Identification of a Family of Vibrio Type III Secretion System Effectors That Contain a Conserved Serine/Threonine Kinase Domain.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a marine Gram-negative bacterium that is a leading cause of seafood-borne gastroenteritis. Pandemic strains of V. parahaemolyticus rely on a specialized protein secretion machinery known as the type III secretion system 2 (T3SS2) to cause disease. The T3SS2 mediates the delivery of effector proteins into the cytosol of infected cells, where they subvert multiple cellular pathways. Here, we identify a new T3SS2 effector protein encoded by VPA1328 (VP_RS21530) in V. parahaemolyticus RIMD2210633. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that VPA1328 is part of a larger family of uncharacterized T3SS effector proteins with homology to the VopG effector protein in Vibrio cholerae AM-19226. These VopG-like proteins are found in many but not all T3SS2 gene clusters and are distributed among diverse Vibrio species, including V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, V. mimicus, and V. diabolicus and also in Shewanella baltica. Structure-based prediction analyses uncovered the presence of a conserved C-terminal kinase domain in VopG orthologs, similar to the serine/threonine kinase domain found in the NleH family of T3SS effector proteins. However, in contrast to NleH effector proteins, in tissue culture-based infections, VopG did not impede host cell death or suppress interleukin 8 (IL-8) secretion, suggesting a yet undefined role for VopG during V. parahaemolyticus infection. Collectively, our work reveals that VopG effector proteins, a new family of likely serine/threonine kinases, is widely distributed in the T3SS2 effector armamentarium among marine bacteria. IMPORTANCE Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading bacterial cause of seafood-borne gastroenteritis worldwide. The pathogen relies on a type III secretion system to deliver a variety of effector proteins into the cytosol of infected cells to subvert cellular function. In this study, we identified a novel Vibrio parahaemolyticus effector protein that is similar to the VopG effector of Vibrio cholerae. VopG-like effectors were found in diverse Vibrio species and contain a conserved serine/threonine kinase domain that bears similarity to the kinase domain in the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Shigella NleH effectors that manipulate host cell survival pathways and host immune responses. Together our findings identify a new family of Vibrio effector proteins and highlight the role of horizontal gene transfer events among marine bacteria in shaping T3SS gene clusters.

Puntuaciones normativas en la evaluación Cognitiva de Cambridge Revisada (CAMCOG-R) en una muestra clínica española mayor de 60 años de edad en población civil y militar / Normative scores of the Cambridge Cognitive Assesment - Revised (CAMCOG-R) in an older than 60 year-old clinical sample from spanish population

INTRODUCCIÓN: El envejecimiento de la población española conlleva un aumento de procesos neurodegenerativos en la población adulta, esto hace necesario el desarrollo y adaptación de pruebas estandarizadas de exploración neuropsicológica. Realizamos este estudio con el objetivo de establecer baremos, basados en criterios Neuronorma, de la Prueba de Exploración Cambridge Revisada (CAMCOG-R), en una muestra clínica española mayor de 60 años. Material y MÉTODOS: Aplicamos la CAMCOG-R a una muestra incidental de126 pacientes, 62 varones y 64 mujeres, procedentes del Hospital Central de la Defensa, con una edad media de 76,21 años (Sx 6,74). Se realizan distintos análisis en función de la edad, puntuación inferior a 24 obtenida en el Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) y del nivel de estudios. Es este último, se realiza la comparación sobre una parte de la muestra compuesta por los 91 pacientes sobre los que constaba el nivel educativo. RESULTADOS: Se presentan los percentiles del grupo que ha obtenido una puntuación inferior a 24 puntos en el MMSE. Todas las comparaciones realizadas en función del punto de corte en el MMSE, son significativas con un gran tamaño del efecto. Por edad encontramos diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el subtest de Percepción. Por sexos, encontramos diferencias significativas a favor de los varones en casi todas las variables del CAMCOG-R excepto en tres. El grupo sin estudios muestra diferencias significativas frente a los otros tres grupos, mientras estos tres no difieren significativamente entre ellos. CONCLUSIONES: Los resultados presentados son congruentes con los obtenidos en estudios similares realizados en población española no clínica. La obtención de datos normativos en una muestra de clínica española debe estimular el desarrollo y adaptación de pruebas estandarizadas de exploración neurocognitiva

