17q21 variants modify the association between early respiratory infections and asthma.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at chromosome 17q21 confer an increased risk of early-onset asthma. The objective was to study whether 17q21 SNPs modify associations between early respiratory infections and asthma. Association analysis was conducted in 499 children (268 with asthma, median age 11 yrs) from the Epidemiological Study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA). The 12-yr follow-up data were used to assess persistent or remittent asthma in young adulthood. Respiratory infection before 2 yrs of age was assessed retrospectively. For the 12 17q21 SNPs studied, the odds ratios (OR) for association between infection and early-onset asthma (age at onset

[Coronary stents and anaesthesia: it is time to have national data]. / Stents coronariens et anesthésie: il est temps d'avoir des données nationales.

We report 13 cases of coronary stent patients, undergoing a non cardiac surgery. Despite an heterogenous perioperative management of antiplatelet agents, none of these patients developed any significant complications. Recently, several case reports of postoperative drug eluting stent thrombosis have been reported. However, the actual incidence of this dramatic event is not known. This confirms the need to perform prospective studies or registries of patients with coronary stents undergoing non cardiac surgery, in order to propose evidence-based recommendations on perioperative antiplatelet management in such patients.

Gelatinase isoforms in urine from bladder cancer patients.

Matrix metalloproteinases are involved in tumor invasion and metastasis in many types of human carcinomas, in leukocyte infiltration and inflammatory reactions. Three metalloproteinases with gelatinolytic activity were isolated from the urine of patients with untreated high grade bladder cancer or with functioning renal grafts (control). Urinary proteins were fractionated after concentration by continuous-elution SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Collected fractions were analyzed by gelatin zymography and Western blotting. The one-step purification process isolated the gelatinase species from crude urine samples: (1) a 72 kDa progelatinase A (MMP-2) and its actived 68 kDa form; (2) a 92 kDa progelatinase B (MMP-9); (3) a higher molecular weight (HMW) complex (115 kDa) which was identified as progelatinase B associated with lipocalin, NGAL. A similar marker profile was observed in bladder cancer tissues. The current study demonstrated the efficiency of continuous elution electrophoresis. It offered two main advantages: (1) the separation of latent from active gelatinase isoforms with no interference from the TIMPs and (2) the identification and isolation in a single step of large amounts of urine gelatinase species with both high recovery and significant specific activities. Continuous-elution electrophoresis can be used for correlation with clinical events of bladder cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

Epithelium-mesenchyme transition during neural crest development.

The neural crest is the organ system whose presence defines vertebrates. The onset of migration of neural crest cells is an archetypal epithelium to mesenchyme transition (EMT), and this event identifies the cell lineage. Little is known yet of the establishment of the neural crest, although the zinc finger gene Slug seems to be involved in specifying EMT competence. The details, especially the temporal order of events in neural crest EMT, vary between different species and between different axial levels, but several important features have emerged from observations in situ and experiments in vitro and in vivo. EMT seems to be strongly associated with decrease in cell-cell adhesion, and particularly with loss of N-cadherin on the surface of neural crest cells at the time of onset of migration. The related adhesion molecule T-cadherin is also present, but correlated changes have not yet been described, while the unrelated adhesion molecule N-CAM also declines on neural crest cells, but with a time course unrelated to EMT. The extracellular matrix is also important: EMT-related changes in matrix receptor (i.e. integrin) activity are recorded in avian crest cells, while the nature of the matrix itself changes in urodele amphibians. Changes in cell shape and in cell motility also occur at the time of EMT, consistent with changes in the cytoskeleton. These concerted changes can be triggered by TGF-beta family growth factors, of which dorsalin-I appears particularly important. These may act through pathways involving controlled alterations in phosphorylation to effect the complex of responses that make up EMT. Although much remains to be understood, the spatiotemporal definability of this system makes it a very useful model for studying EMTs in general.