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5. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(author)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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In: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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14. |
- Hamann, Joerg, et al.
(author)
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International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. XCIV. Adhesion G Protein-Coupled Receptors
- 2015
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In: Pharmacological Reviews. - : American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). - 0031-6997 .- 1521-0081. ; 67:2, s. 338-367
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Adhesion family forms a large branch of the pharmacologically important superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). As Adhesion GPCRs increasingly receive attention from a wide spectrum of biomedical fields, the Adhesion GPCR Consortium, together with the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification, proposes a unified nomenclature for Adhesion GPCRs. The new names have ADGR as common dominator followed by a letter and a number to denote each subfamily and subtype, respectively. The new names, with old and alternative names within parentheses, are: ADGRA1 (GPR123), ADGRA2 (GPR124), ADGRA3 (GPR125), ADGRB1 (BAI1), ADGRB2 (BAI2), ADGRB3 (BAI3), ADGRC1 (CELSR1), ADGRC2 (CELSR2), ADGRC3 (CELSR3), ADGRD1 (GPR133), ADGRD2 (GPR144), ADGRE1 (EMR1, F4/80), ADGRE2 (EMR2), ADGRE3 (EMR3), ADGRE4 (EMR4), ADGRE5 (CD97), ADGRF1 (GPR110), ADGRF2 (GPR111), ADGRF3 (GPR113), ADGRF4 (GPR115), ADGRF5 (GPR116, Ig-Hepta), ADGRG1 (GPR56), ADGRG2 (GPR64, HE6), ADGRG3 (GPR97), ADGRG4 (GPR112), ADGRG5 (GPR114), ADGRG6 (GPR126), ADGRG7 (GPR128), ADGRL1 (latrophilin-1, CIRL-1, CL1), ADGRL2 (latrophilin-2, CIRL-2, CL2), ADGRL3 (latrophilin-3, CIRL-3, CL3), ADGRL4 (ELTD1, ETL), and ADGRV1 (VLGR1, GPR98). This review covers all major biologic aspects of Adhesion GPCRs, including evolutionary origins, interaction partners, signaling, expression, physiologic functions, and therapeutic potential.
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- Mårtensson, Johanna, et al.
(author)
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Diffusion tensor imaging and tractography of the white matter in normal aging : The rate-of-change differs between segments within tracts
- 2018
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In: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0730-725X .- 1873-5894. ; 45, s. 113-119
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Knowledge concerning the normal aging of cerebral white matter will improve our understanding of abnormal changes in neurodegenerative diseases. The microstructural basis of white matter maturation and aging can be investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Generally, diffusion anisotropy increases during childhood and adolescence followed by a decline in middle age. However, this process is subject to spatial variations between tracts. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent age-related variations also occur within tracts. DTI parameters were compared between segments of two white matter tracts, the cingulate bundle (CB) and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFO), in 257 healthy individuals between 13 and 84years of age. Segments of the CB and the IFO were extracted and parameters for each segment were averaged across the hemispheres. The data was analysed as a function of age. Results show that age-related changes differ both between and within individual tracts. Different age trajectories were observed in all segments of the analysed tracts for all DTI parameters. In conclusion, aging does not affect white matter tracts uniformly but is regionally specific; both between and within white matter tracts.
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20. |
- Rasmusson, Annica J., et al.
