| 1. |
- Hu, Jinhong, et al.
(författare)
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Safety and immunogenicity of a malaria vaccine, Plasmodium falciparum AMA-1/MSP-1 chimeric protein formulated in montanide ISA 720 in healthy adults
- 2008
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : PLOS. - 1932-6203. ; 3:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The P. falciparum chimeric protein 2.9 (PfCP-2.9) consisting of the sequences of MSP1-19 and AMA-1 (III) is a malaria vaccine candidate that was found to induce inhibitory antibodies in rabbits and monkeys. This was a phase I randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the PfCP-2.9 formulated with a novel adjuvant Montanide ISA720. Fifty-two subjects were randomly assigned to 4 dose groups of 10 participants, each receiving the test vaccine of 20, 50, 100, or 200 microg respectively, and 1 placebo group of 12 participants receiving the adjuvant only.METHODS AND FINDINGS: The vaccine formulation was shown to be safe and well-tolerated, and none of the participants withdrew. The total incidence of local adverse events (AEs) was 75%, distributed among 58% of the placebo group and 80% of those vaccinated. Among the vaccinated, 65% had events that were mild and 15% experienced moderate AEs. Almost all systemic adverse reactions observed in this study were graded as mild and required no therapy. The participants receiving the test vaccine developed detectable antibody responses which were boosted by the repeated vaccinations. Sixty percent of the vaccinated participants had high ELISA titers (>1:10,000) of antigen-specific antibodies which could also recognize native parasite proteins in an immunofluorescence assay (IFA).CONCLUSION: This study is the first clinical trial for this candidate and builds on previous investigations supporting PfCP-2.9/ISA720 as a promising blood-stage malaria vaccine. Results demonstrate safety, tolerability (particularly at the lower doses tested) and immunogenicity of the formulation. Further clinical development is ongoing to explore optimizing the dose and schedule of the formulation to decrease reactogenicity without compromising immunogenicity.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) 2002SL0046; Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN66850051 [66850051].
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| 2. |
- Liu, Kui, et al.
(författare)
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Kallikrein genes are associated with lupus and glomerular basement membrane-specific antibody-induced nephritis in mice and humans
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Investigation. - 0021-9738 .- 1558-8238. ; 119:4, s. 911-923
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Immune-mediated nephritis contributes to disease in systemic lupus erythematosus, Goodpasture syndrome (caused by antibodies specific for glomerular basement membrane [anti-GBM antibodies]), and spontaneous lupus nephritis. Inbred mouse strains differ in susceptibility to anti-GBM antibody-induced and spontaneous lupus nephritis. This study sought to clarify the genetic and molecular factors that maybe responsible for enhanced immune-mediated renal disease in these models. When the kidneys of 3 mouse strains sensitive to anti-GBM antibody-induced nephritis were compared with those of 2 control strains using microarray analysis, one-fifth of the underexpressed genes belonged to the kallikrein gene family,which encodes serine esterases. Mouse strains that upregulated renal and urinary kallikreins exhibited less evidence of disease. Antagonizing the kallikrein pathway augmented disease, while agonists dampened the severity of anti-GBM antibody-induced nephritis. In addition, nephritis-sensitive mouse strains had kallikrein haplotypes that were distinct from those of control strains, including several regulatory polymorphisms,some of which were associated with functional consequences. Indeed, increased susceptibility to anti-GBM antibody-induced nephritis and spontaneous lupus nephritis was achieved by breeding mice with a genetic interval harboring the kallikrein genes onto a disease-resistant background. Finally, both human SLE and spontaneous lupus nephritis were found to be associated with kallikrein genes, particularly KLK1 and the KLK3 promoter, when DNA SNPs from independent cohorts of SLE patients and controls were compared. Collectively, these studies suggest that kallikreins are protective disease-associated genes in anti-GBM antibody-induced nephritis and lupus.
