| 1. |
- Schwarz, E, et al.
(författare)
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Reproducible grey matter patterns index a multivariate, global alteration of brain structure in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
- 2019
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Ingår i: Translational psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 9:1, s. 12-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder characterized by numerous subtle changes in brain structure and function. Machine learning allows exploring the utility of combining structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures for diagnostic application, but this approach has been hampered by sample size limitations and lack of differential diagnostic data. Here, we performed a multi-site machine learning analysis to explore brain structural patterns of T1 MRI data in 2668 individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, and healthy controls. We found reproducible changes of structural parameters in schizophrenia that yielded a classification accuracy of up to 76% and provided discrimination from ADHD, through it lacked specificity against bipolar disorder. The observed changes largely indexed distributed grey matter alterations that could be represented through a combination of several global brain-structural parameters. This multi-site machine learning study identified a brain-structural signature that could reproducibly differentiate schizophrenia patients from controls, but lacked specificity against bipolar disorder. While this currently limits the clinical utility of the identified signature, the present study highlights that the underlying alterations index substantial global grey matter changes in psychotic disorders, reflecting the biological similarity of these conditions, and provide a roadmap for future exploration of brain structural alterations in psychiatric patients.
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| 3. |
- Elvsashagen, T, et al.
(författare)
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The genetic architecture of human brainstem structures and their involvement in common brain disorders
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1, s. 4016-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brainstem regions support vital bodily functions, yet their genetic architectures and involvement in common brain disorders remain understudied. Here, using imaging-genetics data from a discovery sample of 27,034 individuals, we identify 45 brainstem-associated genetic loci, including the first linked to midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata volumes, and map them to 305 genes. In a replication sample of 7432 participants most of the loci show the same effect direction and are significant at a nominal threshold. We detect genetic overlap between brainstem volumes and eight psychiatric and neurological disorders. In additional clinical data from 5062 individuals with common brain disorders and 11,257 healthy controls, we observe differential volume alterations in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, multiple sclerosis, mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease, supporting the relevance of brainstem regions and their genetic architectures in common brain disorders.
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| 4. |
- Sellgren, C. M., et al.
(författare)
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GRK3 deficiency elicits brain immune activation and psychosis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 26, s. 6820-6832
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The G protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) family member protein GRK3 has been linked to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Expression, as well as protein levels, of GRK3 are reduced in post-mortem prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia subjects. Here, we investigate functional behavior and neurotransmission related to immune activation and psychosis using mice lacking functional Grk3 and utilizing a variety of methods, including behavioral, biochemical, electrophysiological, molecular, and imaging methods. Compared to wildtype controls, the Grk3(-/-) mice show a number of aberrations linked to psychosis, including elevated brain levels of IL-1 beta, increased turnover of kynurenic acid (KYNA), hyper-responsiveness to D-amphetamine, elevated spontaneous firing of midbrain dopamine neurons, and disruption in prepulse inhibition. Analyzing human genetic data, we observe a link between psychotic features in bipolar disorder, decreased GRK expression, and increased concentration of CSF KYNA. Taken together, our data suggest that Grk3(-/-) mice show face and construct validity relating to the psychosis phenotype with glial activation and would be suitable for translational studies of novel immunomodulatory agents in psychotic disorders.
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| 5. |
- Wimberger, Sandra, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Simultaneous inhibition of DNA-PK and Pol ϴ improves integration efficiency and precision of genome editing
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genome editing, specifically CRISPR/Cas9 technology, has revolutionized biomedical research and offers potential cures for genetic diseases. Despite rapid progress, low efficiency of targeted DNA integration and generation of unintended mutations represent major limitations for genome editing applications caused by the interplay with DNA double-strand break repair pathways. To address this, we conduct a large-scale compound library screen to identify targets for enhancing targeted genome insertions. Our study reveals DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) as the most effective target to improve CRISPR/Cas9-mediated insertions, confirming previous findings. We extensively characterize AZD7648, a selective DNA-PK inhibitor, and find it to significantly enhance precise gene editing. We further improve integration efficiency and precision by inhibiting DNA polymerase theta (Pol ϴ). The combined treatment, named 2iHDR, boosts templated insertions to 80% efficiency with minimal unintended insertions and deletions. Notably, 2iHDR also reduces off-target effects of Cas9, greatly enhancing the fidelity and performance of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. Low efficiency of target DNA integration remains a challenge in genome engineering. Here the authors perform large-scale compound library and genetic screens to identify targets that enhance gene editing: they see that combined DNA-PK and Pol ϴ inhibition with potent compounds increases editing efficiency and precision.