(author)
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Toll-like receptor 4 methylation grade is linked to depressive symptom severity
- 2021
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In: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 2158-3188. ; 11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study explores potential associations between the methylation of promoter-associated CpG sites of the toll-like receptor (TLR)-family, plasma levels of pro-inflammatory proteins and depressive symptoms in young female psychiatric patients. Ratings of depressive symptoms and blood samples were obtained from 92 young women seeking psychiatric care. Methylation of 32 promoter-associated CpG sites in TLR1 to TLR10 was analysed using the Illumina Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip. Expression levels of 91 inflammatory proteins were determined by proximity extension assay. Statistical correlations between depressive state, TLR1-10 methylation and inflammatory proteins were investigated. Four additional cohorts were studied to evaluate the generalizability of the findings. In the discovery cohort, methylation grade of cg05429895 (TLR4) in blood was inversely correlated with depressive symptoms score in young adults. After correction for multiple testing, plasma levels of macrophage inflammatory protein 1 beta (MIP-1 beta/CCL4) were associated with both TLR4 methylation and depressive symptom severity. A similar inverse association between TLR4 methylation in blood and affective symptoms score was also found in a cohort of 148 both males and females (<40 years of age) from the Danish Twin Registry. These findings were not, however, replicated in three other external cohorts; which differed from the first two cohorts by a higher age and mixed ethnicities, thus limiting the generalizability of our findings. However, TLR4 methylation inversely correlated with TLR4 mRNA expression in the Danish Twin Study indicating a functional significance of methylation at this particular CpG. Higher depression scores in young Scandinavian adults was associated with decreased methylation of TLR4 in blood.
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21. |
- Wallén-Mackenzie, Åsa, et al.
(author)
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Restricted cortical and amygdaloid removal of vesicular glutamate transporter 2 in preadolescent mice impacts dopaminergic activity and neuronal circuitry of higher brain function.
- 2009
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In: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. - 1529-2401 .- 0270-6474. ; 29:7, s. 2238-51
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A major challenge in neuroscience is to resolve the connection between gene functionality, neuronal circuits, and behavior. Most, if not all, neuronal circuits of the adult brain contain a glutamatergic component, the nature of which has been difficult to assess because of the vast cellular abundance of glutamate. In this study, we wanted to determine the role of a restricted subpopulation of glutamatergic neurons within the forebrain, the Vglut2-expressing neurons, in neuronal circuitry of higher brain function. Vglut2 expression was selectively deleted in the cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala of preadolescent mice, which resulted in increased locomotor activity, altered social dominance and risk assessment, decreased sensorimotor gating, and impaired long-term spatial memory. Presynaptic VGLUT2-positive terminals were lost in the cortex, striatum, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus, and a downstream effect on dopamine binding site availability in the striatum was evident. A connection between the induced late-onset, chronic reduction of glutamatergic neurotransmission and dopamine signaling within the circuitry was further substantiated by a partial attenuation of the deficits in sensorimotor gating by the dopamine-stabilizing antipsychotic drug aripiprazole and an increased sensitivity to amphetamine. Somewhat surprisingly, given the restricted expression of Vglut2 in regions responsible for higher brain function, our analyses show that VGLUT2-mediated neurotransmission is required for certain aspects of cognitive, emotional, and social behavior. The present study provides support for the existence of a neurocircuitry that connects changes in VGLUT2-mediated neurotransmission to alterations in the dopaminergic system with schizophrenia-like behavioral deficits as a major outcome.
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22. |
- Yang, L., et al.
(author)
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Knockdown of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-β induces less differentiation and enhances cell-fibronectinadhesion of colon cancer cells
- 2010
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In: Oncogene. - : Nature publishing group. - 0950-9232 .- 1476-5594. ; 29:4, s. 516-526
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-/ (PPAR-/) in the pathogenesis of colon cancer remains highly controversial. This study specifically silenced the PPAR- expression in three colon cancer cell lines with different metastatic potentials. Although PPAR-knockdown resulted in more malignant morphological changes, bigger colony sizes and lower carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) secretion, and enhanced the cell-fibronectin adhesion, cell invasion and migration were unaffected. These effects were stronger in poorly metastatic cell lines compared with highly metastatic ones. Simultaneously, PPAR-knockdown decreased the mRNAs encoding adipocyte differentiation-related protein and liver fatty acid binding protein, and increased the mRNA of ILK, whereas the mRNAs encoding integrin-1 and angiopoietin-like 4 were unchanged. Using immunohistochemistry, we determined that the intensity of PPAR- expression was stronger in rectal cancers with better differentiation than in those with poor differentiation, and was stronger in early-stage tumors than in advanced ones. Together, these findings consistently indicate that PPAR- may facilitate differentiation and inhibit the cell-fibronectin adhesion of colon cancer, having a role as an inhibitor in the carcinogenesis and progression of colorectal cancer. Interestingly PPAR- seems to have a more important role in poorly metastatic cells than in highly metastatic ones.
