Högskolan i Skövde

Poor dietary habits can impact longevity and life expectancy by contributing to the development of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. These NCDs account for 44% of global mortality annually, with ischemic heart disease alone responsible for 16% of deaths. Metabolic syndrome (MetS), which includes obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, plays a major role in increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Modifiable lifestyle factors, particularly dietary habits, are crucial in managing MetS and NCDs. A healthy diet rich in seafood and high-quality carbohydrates can reduce the risk of chronic diseases and promote longevity. Intermittent fasting has also shown promise in reducing MetS risk and improving health. Studies indicate that certain gene expressions, such as FOXO3 and CISD2, are associated with healthy aging. This study aimed to investigate the impact of an intermittent fasting and seafood-rich diet on longevity and health markers. Over four weeks, ten participants were evaluated for changes in blood parameters, gene expressions, physiological parameters, and amino acid profiling. The results showed no significant differences for the diet intervention. However, trends were observed in the participant who practiced 20-hour daily intermittent fasting with 100 percent seafood as a source of protein, including reductions in weight, blood glucose, and cholesterol levels, along with increased blood ketones, vitamin D, and B12. These findings highlight the potential benefits of the study and pave the way for future research with larger sample sizes, more significant dietary modifications, and extended intervention durations, to better understand the effect of diets on reducing chronic diseases and promoting longevity.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder that affects women in their reproductive age. It is characterized by hyperandrogenism, menstrual cycle irregularities and polycystic ovarian morphology. PCOS can cause infertility and is usually associated with a number of metabolic dysfunctions such as insulin resistance and aberrant fat metabolism in major metabolic organs such as skeletal muscles. These dysfunctions increase the risk for developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The exact etiology of PCOS is still unknow, but a number of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors have been identified. In order to understand the links between PCOS and its related metabolic dysfunction, and to unravel its complex pathophysiology, extensive research is constantly done. In this study, 84 differentially expressed genes have been identified in skeletal muscles of women with PCOS (n=13) compared to controls (n=12) by array-based RNA profiling. Using gene set enrichment analysis, it is demonstrated that these genes are components of metabolic pathways that are related to fat metabolism and transport. In vitro verification of differential gene expression of 5 genes of interest in skeletal muscles from prenatally androgenized mice was done using RT-PCR, and shows statistically significant differential expression of 2 out of 5 genes. This study confirms the role of fat metabolism in PCOS pathogenesis and uses knowledge learned from obesity and diabetes to suggest directions for further research, which is warranted to develop new treatments that will; hopefully, reduce the devastating effects of PCOS on the lives of women and the economies of communities worldwide.

Ulcerative colitis is characterised by chronic inflammation in the colon and rectum. The incidence of ulcerative colitis has been steadily increasing among young adults globally. Symptoms of the disease include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and recurrent rectal bleeding, with periods of remission interspersed with active disease states. The pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis involves a complex interplay of genetic predisposition and environmental factors. The key contributors to the disease development are epithelial barrier dysfunction, dysregulated immune response, and microbial dysbiosis. This is a pilot study that investigated the effects of fecal supernatants from patients with ulcerative colitis on memory T-cell activation using covid antigen obtained from a healthy blood donor as a model recall antigen. Caco-2 cell monolayers were differentiated into enterocytes and exposed to fecal supernatants. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a healthy donor were cultured with conditioned media obtained from Caco-2 cells or with fecal supernatants directly. Flow cytometry was performed to evaluate the difference in memory T-cell activation. The analysis of flow cytometry results revealed reduced T-cell activation upon exposure to fecal supernatants from active ulcerative colitis patients compared to healthy subjects, both directly and via conditioned media from Caco-2 cells. The study also provides insights into the optimal fecal supernatant dilutions to be used for Caco-2 cell stimulation. The reduced memory T-cell activation reflects a dysregulated immune response associated with ulcerative colitis.

Fetal akinesia deformation sequence (FADS) is a rare disease clinically characterized by intrauterine growth restriction, arthrogryposis, and pulmonary hypoplasia. Rare diseases are not frequently investigated as they are defined as uncommon. However, more than 3% of the world’s population suffer from a type of rare disease. This equates to approximately 300 million people globally, indicating that rare diseases are not as sporadic as it appears. It is difficult to diagnose and treat rare diseases as limited research is conducted within these fields. Application of the recently developed next generation sequencing technique has become of aid in diagnosing and identifying genetic causes. In the current study, analysis of whole exome sequencing data on a fetus from a consanguineous family diagnosed with FADS was performed. The variants obtained were filtered using an artificial intelligence-based software. Candidate genes were studied, annotated, and mapped homozygously for identification and validation of the pathogenic variant. Results revealed four potential disease causing genes involved in various pathways and functions. Literature review and in silico analysis suggested that the fetus was experiencing a likely polygenic effect with phenotypes attributed to all four genes. In conclusion, further research is required for certification and determination of pathophysiology.

