| 1. |
- Aberg, P., et al.
(författare)
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Non-invasive and microinvasive electrical impedance spectra of skin cancer - a comparison between two techniques
- 2005
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Ingår i: Skin research and technology. - 0909-752X .- 1600-0846. ; 11:4, s. 281-286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background/purpose: Bio-electrical impedance spectra of skin cancer and other lesions can be assessed using both regular non-invasive probes and a novel type of microinvasive electrode system with a surface furnished with tiny spikes that penetrate stratum corneum. The aim of the study was to compare the accuracy of detection for various types of skin cancer using impedance spectra measured with these two different electrode systems in an objective way without optimising the power of discrimination. Methods: Impedance spectra of 99 benign nevi, 28 basal cell carcinomas (BCC), and 13 malignant melanomas (MM) were measured using the two electrode systems. Classification of the lesions was made using Fisher's linear discriminant, and the sensitivities and specificities of the techniques were estimated using cross-validation. Results: The best separation between nevi and BCC was achieved using the regular non-invasive probe (96% sensitivity and 86% specificity), whereas the best separation between nevi and MM was achieved using the microinvasive electrodes (92% sensitivity and 80% specificity). Conclusions: Our results indicate that the choice of electrode system is application dependent.
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| 2. |
- Alzari, Pedro M., et al.
(författare)
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Implementation of semi-automated cloning and prokaryotic expression screening : the impact of SPINE
- 2006
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Ingår i: Acta Crystallographica Section D. - 0907-4449 .- 1399-0047. ; 62, s. 1103-1113
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The implementation of high- throughput ( HTP) cloning and expression screening in Escherichia coli by 14 laboratories in the Structural Proteomics In Europe ( SPINE) consortium is described. Cloning efficiencies of greater than 80% have been achieved for the three non- ligation- based cloning techniques used, namely Gateway, ligation- indendent cloning of PCR products ( LIC- PCR) and In- Fusion, with LIC- PCR emerging as the most cost- effective. On average, two constructs have been made for each of the approximately 1700 protein targets selected by SPINE for protein production. Overall, HTP expression screening in E. coli has yielded 32% soluble constructs, with at least one for 70% of the targets. In addition to the implementation of HTP cloning and expression screening, the development of two novel technologies is described, namely library- based screening for soluble constructs and parallel small- scale high- density fermentation.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Anderlind, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Will haptic feedback speed up medical imaging? An application to radiation treatment planning
- 2008
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Ingår i: Acta Oncologica. - OSLO, Norge : Taylor & Francis. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 47:1, s. 32-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Haptic technology enables us to incorporate the sense of touch into computer applications, providing an additional input/output channel. The purpose of this study was to examine if haptic feedback can help physicians and other practitioners to interact with medical imaging and treatment planning systems. A haptic application for outlining target areas (a key task in radiation therapy treatment planning) was implemented and then evaluated via a controlled experiment with ten subjects. Even though the sample size was small, and the application only a prototype, results showed that haptic feedback can significantly increase (p0.05) the speed of outlining target volumes and organs at risk. No significant differences were found regarding precision or perceived usability. This promising result warrants further development of a full haptic application for this task. Improvements to the usability of the application as well as to the forces generated have been implemented and an experiment with more subjects is planned.
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| 5. |
- Andersen, Malin, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Alternative promoter usage of the membrane glycoprotein CD36
- 2006
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Ingår i: BMC Molecular Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2199. ; 7, s. 8-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: CD36 is a membrane glycoprotein involved in a variety of cellular processes such as lipid transport, immune regulation, hemostasis, adhesion, angiogenesis and atherosclerosis. It is expressed in many tissues and cell types, with a tissue specific expression pattern that is a result of a complex regulation for which the molecular mechanisms are not yet fully understood. There are several alternative mRNA isoforms described for the gene. We have investigated the expression patterns of five alternative first exons of the CD36 gene in several human tissues and cell types, to better understand the molecular details behind its regulation.Results: We have identified one novel alternative first exon of the CD36 gene, and confirmed the expression of four previously known alternative first exons of the gene. The alternative transcripts are all expressed in more than one human tissue and their expression patterns vary highly in skeletal muscle, heart, liver, adipose tissue, placenta, spinal cord, cerebrum and monocytes. All alternative first exons are upregulated in THP-1 macrophages in response to oxidized low density lipoproteins. The alternative promoters lack TATA-boxes and CpG islands. The upstream region of exon 1b contains several features common for house keeping gene and monocyte specific gene promoters.Conclusion: Tissue-specific expression patterns of the alternative first exons of CD36 suggest that the alternative first exons of the gene are regulated individually and tissue specifically. At the same time, the fact that all first exons are upregulated in THP-1 macrophages in response to oxidized low density lipoproteins may suggest that the alternative first exons are coregulated in this cell type and environmental condition. The molecular mechanisms regulating CD36 thus appear to be unusually complex, which might reflect the multifunctional role of the gene in different tissues and cellular conditions.
