| 1. |
- Hampel, Harald, et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement of phosphorylated tau epitopes in the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer disease: a comparative cerebrospinal fluid study.
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Archives of general psychiatry. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 0003-990X. ; 61:1, s. 95-102
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Abnormal hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau and its incorporation into neurofibrillary tangles are major hallmarks of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Different tau phosphoepitopes can be sensitively detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of CSF concentrations of tau proteins phosphorylated at 3 pathophysiologically important epitopes (p-tau) to discriminate among patients with AD, nondemented control subjects, and patients with other dementias. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional, bicenter, memory clinic-based studies. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred sixty-one patients with a clinical diagnosis of AD, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, or vascular dementia and 45 nondemented controls (N = 206). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Levels of tau protein phosphorylated at threonine 231 (p-tau231), threonine 181 (p-tau181), and serine 199 (p-tau199). The CSF p-tau protein levels were measured using 3 different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: The mean CSF levels of the studied p-tau proteins were significantly elevated in patients with AD compared with the other groups. Applied as single markers, p-tau231and p-tau181 reached specificity levels greater than 75% between AD and the combined non-AD group when sensitivity was set at 85% or greater. Statistical differences between the assay performances are presented. Particularly, discrimination between AD and dementia with Lewy bodies was maximized using p-tau181at a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 64%, and p-tau231 maximized group separation between AD and frontotemporal dementia with a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 92%. Combinations of the 3 markers did not add discriminative power compared with the application as single markers. CONCLUSIONS: The p-tau proteins in CSF come closest to fulfilling the criteria of a biological marker of AD. There is a tendency for p-tau proteins to perform differently in the discrimination of primary dementia disorders from AD.
|
|
| 2. |
- Moller, E. F., et al.
(författare)
-
Production of DOC by Calanus finmarchicus, C-glacialis and C-hyperboreus through sloppy feeding and leakage from fecal pellets
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Marine Ecology-Progress Series. - 0171-8630. ; 262, s. 185-191
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using C-14-labeled phytoplankton as tracer, we investigated 2 mechanisms of immediate dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release during grazing activity of Calanus spp. - sloppy feeding and leakage from newly expelled fecal pellets. Half of the carbon cleared by Calanus spp. was released as DOC through sloppy feeding. Freshly expelled fecal pellets lost more than 20% of their carbon content within the first hour, corresponding to 6% of the carbon cleared. Thus, copepods should not only be considered as an essential link to higher trophic levels, but also as a feedback link to the microbial food web.
|
|
| 3. |
- Persson, Camilla
(författare)
-
Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases as Regulators of Receptor Ryrosine Kinases
- 2003
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Tyrosine phosphorylation is a crucial mechanism in cellular signaling and regulates proliferation, differentiation, migration and adhesion. The phosphorylation reaction is reversible and is governed by two families of enzymes: protein tyrosine kinases and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). This thesis investigates the role of PTPs in regulating receptor protein tyrosine kinases (RTKs), and explores a mechanism for regulation of phosphatase activity.Most receptor tyrosine kinases are activated by ligand induced dimerization, which results in an increase in receptor phosphorylation. Preparations of ligand-stimulated dimeric PDGF β-receptors were shown to be less susceptible to dephosphorylation compared with unstimulated receptors. This revealed that reduced receptor dephosphorylation contributes to ligand-induced increase in RTK phosphorylation.The receptor-like phosphatase DEP-1 site-selectively dephosphorylates the PDGF β-receptor. One of the most preferred sites is the PLC-γ binding phosphotyrosine pY1021, and the autoregulatory pY857 is one of the least preferred sites. By using chimeric phospho-peptides derived from these two sites as substrate for DEP-1, it was shown that a lysine residue at position +3 acts as a negative determinant for DEP-1 and that an aspartic acid residue at position –1 is a positive determinant.The modulatory effect of TC-PTP on PDGF β-receptor signaling was explored by using mouse embryonic fibroblasts derived from TC-PTP knockout mice. PDGF β-receptors derived from knockout cells exhibited a higher level of ligand-induced phosphorylation compared to receptors from wildtype cells. The increase was unevenly distributed between different autophosphorylation sites. The PLC-γ binding site, previously implicated in chemotactic response, displayed the largest increase. Consistently, a cell migration assay revealed hyper-responsiveness to PDGF of TC-PTP knockout cells as compared to wildtype cells.Reversible oxidation of the active site cysteine in PTPs is a mechanism, which have been postulated to regulate phosphatase specific activity. An antibody-based generic method for detection of oxidized PTPs was developed. Using this method it was revealed for the first time that UV-induced inactivation of PTPs involves oxidation of the active site cysteine.
|
|
| 4. |
- Sunde, Peter, et al.
