| 1. |
- Abel, I, et al.
(författare)
-
Overview of the JET results with the ITER-like wall
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 53:10, s. 104002-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following the completion in May 2011 of the shutdown for the installation of the beryllium wall and the tungsten divertor, the first set of JET campaigns have addressed the investigation of the retention properties and the development of operational scenarios with the new plasma-facing materials. The large reduction in the carbon content (more than a factor ten) led to a much lower Z(eff) (1.2-1.4) during L- and H-mode plasmas, and radiation during the burn-through phase of the plasma initiation with the consequence that breakdown failures are almost absent. Gas balance experiments have shown that the fuel retention rate with the new wall is substantially reduced with respect to the C wall. The re-establishment of the baseline H-mode and hybrid scenarios compatible with the new wall has required an optimization of the control of metallic impurity sources and heat loads. Stable type-I ELMy H-mode regimes with H-98,H-y2 close to 1 and beta(N) similar to 1.6 have been achieved using gas injection. ELM frequency is a key factor for the control of the metallic impurity accumulation. Pedestal temperatures tend to be lower with the new wall, leading to reduced confinement, but nitrogen seeding restores high pedestal temperatures and confinement. Compared with the carbon wall, major disruptions with the new wall show a lower radiated power and a slower current quench. The higher heat loads on Be wall plasma-facing components due to lower radiation made the routine use of massive gas injection for disruption mitigation essential.
|
|
| 2. |
- Alm, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Exposure to brominated flame retardant PBDE-99 affects cytoskeletal protein expression in the neonatal mouse cerebral cortex
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Neurotoxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0161-813X .- 1872-9711. ; 29:4, s. 628-637
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are environmental contaminants found in human and animal tissues worldwide. Neonatal exposure to the flame retardant 2,2', 4,4',5-pentabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE-99) disrupts normal brain development in mice, and results in disturbed spontaneous behavior in the adult. The mechanisms underlying the late effects of early exposure are not clear. To gain insight into the initial neurodevelopmental damage inflicted by PBDE-99, we investigated the short-term effects of PBDE-99 on protein expression in the developing cerebral cortex of neonatal mice, and the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of PBDE-99 in primary cultures of fetal rat cortical cells. We used two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) to analyze protein samples isolated from the cortex of NMRI mice 24h after exposure to a single oral dose of 12 mg/kg PBDE-99 on post-natal day 10. Protein resolution was enhanced by sample pre-fractionation. In the cell model, we determined cell viability using the trypan blue exclusion assay, and apoptosis using immunocytochemical detection of cleaved caspase-3. We determined the identity of 111 differentially expressed proteins, 32 (29%) of which are known to be cytoskeleton-related. Similar to previous findings in the striatum, we found elevated levels of the neuron growth-associated protein Gap43 in the cortex. In cultured cortical cells, a high concentration of PBDE-99 (30 microM) induced cell death without any apparent increase in caspase-3 activity. These results indicate that the permanent neurological damage induced by PBDE-99 during the brain growth spurt involve detrimental effects on cytoskeletal regulation and neuronal maturation in the developing cerebral cortex.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Alm, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
-
In Vitro Neurotoxicity of PBDE-99 : Immediate and Concentration-Dependent Effects on Protein Expression in Cerebral Cortex Cells
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Journal of Proteome Research. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1535-3893 .- 1535-3907. ; 9:3, s. 1226-1235
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are commonly used flame retardants in various consumer products. Pre- and postnatal exposure to congeners of PBDEs disrupts normal brain development in rodents. Two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) was used to analyze concentration-dependent differences in protein expression in cultured cortical cells isolated from rat fetuses (GD 21) after 24 h exposure to PBDE-99 (3, 10, or 30 muM). Changes on a post-translational level were studied using a 1 h exposure to 30 muM PBDE-99. The effects of 24 h exposure to 3 and 30 muM PBDE-99 on mRNA levels were measured using oligonucleotide microarrays. A total of 62, 46, and 443 proteins were differentially expressed compared to controls after 24 h of exposure to 3, 10, and 30 muM PDBE-99, respectively. Of these, 48, 43, and 238 proteins were successfully identified, respectively. We propose that the biological effects of low-concentration PBDE-99 exposure are fundamentally different than effects of high-concentration exposure. Low-dose PBDE-99 exposure induced marked effects on cytoskeletal proteins, which was not correlated to cytotoxicity or major morphological effects, suggesting that other more regulatory aspects of cytoskeletal functions may be affected. Interestingly, 0.3 and 3 muM, but not 10 or 30 muM increased the expression of phosphorylated (active) Gap43, perhaps reflecting effects on neurite extension processes.