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| 3. |
- Harley, John B., et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide association scan in women with systemic lupus erythematosus identifies susceptibility variants in ITGAM, PXK, KIAA1542 and other loci
- 2008
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Ingår i: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 40:2, s. 204-10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common systemic autoimmune disease with complex etiology but strong clustering in families (lambda(S) = approximately 30). We performed a genome-wide association scan using 317,501 SNPs in 720 women of European ancestry with SLE and in 2,337 controls, and we genotyped consistently associated SNPs in two additional independent sample sets totaling 1,846 affected women and 1,825 controls. Aside from the expected strong association between SLE and the HLA region on chromosome 6p21 and the previously confirmed non-HLA locus IRF5 on chromosome 7q32, we found evidence of association with replication (1.1 x 10(-7) < P(overall) < 1.6 x 10(-23); odds ratio = 0.82-1.62) in four regions: 16p11.2 (ITGAM), 11p15.5 (KIAA1542), 3p14.3 (PXK) and 1q25.1 (rs10798269). We also found evidence for association (P < 1 x 10(-5)) at FCGR2A, PTPN22 and STAT4, regions previously associated with SLE and other autoimmune diseases, as well as at > or =9 other loci (P < 2 x 10(-7)). Our results show that numerous genes, some with known immune-related functions, predispose to SLE.
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| 4. |
- Hållstedt, Julius, et al.
(författare)
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A robust spacer gate process for deca-nanometer high-frequency MOSFETs
- 2006
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Ingår i: Microelectronic Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-9317 .- 1873-5568. ; 83:3, s. 434-439
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper, presents a robust spacer technology for definition of deca-nanometer gate length MOSFETs. Conformal deposition, selective anisotropic dry-etching and selective removal of sacrificial layers enabled patterning of an oxide hard mask with deca-nanometer lines combined with structures defined with I-line lithography on a wafer. The spacer gate technology produces negligible topographies on the hard mask and no residual particles could be detected on the wafer. The line-width roughness of 40 nm poly-Si gate lines was 4 nm and the conductance of 200 pm long lines exhibited a standard deviation of 6% across a wafer. nMOSFETs with 45 nm gate length exhibited controlled short-channel effects and the average maximum transconductance in saturation was 449 mu S/mu m with a standard deviation of 3.7% across a wafer. The devices exhibited a cut-off frequency above 100 GHz at a drain current of 315 mu A/mu m. The physical and electrical results show that the employed spacer gate technology is robust and can define deca-nanometer nMOSFETs with high yield and good uniformity.
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| 5. |
- Li, Chunmei, et al.
(författare)
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An essential role for DYF-11/MIP-T3 in assembling functional intraflagellar transport complexes
- 2008
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Ingår i: PLOS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7390 .- 1553-7404. ; 4:3, s. e1000044-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- MIP-T3 is a human protein found previously to associate with microtubules and the kinesin-interacting neuronal protein DISC1 ( Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1), but whose cellular function(s) remains unknown. Here we demonstrate that the C. elegans MIP-T3 ortholog DYF-11 is an intraflagellar transport (IFT) protein that plays a critical role in assembling functional kinesin motor-IFT particle complexes. We have cloned a loss of function dyf-11 mutant in which several key components of the IFT machinery, including Kinesin-II, as well as IFT subcomplex A and B proteins, fail to enter ciliary axonemes and/or mislocalize, resulting in compromised ciliary structures and sensory functions, and abnormal lipid accumulation. Analyses in different mutant backgrounds further suggest that DYF-11 functions as a novel component of IFT subcomplex B. Consistent with an evolutionarily conserved cilia-associated role, mammalian MIP-T3 localizes to basal bodies and cilia, and zebrafish mipt3 functions synergistically with the Bardet-Biedl syndrome protein Bbs4 to ensure proper gastrulation, a key cilium- and basal body-dependent developmental process. Our findings therefore implicate MIP-T3 in a previously unknown but critical role in cilium biogenesis and further highlight the emerging role of this organelle in vertebrate development.
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| 6. |
- Li, N., et al.
(författare)
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Detection wavelengths and photocurrents of very long wavelength quantum-well infrared photodetectors
- 2005
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Ingår i: Infrared Physics and Technology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1350-4495. ; 47:1-2, s. 29-36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on detailed studies of the energy band structure and the optical transitions in very long wavelength (>14 μm) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well (QW) infrared photodetectors (QWIPs), we have built a practical QWIP model. We study the factors that determine photogenerated carriers and response wavelengths of photocurrents of very long wavelength QWIPs. The material structures of QWIPs are first characterized by the photoluminescence measurements (PL) at room temperature and 77 K respectively. We have found and confirmed a distinctive difference between photocurrent of QWIPs with only one confined state in the quantum well (QW) and those binding two confined states, which resulted in different dependence of detection wavelength on the quantum well width. Also, we have investigated the dependence of response wavelength on several other parameters for very long wavelength QWIPs, such as barrier width and Al mole fraction. By calculating the density of photogenerated carriers in the continuum above the energy barriers using the PL calibrated QWIP structures, we have demonstrated that due to the high sample quality, the photocarriers can be either in miniband states (Bloch states in the multiple quantum wells), or they transport from one quantum well to the next in the form of propagating waves. We have further calculated the densities of photocarriers in the QWIPs reported in the literature. It is shown that the Bloch wave boundary conditions are appropriate for QWIPs with narrow QWs, whereas propagating wave boundary conditions are appropriate for wide QWs.
