Aim To assess treatment effects of optimised medical therapy and PCI or CABG surgery on one-year outcome in patients ⩾75 years old with chronic angina. Methods and Results On-treatment analysis of ...the TIME data: all re-vascularised patients (REVASC \batchmode \documentclassfleqn,10pt,legalpaper{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(n=174\) \end{document}: 112 randomised to revascularisation and 62 to drugs with late revascularisation) were compared to all patients on continued drug therapy (MED \batchmode \documentclassfleqn,10pt,legalpaper{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(n=127\) \end{document}: 86 randomised to drugs and 41 to revascularisation only). Baseline characteristics of both groups were similar (age 80±4 years). Risk of death at one year (adjusted hazard ratio (HR)=1.31; 95%-CI: 0.58–2.99; \batchmode \documentclassfleqn,10pt,legalpaper{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(P=0.52\) \end{document}) and of death/infarction (adjusted hazard ratio=1.77; 95%-CI 0.91–3.41; \batchmode \documentclassfleqn,10pt,legalpaper{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(P=0.09\) \end{document}) were comparable between REVASC and MED patients. Furthermore, the risk of death within 30 days was even slightly lower among REVASC patients (unadjusted hazard ratio=0.73; 95%-CI: 0.21–2.53; \batchmode \documentclassfleqn,10pt,legalpaper{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(P=0.98)\) \end{document}. Overall, REVASC patients had greater improvements in symptoms and well-being than MED patients \batchmode \documentclassfleqn,10pt,legalpaper{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \((P{<}0.01)\) \end{document}. Surgical patients had similar mortality rates as angioplasty patients, but they also had greater symptomatic improvements \batchmode \documentclassfleqn,10pt,legalpaper{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \((P{<}0.01)\) \end{document}. Conclusion Treated medically, elderly patients with chronic angina have a similarly high 30-day and one-year mortality as patients of the same age being re-vascularised; however, they can expect lower improvements in symptoms and well being.
Gelatinase B is a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9) involved in tissue remodeling, development, cancer, and inflammation. Neutrophils produce three major forms of (pro)gelatinase B: 92 kDa monomers, ...homodimers, and complexes of gelatinase B covalently bound to neutrophil gelatinase B-associated lipocalin (NGAL). In contrast to the case for other proteinases, little information about the glycosylation of any natural human MMP is available. Here, both gelatinase B and NGAL were purified from human peripheral blood neutrophils, and the entire contents of the released N- and O-glycan pools were analyzed simultaneously using recently developed high-performance liquid chromatography-based technology. The results are discussed within the context of the domain structure of gelatinase B and a molecular model of NGAL based on data from this study and the three-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of the protein. More than 95% of the N-linked glycans attached to both gelatinase B and NGAL were partially sialylated, core-fucosylated biantennary structures with and without outer arm fucose. The O-linked glycans, which were estimated to comprise approximately 85% of the total sugars on gelatinase B, mainly consisted of type 2 cores with Galβ1,4GlcNAc (lactosamine) extensions, with or without sialic acid or outer arm fucose. This paper also contains the first report of O-linked glycans attached to NGAL. Although both proteins were isolated from neutrophils and contained O-linked glycans mainly with type 2 cores, the glycans attached to individual serine/threonine residue(s) in NGAL were significantly smaller than those on gelatinase B. In contrast to NGAL, gelatinase B contains a region rich in Ser, Thr, and Pro typical of O-glycosylated mucin-like domains.
The transmembrane glycoprotein gp130 is the common signal transducing receptor subunit of the IL-6-type cytokines. The gp130 extracellular part is predicted to consist of six individual domains. ...Whereas the role of the three membrane-distal domains (D1-D3) in binding of IL-6 and IL-11 is well established, the function of the membrane-proximal domains (D4-D6) is unclear. Mapping of a neutralizing mAb to the membrane-proximal part of gp130 suggests a functional role of D4-D6 in receptor activation. Individual deletion of these three domains differentially interferes with ligand binding of the soluble and membrane-bound receptors. All deletion mutants do not signal in response to IL-6 and IL-11. The deletion mutants Delta4 and, to a lesser extent, Delta6 are still activated by agonistic monoclonal gp130 Abs, whereas the deletion mutant Delta5 does not respond. Because membrane-bound Delta5 binds IL-6/soluble IL-6R as does wild-type gp130, but does not transduce a signal in response to various stimuli, this domain plays a prominent role in coupling of ligand binding and signal transduction. Replacement of the fifth domain of gp130 by the corresponding domain of the homologous G-CSF receptor leads to constitutive activation of the chimera upon overexpression in COS-7 cells. In HepG2 cells this mutant responds to IL-6 comparable to wild-type gp130. Our findings suggest a functional role of the membrane-proximal domains of gp130 in receptor activation. Thus, within the hematopoietic receptor family the mechanism of receptor activation critically depends on the architecture of the receptor ectodomain.