Background: LIN7 are a group of proteins that play a pivotal role in membrane protein localization and are thus important for cell adhesion and polarity. LIN7 proteins are shown to be important in neuroblastoma outcome, possibly through interactions with Disc-Large proteins (DLG). DLG2 has been shown to directly affect the regulation of LIN7A. Previous studies into the role of LIN7 have given conflicting results as to its nature.

Methods: In this study we transfected LIN7A and LIN7C in SK-N-AS cells through the use of plasmids for upregulation and siRNA for knockdown of these genes. We also evaluated the expression levels of specific genes related to pathways such as PI3K, autophagy/lysosomal activity, AKT, etc., both independently and related to LIN7 expression through the R2 platform. Genes of interest were selected and then analyzed through qPCR.

Results: Many of the genes that were significantly correlated when compared to LIN7A/C through R2 showed no significant expression correlation after experimentation. Some more functionally close genes to LIN7 were affected in a more predictable way such as CASK being upregulated after LIN7 knockdown, PTEN being downregulated upon LIN7 plasmid transfection while others such as FOXO3 also showed significant alterations.

Conclusion: Many of the pathways discussed in this study are better studied through protein analysis due to the nature of the function of LIN7 proteins, however some downstream transcript changes were analyzed. Unexpectedly, the knockdown of both LIN7A and LIN7C displayed similar behavior to upregulation of LIN7A or LIN7C, possibly meaning that extreme expression differences have similar regulatory outcomes for some affected genes.

Hydrogels are used in a wide range of biomedical applications, including three-dimensional (3D) cell culture, cell therapy and bioprinting. To enable processing using advanced additive fabrication techniques and to mimic the dynamic nature of the extracellular matrix (ECM), the properties of the hydrogels must be possible to tailor and change over time with high precision. The design of hydrogels that are both structurally and functionally dynamic, while providing necessary mechanical support is challenging using conventional synthesis techniques. Here, we show a modular and 3D printable hydrogel system that combines a robust but tunable covalent bioorthogonal cross-linking strategy with specific peptide-folding mediated interactions for dynamic modulation of cross-linking and functionalization. The hyaluronan-based hydrogels were covalently cross-linked by strain-promoted alkyne-azide cycloaddition using multi-arm poly(ethylene glycol). In addition, a de novo designed helix-loop-helix peptide was conjugated to the hyaluronan backbone to enable specific peptide-folding modulation of cross-linking density and kinetics, and hydrogel functionality. An array of complementary peptides with different functionalities was developed and used as a toolbox for supramolecular tuning of cell-hydrogel interactions and for controlling enzyme-mediated biomineralization processes. The modular peptide system enabled dynamic modifications of the properties of 3D printed structures, demonstrating a novel route for design of more sophisticated bioinks for four-dimensional bioprinting. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Introduction: Physical contact is important in all human culture. Individuals can express different emotions in order to seek or offer physical support. Norepinephrine is one of the stress hormones, and is a part of the sympathetic nervous system, which can mediate anxiety and acute stress response. The level of norepinephrine during stress while holding someone´s hand is still underestimated. Aim: is to investigate the release of norepinephrine while getting touched once by a romantic partner and once by an unfamiliar stranger with the hypothesis that norepinephrine level would be greater while getting stroked by a stranger comparing to the partner.Method: 3 cat ELISA for the quantitative determination of norepinephrine from ImmuSmol. The data were analyzed with SPSS, non-parametrical Man Whitney-U test was carried out to do group wise comparison and time points comparison was done by Kruskal Wallis. Additionally, Spearman´s Correlation was conducted to compare norepinephrine correlation with other hormones like cortisol, oxytocin, and epinephrine. Result: no significant result have shown by comparing groups and by doing timepoints comparison. Spearman´s correlation have not shown a significant association between norepinephrine and other hormones. Conclusion: gentle touches whether it was from stranger or partner was not enough to elicit adifference in response. However, the original design aimed to focus on stimulating oxytocin and cortisol release. Thus, the design of the study should be changed for further investigation of the effect of social touches on norepinephrine.

