Coronary Artery Dilation in Children with Febrile Exanthematous Illness without Criteria for Kawasaki Disease / Dilatação das Artérias Coronárias em Crianças com Doença Exantemática Febril sem Critérios para a Doença de Kawasaki

Abstract Background: Coronary dilatation is the most important complication of Kawasaki disease (KD) and, in addition to some clinical characteristics, is common to KD and febrile exanthematous illnesses (FEIs). Objective: To assess whether children with FEI, who do not meet the criteria for KD, have changes in coronary arteries dimensions. Methods: Echocardiography was performed within the first two weeks of the disease in patients < 10 years with fever and exanthema without other KD criteria. To make a comparison with KD patients, we reviewed the echocardiograms and medical records of patients with a diagnosis of KD of the last five years. Coronary ectasia was assessed using Z scores of coronary arteries. The means of the dimensions of the coronary arteries were compared with a z test and a level of significance of 0.05 was adopted. Results: A total of 34 patients were included, 22 (64.7%) with FEI, and 12(35.2%) with a diagnosis of KD. Using the Z scores of coronary artery, a dilation of any of the coronary artery branches was observed in six (27.2%) patients with FEI. Conclusions: An important percentage of patients with FEI has coronary artery dilation.

Resumo Fundamento: A dilatação das artérias coronárias é a principal complicação da Doença de Kawasaki (DK) e, além de algumas características clínicas, é comum à DK e a doenças exantemáticas febris (DEFs). Objetivo: Avaliar se crianças com DEF e que não têm critério para DK apresentam alterações nas dimensões das artérias coronárias. Métodos: Foi realizada ecocardiografia nas primeiras duas semanas da doença em crianças com idade inferior a 10 anos, que apresentaram febre e exantema e nenhum outro critério de DK. Para comparar com pacientes com DK, fizemos a revisão de ecocardiogramas e prontuários médicos de pacientes com diagnóstico de DK dos últimos cinco anos. Ectasia coronária foi avaliada usando escore Z das artérias coronárias. As médias das dimensões das artérias coronárias foram comparadas pelo teste z, e um nível de significância de 0,05 foi adotado. Resultados: Foram incluídos no estudo 34 pacientes, 22 (64,7%) com diagnóstico de DEF e 12 (35,2%) com diagnóstico de DK. Usando o escore Z das artérias coronárias, observou-se dilatação em algum dos ramos da artéria coronária em seis (27,2%) pacientes com DEF. Conclusão: Uma porcentagem importante dos pacientes com DEFs apresenta dilatação das artérias coronárias.

Coronary Artery Dilation in Children with Febrile Exanthematous Illness without Criteria for Kawasaki Disease.

BACKGROUND: Coronary dilatation is the most important complication of Kawasaki disease (KD) and, in addition to some clinical characteristics, is common to KD and febrile exanthematous illnesses (FEIs). OBJECTIVE: To assess whether children with FEI, who do not meet the criteria for KD, have changes in coronary arteries dimensions. METHODS: Echocardiography was performed within the first two weeks of the disease in patients < 10 years with fever and exanthema without other KD criteria. To make a comparison with KD patients, we reviewed the echocardiograms and medical records of patients with a diagnosis of KD of the last five years. Coronary ectasia was assessed using Z scores of coronary arteries. The means of the dimensions of the coronary arteries were compared with a z test and a level of significance of 0.05 was adopted. RESULTS: A total of 34 patients were included, 22 (64.7%) with FEI, and 12(35.2%) with a diagnosis of KD. Using the Z scores of coronary artery, a dilation of any of the coronary artery branches was observed in six (27.2%) patients with FEI. CONCLUSIONS: An important percentage of patients with FEI has coronary artery dilation.

Circulating Tumor Cell Number as a Response Measure of Prolonged Survival for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: A Comparison With Prostate-Specific Antigen Across Five Randomized Phase III Clinical Trials.