The coordination and regulation of immune responses are primarily mediated by cytokines that bind to specific cell surface receptors. Glycoprotein 130 (gp130) belongs to the family of class I ...cytokine receptors and is the common signal-transducing receptor subunit shared by the so-called IL-6 type cytokines (IL-6, IL-11, ciliary neurotrophic factor, leukemia inhibitory factor, oncostatin M, and cardiotrophin-1). The inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-11 induce gp130 homodimerization after binding to their specific alpha receptors, which leads to the activation of the Janus kinase/STAT signal transduction pathway. A molecular model of IL-6/IL-6R/gp130, which is based on the structure of the growth hormone/growth hormone receptor complex, allowed the selection of several amino acids located in the cytokine-binding module of gp130 for mutagenesis. The mutants were analyzed with regard to IL-6- or IL-11-induced STAT activation and ligand binding. It was found that Y190 and F191 are essential for the interaction of gp130 with IL-6 as well as IL-11, suggesting a common mode of recognition of helical cytokines by class I cytokine receptors. Furthermore, the requirement of the gp130 N-terminal Ig-like domain for ligand binding and signal transduction was demonstrated by the use of deletion mutants. Thus, besides the observed analogy to the growth hormone/growth hormone receptor complex, there is a substantial difference in the mechanism of receptor engagement by cytokines that signal via gp130.
Importance Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a major morbidity of preterm infants causing visual impairment, including blindness, for which timely treatment is vital and prevention is key. ...Increasing evidence suggests that exposure to neonatal sepsis contributes to ROP development. Objective To investigate the association between neonatal sepsis and ROP in 2 large-scale cohorts of preterm infants born at less than 29 weeks’ gestation. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the German Neonatal Network (GNN) and Norwegian Neonatal Network (NNN). The GNN involves 68 and the NNN includes 21 level III neonatal intensive care units. Participants were infants born at a gestation of 22 weeks and 0 days to 28 weeks and 6 days and enrolled in the GNN between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2022, and NNN between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2018. Data were analyzed from February through September 2023. Exposure Single or multiple episodes of culture-proven sepsis. Main Outcomes and Measures Any ROP and treatment-warranted ROP. Results Among 12 794 infants in the GNN (6043 female 47.2% and 6751 male 52.8%; mean SD gestational age, 26.4 1.5 weeks) and 1844 infants in the NNN (866 female 47.0% and 978 male 53.0%; mean SD gestational age, 25.6 1.5 weeks), the mean (SD) birth weight was 848 (229) g and 807 (215) g, respectively. Any ROP was present in 6370 infants (49.8%) in GNN and 620 infants (33.6%) in NNN, and treatment-warranted ROP was present in 840 infants (6.6%) in GNN and 140 infants (7.6%) in NNN. In both cohorts, there were increasing rates of treatment-warranted ROP with each sepsis episode (no sepsis: 572 of 10 658 infants 5.4% in GNN and 85 of 1492 infants (5.7%) in NNN; 1 episode: 190 of 1738 infants in GNN 10.9% and 29 of 293 infants 9.9% in NNN; 2 episodes: 53 of 314 infants in GNN 16.9% and 13 of 49 infants 26.5% in NNN; 3 episodes: 25 of 84 infants 29.8% in GNN and 3 of 10 infants 30.0% in NNN). After adjusting for multiple confounders in the GNN dataset, the number of sepsis episodes was associated with ROP and treatment-warranted ROP compared with 0 episodes (1 episode: adjusted odds ratio aOR, 1.44 95% CI, 1.27-1.63; P < .001 and OR, 1.60 95% CI, 1.31-1.96; P < .001, respectively; 2 episodes: OR, 1.81 95% CI, 1.35-2.42; P < .001 and OR, 2.38 95% CI, 1.68-3.37; P < .001, respectively; 3 episodes: OR, 4.39 95% CI, 2.19-8.78; P < .001 and OR, 3.88 95% CI, 2.29-6.55; P < .001, respectively). These associations were confirmed for any ROP by propensity score matching (for example, the aOR with propensity score matching was 1.76 95% CI, 1.54-2.02; P < .001 for 1 episode vs 0 episodes and 1.58 95% CI, 1.12-2.22; P = .007 for 3 episodes vs 0 or 1 episode). In the NNN dataset, surgical NEC was associated with treatment-warranted ROP (multivariable analysis: aOR, 3.37 95% CI, 1.78-6.37; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance This study found that in the large-scale GNN cohort, recurrent culture-proven sepsis was associated with ROP and treatment-warranted ROP in infants born at less than 29 weeks.