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- Adamsson, Viola, et al.
(author)
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Effects of a healthy Nordic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in hypercholesterolaemic subjects : a randomized controlled trial (NORDIET)
- 2011
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In: Journal of Internal Medicine. - Oxford : Wiley. - 0954-6820 .- 1365-2796. ; 269:2, s. 150-159
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a healthy Nordic diet (ND) on cardiovascular risk factors. Design and subjects. In a randomized controlled trial (NORDIET) conducted in Sweden, 88 mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects were randomly assigned to an ad libitum ND or control diet (subjects' usual Western diet) for 6 weeks. Participants in the ND group were provided with all meals and foods. Primary outcome measurements were low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and secondary outcomes were blood pressure (BP) and insulin sensitivity (fasting insulin and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance). The ND was rich in high-fibre plant foods, fruits, berries, vegetables, whole grains, rapeseed oil, nuts, fish and low-fat milk products, but low in salt, added sugars and saturated fats. Results. The ND contained 27%, 52%, 19% and 2% of energy from fat, carbohydrate, protein and alcohol, respectively. In total, 86 of 88 subjects randomly assigned to diet completed the study. Compared with controls, there was a decrease in plasma cholesterol (-16%, P < 0.001), LDL cholesterol (-21%, P < 0.001), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (-5%, P < 0.01), LDL/HDL (-14%, P < 0.01) and apolipoprotein (apo)B/apoA1 (-1%, P < 0.05) in the ND group. The ND reduced insulin (-9%, P = 0.01) and systolic BP by -6.6 +/- 13.2 mmHg (-5%, P < 0.05) compared with the control diet. Despite the ad libitum nature of the ND, body weight decreased after 6 weeks in the ND compared with the control group (-4%, P < 0.001). After adjustment for weight change, the significant differences between groups remained for blood lipids, but not for insulin sensitivity or BP. There were no significant differences in diastolic BP or triglyceride or glucose concentrations. Conclusions. A healthy ND improves blood lipid profile and insulin sensitivity and lowers blood pressure at clinically relevant levels in hypercholesterolaemic subjects.
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29. |
- Al-Sabri, Mohamed H., et al.
(author)
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Fluvastatin-induced myofibrillar damage is associated with elevated ROS, and impaired fatty acid oxidation, and is preceded by mitochondrial morphological changes
- 2024
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 14:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Previously, we showed that fluvastatin treatment induces myofibrillar damage and mitochondrial phenotypes in the skeletal muscles of Drosophila. However, the sequential occurrence of mitochondrial phenotypes and myofibril damage remains elusive. To address this, we treated flies with fluvastatin for two and five days and examined their thorax flight muscles using confocal microscopy. In the two-day fluvastatin group, compared to the control, thorax flight muscles exhibited mitochondrial morphological changes, including fragmentation, rounding up and reduced content, while myofibrils remained organized in parallel. In the five-day fluvastatin treatment, not only did mitochondrial morphological changes become more pronounced, but myofibrils became severely disorganized with significantly increased thickness and spacing, along with myofilament abnormalities, suggesting myofibril damage. These findings suggest that fluvastatin-induced mitochondrial changes precede myofibril damage. Moreover, in the five-day fluvastatin group, the mitochondria demonstrated elevated H2O2 and impaired fatty acid oxidation compared to the control group, indicating potential mitochondrial dysfunction. Surprisingly, knocking down Hmgcr (Drosophila homolog of HMGCR) showed normal mitochondrial respiration in all parameters compared to controls or five-day fluvastatin treatment, which suggests that fluvastatin-induced mitochondrial dysfunction might be independent of Hmgcr inhibition. These results provide insights into the sequential occurrence of mitochondria and myofibril damage in statin-induced myopathy for future studies.
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30. |
- Al-Sabri, Mohamed H., et al.