Purpose Measures of response that are clinically meaningful and occur early are an unmet need in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer clinical research and practice. We explored, using individual patient data, week 13 circulating tumor cell (CTC) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response end points in five prospective randomized phase III trials that enrolled a total of 6,081 patients-COU-AA-301, AFFIRM, ELM-PC-5, ELM-PC-4, and COMET-1- ClinicalTrials.Gov identifiers: NCT00638690, NCT00974311, NCT01193257, NCT01193244, and NCT01605227, respectively. Methods Eight response end points were explored. CTC nonzero at baseline and 0 at 13 weeks (CTC0); CTC conversion (≥ 5 CTCs at baseline, ≤ 4 at 13 weeks-the US Food and Drug Administration cleared response measure); a 30%, 50%, and 70% decrease in CTC count; and a 30%, 50%, and 70% decrease in PSA level. Patients missing week-13 values were considered nonresponders. The discriminatory strength of each end point with respect to overall survival in each trial was assessed using the weighted c-index. Results Of the eight response end points, CTC0 and CTC conversion had the highest weighted c-indices, with smaller standard deviations. For CTC0, the mean (standard deviation) was 0.81 (0.04); for CTC conversion, 0.79 (0.03); for 30% decrease in CTC count, 0.72 (0.06); for 50% decrease in CTC count, 0.72 (0.06); for 70% decrease in CTC count, 0.73 (0.05); for 30% decrease in PSA level, 0.71 (0.03); for 50% decrease in PSA level, 0.72 (0.06); and for 70% decrease in PSA level, 0.74 (0.05). Seventy-five percent of eligible patients could be evaluated with the CTC0 end point, compared with 51% with the CTC conversion end point. Conclusion The CTC0 and CTC conversion end points had the highest discriminatory power for overall survival. Both are robust and meaningful response end points for early-phase metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer clinical trials. CTC0 is applicable to a significantly higher percentage of patients than CTC conversion.

Production and purification of recombinant hypocholesterolemic peptides.

Elevated concentrations of cholesterol in plasma are associated with increased risk for heart diseases in humans. Bioactive peptides can be considered as an option to prevent or treat this condition. Currently, there are wide sources of bioactive peptides with hypocholesterolemic activities; however, most researches are focused in bioactive peptides derived from soybean and milk protein. Although there are several preparation methods for these peptides, it is a novel process to prepare bioactive peptides by genetic engineering techniques. In this review, after a general introduction on approaches and advances in bioactive peptides, recombinant strategies to generate hypocholesterolemic peptides and their purification are discussed as well as their application in food and drug design.

Notch1 modulates timing of G1-S progression by inducing SKP2 transcription and p27 Kip1 degradation.

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) and Notch receptor activation have been shown to influence adult stem cells and progenitors by altering stem cell self-renewal and proliferation. Yet, no interaction between these molecular pathways has been defined. Here we show that ligand-independent and ligand-dependent activation of Notch1 induces transcription of the S phase kinase-associated protein 2 (SKP2), the F-box subunit of the ubiquitin-ligase complex SCF(SKP2) that targets proteins for degradation. Up-regulation of SKP2 by Notch signaling enhances proteasome-mediated degradation of the CKIs, p27 Kip1 and p21 Cip1, and causes premature entry into S phase. Silencing of SKP2 by RNA interference in G1 stabilizes p27 Kip1 and p21 Cip1 and abolishes Notch effect on G1-S progression. Thus, SKP2 serves to link Notch1 activation with the cell cycle machinery. This novel pathway involving Notch/SKP2/CKIs connects a cell surface receptor with proximate mediators of cell cycle activity, and suggests a mechanism by which a known physiologic mediator of cell fate determination interfaces with cell cycle control.

Genetic analyses of DNA-binding mutants in the catalytic core domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase.