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| 6. |
- Gracias, J., et al.
(författare)
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Cerebrospinal fluid concentration of complement component 4A is increased in first episode schizophrenia
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Schizophrenia risk has been associated with the complement component 4 (C4) genes. Here the authors show that C4A is elevated in individuals with schizophrenia. Postsynaptic density is reduced in schizophrenia, and risk variants increasing complement component 4A (C4A) gene expression are linked to excessive synapse elimination. In two independent cohorts, we show that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) C4A concentration is elevated in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) who develop schizophrenia (FEP-SCZ: median 0.41 fmol/ul [CI = 0.34-0.45], FEP-non-SCZ: median 0.29 fmol/ul [CI = 0.22-0.35], healthy controls: median 0.28 [CI = 0.24-0.33]). We show that the CSF elevation of C4A in FEP-SCZ exceeds what can be expected from genetic risk variance in the C4 locus, and in patient-derived cellular models we identify a mechanism dependent on the disease-associated cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-6 to selectively increase neuronal C4A mRNA expression. In patient-derived CSF, we confirm that IL-1beta correlates with C4A controlled for genetically predicted C4A RNA expression (r = 0.39; CI: 0.01-0.68). These results suggest a role of C4A in early schizophrenia pathophysiology.
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| 8. |
- Lavebratt, C., et al.
(författare)
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The KMO allele encoding Arg(452) is associated with psychotic features in bipolar disorder type 1, and with increased CSF KYNA level and reduced KMO expression
- 2014
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 19:3, s. 334-341
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The kynurenine pathway metabolite kynurenic acid (KYNA), modulating glutamatergic and cholinergic neurotransmission, is increased in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder type 1 with psychotic features. KYNA production is critically dependent on kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO). KMO mRNA levels and activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC) are reduced in schizophrenia. We hypothesized that KMO expression in PFC would be reduced in bipolar disorder with psychotic features and that a functional genetic variant of KMO would associate with this disease, CSF KYNA level and KMO expression. KMO mRNA levels were reduced in PFC of bipolar disorder patients with lifetime psychotic features (P = 0.005, n = 19) or schizophrenia (P = 0.02, n = 36) compared with nonpsychotic patients and controls. KMO genetic association to psychotic features in bipolar disorder type 1 was studied in 493 patients and 1044 controls from Sweden. The KMO Arg(452) allele was associated with psychotic features during manic episodes (P = 0.003). KMO Arg(452) was studied for association to CSF KYNA levels in an independent sample of 55 Swedish patients, and to KMO expression in 717 lymphoblastoid cell lines and 138 hippocampal biopsies. KMO Arg(452) associated with increased levels of CSF KYNA (P = 0.03) and reduced lymphoblastoid and hippocampal KMO expression (P <= 0.05). Thus, findings from five independent cohorts suggest that genetic variation in KMO influences the risk for psychotic features in mania of bipolar disorder patients. This provides a possible mechanism for the previous findings of elevated CSF KYNA levels in those bipolar patients with lifetime psychotic features and positive association between KYNA levels and number of manic episodes.
