71 research outputs found
LeProT1, a Transporter for Proline, Glycine Betaine, and γ-Amino Butyric Acid in Tomato Pollen
No full textDuring maturation, pollen undergoes a period of dehydration accompanied by the accumulation of compatible solutes.Solute import across the pollen plasma membrane, which occurs via proteinaceous transporters, is required to support pollen development and also for subsequent germination and pollen tube growth. Analysis of the free amino acid composition of various tissues in tomato revealed that the proline content in flowers was 60 times higher than in any other organ analyzed. Within the floral organs, proline was confined predominantly to pollen, where it represented >70 of total free amino acids. Uptake experiments demonstrated that mature as well as germinated pollen rapidly take up proline. To identify proline transporters in tomato pollen, we isolated genes homologous to Arabidopsis proline transporters. LeProT1 was specifically expressed both in mature and germinating pollen, as demonstrated by RNA in situ hybridization. Expression in a yeast mutant demonstrated that LeProT1 transports proline and γ-amino butyric acid with low affinity and glycine betaine with high affinity. Direct uptake and competition studies demonstrate that LeProT1 constitutes a general transporter for compatible solutes
Altered Serum IgG Levels to a-Synuclein in Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Get PDFNatural self-reactive antibodies in the peripheral blood may play a considerable role in the control of potentially toxic proteins that may otherwise accumulate in the aging brain. The significance of serum antibodies reactive against asynuclein is not well known. We explored serum IgG levels to monomeric a-synuclein in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with a novel and validated highly sensitive ELISA assay. Antibody levels revealed stark differences in patients compared to healthy subjects and were dependent on diagnosis, disease duration and age. Anti-asynuclein IgG levels were increased in both patient groups, but in early DLB to a much greater extent than in AD. Increased antibody levels were most evident in younger patients, while with advanced age relatively low levels were observed, similar to healthy individuals, exhibiting stable antibody levels independent of age. Our data show the presence of differentially altered IgG levels against a-synuclein in DLB and AD, which may relate to a disturbed a-synuclein homeostasis triggered by the disease process. These observations may foster the development of novel, possibly preclinical biomarkers and immunotherapeutic strategies that target a-synuclein in neurodegenerative disease.Fil: Koehler, Niklas. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Stransky, Elke. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Shing, Mona. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Gaertner, Susanne. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Meyer, Mirjam. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Schreitmueller, Brigitte. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Leyhe, Thomas. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Laske, Cristoph. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Maetzler, Walter. Department of Neurodegeneration. HERTIE INSTITUTE FOR CLINICAL BRAIN RESEARCH;Fil: Kahle, Philipp. FUNCTIONAL NEUROGENETICS. HERTIE INSTITUTE FOR CLINICAL;Fil: Celej, Maria Soleda. MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUTE FOR BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY; Consejo Nacional de Invest.cientif.y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnol.conicet - Cordoba. Centro de Invest.en Qca.biol.de Cordoba (p);Fil: Jovin, Thomas M.. MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUTE FOR BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY;Fil: Fallgatter, Andreas. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Batra, Anil. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Buchkremer, Gherard. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Schott, Klauss. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY;Fil: Richartz-Salzburger, Elke. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. EBERHARD-KARLS-UNIVERSITY
No differences of butyrylcholinesterase protein activity and allele frequency in Lewy body diseases.