White adipose tissue browning, defined by accelerated mitochondrial metabolism and biogenesis, is considered a promising mean to treat or prevent obesity-associated metabolic disturbances. We hypothesize that redox stress acutely leads to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which activate electrophile sensor nuclear factor erythroid 2-Related Factor 2 (NRF2) that over time results in an adaptive adipose tissue browning process. To test this, we have exploited adipocyte-specific NRF2 knockout mice and cultured adipocytes and analyzed time- and dose-dependent effect of NAC and lactate treatment on antioxidant expression and browning-like processes. We found that short-term antioxidant treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) induced reductive stress as evident from increased intracellular NADH levels, increased ROS-production, reduced oxygen consumption rate (OCR), and increased NRF2 levels in white adipocytes. In contrast, and in line with our hypothesis, longer-term NAC treatment led to a NRF2-dependent browning response. Lactate treatment elicited similar effects as NAC, and mechanistically, these NRF2-dependent adipocyte browning responses in vitro were mediated by increased heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX1) activity. Moreover, this NRF2-HMOX1 axis was also important for β3-adrenergic receptor activation-induced adipose tissue browning in vivo. In conclusion, our findings show that administration of exogenous antioxidants can affect biological function not solely through ROS neutralization, but also through reductive stress. We also demonstrate that NRF2 is essential for white adipose tissue browning processes. 

Meaningful relationships play a crucial role in human well-being by reducing stress, improving mental health, and decreasing morbidity. Internal factors such as genetic makeup is one factor that can affect relationship quality. The aim of this study was to explore if five different single nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with relationship quality in romantic couples and to find additional polymorphisms of interest through an extensive literature study. This association was examined by comparing genotypes for the rs53576 in the OXTR gene, 5-HTTLPR in the SLC6A4 gene, rs6295 in the HTR1A gene, rs41423247 in the NR3C1 gene and rs1360780 in the FKBP5 gene with couple satisfaction index scores. This data originated from a research project that had the overall aim to investigate the neural, endocrine, and genetic correlates of affective touch. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the couple satisfaction index scores to the different genotypes for the five polymorphism which showed no significant association with relationship quality. This resulted in a broad search for additional polymorphisms of interest where the rs3796863 in the CD38 gene appeared to be a promising candidate for association with relationship quality. Previous research indicated its association with anxiety, depression, and lower relationship satisfaction. In conclusion, no association could be observed between the five polymorphisms and relationship quality but the rs3796863 in the CD38 gene seem to have this association with relationship quality after conducting an extensive literature study. Additional laboratory experiments and statistical analyses would be needed to confirm this correlation.

PDIA3 interacts with the lectin chaperons; calnexin and calreticulin to surveythe folding of newly synthesized glycoproteins by the addition of N-linkedglycans. PDIA3 is also involved in transcaltachia signaling cascades andimmunogenicity. The purpose was to determine if there were any changespresent in the nucleotide sequence of the Pdia3 gene. To study this, fourprostate cell lines were examined by Sanger sequencing, two malignant(LNCaP, PC3) and two normal (PNT1A, PNT2). These were to be compared tothe nucleotide sequence from nine formalin fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE)samples of different Gleason score and the sequence from three FFPE samplesof normal prostate tissue chosen from the Örebro Radical Cohort. The obtainedsequences were then analysed with several bioinformatics tools to determine ifthere were any changes present. The nucleotide sequence obtained from thesequencing indicated that none of the cell lines expressed the most redundantisofrom; CRA_c, but instead CRA_a and CRA_b. Surprisingly, the two normalcell lines (PNT1A and PNT2) produced similar scores in BLAST search forboth the CRA_a and the CRA_b isoforms. Software analysis of the translatedsequences predicted that LNCaP expressed a membrane bound form PDIA3while PC3 expressed a cytoplasmic variant of the protein. To confirm this,another sequencing reaction was performed. The second results indicated thatall cell lines expressed the same isoform, but that the isoforms were localizedto different intracellular compartments.

Circadian rhythms are endogenic autonomous oscillators of physiological activities resulting from 24-hour day/night cycles. Circadian rhythms regulate a wide variety of metabolic and physiological functions. This allows the organism to control its molecular, biochemical, physiological, and behavioural processes. Some studies have recently been performed on the relationship between cancer and circadian rhythm. In this paper we analyse the relationship between pH, the Pentose Phosphate Pathway, and the circadian through two databases of RNA sequence, GSE101988 and GSE74439. It was found that the Period and Cryptochrome family genes, which are linked to DNA damage response pathways, are more expressed than the control groups. At the same time, CLOCK and BMAL genes were inhibited. This, therefore, forms our supposition that the pH, through several mechanisms, does affect the circadian and thus the tumour progression. This is a very important study focus, because acidosis and alkalosis could be a biomarker for early tumour apparition in local tissues. In this databased research, BMAL1 (BMAL2) was observed to be more active than the key circadian regulator at lower pH. Together, the CRY family of genes was downregulated in both datasets. However, in the analysis involving Pentose Phosphate Pathway inhibition, p53 was up-regulated and G6PD was without any statistically significant improvement.

