| 1. |
- Böhm, M., et al.
(författare)
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The conservation status of the world’s freshwater molluscs
- 2021
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Ingår i: Hydrobiologia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0018-8158 .- 1573-5117. ; 848, s. 3231-3254
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the biodiversity crisis continuing unchecked, we need to establish levels and drivers of extinction risk, and reassessments over time, to effectively allocate conservation resources and track progress towards global conservation targets. Given that threat appears particularly high in freshwaters, we assessed the extinction risk of 1428 randomly selected freshwater molluscs using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, as part of the Sampled Red List Index project. We show that close to one-third of species in our sample are estimated to be threatened with extinction, with highest levels of threat in the Nearctic, Palearctic and Australasia and among gastropods. Threat levels were higher in lotic than lentic systems. Pollution (chemical and physical) and the modification of natural systems (e.g. through damming and water abstraction) were the most frequently reported threats to freshwater molluscs, with some regional variation. Given that we found little spatial congruence between species richness patterns of freshwater molluscs and other freshwater taxa, apart from crayfish, new additional conservation priority areas emerged from our study. We discuss the implications of our findings for freshwater mollusc conservation, the adequacy of a sampled approach and important next steps to estimate trends in freshwater mollusc extinction risk over time. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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| 2. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 3. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N., et al.
(författare)
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The PREDICTS database : a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:24, s. 4701-4735
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Carmeliet, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Synergism between vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor contributes to angiogenesis and plasma extravasation in pathological conditions
- 2001
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Ingår i: Nature Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-170X .- 1078-8956. ; 7:5, s. 575-583
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates angiogenesis by activating VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2). The role of its homolog, placental growth factor (PlGF), remains unknown. Both VEGF and PlGF bind to VEGF receptor-1 (VEGFR-1), but it is unknown whether VEGFR-1, which exists as a soluble or a membrane-bound type, is an inert decoy or a signaling receptor for PlGF during angiogenesis. Here, we report that embryonic angiogenesis in mice was not affected by deficiency of PlGF (Pgf-/-). VEGF-B, another ligand of VEGFR-1, did not rescue development in Pgf-/- mice. However, loss of PlGF impaired angiogenesis, plasma extravasation and collateral growth during ischemia, inflammation, wound healing and cancer. Transplantation of wild-type bone marrow rescued the impaired angiogenesis and collateral growth in Pgf-/- mice, indicating that PlGF might have contributed to vessel growth in the adult by mobilizing bone-marrow-derived cells. The synergism between PlGF and VEGF was specific, as PlGF deficiency impaired the response to VEGF, but not to bFGF or histamine. VEGFR-1 was activated by PlGF, given that anti-VEGFR-1 antibodies and a Src-kinase inhibitor blocked the endothelial response to PlGF or VEGF/PlGF. By upregulating PlGF and the signaling subtype of VEGFR-1, endothelial cells amplify their responsiveness to VEGF during the 'angiogenic switch' in many pathological disorders.
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| 6. |
- Descheemaeker, K A, et al.
(författare)
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Interaction of AP-1-, AP-2-, and Sp1-like proteins with two distinct sites in the upstream regulatory region of the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 gene mediates the phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate response.