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| 9. |
- Malmqvist, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Increased peripheral levels of TARC/CCL17 in first episode psychosis patients
- 2019
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Ingår i: Schizophrenia Research. - : ELSEVIER. - 0920-9964 .- 1573-2509. ; 210, s. 221-227
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Evidence for a link between the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the immune system is mounting. Altered levels of chemokines in plasma have previously been reported in patients with schizophrenia under antipsychotic medication. Here we aimed to study both peripheral and central chemokine levels in drugnaive or short-time medicated first episode psychosis (FEP) patients. Method: We analyzed nine chemokines in plasma and CSF from 41 FEP patients and 22 healthy controls using electrochemiluminescence assay. Results: In plasma four chemokines; TARC/CCL17, eotaxin/CCL11, MDC/CCL22, IP-10/CXCL10 and in CSF one chemokine; IP-10/CXCL10 showed reliable detection in N50% of the cases. FEP patients displayed increased levels of TARC/CCL17 in plasma compared to healthy controls, 89.6 (IQR 66.2-125.8) pg/mL compared to 48.6 (IQR 28.0-71.7) pg/mL (p = 0.001). The difference was not attributed to confounding factors. Plasma TARC/CCL17 was not associated with PANSS, CGI or GAF scores, neither with cognitive functions. The chemokines eotaxin/CCL11, MDC/CCL22, IP-10/CXCL10 in plasma and IP-10/CXCL10 in CSF did not differ between FEP patients and controls. Conclusion: In line with a previous study showing that chronic patients with schizophrenia display increased plasma TARC/CCL17 levels, we here found an elevation in FEP patients suggesting a role of TARC/CCL17 in early stages of schizophrenia. The exactmechanism of this involvement is still unknown and future longitudinal studies as well as studies of central and peripheral chemokine levels would be of great interest. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 13. |
- Sellgren, C. M., et al.
(författare)
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A genome-wide association study of kynurenic acid in cerebrospinal fluid: implications for psychosis and cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder
- 2016
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 21:10, s. 1342-1350
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of the glia-derived N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor antagonist kynurenic acid (KYNA) have consistently been implicated in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Here, we conducted a genome-wide association study based on CSF KYNA in bipolar disorder and found support for an association with a common variant within 1p21.3. After replication in an independent cohort, we linked this genetic variant-associated with reduced SNX7 expression-to positive psychotic symptoms and executive function deficits in bipolar disorder. A series of post-mortem brain tissue and in vitro experiments suggested SNX7 downregulation to result in a caspase-8-driven activation of interleukin-1 beta and a subsequent induction of the brain kynurenine pathway. The current study demonstrates the potential of using biomarkers in genetic studies of psychiatric disorders, and may help to identify novel drug targets in bipolar disorder.
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| 23. |
- Imbeault, S., et al.
(författare)
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Blockade of KAT II Facilitates LTP in Kynurenine 3-Monooxygenase Depleted Mice
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Tryptophan Research. - : SAGE Publications. - 1178-6469. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Excess of brain kynurenic acid (KYNA), a neuroactive metabolite of the kynurenine pathway, is known to elicit cognitive dysfunction. In the present study, we investigated spatial working memory in mice with elevated levels of KYNA, induced by targeted deletion of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), as well as long-term potentiation (LTP) of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in hippocampal brain slices from these mice. The KMO knock-out (KMO-/-) mice performed more poorly in the spatial working memory task as compared to their wild-type (WT) counterparts, as reflected by fewer correct choices in a T-maze. Both fEPSPs, or LTP, did not significantly differ between the 2 mouse strains. However, administration of PF-04859989, a kynurenine aminotransferase (KAT) II inhibitor, limiting the production of KYNA, facilitated fEPSP and enhanced LTP to a greater extent in hippocampal slices from KMO-/- mice compared to WT mice. The results of the present study point to an essential role for KYNA in modulating LTP in the hippocampus of KMO-/- mice which may account for their dysfunctional spatial working memory.