(author)
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Statins Induce Locomotion and Muscular Phenotypes in Drosophila melanogaster That Are Reminiscent of Human Myopathy : Evidence for the Role of the Chloride Channel Inhibition in the Muscular Phenotypes
- 2022
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In: Cells. - : MDPI. - 2073-4409. ; 11:22
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The underlying mechanisms for statin-induced myopathy (SIM) are still equivocal. In this study, we employ Drosophila melanogaster to dissect possible underlying mechanisms for SIM. We observe that chronic fluvastatin treatment causes reduced general locomotion activity and climbing ability. In addition, transmission microscopy of dissected skeletal muscles of fluvastatin-treated flies reveals strong myofibrillar damage, including increased sarcomere lengths and Z-line streaming, which are reminiscent of myopathy, along with fragmented mitochondria of larger sizes, most of which are round-like shapes. Furthermore, chronic fluvastatin treatment is associated with impaired lipid metabolism and insulin signalling. Mechanistically, knockdown of the statin-target Hmgcr in the skeletal muscles recapitulates fluvastatin-induced mitochondrial phenotypes and lowered general locomotion activity; however, it was not sufficient to alter sarcomere length or elicit myofibrillar damage compared to controls or fluvastatin treatment. Moreover, we found that fluvastatin treatment was associated with reduced expression of the skeletal muscle chloride channel, C1C-a (Drosophila homolog of CLCN1), while selective knockdown of skeletal muscle C1C-a also recapitulated fluvastatin-induced myofibril damage and increased sarcomere lengths. Surprisingly, exercising fluvastatin-treated flies restored C1C-a expression and normalized sarcomere lengths, suggesting that fluvastatin-induced myofibrillar phenotypes could be linked to lowered C1C-a expression. Taken together, these results may indicate the potential role of C1C-a inhibition in statinassociated muscular phenotypes. This study underlines the importance of Drosophila melanogaster as a powerful model system for elucidating the locomotion and muscular phenotypes, promoting a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying SIM.
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32. |
- Almén, Markus Sällman, et al.
(author)
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Genome wide analysis reveals association of a FTO gene variant with epigenetic changes
- 2012
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In: Genomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0888-7543 .- 1089-8646. ; 99:3, s. 132-137
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Variants of the FTO gene show strong association with obesity, but the mechanisms behind this association remain unclear. We determined the genome wide DNA methylation profile in blood from 47 female preadolescents. We identified sites associated with the genes KARS, TERF2IP, DEXI, MSI1,STON1 and BCAS3 that had a significant differential methylation level in the carriers of the FTO risk allele (rs9939609). In addition, we identified 20 differentially methylated sites associated with obesity. Our findings suggest that the effect of the FTO obesity risk allele may be mediated through epigenetic changes. Further, these sites might prove to be valuable biomarkers for the understanding of obesity and its comorbidites.
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33. |
- Almén, Markus Sällman, et al.
(author)
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Genome-wide analysis reveals DNA methylation markers that vary with both age and obesity
- 2014
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In: Gene. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1119 .- 1879-0038. ; 548:1, s. 61-67
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The combination of the obesity epidemic and an aging population presents growing challenges for the healthcare system. Obesity and aging are major risk factors for a diverse number of diseases and it is of importance to understand their interaction and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Herein the authors examined the methylation levels of 27578 CpG sites in 46 samples from adult peripheral blood. The effect of obesity and aging was ascertained with general linear models. More than one hundred probes were correlated to aging, nine of which belonged to the KEGG group map04080. Additionally, 10 CpG sites had diverse methylation profiles in obese and lean individuals, one of which was the telomerase catalytic subunit (TERT). In eight of ten cases the methylation change was reverted between obese and lean individuals. One region proved to be differentially methylated with obesity (LINC00304) independent of age. This study provides evidence that obesity influences age driven epigenetic changes, which provides a molecular link between aging and obesity. This link and the identified markers may prove to be valuable biomarkers for the understanding of the molecular basis of aging, obesity and associated diseases.
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34. |
- Almén, Markus Sällman, et al.
