Dermatological conditions during TNF-α-blocking therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective study

Various dermatological conditions have been reported during tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-blocking therapy, but until now no prospective studies have been focused on this aspect. The present study was set up to investigate the number and nature of clinically important dermatological conditions during TNF-α-blocking therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA patients starting on TNF-α-blocking therapy were prospectively followed up. The numbers and natures of dermatological events giving rise to a dermatological consultation were recorded. The patients with a dermatological event were compared with a group of prospectively followed up RA control patients, naive to TNF-α-blocking therapy and matched for follow-up period. 289 RA patients started TNF-α-blocking therapy. 128 dermatological events were recorded in 72 patients (25%) during 911 patient-years of follow-up. TNF-α-blocking therapy was stopped in 19 (26%) of these 72 patients because of the dermatological event. More of the RA patients given TNF-α-blocking therapy (25%) than of the anti-TNF-α-naive patients (13%) visited a dermatologist during follow-up (P < 0.0005). Events were recorded more often during active treatment (0.16 events per patient-year) than during the period of withdrawal of TNF-α-blocking therapy (0.09 events per patient-year, P < 0.0005). The events recorded most frequently were skin infections (n = 33), eczema (n = 20), and drug-related eruptions (n = 15). Other events with a possible relation to TNF-α-blocking therapy included vasculitis, psoriasis, drug-induced systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, and a lymphomatoid-papulosis-like eruption. This study is the first large prospective study focusing on dermatological conditions during TNF-α-blocking therapy. It shows that dermatological conditions are a significant and clinically important problem in RA patients receiving TNF-α-blocking therapy.     

The lymphoid transcription factor LyF-1 is encoded by specific, alternatively spliced mRNAs derived from the Ikaros gene.

The lymphocyte-specific DNA-binding protein LyF-1 interacts with a critical control element in the terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase (TdT) promoter as well as with the promoters for other genes expressed during early stages of B- and T-cell development. We have purified LyF-1 and have obtained a partial amino acid sequence from proteolytic peptides. The amino acid sequence suggests that LyF-1 is a zinc finger protein encoded by the Ikaros gene, which previously was implicated in T-cell development. Recombinant Ikaros expressed in Escherichia coli bound to the TdT promoter, and antisera directed against the recombinant protein specifically blocked the DNA-binding activity of LyF-1 in crude extracts. Further analysis revealed that at least six distinct mRNAs are derived from the Ikaros/LyF-1 gene by alternative splicing. Only two of the isoforms possess the N-terminal zinc finger domain that is necessary and sufficient for TdT promoter binding. Although both of these isoforms bound to similar sequences in the TdT, lambda 5, VpreB, and lck promoters, one isoform contains an additional zinc finger that resulted in altered recognition of some binding sites. At least four of the Ikaros/LyF-1 isoforms were detectable in extracts from B- and T-cell lines, with the relative amounts of the isoforms varying considerably. These data reveal that the LyF-1 protein is encoded by specific mRNAs derived from the alternatively-spliced Ikaros gene, suggesting that this gene may be important for the early stages of both B- and T-lymphocyte development.     

Inhibition of cdc2 activation by INH/PP2A.

INH, a type 2A protein phosphatase (PP2A), negatively regulates entry into M phase and the cyclin B-dependent activation of cdc2 in Xenopus extracts. INH appears to be central to the mechanism of the trigger for mitotic initiation, as it prevents the premature activation of cdc2. We first show that INH is a conventional form of PP2A with a B alpha regulatory subunit. We next explore the mechanism by which it inhibits cdc2 activation by examining the effect of purified PP2A on the reaction pathways controlling cdc2 activity. Our results suggest that although PP2A inhibits the switch in tyrosine kinase and tyrosine phosphatase activities accompanying mitosis, this switch is a consequence of the inhibition of some other rate-limiting event. In the preactivation phase, PP2A inhibits the pathway leading to T161 phosphorylation, suggesting that this activity may be one of the rate-limiting events for transition. However, our results also suggest that the accumulation of active cdc2/cyclin complexes during the lag is only one of the events required for triggering entry into mitosis.     

Toward the Standardization of Mycological Examination of Sputum Samples in Cystic Fibrosis: Results from a French Multicenter Prospective Study

