| 1. |
- Heestermans, M, et al.
(author)
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Identification of the factor XII contact activation site enables sensitive coagulation diagnostics
- 2021
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In: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1, s. 5596-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Contact activation refers to the process of surface-induced activation of factor XII (FXII), which initiates blood coagulation and is captured by the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) assay. Here, we show the mechanism and diagnostic implications of FXII contact activation. Screening of recombinant FXII mutants identified a continuous stretch of residues Gln317–Ser339 that was essential for FXII surface binding and activation, thrombin generation and coagulation. Peptides spanning these 23 residues competed with surface-induced FXII activation. Although FXII mutants lacking residues Gln317–Ser339 were susceptible to activation by plasmin and plasma kallikrein, they were ineffective in supporting arterial and venous thrombus formation in mice. Antibodies raised against the Gln317–Ser339 region induced FXII activation and triggered controllable contact activation in solution leading to thrombin generation by the intrinsic pathway of coagulation. The antibody-activated aPTT allows for standardization of particulate aPTT reagents and for sensitive monitoring of coagulation factors VIII, IX, XI.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Naudin, Sabine, et al.
(author)
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Healthy lifestyle and the risk of pancreatic cancer in the EPIC study
- 2020
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In: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0393-2990 .- 1573-7284. ; 35:10, s. 975-986
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly fatal cancer with currently limited opportunities for early detection and effective treatment. Modifiable factors may offer pathways for primary prevention. In this study, the association between the Healthy Lifestyle Index (HLI) and PC risk was examined. Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, 1113 incident PC (57% women) were diagnosed from 400,577 participants followed-up for 15 years (median). HLI scores combined smoking, alcohol intake, dietary exposure, physical activity and, in turn, overall and central adiposity using BMI (HLIBMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR, HLIWHR), respectively. High values of HLI indicate adherence to healthy behaviors. Cox proportional hazard models with age as primary time variable were used to estimate PC hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Sensitivity analyses were performed by excluding, in turn, each factor from the HLI score. Population attributable fractions (PAF) were estimated assuming participants’ shift to healthier lifestyles. The HRs for a one-standard deviation increment of HLIBMI and HLIWHR were 0.84 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.89; ptrend = 4.3e−09) and 0.77 (0.72, 0.82; ptrend = 1.7e−15), respectively. Exclusions of smoking from HLIWHR resulted in HRs of 0.88 (0.82, 0.94; ptrend = 4.9e−04). The overall PAF estimate was 19% (95% CI: 11%, 26%), and 14% (6%, 21%) when smoking was removed from the score. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle was inversely associated with PC risk, beyond the beneficial role of smoking avoidance. Public health measures targeting compliance with healthy lifestyles may have an impact on PC incidence.
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| 5. |
- Cirera, Lluís, et al.
(author)
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Socioeconomic Effect of Education on Pancreatic Cancer Risk in Western Europe : An Update on the EPIC Cohorts Study
- 2019
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In: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - : American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 28:6, s. 1089-1092
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: To analyze the potential effect of social inequality on pancreatic cancer risk in Western Europe, by reassessing the association within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study, including a larger number of cases and an extended follow-up.METHODS: Data on highest education attained were gathered for 459,170 participants (70% women) from 10 European countries. A relative index of inequality (RII) based on adult education was calculated for comparability across countries and generations. Cox regression models were applied to estimate relative inequality in pancreatic cancer risk, stratifying by age, gender, and center, and adjusting for known pancreatic cancer risk factors.RESULTS: A total of 1,223 incident pancreatic cancer cases were included after a mean follow-up of 13.9 (±4.0) years. An inverse social trend was found in models adjusted for age, sex, and center for both sexes [HR of RII, 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-1.59], which was also significant among women (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.05-1.92). Further adjusting by smoking intensity, alcohol consumption, body mass index, prevalent diabetes, and physical activity led to an attenuation of the RII risk and loss of statistical significance.CONCLUSIONS: The present reanalysis does not sustain the existence of an independent social inequality influence on pancreatic cancer risk in Western European women and men, using an index based on adult education, the most relevant social indicator linked to individual lifestyles, in a context of very low pancreatic cancer survival from (quasi) universal public health systems.IMPACT: The results do not support an association between education and risk of pancreatic cancer.
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| 6. |
- Naudin, Clément, et al.
(author)
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Active but inoperable thrombin is accumulated in a plasma protein layer surrounding Streptococcus pyogenes.
- 2015
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In: Thrombosis and Haemostasis. - 0340-6245. ; 114:4, s. 717-726
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Activation of thrombin is a critical determinant in many physiological and pathological processes including haemostasis and inflammation. Under physiological conditions many of these functions are involved in wound healing or eradication of an invading pathogen. However, when activated systemically, thrombin can contribute to severe and life-threatening conditions by causing complications such as multiple multi-organ failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation. In the present study we investigated how the activity of thrombin is modulated when it is bound to the surface of Streptococcus pyogenes. Our data show that S. pyogenes bacteria become covered with a proteinaceous layer when incubated with human plasma, and that thrombin is a constituent of this layer. Though the coagulation factor is found attached to the bacteria with a functional active site, thrombin has lost its capacity to interact with its natural substrates and inhibitors. Thus, the interaction of bacteria with human plasma renders thrombin completely inoperable at the streptococcal surface. This could represent a host defense mechanism to avoid systemic activation of coagulation which could be otherwise induced when bacteria enter the circulation and cause systemic infection.
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| 7. |
- Naudin, C, et al.