|
|
| 5. |
- Alm, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Proteomic evaluation of neonatal exposure to 2,2,4,4,5-pentabromodiphenyl ether
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives. - : Environmental Health Perspectives. - 0091-6765 .- 1552-9924. ; 114:2, s. 254-259
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Exposure to the brominated flame retardant 2,2 ,4,4 ,5-pentabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE-99) during the brain growth spurt disrupts normal brain development in mice and results in disturbed spontaneous behavior in adulthood. The neurodevelopmental toxicity of PBDE-99 has been reported to affect the cholinergic and catecholaminergic systems. In this study we use a proteomics approach to study the early effect of PBDE-99 in two distinct regions of the neonatal mouse brain, the striatum and the hippocampus. A single oral dose of PBDE-99 (12 mg/kg body weight) or vehicle was administered to male NMRI mice on neonatal day 10, and the striatum and the hippocampus were isolated. Using two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE), we found 40 and 56 protein spots with significantly (p < 0.01) altered levels in the striatum and the hippocampus, respectively. We used matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF-MS) to determine the protein identity of 11 spots from the striatum and 10 from the hippocampus. We found that the levels of proteins involved in neurodegeneration and neuroplasticity (e.g., Gap-43/neuromodulin, stathmin) were typically altered in the striatum, and proteins involved in metabolism and energy production [e.g., alpha-enolase; gamma-enolase; ATP synthase, H+ transporting, mitochondrial F1 complex, beta subunit (Atp5b); and alpha-synuclein] were typically altered in the hippocampus. Interestingly, many of the identified proteins have been linked to protein kinase C signaling. In conclusion, we identify responses to early exposure to PBDE-99 that could contribute to persistent neurotoxic effects. This study also shows the usefulness of proteomics to identify potential biomarkers of developmental neurotoxicity of organohalogen compounds.
|
|
| 6. |
- Clifton, N.E., et al.
(författare)
-
Schizophrenia copy number variants and associative learning
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 22, s. 178-182
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large-scale genomic studies have made major progress in identifying genetic risk variants for schizophrenia. A key finding from these studies is that there is an increased burden of genomic copy number variants (CNVs) in schizophrenia cases compared with controls. The mechanism through which these CNVs confer risk for the symptoms of schizophrenia, however, remains unclear. One possibility is that schizophrenia risk CNVs impact basic associative learning processes, abnormalities of which have long been associated with the disorder. To investigate whether genes in schizophrenia CNVs impact on specific phases of associative learning we combined human genetics with experimental gene expression studies in animals. In a sample of 11 917 schizophrenia cases and 16 416 controls, we investigated whether CNVs from patients with schizophrenia are enriched for genes expressed during the consolidation, retrieval or extinction of associative memories. We show that CNVs from cases are enriched for genes expressed during fear extinction in the hippocampus, but not genes expressed following consolidation or retrieval. These results suggest that CNVs act to impair inhibitory learning in schizophrenia, potentially contributing to the development of core symptoms of the disorder.
|
|
| 7. |
- Ellegren, Hans, et al.
(författare)
-
Faced with inequality : chicken do not have a general dosage compensation of sex-linked genes
- 2007
-
Ingår i: BMC Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1741-7007. ; 5:1, s. 40-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The contrasting dose of sex chromosomes in males and females potentially introduces a large-scale imbalance in levels of gene expression between sexes, and between sex chromosomes and autosomes. In many organisms, dosage compensation has thus evolved to equalize sex-linked gene expression in males and females. In mammals this is achieved by X chromosome inactivation and in flies and worms by up- or down-regulation of X-linked expression, respectively. While otherwise widespread in systems with heteromorphic sex chromosomes, the case of dosage compensation in birds (males ZZ, females ZW) remains an unsolved enigma. Results: Here, we use a microarray approach to show that male chicken embryos generally express higher levels of Z-linked genes than female birds, both in soma and in gonads. The distribution of male-to-female fold-change values for Z chromosome genes is wide and has a mean of 1.4-1.6, which is consistent with absence of dosage compensation and sex-specific feedback regulation of gene expression at individual loci. Intriguingly, without global dosage compensation, the female chicken has significantly lower expression levels of Z-linked compared to autosomal genes, which is not the case in male birds. Conclusion: The pronounced sex difference in gene expression is likely to contribute to sexual dimorphism among birds, and potentially has implication to avian sex determination. Importantly, this report, together with a recent study of sex-biased expression in somatic tissue of chicken, demonstrates the first example of an organism with a lack of global dosage compensation, providing an unexpected case of a viable system with large-scale imbalance in gene expression between sexes.