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| 7. |
- Nath, Swapan K., et al.
(författare)
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A nonsynonymous functional variant in integrin-alpha(M) (encoded by ITGAM) is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus
- 2008
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Ingår i: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 40:2, s. 152-154
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We identified and replicated an association between ITGAM (CD11b) at 16p11.2 and risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in 3,818 individuals of European descent. The strongest association was at a nonsynonymous SNP, rs1143679 (P = 1.7 x 10(-17), odds ratio = 1.78). We further replicated this association in two independent samples of individuals of African descent (P = 0.0002 and 0.003; overall meta-analysis P = 6.9 x 10(-22)). The genetic association between ITGAM and SLE implicates the alpha(M)beta2-integrin adhesion pathway in disease development.
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| 8. |
- Qiu, Zhijun, et al.
(författare)
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A comparative study of two different schemes to dopant segregation at NiSi/Si and PtSi/Si interfaces for Schottky barrier height lowering
- 2008
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices. - 0018-9383 .- 1557-9646. ; 55:1, s. 396-403
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An experimental study is presented to compare two different schemes used to incorporate a high concentration of dopants at the silicide/silicon interface for NiSi and PtSi, i.e., dopant segregation, with the purpose of lowering the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of the contact systems. Specifically, the interfacial dopant is introduced either through silicidation-induced dopant segregation (SIDS) or by silicide as diffusion source (SADS). For the latter, a postimplantation drive-in anneal is needed. For both silicide systems, the dopant segregation gives rise to a predominant effect, leading to an effective SBH that is independent of the original SBHs of PtSi and NiSi, which differs by 0.2 eV. Scheme SUDS is relatively simple in processing, but the silicidation process is dopant-dependent, leading to local variations of silicide formation. Scheme SADS addresses the adverse effect of dopant on silicidation by separating silicidation from dopant incorporation.
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| 9. |
- Richards, Stephen, et al.
(författare)
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The genome of the model beetle and pest Tribolium castaneum.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Nature. - 1476-4687. ; 452:7190, s. 949-55
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tribolium castaneum is a representative of earth’s most numerous eukaryotic order, a powerful model organism for the study of generalized insect development, and also an important pest of stored agricultural products. We describe its genome sequence here. This omnivorous beetle has evolved an ability to interact with a diverse chemical environment as evidenced by large expansions in odorant and gustatory receptors, as well as p450 and other detoxification enzymes. Developmental patterns in Tribolium are more representative of other arthropods than those found in Drosophila, a fact represented in gene content and function. For one, Tribolium has retained more ancestral genes involved in cell-cell communication than Drosophila, and some are expressed in the growth zone crucial for axial elongation in short germ development. Systemic RNAi in T. castaneum appears to use mechanisms distinct from those found in C. elegans, but nevertheless offers similar power for the elucidation of gene function and identification of targets for selective insect control.
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| 10. |
- Wang, Ming-Wei, et al.
(författare)
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Expression of PINCH protein in gliomas and its clinicopathological significance
- 2007
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Ingår i: Oncology. - : S. Karger AG. - 0890-9091 .- 0030-2414 .- 1423-0232. ; 72:5-6, s. 343-346
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine-rich protein (PINCH), as a LIM domain adapter protein, functions in the integrin and growth factor signal transduction pathway, and is upregulated in tumor-associated stroma in several types of cancers. However, no study of PINCH has been carried out in gliomas, therefore we examined PINCH expression in gliomas and its clinicopathological significance. Methods: PINCH expression was immunohistochemically examined in 82 gliomas, along with 26 matched adjacent normal brain samples and 10 recurred gliomas. Results: PINCH was strongly expressed in the primary (35%, p = 0.0001) or recurred tumors (40%, p = 0.004) and weak in normal brain tissue. PINCH expression was significantly increased in high-grade gliomas (55 vs. 24%, high- vs. low-grade gliomas, p = 0.004). There was no association of PINCH expression with gender, age, tumor number, size, histological type and tumor location (p > 0.05). Conclusions: PINCH expression may be involved in glioma development and differentiation. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG.
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