The catalytic core domain (CCD) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase (IN) harbors the enzyme active site and binds viral and chromosomal DNA during integration. Thirty-five CCD mutant viruses were constructed, paying particular attention to conserved residues in the Phe(139)-Gln(146) flexible loop and abutting Ser(147)-Val(165) amphipathic alpha helix that were implicated from previous in vitro work as important for DNA binding. Defective viruses were typed as class I mutants (specifically blocked at integration) or pleiotropic class II mutants (additional particle assembly and/or reverse transcription defects). Whereas HIV-1(P145A) and HIV-1(Q146K) grew like the wild type, HIV-1(N144K) and HIV-1(Q148L) were class I mutants, reinforcing previous results that Gln-148 is important for DNA binding and uncovering for the first time an important role for Asn-144 in integration. HIV-1(Q62K), HIV-1(H67E), HIV-1(N120K), and HIV-1(N155K) were also class I mutants, supporting findings that Gln-62 and Asn-120 interact with viral and target DNA, respectively, and suggesting similar integration-specific roles for His-67 and Asn-155. Although results from complementation analyses established that IN functions as a multimer, the interplay between active-site and CCD DNA binding functions was unknown. By using Vpr-IN complementation, we determined that the CCD protomer that catalyzes integration also preferentially binds to viral and target DNA. We additionally characterized E138K as an intramolecular suppressor of Gln-62 mutant virus and IN. The results of these analyses highlight conserved CCD residues that are important for HIV-1 replication and integration and define the relationship between DNA binding and catalysis that occurs during integration in vivo.

Flowing cells through pulsed electric fields efficiently purges stem cell preparations of contaminating myeloma cells while preserving stem cell function.

Autologous stem cell transplantation, in the setting of hematologic malignancies such as lymphoma, improves disease-free survival if the graft has undergone tumor purging. Here we show that flowing hematopoietic cells through pulsed electric fields (PEFs) effectively purges myeloma cells without sacrificing functional stem cells. Electric fields can induce irreversible cell membrane pores in direct relation to cell diameter, an effect we exploit in a flowing system appropriate for clinical scale. Multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines admixed with human bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood (PB) cells were passed through PEFs at 1.35 kV/cm to 1.4 kV/cm, resulting in 3- to 4-log tumor cell depletion by flow cytometry and 4.5- to 6-log depletion by tumor regrowth cultures. Samples from patients with MM gave similar results by cytometry. Stem cell engraftment into nonobese diabetic-severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID)/beta2m-/- mice was unperturbed by PEFs. Flowing cells through PEFs is a promising technology for rapid tumor cell purging of clinical progenitor cell preparations.

Class II integrase mutants with changes in putative nuclear localization signals are primarily blocked at a postnuclear entry step of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 replication.

Integrase has been implicated in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nuclear import. Integrase analyses, however, can be complicated by the pleiotropic nature of mutations: whereas class I mutants are integration defective, class II mutants display additional assembly and/or reverse transcription defects. We previously determined that HIV-1(V165A), originally reported as defective for nuclear import, was a class II mutant. Here we analyzed mutants containing changes in other putative nuclear localization signals, including (186)KRK(188)/(211)KELQKQITK(219) and Cys-130. Previous work established HIV-1(K186Q), HIV-1(Q214L/Q216L), and HIV-1(C130G) as replication defective, but phenotypic classification was unclear and nuclear import in nondividing cells was not addressed. Consistent with previous reports, most of the bipartite mutants studied here were replication defective. These mutants as well as HIV-1(V165A) synthesized reduced cDNA levels, but a normal fraction of mutant cDNA localized to dividing and nondividing cell nuclei. Somewhat surprisingly, recombinant class II mutant proteins were catalytically active, and class II Vpr-integrase fusion proteins efficiently complemented class I mutant virus. Since a class I Vpr-integrase mutant efficiently complemented class II mutant viruses under conditions in which class II Vpr-integrases failed to function, we conclude that classes I and II define two distinct complementation groups and suggest that class II mutants are primarily defective at a postnuclear entry step of HIV-1 replication. HIV-1(C130G) was also defective for reverse transcription, but Vpr-integrase(C130G) did not efficiently complement class I mutant HIV-1. Since HIV-1(C130A) grew like the wild type, we conclude that Cys-130 is not essential for replication and speculate that perturbation of integrase structure contributed to the pleiotropic HIV-1(C130G) phenotype.