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- ENGBERG, ARON
(författare)
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Walking on the Pages of the Word of God : Self, Land, and Text Among Evangelical Volunteers in Jerusalem
- 2016. - 1st
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the last thirty years, the Evangelical relationship with the State of Israel has drawn much academic and popular attention, particularly from historical, theological, and political perspectives. This dissertation engages with this literature but also complements it with an ethnographic account of the discursive practices of Evangelical Zionists through which, it is suggested, much of the religious significance of the contemporary state is being produced. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork among Evangelical volunteer workers in Jerusalem, focusing on their stories about themselves, the land, and the biblical text. The volunteers are located at three Christian ministries in Jerusalem – the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), theBridges for Peace (BFP), and the Christian Friends of Israel (CFI) – all of which consider their work in Israel a natural consequence of biblical promises to Israel and their responsibility as Christians to “bless the Jewish people”. After introducing the theoretical and socio-cultural context in which this study is located, Chapter Three analyses the volunteers’ “coming-to-Israel” stories and the ways in which agency and selftransformation are understood therein. The analysis suggests that the ritual-like performance of these narratives situates the encounter with Israel as a religious conversion process and Israel as a religious symbol. Chapter Four discusses the volunteers’ narrative production of Israel as a sacred space that has a unique ability to mediate divine presence. It also shows how Israel’s special status is being negotiated both in relation to the encounter with material realities and with ideas about religious fetishism. The final analytical chapter focuses on “biblical literalism” as a textual ideology and on how this ideology becomes manifest in discourses about Bible prophecy and the “Hebraic roots of Christian faith”. It is suggested that these two discursive domains are deeply embedded in contestations about the authenticity of Evangelical religious forms: while the former often serves as empirical evidence for the truth of the biblical scripture, the latter constructs a historical narrative within which Evangelical Zionism is positioned as a rediscovery of authentic biblical faith. Ultimately, this study suggests that the beliefs and practices of Evangelical Christians engaged with Israel not only represent a recalibration of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism and between faith and politicsthemselves, but also a more fundamental reordering of the ways in which God is understood to relate to the world. While deeply embedded in Evangelical narrative traditions, the ideational and physical encounter with Israel also requires a renegotiation of Evangelical religion. This process involves questions of biblical reading practices and the meanings of signs and their social functions, and it invites Evangelical Zionists to negotiate the proper location of human and divine agency as well as the relationship between materiality and divine presence. For the volunteers the “realization of Israel’s spiritual significance” is a highly transformative experience, but rather than being a definite rupture from the past it is part of a broader process of increasingreligious commitment.
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| 43. |
- Engberg, David L. J., et al.
(författare)
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Solid Solution and Segregation Effects in Arc-Deposited Ti1-xSixN Thin Films Resolved on the nanometer scale by 15N Isotopic Substitution in AtomP robe Tomography
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nanostructured TiSiN is an important material in wear--‐resistant coatings for extending the lifetime of cutting tools. Yet, the understanding regarding the structure, phase composition, and bonding on the detailed nanometer scale, which determines the properties of TiSiN, is lacking. This limits our understanding of the growth phenomena and eventually a larger exploitation of the material. By substituting natN2 with 15N2 during reactive arc deposition of TiSiN thin films, atom probe tomography (APT) gives elemental sensitivity and sub-nanometer resolution, a finer scale than what can be obtained by commonly employed energy dispersive electron spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopy. Using a combination of analytical transmission electron microscopy and APT we show that arc-deposited Ti0.92Si0.0815N and Ti0.81Si0.1915N exhibit Si segregation on the nanometer scale in the alloy films. APT composition maps and proximity histograms from domains with higher than average Ti content show that the TiN domains contain at least ~2 at. % Si for Ti0.92Si0.08N and ~5 at. % Si for Ti0.81Si0.19N, thus confirming the formation of solid solutions. The formation of relatively pure SiNy domains in the Ti0.81Si0.19N films is tied to pockets between microstructured, columnar features in the film. Finer SiNy enrichments seen in APT possibly correspond to tissue layers around TiN crystallites, thus effectively hindering growth of TiN crystallites, causing TiN renucleation and thus explaining the featherlike nanostructure within the columns of these films. For the stoichiometry of the TiN phase, we establish a global under stoichiometry, in accordance with the tendency for SiNy films to have tetrahedral bonding coordination towards a nominal Si3N4 composition.
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| 47. |
- Engberg, S, et al.
(författare)
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Infektioner hos nyfödda
- 2006
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Ingår i: Infektionsmedicin 2.
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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