| 51. |
- Feng, Bobo, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Hydrophobic catalysis and a potential biological role of DNA unstacking induced by environment effects
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 116:35, s. 17169-17174
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hydrophobic base stacking is a major contributor to DNA double-helix stability. We report the discovery of specific unstacking effects in certain semihydrophobic environments. Water-miscible ethylene glycol ethers are found to modify structure, dynamics, and reactivity of DNA by mechanisms possibly related to a biologically relevant hydrophobic catalysis. Spectroscopic data and optical tweezers experiments show that base-stacking energies are reduced while base-pair hydrogen bonds are strengthened. We propose that a modulated chemical potential of water can promote “longitudinal breathing” and the formation of unstacked holes while base unpairing is suppressed. Flow linear dichroism in 20% diglyme indicates a 20 to 30% decrease in persistence length of DNA, supported by an increased flexibility in single-molecule nanochannel experiments in poly(ethylene glycol). A limited (3 to 6%) hyperchromicity but unaffected circular dichroism is consistent with transient unstacking events while maintaining an overall average B-DNA conformation. Further information about unstacking dynamics is obtained from the binding kinetics of large thread-intercalating ruthenium complexes, indicating that the hydrophobic effect provides a 10 to 100 times increased DNA unstacking frequency and an “open hole” population on the order of 10−2 compared to 10−4 in normal aqueous solution. Spontaneous DNA strand exchange catalyzed by poly(ethylene glycol) makes us propose that hydrophobic residues in the L2 loop of recombination enzymes RecA and Rad51 may assist gene recombination via modulation of water activity near the DNA helix by hydrophobic interactions, in the manner described here. We speculate that such hydrophobic interactions may have catalytic roles also in other biological contexts, such as in polymerases.
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| 52. |
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| 53. |
- Schnabel, Renate B., et al.
(författare)
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Searching for Atrial Fibrillation Poststroke : A White Paper of the AF-SCREEN International Collaboration
- 2019
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Ingår i: Circulation. - 1524-4539. ; 140:22, s. 1834-1850
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cardiac thromboembolism attributed to atrial fibrillation (AF) is responsible for up to one-third of ischemic strokes. Stroke may be the first manifestation of previously undetected AF. Given the efficacy of oral anticoagulants in preventing AF-related ischemic strokes, strategies of searching for AF after a stroke using ECG monitoring followed by oral anticoagulation (OAC) treatment have been proposed to prevent recurrent cardioembolic strokes. This white paper by experts from the AF-SCREEN International Collaboration summarizes existing evidence and knowledge gaps on searching for AF after a stroke by using ECG monitoring. New AF can be detected by routine plus intensive ECG monitoring in approximately one-quarter of patients with ischemic stroke. It may be causal, a bystander, or neurogenically induced by the stroke. AF after a stroke is a risk factor for thromboembolism and a strong marker for atrial myopathy. After acute ischemic stroke, patients should undergo 72 hours of electrocardiographic monitoring to detect AF. The diagnosis requires an ECG of sufficient quality for confirmation by a health professional with ECG rhythm expertise. AF detection rate is a function of monitoring duration and quality of analysis, AF episode definition, interval from stroke to monitoring commencement, and patient characteristics including old age, certain ECG alterations, and stroke type. Markers of atrial myopathy (eg, imaging, atrial ectopy, natriuretic peptides) may increase AF yield from monitoring and could be used to guide patient selection for more intensive/prolonged poststroke ECG monitoring. Atrial myopathy without detected AF is not currently sufficient to initiate OAC. The concept of embolic stroke of unknown source is not proven to identify patients who have had a stroke benefitting from empiric OAC treatment. However, some embolic stroke of unknown source subgroups (eg, advanced age, atrial enlargement) might benefit more from non-vitamin K-dependent OAC therapy than aspirin. Fulfilling embolic stroke of unknown source criteria is an indication neither for empiric non-vitamin K-dependent OAC treatment nor for withholding prolonged ECG monitoring for AF. Clinically diagnosed AF after a stroke or a transient ischemic attack is associated with significantly increased risk of recurrent stroke or systemic embolism, in particular, with additional stroke risk factors, and requires OAC rather than antiplatelet therapy. The minimum subclinical AF duration required on ECG monitoring poststroke/transient ischemic attack to recommend OAC therapy is debated.
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| 54. |
- van der Valk, Ralf J P, et al.
(författare)
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A novel common variant in DCST2 is associated with length in early life and height in adulthood.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Human molecular genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1460-2083 .- 0964-6906. ; 24:4, s. 1155-68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Common genetic variants have been identified for adult height, but not much is known about the genetics of skeletal growth in early life. To identify common genetic variants that influence fetal skeletal growth, we meta-analyzed 22 genome-wide association studies (Stage 1; N = 28 459). We identified seven independent top single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (P < 1 × 10(-6)) for birth length, of which three were novel and four were in or near loci known to be associated with adult height (LCORL, PTCH1, GPR126 and HMGA2). The three novel SNPs were followed-up in nine replication studies (Stage 2; N = 11 995), with rs905938 in DC-STAMP domain containing 2 (DCST2) genome-wide significantly associated with birth length in a joint analysis (Stages 1 + 2; β = 0.046, SE = 0.008, P = 2.46 × 10(-8), explained variance = 0.05%). Rs905938 was also associated with infant length (N = 28 228; P = 5.54 × 10(-4)) and adult height (N = 127 513; P = 1.45 × 10(-5)). DCST2 is a DC-STAMP-like protein family member and DC-STAMP is an osteoclast cell-fusion regulator. Polygenic scores based on 180 SNPs previously associated with human adult stature explained 0.13% of variance in birth length. The same SNPs explained 2.95% of the variance of infant length. Of the 180 known adult height loci, 11 were genome-wide significantly associated with infant length (SF3B4, LCORL, SPAG17, C6orf173, PTCH1, GDF5, ZNFX1, HHIP, ACAN, HLA locus and HMGA2). This study highlights that common variation in DCST2 influences variation in early growth and adult height.
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