Potential Role of Antibodies against Aquaporin-1 in Patients with Central Nervous System Demyelination.

Aquaporins (AQPs; AQP0-AQP12) are water channels expressed in many and diverse cell types, participating in various functions of cells, tissues, and systems, including the central nervous system (CNS). AQP dysfunction and autoimmunity to AQPs are implicated in several diseases. The best-known example of autoimmunity against AQPs concerns the antibodies to AQP4 which are involved in the pathogenesis of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), an autoimmune astrocytopathy, causing also CNS demyelination. The present review focuses on the discovery and the potential role of antibodies against AQP1 in the CNS, and their potential involvement in the pathophysiology of NMOSD. We describe (a) the several techniques developed for the detection of the AQP1-antibodies, with emphasis on methods that specifically identify antibodies targeting the extracellular domain of AQP1, i.e., those of potential pathogenic role, and (b) the available evidence supporting the pathogenic relevance of AQP1-antibodies in the NMOSD phenotype.

Insight Into Solventless Production of Hydrophobically Modified Ethoxylated Urethanes (HEURs): The Role of Moisture Concentration, Reaction Temperature, and Mixing Efficiency.

In this work, we report for the first time on the influence of the quality of reactants and reaction conditions on the production of hydrophobically modified ethoxylated urethanes (HEURs) and selected prepolymers without the use of solvents. We show that the polyol water concentration is detrimental to the progress of the main urethane forming reaction, confirming the necessity of carefully drying the reactants below 1000 ppm to suppress the consumption of diisocyanate toward urea during HEUR synthesis. Increasing the mixing speed (≈30 to 750 rpm), reaction temperature (80-110 °C), and catalyst concentration (0.035-2.1 wt % bismuth carboxylate) can significantly increase the rate of molecular weight buildup, but their effect decreases with time as the bulk viscosity increases and mixing limitations eventually take over, leading to the Weissenberg effect and chain growth termination. Consequently, for the selected formulation, the maximum product molecular weight attained lies in the range of ≈20 000-22 000 g/mol, irrespective of the specific process conditions applied.