(author)
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Mapping the human membrane proteome : a majority of the human membrane proteins can be classified according to function and evolutionary origin
- 2009
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In: BMC Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1741-7007. ; 7, s. 50-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Membrane proteins form key nodes in mediating the cell's interaction with the surroundings, which is one of the main reasons why the majority of drug targets are membrane proteins. RESULTS: Here we mined the human proteome and identified the membrane proteome subset using three prediction tools for alpha-helices: Phobius, TMHMM, and SOSUI. This dataset was reduced to a non-redundant set by aligning it to the human genome and then clustered with our own interactive implementation of the ISODATA algorithm. The genes were classified and each protein group was manually curated, virtually evaluating each sequence of the clusters, applying systematic comparisons with a range of databases and other resources. We identified 6,718 human membrane proteins and classified the majority of them into 234 families of which 151 belong to the three major functional groups: receptors (63 groups, 1,352 members), transporters (89 groups, 817 members) or enzymes (7 groups, 533 members). Also, 74 miscellaneous groups with 697 members were determined. Interestingly, we find that 41% of the membrane proteins are singlets with no apparent affiliation or identity to any human protein family. Our results identify major differences between the human membrane proteome and the ones in unicellular organisms and we also show a strong bias towards certain membrane topologies for different functional classes: 77% of all transporters have more than six helices while 60% of proteins with an enzymatic function and 88% receptors, that are not GPCRs, have only one single membrane spanning alpha-helix. Further, we have identified and characterized new gene families and novel members of existing families. CONCLUSION: Here we present the most detailed roadmap of gene numbers and families to our knowledge, which is an important step towards an overall classification of the entire human proteome. We estimate that 27% of the total human proteome are alpha-helical transmembrane proteins and provide an extended classification together with in-depth investigations of the membrane proteome's functional, structural, and evolutionary features.
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35. |
- Almén, Markus Sällman, et al.
(author)
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The obesity gene, TMEM18, is of ancient origin, found in majority of neuronal cells in all major brain regions and associated with obesity in severely obese children
- 2010
-
In: BMC Medical Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2350. ; 11, s. 58-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: TMEM18 is a hypothalamic gene that has recently been linked to obesity and BMI in genome wide association studies. However, the functional properties of TMEM18 are obscure. METHODS: The evolutionary history of TMEM18 was inferred using phylogenetic and bioinformatic methods. The gene's expression profile was investigated with real-time PCR in a panel of rat and mouse tissues and with immunohistochemistry in the mouse brain. Also, gene expression changes were analyzed in three feeding-related mouse models: food deprivation, reward and diet-induced increase in body weight. Finally, we genotyped 502 severely obese and 527 healthy Swedish children for two SNPs near TMEM18 (rs6548238 and rs756131). RESULTS: TMEM18 was found to be remarkably conserved and present in species that diverged from the human lineage over 1500 million years ago. The TMEM18 gene was widely expressed and detected in the majority of cells in all major brain regions, but was more abundant in neurons than other cell types. We found no significant changes in the hypothalamic and brainstem expression in the feeding-related mouse models. There was a strong association for two SNPs (rs6548238 and rs756131) of the TMEM18 locus with an increased risk for obesity (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: We conclude that TMEM18 is involved in both adult and childhood obesity. It is one of the most conserved human obesity genes and it is found in the majority of all brain sites, including the hypothalamus and the brain stem, but it is not regulated in these regions in classical energy homeostatic models.
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37. |
- Almqvist, Nils, et al.
(author)
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AFM and STM characterization of surfaces exposed to high flux deuterium plasma
- 1995
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In: Journal of Nuclear Materials. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-3115 .- 1873-4820. ; 220-222:1-3, s. 917-921
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reports the results of scanning tunneling (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies of D+ irradiated graphite and graphite-silicon mixtures. The microscopes were used for studying surface topography and for measuring the surface roughness. The substrates were exposed at various temperatures (60 and 700°C) to different doses of deuterium ions in simulators of plasma - surface interactions and in the TEXTOR tokamak. Also nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy were applied for the qualitative and quantitative determination of surface composition. The initial stages of radiation damage, nanometer-sized bubbles/blisters, were found in plasma-eroded surfaces. These structures only appeared in the graphite phase on the multicomponent material. The microroughness of the surfaces was measured. We also used the AFM for probing the thickness of the plasma-modified layers. The results correlate with the presence of deuterium measured by NRA depth-profiling. Moreover, the AFM reveals the co-deposited layers formed on surfaces facing the tokamak plasma. The appearance of these layers is clearly correlated to the amount of co-deposited atoms.
