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| 2. |
- Ahmadi, M., et al.
(författare)
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Investigation of the fine structure of antihydrogen
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 578:7795, s. 375-380
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At the historic Shelter Island Conference on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics in 1947, Willis Lamb reported an unexpected feature in the fine structure of atomic hydrogen: a separation of the 2S(1/2) and 2P(1/2) states(1). The observation of this separation, now known as the Lamb shift, marked an important event in the evolution of modern physics, inspiring others to develop the theory of quantum electrodynamics(2-5). Quantum electrodynamics also describes antimatter, but it has only recently become possible to synthesize and trap atomic antimatter to probe its structure. Mirroring the historical development of quantum atomic physics in the twentieth century, modern measurements on anti-atoms represent a unique approach for testing quantum electrodynamics and the foundational symmetries of the standard model. Here we report measurements of the fine structure in the n = 2 states of antihydrogen, the antimatter counterpart of the hydrogen atom. Using optical excitation of the 1S-2P Lyman-alpha transitions in antihydrogen(6), we determine their frequencies in a magnetic field of 1 tesla to a precision of 16 parts per billion. Assuming the standard Zeeman and hyperfine interactions, we infer the zero-field fine-structure splitting (2P(1/2)-2P(3/2)) in antihydrogen. The resulting value is consistent with the predictions of quantum electrodynamics to a precision of 2 per cent. Using our previously measured value of the 1S-2S transition frequency(6,7), we find that the classic Lamb shift in antihydrogen (2S(1/2)-2P(1/2) splitting at zero field) is consistent with theory at a level of 11 per cent. Our observations represent an important step towards precision measurements of the fine structure and the Lamb shift in the antihydrogen spectrum as tests of the charge-parity-time symmetry(8) and towards the determination of other fundamental quantities, such as the antiproton charge radius(9,10), in this antimatter system. Precision measurements of the 1S-2P transition in antihydrogen that take into account the standard Zeeman and hyperfine effects confirm the predictions of quantum electrodynamics.
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| 3. |
- Lau, Angus, et al.
(författare)
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alpha-Synuclein strains target distinct brain regions and cell types
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Neuroscience. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 1097-6256 .- 1546-1726. ; 23, s. 21-31
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The clinical and pathological differences between synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy have been postulated to stem from unique strains of alpha-synuclein aggregates, akin to what occurs in prion diseases. Here we demonstrate that inoculation of transgenic mice with different strains of recombinant or brain-derived alpha-synuclein aggregates produces clinically and pathologically distinct diseases. Strain-specific differences were observed in the signs of neurological illness, time to disease onset, morphology of cerebral alpha-synuclein deposits and the conformational properties of the induced aggregates. Moreover, different strains targeted distinct cellular populations and cell types within the brain, recapitulating the selective targeting observed among human synucleinopathies. Strain-specific clinical, pathological and biochemical differences were faithfully maintained after serial passaging, which implies that alpha-synuclein propagates via prion-like conformational templating. Thus, pathogenic alpha-synuclein exhibits key hallmarks of prion strains, which provides evidence that disease heterogeneity among the synucleinopathies is caused by distinct alpha-synuclein strains.
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- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(författare)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 6. |
- Ashraf, A., et al.
(författare)
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Plasma transferrin and hemopexin are associated with altered A beta uptake and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease pathology
- 2020
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Ingår i: Alzheimers Research & Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-9193. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Heme and iron homeostasis is perturbed in Alzheimer's disease (AD); therefore, the aim of the study was to examine the levels and association of heme with iron-binding plasma proteins in cognitively normal (CN), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD individuals from the Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing (AIBL) and Kerr Anglican Retirement Village Initiative in Ageing Health (KARVIAH) cohorts. Methods Non-targeted proteomic analysis by high-resolution mass spectrometry was performed to quantify relative protein abundances in plasma samples from 144 CN individuals from the AIBL and 94 CN from KARVIAH cohorts and 21 MCI and 25 AD from AIBL cohort. ANCOVA models were utilized to assess the differences in plasma proteins implicated in heme/iron metabolism, while multiple regression modeling (and partial correlation) was performed to examine the association between heme and iron proteins, structural neuroimaging, and cognitive measures. Results Of the plasma proteins implicated in iron and heme metabolism, hemoglobin subunit beta (p = 0.001) was significantly increased in AD compared to CN individuals. Multiple regression modeling adjusted for age, sex, APOE epsilon 4 genotype, and disease status in the AIBL cohort revealed lower levels of transferrin but higher levels of hemopexin associated with augmented brain amyloid deposition. Meanwhile, transferrin was positively associated with hippocampal volume and MMSE performance, and hemopexin was negatively associated with CDR scores. Partial correlation analysis revealed lack of significant associations between heme/iron proteins in the CN individuals progressing to cognitive impairment. Conclusions In conclusion, heme and iron dyshomeostasis appears to be a feature of AD. The causal relationship between heme/iron metabolism and AD warrants further investigation.