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| 6. |
- Andersen, Malin, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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In silico detection of sequence variations modifying transcriptional regulation
- 2008
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Ingår i: PloS Computational Biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-734X .- 1553-7358. ; 4:1, s. e5-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Identification of functional genetic variation associated with increased susceptibility to complex diseases can elucidate genes and underlying biochemical mechanisms linked to disease onset and progression. For genes linked to genetic diseases, most identified causal mutations alter an encoded protein sequence. Technological advances for measuring RNA abundance suggest that a significant number of undiscovered causal mutations may alter the regulation of gene transcription. However, it remains a challenge to separate causal genetic variations from linked neutral variations. Here we present an in silico driven approach to identify possible genetic variation in regulatory sequences. The approach combines phylogenetic footprinting and transcription factor binding site prediction to identify variation in candidate cis-regulatory elements. The bioinformatics approach has been tested on a set of SNPs that are reported to have a regulatory function, as well as background SNPs. In the absence of additional information about an analyzed gene, the poor specificity of binding site prediction is prohibitive to its application. However, when additional data is available that can give guidance on which transcription factor is involved in the regulation of the gene, the in silico binding site prediction improves the selection of candidate regulatory polymorphisms for further analyses. The bioinformatics software generated for the analysis has been implemented as a Web-based application system entitled RAVEN ( regulatory analysis of variation in enhancers). The RAVEN system is available at http://www.cisreg.ca for all researchers interested in the detection and characterization of regulatory sequence variation.
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| 7. |
- Andersson, A. F., et al.
(författare)
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Comparative analysis of human gut microbiota by barcoded pyrosequencing
- 2008
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 3:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Humans host complex microbial communities believed to contribute to health maintenance and, when in imbalance, to the development of diseases. Determining the microbial composition in patients and healthy controls may thus provide novel therapeutic targets. For this purpose, high-throughput, cost-effective methods for microbiota characterization are needed. We have employed 454-pyrosequencing of a hyper-variable region of the 16S rRNA gene in combination with sample-specific barcode sequences which enables parallel in-depth analysis of hundreds of samples with limited sample processing. In silico modeling demonstrated that the method correctly describes microbial communities down to phylotypes below the genus level. Here we applied the technique to analyze microbial communities in throat, stomach and fecal samples. Our results demonstrate the applicability of barcoded pyrosequencing as a high-throughput method for comparative microbial ecology.
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| 8. |
- Andrade, Jorge, et al.
(författare)
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The use of grid computing to drive data-intensive genetic research
- 2007
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Ingår i: European Journal of Human Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-4813 .- 1476-5438. ; 15:6, s. 694-702
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In genetics, with increasing data sizes and more advanced algorithms for mining complex data, a point is reached where increased computational capacity or alternative solutions becomes unavoidable. Most contemporary methods for linkage analysis are based on the Lander-Green hidden Markov model (HMM), which scales exponentially with the number of pedigree members. In whole genome linkage analysis, genotype simulations become prohibitively time consuming to perform on single computers. We have developed 'Grid-Allegro', a Grid aware implementation of the Allegro software, by which several thousands of genotype simulations can be performed in parallel in short time. With temporary installations of the Allegro executable and datasets on remote nodes at submission, the need of predefined Grid run-time environments is circumvented. We evaluated the performance, efficiency and scalability of this implementation in a genome scan on Swedish multiplex Alzheimer's disease families. We demonstrate that 'Grid-Allegro' allows for the full exploitation of the features available in Allegro for genome-wide linkage. The implementation of existing bioinformatics applications on Grids (Distributed Computing) represent a cost-effective alternative for addressing highly resource-demanding and data-intensive bioinformatics task, compared to acquiring and setting up clusters of computational hardware in house (Parallel Computing), a resource not available to most geneticists today.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Archer, Amena, et al.
(författare)
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Transcriptional activity and developmental expression of liver X receptor (lxr) in zebrafish
- 2008
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Ingår i: Developmental Dynamics. - : Wiley. - 1058-8388 .- 1097-0177. ; 237:4, s. 1090-1098
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mammalian liver-X-receptors (LXRs) are transcription factors activated by oxysterols. They play an essential role in lipid and glucose metabolism. We have cloned the open reading frame of zebrafish lxr and describe its genomic organization. Zebrafish lxr encodes a 50-kDa protein with high sequence similarity to mammalian LXR alpha. In transfection assays, the encoded protein showed transcriptional activity in response to LXR-ligands. Treatment of adult zebrafish with the synthetic LXR ligand, GW3965, induced expression of genes involved in hepatic cholesterol and lipid pathways. Using qPCR and in situ hybridization, we found ubiquitous expression of lxr mRNA during the first 24 hr of development, followed by more restricted expression, particularly to the liver at 3dpf and the liver and intestine at 4dpf. In adult fish, all examined organs expressed lxr. In addition to a metabolic role of lxr, the temporal expression pattern suggests a developmental role in, e.g., the liver and CNS.
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