Fungal respiratory colonization of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients emerges as a new concern; however, the heterogeneity of mycological protocols limits investigations. We first aimed at setting up an efficient standardized protocol for mycological analysis of CF sputa that was assessed during a prospective, multicenter study: “MucoFong” program (PHRC-06/1902). Sputa from 243 CF patients from seven centers in France were collected over a 15-month period and submitted to a standardized protocol based on 6 semi-selective media. After mucolytic pretreatment, sputa were plated in parallel on cycloheximide-enriched (ACT37), erythritol-enriched (ERY37), benomyl dichloran–rose bengal (BENO37) and chromogenic (CAN37) media incubated at 37 °C and on Sabouraud–chloramphenicol (SAB27) and erythritol-enriched (ERY27) media incubated at 20–27 °C. Each plate was checked twice a week during 3 weeks. Fungi were conventionally identified; time for detection of fungal growth was noted for each species. Fungal prevalences and media performances were assessed; an optimal combination of media was determined using the Chi-squared automatic interaction detector method. At least one fungal species was isolated from 81% of sputa. Candida albicans was the most prevalent species (58.8%), followed by Aspergillus fumigatus (35.4%). Cultivation on CAN37, SAB27, ACT37 and ERY27 during 16 days provided an optimal combination, detecting C. albicans, A. fumigatus, Scedosporium apiospermum complex and Exophiala spp. with sensitivities of 96.5, 98.8, 100 and 100%. Combination of these four culture media is recommended to ensure the growth of key fungal pathogens in CF respiratory specimens. The use of such consensual protocol is of major interest for merging results from future epidemiological studies.     

Preferential cleavage of amino- and carboxyl-terminal oligopeptides from vasoactive intestinal polypeptide by human recombinant enkephalinase (neutral endopeptidase, EC 3.4.24.11)

Human recombinant enkephalinase (neutral endopeptidase, EC 3.4.24.11) cleaved synthetic vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP1-28) with time-and peptidase concentration-dependence, which left less than 30% intact after 30 micrograms was incubated at 37 degrees C with 0.1 micrograms and 10 micrograms of peptidase for 120 min and 15 min, respectively. The rank order of relative rates of peptidolysis amino-terminal to hydrophobic amino acids was Ala4 and Val5 greater than Tyr22 and Ile26 much greater than Leu13 and Met17. The many effects of VIP1-28 on epithelial cell and leukocyte functions thus may be influenced by degradation of the mediator by enkephalinase at the surface of target cells.     

Proteomic analysis of human substantia nigra identifies novel candidates involved in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis

Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology spreads throughout the brain following a region‐specific process predominantly affecting the substantia nigra (SN) pars compacta. SN exhibits a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons responsible for the major cardinal motor symptoms, along with the occurrence of Lewy bodies in the surviving neurons. To gain new insights into the underlying pathogenic mechanisms in PD, we studied postmortem nigral tissues dissected from pathologically confirmed PD cases (n = 5) and neurologically intact controls (n = 8). Using a high‐throughput shotgun proteomic strategy, we simultaneously identified 1795 proteins with concomitant quantitative data. To date, this represents the most extensive catalog of nigral proteins. Of them, 204 proteins displayed significant expression level changes in PD patients versus controls. These were involved in novel or known pathogenic processes including mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, or cytoskeleton impairment. We further characterized four candidates that might be relevant to PD pathogenesis. We confirmed the differential expression of ferritin‐L and seipin by Western blot and demonstrated the neuronal localization of gamma glutamyl hydrolase and nebulette by immunohistochemistry. Our preliminary findings suggest a role for nebulette overexpression in PD neurodegeneration, through mechanisms that may involve cytoskeleton dynamics disruption. All MS data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD000427 ( http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD000427 ).     

Plasma Protein Biomarkers for Depression and Schizophrenia by Multi Analyte Profiling of Case-Control Collections

Despite significant research efforts aimed at understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of psychiatric disorders, the diagnosis and the evaluation of treatment of these disorders are still based solely on relatively subjective assessment of symptoms. Therefore, biological markers which could improve the current classification of psychiatry disorders, and in perspective stratify patients on a biological basis into more homogeneous clinically distinct subgroups, are highly needed. In order to identify novel candidate biological markers for major depression and schizophrenia, we have applied a focused proteomic approach using plasma samples from a large case-control collection. Patients were diagnosed according to DSM criteria using structured interviews and a number of additional clinical variables and demographic information were assessed. Plasma samples from 245 depressed patients, 229 schizophrenic patients and 254 controls were submitted to multi analyte profiling allowing the evaluation of up to 79 proteins, including a series of cytokines, chemokines and neurotrophins previously suggested to be involved in the pathophysiology of depression and schizophrenia. Univariate data analysis showed more significant p-values than would be expected by chance and highlighted several proteins belonging to pathways or mechanisms previously suspected to be involved in the pathophysiology of major depression or schizophrenia, such as insulin and MMP-9 for depression, and BDNF, EGF and a number of chemokines for schizophrenia. Multivariate analysis was carried out to improve the differentiation of cases from controls and identify the most informative panel of markers. The results illustrate the potential of plasma biomarker profiling for psychiatric disorders, when conducted in large collections. The study highlighted a set of analytes as candidate biomarker signatures for depression and schizophrenia, warranting further investigation in independent collections.     

Pentosan polysulfate promotes proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation of adult human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal precursor cells

Introduction  

This study was undertaken to determine whether the anti-osteoarthritis drug pentosan polysulfate (PPS) influenced mesenchymal precursor cell (MPC) proliferation and differentiation.