(author)
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Factor XII Contact Activation
- 2017
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In: Seminars in thrombosis and hemostasis. - : Georg Thieme Verlag KG. - 1098-9064 .- 0094-6176. ; 43:8, s. 814-826
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Contact activation is the surface-induced conversion of factor XII (FXII) zymogen to the serine protease FXIIa. Blood-circulating FXII binds to negatively charged surfaces and this contact to surfaces triggers a conformational change in the zymogen inducing autoactivation. Several surfaces that have the capacity for initiating FXII contact activation have been identified, including misfolded protein aggregates, collagen, nucleic acids, and platelet and microbial polyphosphate. Activated FXII initiates the proinflammatory kallikrein-kinin system and the intrinsic coagulation pathway, leading to formation of bradykinin and thrombin, respectively. FXII contact activation is well characterized in vitro and provides the mechanistic basis for the diagnostic clotting assay, activated partial thromboplastin time. However, only in the past decade has the critical role of FXII contact activation in pathological thrombosis been appreciated. While defective FXII contact activation provides thromboprotection, excess activation underlies the swelling disorder hereditary angioedema type III. This review provides an overview of the molecular basis of FXII contact activation and FXII contact activation–associated disease states.
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| 8. |
- Naudin, Sabine, et al.
(author)
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Healthy lifestyle and the risk of lymphoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study
- 2020
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 147:6, s. 1649-1656
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Limited evidence exists on the role of modifiable lifestyle factors on the risk of lymphoma. In this rk, the associations between adherence to healthy lifestyles and risks of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and n-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) were evaluated in a large-scale European prospective cohort. Within the ropean Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), 2,999 incident lymphoma cases 32 HL and 2,746 NHL) were diagnosed among 453,808 participants after 15 years (median) of follow- . The healthy lifestyle index (HLI) score combined information on smoking, alcohol intake, diet, ysical activity and BMI, with large values of HLI expressing adherence to healthy behavior. Cox oportional hazards models were used to estimate lymphoma hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence terval (CI). Sensitivity analyses were conducted by excluding, in turn, each lifestyle factor from the HLI ore. The HLI was inversely associated with HL, with HR for a 1-standard deviation (SD) increment in the ore equal to 0.78 (95% CI: 0.66, 0.94). Sensitivity analyses showed that the association was mainly iven by smoking and marginally by diet. NHL risk was not associated with the HLI, with HRs for a 1-SD crement equal to 0.99 (0.95, 1.03), with no evidence for heterogeneity in the association across NHL btypes. In the EPIC study, adherence to healthy lifestyles was not associated with overall lymphoma or NHL risk, while an inverse association was observed for HL, although this was largely attributable to smoking. These findings suggest a limited role of lifestyle factors in the etiology of lymphoma subtypes.
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| 9. |
- Papareddy, Praveen, et al.
(author)
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A human antithrombin isoform dampens inflammatory responses and protects from organ damage during bacterial infection
- 2019
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In: Nature Microbiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2058-5276. ; 4:12, s. 2442-2455
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Severe infectious diseases are often characterized by an overwhelming and unbalanced systemic immune response to microbial infections. Human antithrombin (hAT) is a crucial coagulation inhibitor with anti-inflammatory activities. Here we identify three hAT-binding proteins (CD13, CD300f and LRP-1) on human monocytes that are involved in blocking the activity of nuclear factor-kappa B. We found that the modulating effect is primarily restricted to the less abundant beta-isoform (h beta AT) of hAT that lacks N-glycosylation at position 135. Individuals with a mutation at this position have increased production of h beta AT and analysis of their blood, which was stimulated ex vivo with lipopolysaccharide, showed a decreased inflammatory response. Similar findings were recorded when heterozygotic mice expressing hAT or h beta AT were challenged with lipopolysaccharide or infected with Escherichia coli bacteria. Our results finally demonstrate that in a lethal E. coli infection model, survival rates increased when mice were treated with h beta AT one hour and five hours after infection. The treatment also resulted in a reduction of the inflammatory response and less severe organ damage.
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| 10. |
- Solans, Marta, et al.
(author)
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Adherence to the mediterranean diet and lymphoma risk in the european prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 145:1, s. 122-131
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is a growing evidence of the protective role of the Mediterranean diet (MD) on cancer. However, no prospective study has yet investigated its influence on lymphoma. We evaluated the association between adherence to the MD and risk of lymphoma and its subtypes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. The analysis included 476,160 participants, recruited from 10 European countries between 1991 and 2001. Adherence to the MD was estimated through the adapted relative MD (arMED) score excluding alcohol. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used while adjusting for potential confounders. During an average follow-up of 13.9 years, 3,136 lymphomas (135 Hodgkin lymphoma [HL], 2,606 non-HL and 395 lymphoma not otherwise specified) were identified. Overall, a 1-unit increase in the arMED score was associated with a 2% lower risk of lymphoma (95% CI: 0.97; 1.00, p-trend = 0.03) while a statistically nonsignificant inverse association between a high versus low arMED score and risk of lymphoma was observed (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.91 [95% CI 0.80; 1.03], p-trend = 0.12). Analyses by lymphoma subtype did not reveal any statistically significant associations. Albeit with small numbers of cases (N = 135), a suggestive inverse association was found for HL (HR 1-unit increase = 0.93 [95% CI: 0.86; 1.01], p-trend = 0.07). However, the study may have lacked statistical power to detect small effect sizes for lymphoma subtype. Our findings suggest that an increasing arMED score was inversely related to the risk of overall lymphoma in EPIC but not by subtypes. Further large prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
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