A dynamic equilibrium between CDKs and PP2A modulates phosphorylation of pRB, p107 and p130.

It is thought that G(1) cyclin/CDK mediated phosphorylation of pocket proteins from mid G(1) to mitosis is reversed via dephosphorylation in mitosis. We examined the mechanisms involved in the unexpectedly rapid dephosphorylation of the pocket proteins induced via inhibition of cellular protein synthesis by cycloheximide (CHX) as well as direct inhibition of CDKs by flavopiridol. CHX and flavopiridol-induced dephosphorylation of pocket proteins is attributable to inactivation of D-type cyclin/CDKs and G(1)/S CDKs, respectively, which unmasks a phosphatase activity that targets the three pocket proteins apparently throughout the cell cycle. Treatment of cells with phosphatase inhibitors at concentrations selective for PP2A inhibition prevents CHX and flavopiridol-mediated dephosphorylation of pocket proteins in vivo. Also, ectopic expression of SV40 small t antigen, which inhibits PP2A via disruption of trimeric PP2A holoenzymes, delays CHX-induced pocket protein dephosphorylation. Moreover, dephosphorylation of p130 and p107 in cell extracts is inhibited by concentrations of okadaic acid known to inhibit PP2A, but not PP1. Finally, the PP2A catalytic subunit (PP2A/C) specifically interacts with both p130 and p107 in quiescent cells as well as cells progressing throughout the cell cycle. Together, these results demonstrate that the overall phosphorylation state of pocket proteins is determined, at least in part, by a dynamic equilibrium between CDKs and PP2A, or a closely related PP2A-like enzyme. These findings have important implications, as cell cycle or checkpoint-dependent inhibition of CDK activities counteracted by an active PP2A should have imminent effects on the phosphorylation state and activities of pocket proteins.

Wild-type levels of nuclear localization and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 replication in the absence of the central DNA flap.

Numerous factors have been implicated in the nuclear localization of retroviral preintegration complexes. Whereas sequences in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) matrix, Vpr, and integrase proteins were initially reported to function specifically in nondividing cells, other recently identified sequences apparently function in dividing cells as well. One of these, the central DNA flap formed during reverse transcription, is specific to lentiviruses. It was previously reported that flap-negative (F(-)) HIV-1(LAI) was completely defective for viral spread in the MT-4 T-cell line, yet F(-) HIV-1 vectors were only 2- to 10-fold defective in various single-round transduction assays. To address these different findings, we analyzed the infectivity and nuclear localization phenotypes of two highly related T-cell-tropic strains, HIV-1(NL4-3) and a derivative of HIV-1(HXBc2) deficient for both Vpr and Nef. In stark contrast to the previous report, F(-) derivatives of both strains replicated efficiently in MT-4 cells. F(-) HIV-1(NL4-3) also spread like wild-type HIV-1(NL4-3) in infected Jurkat and primary T-cell cultures. In contrast, F(-) HIV-1(HXBc2) was replication defective in primary T cells. Results of real-time quantitative PCR assays, however, indicated that F(-) HIV-1(HXBc2) entered primary T-cell nuclei as efficiently as its wild-type counterpart. Thus, the F(-) HIV-1(HXBc2) growth defect did not appear to correlate with defective nuclear import. Consistent with this observation, wild-type nef restored replication to F(-) HIV-1(HXBc2) in primary T cells. Our results indicate that the central DNA flap does not play a major role in either preintegration complex nuclear import or HIV-1 replication in a variety of cell types.

