CA1 pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus and these cells undergo rapid dendritic growth and synapse formation during this period. Consistent with a possible role of Htr1a in synaptic maturation, CA1 pyramidal neurons in the knockout mice show increased ramification of oblique dendrites.

Motor uncoordination and neuropathology in a transgenic mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease lacking intranuclear inclusions and ataxin-3 cleavage products.

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disorder caused by a polyglutamine (polyQ) expansion in the ataxin-3 protein. We generated two transgenic mouse lineages expressing the expanded human ataxin-3 under the control of the CMV promoter: CMVMJD83 and CMVMJD94, carrying Q83 and Q94 stretches, respectively. Behavioral analysis revealed that the CMVMJD94 transgenic mice developed motor uncoordination, intergenerational instability of the CAG repeat and a tissue-specific increase in the somatic mosaicism of the repeat with aging.

Portuguese winemaking residues as a potential source of natural anti-adenoviral agents.

To date there are no licensed systemic or topical treatments in Europe or the USA for adenovirus infections. In the present paper, we evaluate the effect of a polyphenol-based grape extract (NE) obtained from Portuguese white-winemaking by-products, and Resveratrol in pure form, on adenovirus type 5 infection. For this purpose, recombinant adenovirus vectors (Ad-5) and a human-derived cell line (293) were used as models.

Application of microelectrode voltammetry to study the properties of surfactant solutions: alkyltrimethylammonium bromides.

Microelectrode cyclic voltammetry (MV) has been employed to investigate the micellar properties of solutions of homologous alkyltrimethylammonium bromides, RMe(3)ABr, R = C(10), C(12), and C(14), in water and in the presence of added NaBr. The micellar self-diffusion coefficient was calculated from the limiting current for the reversible electron transfer of micelle-bound ferrocene. From the values of this property, other parameters were calculated, including the micellar hydrodynamic radius, R(H), and aggregation number, N(agg); the latter was also theoretically calculated.

293 cell cycle synchronisation adenovirus vector production.

As the market requirements for adenovirus vectors (AdV) increase, the maximization of the virus titer per culture volume per unit time is a key requirement. However, despite the fact that 293 cells can grow up to 8 x 10(6) cell/mL in simple batch mode operations, for optimal AdV infection a maximum cell density of 1 x 10(6) cell/mL at infection time has usually been utilized due to the so called "cell density effect". In addition, AdV titer appears to be dependent upon cell cycle phase at the time of infection.

Towards purification of adenoviral vectors based on membrane technology.

Given increasing applications of recombinant adenoviruses for gene therapy and vaccination, there is a need for highly robust and fast purification platforms for their large scale manufacture. Traditional chromatographic methods using resins as matrices have several limitations such as high-pressure drops and slow processing rates due to pore diffusion and channelling of the feed through the bed. In contrast, membrane adsorbers offer the advantage of fast, gentle, and effective isolation.

Intravitreal voriconazole as primary treatment for endogenous Aspergillus endophthalmitis.

This report describes the first case of Aspergillus endophthalmitis after heart transplantation which was successfully treated with intravitreal voriconazole. A 62-year-old man receiving immunosuppressive agents after a heart transplant presented with pain, reduced visual acuity and redness of the left eye. The patient had been diagnosed with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and was being treated with intravenous voriconazole.

An analytical application of the electrocatalysis of the iodate reduction at tungsten oxide films.

Films of non-stoichiometric tungsten oxides have been deposited onto glassy carbon surfaces by electrodeposition from acidic W(VI) solutions and the chemical stability of these oxides was investigated by using the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance. At these modified surfaces, rotating disc electrode voltammetric experiments indicated that iodate is electrocatalytically reduced in a mass-transport controlled process. The influence of the film thickness on the response to iodate was investigated and the results indicated a linear relationship between catalytic current and film thickness for relatively thin oxide layers.

Segmental order parameters in a nonionic surfactant lamellar phase studied with 1H-13C solid-state NMR.

A lyotropic nonionic lamellar system composed of pentaethyleneglycol mono n-dodecyl ether and D(2)O was studied using natural abundance (13)C NMR under magic-angle spinning. Applying a two-dimensional recoupling method proposed by Dvinskikh (R-PDLF), (1)H-(13)C dipolar couplings were estimated over a range of temperatures (300-335 K), thus enabling analysis of structural changes in the liquid crystalline system. The results obtained are used to correlate the conformation and mobility of local sites in the surfactant molecule with overall changes in the lamellar structure.

Hyperspherical nuclear motion of H3 + and D3 + in the electronic triplet state, a 3Sigmau +.

The potential energy surface of H(3) (+) in the lowest electronic triplet state, a (3)Sigma(u) (+), shows three equivalent minima at linear nuclear configurations. The vibrational levels of H(3) (+) and D(3) (+) on this surface can therefore be described as superimposed linear molecule states. Owing to such a superposition, each vibrational state characterized by quantum numbers of an isolated linear molecule obtains a one- and a two-dimensional component.

Use of microdevices to determine the diffusion coefficient of electrochemically generated species: application to binary solvent mixtures and micellar solutions.

A new approach for the determination of diffusion coefficient, D, of redox species is presented. It is based on the use of a home-constructed twin electrode within a thin-layered cell (TETLC) filled with a solution of electroactive species. Values of D are readily calculated, provided that the time required for the electrochemically generated species (produced at the generator electrode) to reach the collector electrode and the distance between both electrodes are known.

Two different serum-free media and osmolality effect upon human 293 cell growth and adenovirus production.

Adenoviruses are promising vectors for gene therapy and vaccination protocols. Consequently, the market demands for adenovirus are increasing, driving the search for new methodologies for large-scale production of concentrated vectors with warranted purity and efficacy, in a cost-effective way. Nevertheless, the production of adenovirus is currently limited by the so-called 'cell density effect', i.

Genetic diversity among Paspalum L. species (Poaceae) belonging to the Notata and Linearia groups based on restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses.

A taxonomic study of Paspalum L. was carried out using a genetic diversity approach. Thirty accessions representing twenty one different species from the Notata and Linearia groups of Paspalum were studied using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the amplified ITS ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and from the psbA-trnH of the chloroplast genome (cpDNA).