- 1992
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 267:21, s. 15086-91
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate induces a 3- and 10-fold induction of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) activity in HT1080 and HeLa cells, respectively, following transient transfection of a 336-base pair plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) promoter fragment linked to a CAT reporter gene. Substitution mutations in the regions encompassing nucleotides -78 to -69 (TGGGTGGGGC) or -61 to -54 (TGAGTTCA), but not in the regions -155 to -149 (TGCCTCA) or -84 to -76 (AGTGAGTGG) reduced this induction. Gel electrophoresis of double-stranded -65 to -50 oligonucleotides of the PAI-1 promoter region and nuclear extracts from Hela cells produced a gel shift pattern similar to that obtained with a AP-1 consensus oligomer, and excess unlabeled AP-1 oligomer reverted binding, suggesting that this region of the PAI-1 promoter is an AP-1-like binding site. Gel electrophoresis of double-stranded -82 to -65 oligonucleotides with HeLa nuclear extracts revealed a gel shift pattern of three bands; Sp1 consensus oligomer competed with the binding to two of these bands and AP-2 consensus sequence oligomer with the binding to the third band. The -82 to -65 oligomer also bound to purified AP-2 and Sp1 proteins. Southwestern blotting of HeLa nuclear extracts revealed that the labeled oligomer spanning region -82 to -65 bound to proteins with molecular masses of 52 and 72 kDa. Consensus AP-2 oligonucleotides competed for binding of the labeled -82 to -65 oligonucleotide to the 52-kDa protein, but consensus Sp-1 oligonucleotides did not compete for binding to the 72-kDa compound. The 72-kDa component binding to the -82 to -65 region may represent a new protein involved in transcriptional regulation.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Gan, Li-Ming, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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Intradermal delivery of modified mRNA encoding VEGF-A in patients with type 2 diabetes
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chemically modified mRNA is an efficient, biocompatible modality for therapeutic protein expression. We report a first-time-in-human study of this modality, aiming to evaluate safety and potential therapeutic effects. Men with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) received intradermal injections of modified mRNA encoding vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) or buffered saline placebo (ethical obligations precluded use of a non-translatable mRNA control) at randomized sites on the forearm. The only causally treatment-related adverse events were mild injection-site reactions. Skin microdialysis revealed elevated VEGF-A protein levels at mRNA-treated sites versus placebo-treated sites from about 4-24 hours post-administration. Enhancements in basal skin blood flow at 4 hours and 7 days post-administration were detected using laser Doppler fluximetry and imaging. Intradermal VEGF-A mRNA was well tolerated and led to local functional VEGF-A protein expression and transient skin blood flow enhancement in men with T2DM. VEGF-A mRNA may have therapeutic potential for regenerative angiogenesis.
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| 9. |
- Leonardsson, G, et al.
(författare)
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Ovulation efficiency is reduced in mice that lack plasminogen activator gene function : functional redundancy among physiological plasminogen activators.
- 1995
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 92:26, s. 12446-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several lines of indirect evidence suggest that plasminogen activation plays a crucial role in degradation of the follicular wall during ovulation. However, single-deficient mice lacking tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), or PA inhibitor type 1(PAI-1) gene function were recently found to have normal reproduction, although mice with a combined deficiency of tPA and uPA were significantly less fertile. To investigate whether the reduced fertility of mice lacking PA gene function is due to a reduced ovulation mechanism, we have determined the ovulation efficiency in 25-day-old mice during gonadotropin-induced ovulation. Our results reveal that ovulation efficiency is normal in mice with a single deficiency of tPA or uPA but reduced by 26% in mice lacking both physiological PAs. This result suggests that plasminogen activation plays a role in ovulatory response, although neither tPA nor uPA individually or in combination is obligatory for ovulation. The loss of an individual PA seems to be functionally complemented by the remaining PA but this compensation does not appear to involve any compensatory up-regulation. Our data imply that a functionally redundant mechanism for plasmin formation operates during gonadotropin-induced ovulation and that PAs together with other proteases generate the proteolytic activity required for follicular wall degradation.
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| 10. |
- Li, Xuri, et al.
(författare)
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Revascularization of ischemic tissues by PDGF-CC via effects on endothelial cells and their progenitors
- 2005
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Investigation. - 0021-9738 .- 1558-8238. ; 115:1, s. 118-127
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The angiogenic mechanism and therapeutic potential of PDGF-CC, a recently discovered member of the VEGF/PDGF superfamily, remain incompletely characterized. Here we report that PDGF-CC mobilized endothelial progenitor cells in ischemic conditions; induced differentiation of bone marrow cells into ECs; and stimulated migration of ECs. Furthermore, PDGF-CC induced the differentiation of bone marrow cells into smooth muscle cells and stimulated their growth during vessel sprouting. Moreover, delivery of PDGF-CC enhanced postischemic revascularization of the heart and limb. Modulating the activity of PDGF-CC may provide novel opportunities for treating ischemic diseases.
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