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| 8. |
- Hagenbeek, FA, et al.
(författare)
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Heritability estimates for 361 blood metabolites across 40 genome-wide association studies
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1, s. 39-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Metabolomics examines the small molecules involved in cellular metabolism. Approximately 50% of total phenotypic differences in metabolite levels is due to genetic variance, but heritability estimates differ across metabolite classes. We perform a review of all genome-wide association and (exome-) sequencing studies published between November 2008 and October 2018, and identify >800 class-specific metabolite loci associated with metabolite levels. In a twin-family cohort (N = 5117), these metabolite loci are leveraged to simultaneously estimate total heritability (h2total), and the proportion of heritability captured by known metabolite loci (h2Metabolite-hits) for 309 lipids and 52 organic acids. Our study reveals significant differences in h2Metabolite-hits among different classes of lipids and organic acids. Furthermore, phosphatidylcholines with a high degree of unsaturation have higher h2Metabolite-hits estimates than phosphatidylcholines with low degrees of unsaturation. This study highlights the importance of common genetic variants for metabolite levels, and elucidates the genetic architecture of metabolite classes.
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| 10. |
- Abolhassani, H, et al.
(författare)
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Expanding Clinical Phenotype and Novel Insights into the Pathogenesis of ICOS Deficiency
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of clinical immunology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-2592 .- 0271-9142. ; 40:2, s. 277-288
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundInducible T cell co-stimulator (ICOS) deficiency has been categorized as a combined immunodeficiency often complicated by enteropathies, autoimmunity, lymphoproliferation, and malignancy. We report seven new patients and four novelICOSmutations resulting in a common variable immunodeficiency (CVID)–like phenotype and show that dysregulated IL-12 release, reduced cytotoxic T lymphocyte–associated protein 4 (CTLA4) expression, and skewing towards a Th1-dominant phenotype are all associated with inflammatory complications in this condition.MethodsA combination of whole exome and Sanger sequencing was used to identify novel mutations. Standard clinical and immunological evaluation was performed. FACS and ELISA-based assays were used to study cytokine responses and ICOS/ICOSL/CTLA4 expression following stimulation of whole blood and PBMCs with multiple TLR ligands, anti-CD3, and PHA.ResultsFour novel ICOS mutations included homozygous c.323_332del, homozygous c.451C>G, and compound heterozygous c.58+1G>A/c.356T>C. The predominant clinical phenotype was that of antibody deficiency associated with inflammatory complications in 4/7 patients. Six out of seven patients were treated with immunoglobulin replacement and one patient died from salmonella sepsis. All patients who were tested showed reduced IL-10 and IL-17 cytokine responses, normal IL-1β, IL6, and TNF release following LPS stimulation and highly elevated IL-12 production in response to combined LPS/IFNγ stimulation. This was associated with skewing of CD4+T cells towards Th1 phenotype and increased expression of ICOSL on monocytes. Lastly, reduced CTLA4 expression was found in 2 patients. One patient treated with ustekinumab for pancytopenia due to granulomatous bone marrow infiltration failed to respond to this targeted therapy.ConclusionsICOS deficiency is associated with defective T cell activation, with simultaneously enhanced stimulation of monocytes. The latter is likely to result from a lack of ICOS/ICOSL interaction which might be necessary to provide negative feedback which limits monocytes activation.
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