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38. |
- Almqvist, Nils, et al.
(author)
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Scanning probe microscopy and thermo-mechanical characterization of silicon carbide composites
- 1995
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In: Fourth Euro-Ceramics. - : Gruppo Ed. Faenza Ed.. - 8881380072 ; , s. 361-368
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- series of SiC-based composites was obtained by sintering. Since such materials are considered for fusion applications, their thermal shock resistance and behaviour under deuterium irradiation are of primary interest. Extensive bulk and surface characterisation of pure and doped (AlN, TiB2, graphite) silicon carbides treated by a deuterium plasma was carried out. The change in surface structure following irradiation is addressed, and major factors influencing deuterium retention are discussed.
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40. |
- Alsiö, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Exposure to a high-fat high-sugar diet causes strong up-regulation of proopiomelanocortin and differentially affects dopamine D1 and D2 receptor gene expression in the brainstem of rats
- 2014
-
In: Neuroscience Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3940 .- 1872-7972. ; 559, s. 18-23
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A strong link between obesity and dopamine (DA) has been established by studies associating body weight status to variants of genes related to DA signalling. Human and animal studies investigating this relationship have so far focused mainly on the role of DA within the mesolimbic pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate potential DA receptor dysregulation in the brainstem, where these receptors play a potential role in meal termination, during high-fat high-sugar diet (HFHS) exposure. Expression of other key genes, including proopiomelanocortin (POMC), was also analyzed. We randomized rats into three groups; ad libitum access to HFHS (n=24), restricted HFHS access (n=10), or controls (chow-fed, n=10). After 5 weeks, brainstem gene expression was investigated by qRT-PCR. We observed an increase in POMC expression in ad libitum HFHS-fed rats compared to chow-fed controls (p<0.05). Further, expression of DA D2 receptor mRNA was down-regulated in the brainstem of the HFHS ad libitum-fed rats (p<0.05), whereas expression of the DA D1 receptor was upregulated (p<0.05) in these animals compared to chow-fed rats. In control experiments, we observed no effect relative to chow-fed controls on DA-receptor or POMC gene expression in the hypothalamus of HFHS diet-exposed rats, or in the brainstem of acutely food deprived rats. The present findings suggest brainstem POMC to be responsive to palatable foods, and that DA dysregulation after access to energy-dense diets occurs not only in striatal regions, but also in the brainstem, which could be relevant for overeating and for the development and maintenance of obesity.
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41. |
- Alsiö, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Inverse association of high-fat diet preference and anxiety-like behavior : a putative role for urocortin 2
- 2009
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In: Genes, Brain and Behavior. - 1601-1848 .- 1601-183X. ; 8:2, s. 193-202
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate whether the preference for a palatable high-fat diet (HFD) is associated with response to novelty and with anxiety-like behavior in rats and whether such fat preference correlates with gene expression of hypothalamic neuropeptides related to feeding. We subjected male rats to two tests of exploration of novel environments: the multivariate concentric square field (MCSF) and the elevated plus maze (EPM). The rats were then exposed to a 5-day test of preference for a palatable HFD versus reference diets. Messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of 21 neuropeptides were investigated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We found a strong positive correlation of HFD preference and open-arm activity in the EPM (% open-arm time, r(s) = 0.629, df = 26, P < 0.001). Thus, HFD preference was inversely associated with anxiety-like behavior. The same association was found for HFD preference and behavior in the MCSF (bridge entries, r(s) = 0.399, df = 23, P = 0.048). In addition, the HFD preference was positively correlated (r(s) = 0.433, df = 25, P = 0.021) with hypothalamic mRNA levels of urocortin 2 (Ucn 2). Moreover, behavior in the EPM was significantly correlated with expression levels of the receptor for Ucn 2, the corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 2, in the hypothalamus (r(s) = 0.382, df = 33, P = 0.022, pituitary (r(s) = 0.494, df = 31, P = 0.004) and amygdala (r(s) = 0.381, df = 30, P = 0.032). We conclude that preference for palatable HFD is inversely associated with anxiety and propose that Ucn 2 signaling may play a role in this association.