Nuclear localization of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 preintegration complexes (PICs): V165A and R166A are pleiotropic integrase mutants primarily defective for integration, not PIC nuclear import.

Retroviral replication requires the integration of reverse-transcribed viral cDNA into a cell chromosome. A key barrier to forming the integrated provirus is the nuclear envelope, and numerous regions in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) have been shown to aid the nuclear localization of viral preintegration complexes (PICs) in infected cells. One region in integrase (IN), composed of Val-165 and Arg-166, was reportedly essential for HIV-1 replication and nuclear localization in all cell types. In this study we confirmed that HIV-1(V165A) and HIV-1(R166A) were replication defective and that less mutant viral cDNA localized to infected cell nuclei. However, we present three lines of evidence that argue against a specific role for Val-165 and Arg-166 in PIC nuclear import. First, results of transient transfections revealed that V165A FLAG-tagged IN and green fluorescent protein-IN fusions carrying either V165A or R166A predominantly localized to cell nuclei. Second, two different strains of previously described class II IN mutant viruses displayed similar nuclear entry profiles to those observed for HIV-1(V165A) and HIV-1(R166A), suggesting that defective nuclear import may be a common phenotype of replication-defective IN mutant viruses. Third, V165A and R166A mutants were defective for in vitro integration activity, when assayed both as PICs isolated from infected T-cells and as recombinant IN proteins purified from Escherichia coli. Based on these results, we conclude that HIV-1(V165A) and HIV-1(R166A) are pleiotropic mutants primarily defective for IN catalysis and that Val-165 and Arg-166 do not play a specific role in the nuclear localization of HIV-1 PICs in infected cells.

The aldA gene of Escherichia coli is under the control of at least three transcriptional regulators.

Expression studies on the aldA gene encoding aldehyde dehydrogenase in Escherichia coli showed induction by two types of molecule (hydroxyaldehydes and 2-oxoglutarate), carbon catabolite repression and respiration dependence. Promoter deletion analysis showed that the proximal operator, which includes inducer-regulator complex and catabolite repression protein (Crp) recognition sites, was necessary for induction by either type of inducer, and that full induction by aldehydes required the cooperation of distal operator sequences beyond position -119. Interactions of the regulator protein with the -59 to -6 fragment were shown by DNA mobility shift assays. Fusions of different deletions of the aldA promoter to lacZ indicated that a Crp site proximal to the transcriptional start point (tsp) was functional in the cAMP-dependent catabolite repression of this system, whereas a distal control site was likely to operate in a cAMP-independent catabolite repression. DNA mobility shift and footprint analyses showed that only the tsp proximal site was bound by pure Crp with a Kd of 5.4 x 10(-7) M. As shown by an Arc-defective strain, the aldA gene seems to be repressed by the Arc system under anaerobiosis, displaying its physiological full induction and activity in the presence of oxygen.

Frecuencia de alergenos en las respuestas alérgicas cutáneas tipo inmediata, tardía y dual en el Instituto Nacional de Pediatría / The allergens more frecuently found in the early, late and dual response in Instituto Nacional de Pediatría

Se estudiaron 126 niños con enfermedad alérgica, que acudieron al servicio de alergias del Instituto Nacional de Pediatría (INP), a quienes se les hicieron pruebas cutáneas: inmediata, tardía y dual. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que 68 por ciento presentó respuesta inmediata (RI), 6 por ciento respuesta tardía aislada y 26 por ciento respuesta dual. Los alergenos que con más frecuencia se encontrarón, tanto en la respuesta cutánea inmediata como tardía fueron Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farinae y polvo casero. Aproximadamente la tercera parte de los pacientes estuadiados presentaron respuesta cutánea tardía (respuesta dual, más respuesta tardía aislada), por lo que en la evaluación de un paciente alérgico se debe valorar la respuesta cutánea tardía para un mejor diagnóstico etiológico