(författare)
-
Reversed sexual dimorphism in tawny owls, Strix aluco, correlates with duty division in breeding effort
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Oikos. - : Wiley. - 1600-0706 .- 0030-1299. ; 101:2, s. 265-278
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Even though most bird species with a raptorial feeding habit express varying extents of reversed sexual dimorphism (RSD: females bigger than males), the evolutionary basis for its maintenance, as well as its possible secondary consequences for the ecological adaptations of the different sexes, is debated. We studied pairs of tawny owls, Strix aluco (females 20% heavier than males), throughout the year by telemetry to test whether any inter-sexual differences in movement patterns, resource partitioning and breeding effort correlated with RSD. Females were larger than males in all body size measures and were 16% heavier than would be expected from the difference in wing length alone. In accordance with predictions from flight economics, males moved longer distances per time unit than females, in particular during the post-fledging season, when they also fed chicks more often than the females. Males had larger home ranges than females during the post-fledging period, whereas the sexes had home ranges of equal size during the non-breeding season. Until 10 days after fledging, females foraged much closer to the offspring than males, apparently balancing their distance to offspring between the needs of offspring guarding and foraging. In males, the parent-offspring distance only increased with decreasing brood condition. The sexes did not differ in habitat use or feeding habits, rendering no indications of food niche partitioning. The study provides further evidence that selection for males to be light and energetically efficient foragers is the main evolutionary force behind RSD in raptorial birds, even when the prey base is confined by territoriality.
|
|
| 5. |
- Tiselius, Peter, 1958, et al.
(författare)
-
Functional response of Oikopleura dioica to house clogging due to exposure to algae of different sizes
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Marine Biology. - 0025-3162. ; 142:2, s. 253-261
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The functional response of the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica was investigated with a unialgal diet (Isochrysis galbana, 0-1,600 mug Cl-1) and with additions of specific concentrations of algae either smaller than the incurrent filter mesh size (Rhodomonas baltica, 90 mug Cl-1; Thalassiosira weissflogii, 60 mug Cl-1) or larger algae (Ceratium lineatum, 8 mug Cl-1; C. tripos, 52 mug C l(-1)). Clearance ranged from 0.13 to 3.3 ml mug C-1 h(-1) and followed a Michaelis-Menten curve corresponding to a maximum filtration rate (particles collected by both animal and house), FRmax = 164 ng C mug C-1 h(-1) and K-m = 64 mug C l(-1). Maximum pellet production was 9 pellets ind(-1) h(-1) and occurred at 100 mugC (-1). Pellet production was proportional to filtration rate below this level, but declined at higher concentrations. House production ranged from 0.5 to 5.5 houses ind(-1) day(-1) and the corresponding curve fit resulted in H-max = 4.6 houses ind(-1) day(-1) and K-m house = 32 mug Cl-1. Addition of edible small algae caused increased internal clogging of the houses, evidenced by significantly higher pigment concentrations in abandoned houses than in houses produced with I.. galbana as a single food. House production was not affected. In contrast, larger algae caused a significantly higher house production, but the algae were not collected on the houses. Increased levels of edible algae will not have negative effects on O. dioica at ecologically realistic concentrations. Ambient bloom concentrations of larger algae may, however, have a negative effect on the growth of O. dioica populations, owing to the compensatory increased house production.
|
|
| 6. |
- Vargas, C. A., et al.
(författare)
-
Importance of copepods versus appendicularians in vertical carbon fluxes in a Swedish fjord
- 2002
-
Ingår i: Marine Ecology-Progress Series. - 0171-8630. ; 241, s. 125-138
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examined and quantified the contributions of copepods and appendicularians to the vertical flux of carbon during autumn and spring in Gullmar Fjord (west coast of Sweden). Faecal pellet-production rate was determined for major copepod and appendicularian species. In addition, house-production rates were estimated for the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica. Vertical flux of pigments, faecal carbon and appendicularian houses were measured using short-term (24 h) deployments of sediment traps at 2 depths (15 and 30 m). Copepods dominated the community biomass in both spring and autumn and their pellets dominated the faecal carbon flux. O. dioica houses with attached detritus were an important component of the biogenic carbon flux in October (15.3 mg C m(-2) d(-1)), equalling the contribution from copepods at 15 m and 50% of the flux at 30 m. At that time, we observed a loss rate of 70% d(-1) of the houses produced in the water column. In the spring, although Fritillaria borealis dominated the appendicularians, its houses did not appear to contribute to the biogenic flux. Our results suggest that oikopleurids and fritillariids may not operate equivalently in biogeochemical cycles. Because of the significant contribution of appendicularians to carbon fluxes, they should be incorporated in future flow models of coastal oceans.
|
|