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42. |
- Andric, Jelena, 1979, et al.
(author)
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A study of a flexible fiber model and its behavior in DNS of turbulent channel flow
- 2013
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In: Acta Mechanica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-5970 .- 1619-6937. ; 224:10, s. 2359-2374
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The dynamics of individual flexible fibers in a turbulent flow field have been analyzed, varying their initial position, density and length. A particlelevel fiber model has been integrated into a general-purpose, open source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code. The fibers are modeled as chains of cylindrical segments connected by ball and socket joints. The equations of motion of the fibers contain the inertia of the segments, the contributions from hydrodynamic forces and torques, and the connectivity forces at the joints. Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations is used to describe the fluid flow in a plane channel and a one-way coupling is considered between the fibers and the fluid phase. We investigate the translational motion of fibers by considering the mean square displacement of their trajectories. We find that the fiber motion is primarily governed by velocity correlations of the flow fluctuations. In addition, we show that there is a clear tendency of the thread-like fibers to evolve into complex geometrical configurations in a turbulent flow field, in fashion similar to random conformations of polymer strands subjected to thermal fluctuations in a suspension. Finally, we show that fiber inertia has a significant impact on reorientation time-scales of fibers suspended in a turbulent flow field.
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43. |
- Anoushirvani, B., et al.
(author)
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Gamma-ray bursts from primordial quark objects in space
- 1997
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In: Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Networks 'The Fundamental Structure of Matter' and 'Tests of the Electroweak Symmetry Breaking', Ouranoupolis, Greece, May 1997.
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigate the possibility that gamma-ray bursts originate in a concentric spherical shell with a given average redshift and find that this is indeed compatible with the data from the third BATSE (3B) catalog. It is also shown that there is enough freedom in the choice of unknown burst properties to allow even for extremely large distances to the majority of bursts. Therefore, we speculate about an early, and very energetic, origin of bursts, and suggest that they come from phase transitions in massive objects of pure quark matter, left over from the Big Bang.
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44. |
- Anselmino, Mauro, et al.
(author)
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Diquarks
- 1993
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In: Reviews of Modern Physics. - 0034-6861 .- 1539-0756. ; 65:4, s. 1199-1233
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is becoming increasingly clear that the concept of a diquark (a two-quark system) is important for understanding hadron structure and high-energy particle reactions. According to our present knowledge of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), diquark correlations arise in part from spin-dependent interactions between two quarks, from quark radial or orbital excitations, and from quark mass differences. Diquark substructures affect the static properties of baryons and the mechanisms of baryon decay. Diquarks also play a role in hadron production in hadron-initiated reactions, deep-inelastic lepton scattering by hadrons, and in e+e- reactions. Diquarks are important in the formation and properties of baryonium and mesonlike semistable states. Many spin effects observed in high-energy exclusive reactions pose severe problems for the pure quark picture of baryons and might be explained by the introduction of diquarks as hadronic constituents. There is considerable controversy, not about the existence of diquarks in hadrons, but about their properties and their effects. In this work a broad selection of the main ideas about diquarks is reviewed.
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45. |
- Antonsson, Tomas, et al.
(author)
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Liquid Ni-Fe penetration and recrystallisation in tungsten
- 2003
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In: International journal of refractory metals & hard materials. - 0263-4368. ; 21:3-4, s. 159-170
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Melt penetration in grain boundaries of solid tungsten has been investigated. Solid tungsten rods have been exposed to a nickel-iron melt saturated with tungsten and the penetration depth and the shape of the liquid channels have been examined. The solid tungsten samples have been treated in different ways like cold working, annealing and recrystallisation, before melt exposure. Important parameters for the penetration process are stresses, surface tensions, solution and kinetic effects. A new theoretical model for the penetration mechanism in cold worked samples is proposed. Rapid recovery of the grains in the penetrated areas of the cold worked samples was observed. This is discussed, as well.