No full textButyrylcholinesterase (BChE) genotypes and protein (BuChE) activity, especially in combination with Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4), have been investigated as risk factors for developing Alzheimer disease (AD) and may be associated with the rate of progression of cognitive decline. Despite similar pathologic (e.g. amyloid deposition) and neurochemical (e.g. cholinergic deficits) aspects between AD and Lewy body diseases (LBD), scarce data is obtainable about BChE genotypes and BuChE activity in LBD. We measured BuChE activity levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 114 LBD subjects (59 of them were demented) and 31 elderly controls. We found higher CSF BuChE activity in males compared to females, and a negative correlation of serum BuChE activity with age and cognitive function. Demented LBD patients, non-demented LBD patients and controls did not differ significantly with regard to serum and CSF BuChE activity. Furthermore, BChE K variant and ApoE4 allele frequencies were determined. The BChE K variant was significantly associated with lower serum activity; the same trend was observable in CSF. The subgroups did not differ significantly with regard to BChE K/ApoE4 occurrence. These data confirm and extend previous results on the relationship between BChE gene and BuChE activity, and argue rather against a major impact of BuChE on LBD-associated pathologies
Cognitive impairment in Glucocerebrosidase (GBA)-associated PD: Not primarily associated with cerebrospinal fluid Abeta and Tau profiles
No full textA proportion of idiopathic Parkinson's disease patients (PDidiopathic ) with dementia show altered CSF profiles of amyloid β (Aβ) and Tau. PD patients with Glucocerebrosidase (GBA) mutations (PDGBA ) present with even more cognitive decline than seen in PDidiopathic
Alpha-Synuclein Levels in Blood Plasma Decline with Healthy Aging
Get PDFThere is unequivocal evidence that alpha-synuclein plays a pivotal pathophysiological role in neurodegenerative diseases, and in particular in synucleinopathies. These disorders present with a variable extent of cognitive impairment and alpha-synuclein is being explored as a biomarker in CSF, blood serum and plasma. Considering key events of aging that include proteostasis, alpha-synuclein may not only be useful as a marker for differential diagnosis but also for aging per se. To explore this hypothesis, we developed a highly specific ELISA to measure alpha-synuclein. In healthy males plasma alpha-synuclein levels correlated strongly with age, revealing much lower concentrations in older (avg. 58.1 years) compared to younger (avg. 27.6 years) individuals. This difference between the age groups was enhanced after acidification of the plasmas (p<0.0001), possibly reflecting a decrease of alpha-synuclein-antibody complexes or chaperone activity in older individuals. Our results support the concept that alpha-synuclein homeostasis may be impaired early on, possibly due to disturbance of the proteostasis network, a key component of healthy aging. Thus, alpha-synuclein may be a novel biomarker of aging, a factor that should be considered when analyzing its presence in biological specimens.Fil: Koehler, Niklas K. U.. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; Alemania. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases; AlemaniaFil: Stransky, Elle. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; AlemaniaFil: Meyer, Mirjam. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; AlemaniaFil: Gaertner, Susanne. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; AlemaniaFil: Shing, Mona. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; AlemaniaFil: Schnaidt, Martina. Zentrum für Klinische Transfusionsmedizin; AlemaniaFil: Celej, Maria Soledad. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Quimica Biológica; Argentina. Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. Laboratory for Cellular Dynamics, Max-Planck; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba (p); ArgentinaFil: Jovin, Thomas M.. Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. Laboratory for Cellular Dynamics, Max-Planck; AlemaniaFil: Leyhe, Thomas. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; Alemania. Psychiatric University Hospital. Center of Old Age Psychiatry; AlemaniaFil: Laske, Christoph . Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; Alemania. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases; AlemaniaFil: Batra, Anil. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; AlemaniaFil: Buchkremer, Gerhard. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; AlemaniaFil: Fallgatter, Andreas J.. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; AlemaniaFil: Wernet, Dorothee. Zentrum für Klinische Transfusionsmedizin; AlemaniaFil: Richartz Salzburger, Elke. Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; Alemani
A legal approach to whether ai generated content should be protected under copyright
No full textSubmitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws by Coursework and Research Report at the University of the Witwatersrand, JohannesburgCurrently, there is no clear answer for whether AI-generated content should be protected under copyright law in South Africa and if so, who is the author and who owns the copyright. As AI is growing more advanced and widely used, the potential for confusion grows and thus clarity on the law’s position is important. In this paper, I will examine how AI generates works and compare this to the purpose of copyright law. I will then determine whether granting AI- generated works copyright protection aligns with the purpose of copyright law. Further, I will conduct an analysis on how different countries have dealt with the question of whether AI-generated content should be protected under copyright. This will help pinpoint the factors to consider when answering this question such as the requirement of human authorship, legal or juristic person ownership of the copyright and whether the works are copyrightable. It is important to consider how South Africa’s legal system should approach issues surrounding AI-generated content and copyright. In examining the South African legal position on this question, I will conduct an analysis on the approaches taken by the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, China, and South Africa in relation to AI-generated works and copyright. This range of countries will allow for a greater understanding of the issues, complexities, and factors to consider while answering this questionMM202
Decreased Plasma Levels of Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) in Patients with Early Alzheimer's Disease
No full textJunge Hochschulforschung (JuHoFo) in Österreich. Eine Case Study über Wege in die Hochschulforschung, den Dissertationsprozess und Zukunftsvorstellungen von jungen Hochschulforschenden.
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P1‐095: Stem cell factor plasma levels predict cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease patients
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