INTRODUCTION: Aging in Spanish population leads to an increase in neurodegenerative diseases in adults and recommends the development and adaptation of standardized neuropsychological testing. The objective of the study is to stablish clinical scores based on the Neuronorma criteria of the Cambridge Cognitive Assessment-Revised (CAMCOG-R) in older than 60 year-old Spanish population. METHOD: CAMCOG-R is applied to 126 patients (62 males and 64 females) from Hospital Central de la Defensa. Average age of 76,2 y (Sx 6,74). Several comparisons and analyses are made according to the level of education, age and lower than 24 score obtained from the Spanish version of Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). RESULTS: We show the percentiles of the group that obtained less than 24 points in the MMSE. All the comparisons have statistically significant results with an important effect size. By age, we found statistically significant results in the Perception sub-test. By sex, we found differences in favor of males in all the CAMCOG-R variables except three of them. By level of education, the no-education group (no-studies) shows statistically significance in respect to the other three groups. These latter three don't show any difference among them. DISCUSSION: These results agree with those found in other similar studies performed in no-clinical samples from Spanish population. Obtaining normative data in a clinical sample from Spanish population should encourage the development and adaptation of new standardized neuropsychological testing

Transduction of an immortalized olfactory ensheathing glia cell line with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene: Evaluation of its neuroregenerative capacity as a proof of concept.

Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) cells are known to foster axonal regeneration of central nervous system (CNS) neurons. Several lines of reversibly immortalized human OEG (ihOEG) have been previously established that enabled to develop models for their validation in vitro and in vivo. In this work, a constitutively GFP-expressing ihOEG cell line was obtained, and named Ts14-GFP. Ts14-GFP neuroregenerative ability was similar to that found for the parental line Ts14 and it can be assayed using in vivo transplantation experimental paradigms, after spinal cord or optic nerve damage. Additionally, we have engineered a low-regenerative ihOEG line, hTL2, using lentiviral transduction of the large T antigen from SV40 virus, denominated from now on Ts12. Ts12 can be used as a low regeneration control in these experiments.

[Serotonin syndrome: report of a fatal case and review of the literature]. / Síndrome serotoninérgico: presentación de un caso de evolución letal y revisión de la literatura.

We report here the case of a patient with fluoxetine and selegiline induced serotonin syndrome, which presented as encephalopathy, generalized myoclonias, fever, stiffness and sweating, complicated with acute renal failure, rhabdomyolysis and disseminated intravascular coagulation findings. The patient died 6 days after admission. This syndrome is discussed, with an analysis of its causes, pathophysiology and therapy. A special emphasis is placed on the clinical issues and differential diagnosis with the malignant neuroleptic syndrome and other clinical entities with which it could be mistaken. General recommendations are provided to avoid this poorly characterized syndrome that, as in our patient, may have a fatal outcome.

Síndrome serotoninérgico: presentación de un caso de evolución letal y revisión de la literatura / Serotonin syndrome: report of a fatal case and review of the literature

Presentamos un paciente afectado por un síndrome serotoninérgico inducido por fluoxetina y selegilina que se manifestó con encefalopatía, mioclonías generalizadas, fiebre, rigidez y sudación, se complicó con insuficiencia renal aguda, rabdomiolisis y datos de coagulación intravascular diseminada, falleciendo a los 6 días del ingreso. Discutimos sobre este síndrome analizando sus causas, fisiopatología y su tratamiento. Hacemos un especial hincapié en los aspectos clínicos y en el diagnóstico diferencial con el síndrome neuroléptico maligno y otras entidades con las que puede confundirse y damos recomendaciones generales para evitar la aparición de este síndrome, poco conocido, que como en nuestro paciente puede ser mortal (AU)

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Production and manipulation of elevated temperatures in pig abdomen with a three-electrode capacitive heating device.

The ability of a three-electrode capacitive heating device operating at 13.56 MHz to produce and effect spatial redistribution of hyperthermic temperatures is demonstrated through abdominal heating studies conducted with 80 kg female and 65 kg male pigs. Temperature-time profiles over the respective heating periods were obtained in anterior and posterior superficial tissue and in selected abdominal organs. At selected times during heating, spatial redistribution of elevated temperatures was effected through adjustment of power settings for one or more of the three electrodes, i.e. through manipulation of the specific absorption rate (SAR) in-vivo.

Priapism: evaluation and treatment.

The authors analyze 35 cases of priapism treated in the University Hospital of Caracas and conclude that this condition is a surgical emergency because the long-term results in regard to the preservation of the erectile function seem to be directly related to early drainage of the corpora cavernosa. We prefer shunting operations, particularly the glans-cavernous techniques, because of their technical simplicity.