Gp130 is the common signal transducing receptor subunit of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-11, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM), ciliary neurotrophic factor and cardiotrophin-1. IL-6 and ...IL-11 induce gp130 homodimerization whereas the others lead to the formation of heterodimers with LIFR or OSMR. Binding epitopes for IL-6 and IL-11 are located in the immunoglobulin-like domain and the cytokine binding module (CBM). Here we show that a gp130 mutant lacking domain 1, although unresponsive to IL-6 and IL-11, can still activate signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) transcription factors in response to LIF or OSM. Moreover, point mutations in the CBM of gp130 (F191E and V252D) that severely impair signal transduction in response to IL-6 and IL-11 differentially interfere with gp130 activation in response to LIF and OSM. Thus, epitopes involved in gp130 homodimerization are distinct from those leading to the formation of gp130/LIFR or gp130/OSMR heterodimers. These findings may serve as the base for rational design of gp130 antagonists that specifically interfere with bioactivity of distinct IL-6-type cytokines.
The extracellular domain of the human interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor, comprising 339 amino acids following the signal peptide, has been expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells (Sf158). When the ...soluble receptor secreted into the culture medium was purified by affinity chromatography, using IL-6 immobilized on Sepharose, 6 mg soluble receptor was isolated from 1 l conditioned medium of Sf158 suspension cultures. A molar absorption coefficient of 9.3 x 10(4) l.mol-1.cm-1 was calculated from the ultraviolet spectrum of the soluble IL-6 receptor. After SDS/PAGE and silver staining, an apparent molecular mass of 48 kDa was estimated for the purified protein. Deglycosylation with peptide N-glycosidase F resulted in an increase in electrophoretic mobility and a decrease in the apparent molecular mass from 48 kDa to about 41-44 kDa. As expected, the soluble human IL-6 receptor bound human 125I-labeled IL-6 with low affinity (Kd = 500 pM). Furthermore, the binding of soluble human IL-6 receptor to immobilized IL-6 was studied using real-time interaction analysis. The recombinant soluble receptor showed biological activity on HepG2 cells stably transfected with a cDNA coding for IL-6 (HepG2-IL-6 cells). Haptoglobin mRNA synthesis was induced by the soluble IL-6 receptor at concentrations as low as 10 ng/ml. Five monoclonal antibodies were generated. Two groups of antibodies were identified mapping to amino acids 1-67 and 68-143 of the soluble IL-6 receptor, respectively. The plasma clearance of soluble 125I-labeled IL-6 receptor in the absence and presence of IL-6 was studied in rats as a model system. The kinetics was biphasic. Soluble IL-6 receptor/IL-6 complexes were cleared more rapidly than the soluble receptor alone. Intravenously injected soluble 125I-labeled IL-6 receptor, as well as complexes with IL-6, rapidly accumulated in liver and to a lesser extent in skeletal muscle, skin and kidneys. Subsequently, the radioactivity appeared in the gut content.
In the frame of this part of the EUREKA project BASEXPO the relation between the specific absorption rate and the electric field strength is investigated for real life exposure conditions arising ...next to common RF sources, e.g. mobile communication base stations. The first results show that the deviation of the whole body specific absorption rate for heterogeneous exposure conditions from the plane wave conditions is in most cases below 50%.