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46. |
- Archer, T., et al.
(author)
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Exercise alleviates Parkinsonism : clinical and laboratory evidence
- 2011
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In: Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. - : Hindawi Limited. - 0001-6314 .- 1600-0404. ; 123:2, s. 73-84
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present review examines the putative benefits for individuals afflicted with Parkinsonism, whether in the clinical setting or in the animal laboratory, accruing from different exercise regimes. The tendency for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) to express either normal or reduced exercise capacity appears regulated by factors such as fatigue, quality-of-life and disorder severity. The associations between physical exercise and risk for PD, the effects of exercise on idiopathic Parkinsonism and quality-of-life, the effects of exercise on animal laboratory models of Parkinsonism and dopamine (DA) loss following neurotoxic insults, and the effects of exercise on the DA precursor, L-Dopa, efficacy are examined. It would appear to be case that in view of the particular responsiveness of the dopaminergic neurons to exercise, the principle of 'use it or lose' may be of special applicability among PD patients.
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47. |
- Benedict, Christian, et al.
(author)
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The fat mass and obesity gene is linked to reduced verbal fluency in overweight and obese elderly men
- 2011
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In: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0197-4580 .- 1558-1497. ; 32:6, s. 1159.e1-1159.e5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Humans carrying the prevalent rs9939609 A allele of the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene are more susceptible to developing obesity than noncarries. Recently, polymorphisms in the FTO gene of elderly subjects have also been linked to a reduced volume in the frontal lobe as well as increased risk for incident Alzheimer disease. However, so far there is no evidence directly linking the FTO gene to functional cognitive processes. Here we examined whether the FTO rs9939609 A allele is associated with verbal fluency performance in 355 elderly men at the age of 82 years who have no clinically apparent cognitive impairment. Retrieval of verbal memory is a good surrogate measure reflecting frontal lobe functioning. Here we found that obese and overweight but not normal weight FTO A allele carriers showed a lower performance on verbal fluency than non-carriers (homozygous for rs9939609 T allele). This effect was not observed for a measure of general cognitive performance (i.e., Mini-Mental State Examination score), thereby indicating that the FTO gene primarily affects frontal lobe-dependent cognitive processes in elderly men.
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48. |
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49. |
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50. |
- Bjarnadóttir, Thóra K., et al.
(author)
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Comprehensive repertoire and phylogenetic analysis of the G-protein-coupled receptors in human and mouse
- 2006
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In: Genomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0888-7543 .- 1089-8646. ; 88:3, s. 263-273
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding differences in the repertoire of orthologous gene pairs is vital for interpretation of pharmacological and physiological experiments if conclusions are conveyed between species. Here we present a comprehensive dataset for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in both human and mouse with a phylogenetic road map. We performed systematic searches applying several search tools such as BLAST, BLAT, and Hidden Markov models and searches in literature data. We aimed to gather a full-length version of each human or mouse GPCR in only one copy referring to a single chromosomal position. Moreover, we performed detailed phylogenetic analysis of the transmembrane regions of the receptors to establish accurate orthologous pairs. The results show the identity of 495 mouse and 400 human functional nonolfactory GPCRs. Overall, 329 of the receptors are found in one-to-one orthologous pairs, while 119 mouse and 31 human receptors originate from species-specific expansions or deletions. The average percentage similarity of the orthologue pairs is 85%, while it varies between the main GRAFS families from an average of 59 to 94%. The orthologous pairs for the lipid-binding GPCRs had the lowest levels of conservation, while the biogenic amines had highest levels of conservation. Moreover, we searched for expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and identified more than 17,000 ESTs matching GPCRs in mouse and human, providing information about their expression patterns. On the whole, this is the most comprehensive study of the gene repertoire that codes for human and mouse GPCRs. The datasets are available for downloading.
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