|
|
| 8. |
- Karén, Jakob, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of the HDAC inhibitor valproic acid on human pericytes in vitro
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Microvasculare pericytes are of key importance in neoformation of blood vessels, in stabilization of newly formed vessels as well as maintenance of angiostasis in resting tissues. In the present study the effects of the HDAC inhibitor VPA on pericyte proliferation, migration and differentiation was investigated. Furthermore, expression of genes known to be involved in different aspects of angiogenesis were investigated in primary pericyte cultures as well as the effects of VPA on the expression of these set of genes using quantative PCR arrays. The results show that HDAC inhibition leads to inhibition of pericyte proliferation and migration as well as pericyte differentiation into collagen type I producing fibroblasts. Furthermore, HDAC inhibition promoted expression of mRNAs of genes involved in vessel stabilization/maturation in human microvascular pericytes. The present study suggests that VPAs effect on angiogenesis via microvascular pericytes is through vessel stabilization.
|
|
| 9. |
- Karén, Jakob, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of the histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic Acid on human pericytes in vitro
- 2011
-
Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 6:9, s. e24954-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microvascular pericytes are of key importance in neoformation of blood vessels, in stabilization of newly formed vessels as well as maintenance of angiostasis in resting tissues. Furthermore, pericytes are capable of differentiating into pro-fibrotic collagen type I producing fibroblasts. The present study investigates the effects of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor valproic acid (VPA) on pericyte proliferation, cell viability, migration and differentiation. The results show that HDAC inhibition through exposure of pericytes to VPA in vitro causes the inhibition of pericyte proliferation and migration with no effect on cell viability. Pericyte exposure to the potent HDAC inhibitor Trichostatin A caused similar effects on pericyte proliferation, migration and cell viability. HDAC inhibition also inhibited pericyte differentiation into collagen type I producing fibroblasts. Given the importance of pericytes in blood vessel biology a qPCR array focusing on the expression of mRNAs coding for proteins that regulate angiogenesis was performed. The results showed that HDAC inhibition promoted transcription of genes involved in vessel stabilization/maturation in human microvascular pericytes. The present in vitro study demonstrates that VPA influences several aspects of microvascular pericyte biology and suggests an alternative mechanism by which HDAC inhibition affects blood vessels. The results raise the possibility that HDAC inhibition inhibits angiogenesis partly through promoting a pericyte phenotype associated with stabilization/maturation of blood vessels.
|
|
| 10. |
- Kultima, Kim, et al.
(författare)
-
Cadmium-induced gene expression changes in the mouse embryo, and the influence of pretreatment with zinc
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Reproductive Toxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0890-6238 .- 1873-1708. ; 22:4, s. 636-646
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cadmium (Cd) administered to female C57BL/6 mice on gestation day 8 induces a high incidence of anterior neural tube defects (exencephaly). This adverse effect can be attenuated by maternal pretreatment with zinc (Zn). In this study we used replicated microarray analysis and real-time PCR to investigate gene expression changes induced in the embryo 5 and 10h after maternal Cd exposure in the absence or presence of Zn pretreatment. We report nine genes with a transcriptional response induced by Cd, none of which was influenced by Zn pretreatment, and two genes induced only by combined matemal Cd exposure and Zn pretreatment. We discuss the results in relation to the possibility that Cd is largely excluded from the embryo, that the teratogenic effects of Cd may be secondary to toxicity in extraembryonic tissues, and that the primary protective role of Zn may not be to reverse Cd-induced transcription in the embryo.
|
|
