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- Hossain, Akter, 1967-
(författare)
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Studies on Redox-proteins and Cytokines in inflammation and Cancer
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The redox state in the cell plays a major role in determining vital functions and its major imbalance can lead to severe cell injury or death. Redox active proteins and cytokines involved in this process includes thioredoxin (Trx), protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamilies. Trx is a multipotent protein and key regulator of cellular redox balance operating in synergy with Trx reductase and NADPH (the Trx system). Trx has gene regulatory activity of several transcription factors. It also controls in a fascinating way redox-sensitive “on-off” decisions for apoptotic or hypertrophic pathways. Trx protects against H2O2 and TNFmediated cytotoxicity, a pathway in which TNF receptor-binding generates ROS. TNF is an autocrine growth factor and survival factor in vitro and in vivo for B-type of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the importance of redox active proteins and cytokines in inflammation and cancer. We focused on: i) the role of Trx, TrxR, and selenium in carcinogenesis and in resistant cancer cells. ii) the importance of Trx in cancer cells and the redox regulation of TNF and its receptors TNFR1 and TNFR2. iii) the potential role of Trx as a key regulator in cellular redox balance, in the pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction; its relationship to stress response parameters. iv) whether unmutated CLL (UCLL) responses to PKC and ROS pathways were different from mutated CLL (M-CLL) responses.Our results demonstrate pronounced selective selenium-mediated apoptosis in therapy resistant cells and suggest that redox regulation through the Trx system is an important target for cancer therapy. Trx was strikingly elevated in heart failure cases compared with controls signifying an adaptive stress response that is higher the more severe the disease. TNF autocrine release was redox modulated and the TNF receptors interacted at the cell surface membrane with the redox-active PDI, which excerted a stringent redox-control of the TNFR signaling. The proliferative response as well as increase of autocrine TNF and Trx were higher in U-CLL than in M-CLL.The overall conclusion of the four papers included in this thesis is that redox-active proteins and cytokines plays an important role in control and regulation of cancer and inflammation. Furthermore, redox regulation via thioredoxin by selenium, may offer novel treatment possibilities for resistant tumors disease.
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| 2. |
- Lindqvist, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic relatedness of multi-resistant methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus in southeast Sweden
- 2014
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: A high exchange of patients occurs between the hospitals in southeast Sweden, resulting in a possible transmission of nosocomial pathogens. The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence and possible genetic relatedness of multi-resistant methicillinsusceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) in the region in general, and in particular the possible persistence and transmission of the ECT-R clone (t002) showing resistance to erythromycin, clindamycin and tobramycin previously found in Östergötland County.Methods: Three groups of S. aureus isolates with different antibiotic resistance profiles, including the ECT-R profile, were collected from the three County Councils in southeast Sweden and investigated with spa typing, real-time PCR targeting the staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec right extremity junction (MREJ), and microarray.Results: All isolates with the ECT-R resistance profile (n = 12) from Östergötland County and two additional isolates with another antibiotic resistance profile were designated spa type t002, MREJ type ii, and were clustered in the same clonal cluster (CC) (i.e. CC5) by the microarray result, indicating the persistence of the ECT-R clone. In addition, 60 % of the isolates belonged to CC15 from newborns, with 94 % sharing spa type t084, indicating interhospital transmission.Conclusions: The persistence of the ECT-R clone and the possible transmission of the t084 strain indicate that there is still an insufficiency in the maintenance of basic hygiene guidelines. The ECT-R clone probably possesses mechanisms of virulence and transmission that make it so successful.
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| 3. |
- Niklasson, Markus, 1987-
(författare)
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Coding to cure : NMR and thermodynamic software applied to congenital heart disease research
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Regardless of scientific field computers have become pivotal tools for data analysis and the field of structural biology is not an exception. Here, computers are the main tools used for tasks including structural calculations of proteins, spectral analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy data and fitting mathematical models to data. As results reported in papers heavily rely on software and scripts it is of key importance that the employed computational methods are robust and yield reliable results. However, as many scientific fields are niched and possess a small potential user base the task to develop necessary software often falls on researchers themselves. This can cause divergence when comparing data analyzed by different measures or by using subpar methods. Therein lies the importance of development of accurate computational methods that can be employed by the scientific community.The main theme of this thesis is software development applied to structural biology, with the purpose to aid research in this scientific field by speeding up the process of data analysis as well as to ensure that acquired data is properly analyzed. Among the original results of this thesis are three user-friendly software: COMPASS - a resonance assignment software for NMR spectroscopy data capable of analyzing chemical shifts and providing the user with suggestions to potential resonance assignments, based on a meticulous database comparison. CDpal - a curve fitting software used to fit thermal and chemical denaturation data of proteins acquired by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy or fluorescence spectroscopy. PINT - a line shape fitting and downstream analysis software forNMRspectroscopy data, designed with the important purpose to easily and accurately fit peaks in NMR spectra and extract parameters such as relaxation rates, intensities and volumes of peaks.This thesis also describes a study performed on variants of the life essential regulatory protein calmodulin that have been associated with the congenital life threatening heart disease long QT syndrome (LQTS). The study provided novel insights revealing that all variants are distinct from the wild type in regards to structure and dynamics on a detailed level; the presented results are useful for the interpretation of results from protein interaction studies. The underlying research of this paper makes use of all three developed software, which validates that all developed methods fulfil a scientific purpose and are capable of producing solid results.
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