Liver Cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma is a major global health challenge with increasing occurrence and mortality rates. This study aimed to explore and understand the molecular signature of the disease using bioinformatic analysis with The Cancer Genome Atlas Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma dataset to identify differentially expressed genes and somatic mutations associated with patient survival. Transcriptome analysis revealed a significant difference in gene expression between tumor and normal tissues. Survival analysis linked specific genes to patient outcomes which suggests potential prognostic markers further proved by clinical enrichment analysis using Metascape, an online platform.

Single nucleotide variant analysis uncovered frequently mutated genes, including TP53, CTNNB1, and TTN, and characterized the mutation landscape, revealing prevalent C>T transitions. The integration of transcriptome and mutation data complements potential therapeutic targets and driver mutations which are important for the liver cancer development and progression. Overall this study provides valuable insights and is a framework into the molecular mechanisms of HCC and identifies potential DEGs, biomarkers (FCN2, FCN3, and COLEC10), and clinically actionable targets for improved diagnosis and therapeutic strategies.

Cancer has been found not only to be a disease of genetic mutations, but also a metabolic state by which insulin and glucagon has an impact on cancer cells. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal cancer with high risk of recurrence of cancer cells after cancer therapy treatment with a worse outcome. Healthy individuals are reported to have imbalance of blood glucose homeostasis, and an imbalance between secreted insulin and glucagon, which contribute to diabetes onset and might create a new complex between human insulin and glucagon. An increased risk of developing cancer has been seen in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Investigations were done on human insulin and glucagon and its formation into a new complex. Pancreatic cancer cell lines, Panc-1, were treated with these different peptides, in different concentrations, to find out the impact on cell viability. Lactate-Glo Assay were performed, investigating if there was a change of metabolism within the cells. A complex formation of insulin and glucagon from bovine and porcine, receptively, has previously been shown. Here it is reported of the existence of a new insulin-glucagon (I-G) complex made from human peptides. The I-G complex increase cancer cell viability, change the metabolism within the cells and act differently than from insulin and glucagon alone. The I-G complex interaction in cancer and diabetes, are to be further investigated.

Endometrial adenocarcinoma (EAC) is the most frequently diagnosed gynecological cancer of the female genital tract in the Western world. Research studies in EC is difficult to conduct on human tumor samples due to the complex nature of tumor arousal and genetic heterogeneousness in the human population. Therefore, inbred animal models can be promising tools to use in EC research due to similar histopathology and pathogenesis as humans. Studies performed on MAP2K1 and CCND1 has shown that their altered expression play a crucial role in carcinogenesis. CCND1 has been demonstrated to have oncogenic properties when overexpressed in human neoplasias.

The aim of this study is to investigate gene expression levels of MAP2K1 and CCND1 in BDII rat model of endometrial adenocarcinoma cells. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to analyze expression levels of MAP2K1 and CCND1 genes in BDII/Han rat model of endometrial cancer cells using TaqMan approach. The differences in gene expression levels of MAP2K1 and CCND1 between pathologically EAC malignant and nonmalignant cells showed an upregulation of MAP2K1 and CCND1 in EAC malignant cells. The analyzed data presented observable mean differences between MAP2K1 and CCND1 in several endometrial cell lines that were examined.

Although no statistical significance was reached, an alteration in gene expression levels in malignant and nonmalignant endometrial cells could be observed. Furthermore, this present study shows observable upregulation of MAP2K1 and CCND1 in endometrial carcinoma cells vs. nonmalignant endometrium cells and encourages further investigation of the role of CCND1 and MAP2K genes in endometrial carcinogenesis.

Diet plays a crucial role in human health, particularly in modulating inflammation, a key factor in various chronic diseases. While several studies have explored the relationship between diet and disease, the complexity of this topic demands more extensive investigation. This study aims to examine the impact of seafood-rich diet, focusing on the fatty acid content, in modulating inflammation.

The dietary intervention was similar to a Mediterranean diet, emphasizing unsaturated fats while minimizing saturated fats. Seafood and fish was prioritized as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Blood biomarkers, including homocysteine, vitamin B12, folate, C-reactive protein, cholesterol, and triglycerides were analyzed before and after diet. Folate and vitamin B12 levels had increased significantly after diet, with folate increasing by 11.5 nmol/L (54% increase) and vitamin B12 by 37.25 pmol/L (9.99% increase). However, triglyceride levels experienced significant reduction by 0.32 mmol/L (29.5% decrease). Amino acid analysis indicated no significant changes. Gene expression analysis of interleukin-18, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, was hindered by data contamination, precluding further interpretation. Tumor necrosis factor gene expression revealed no significant differences. However, the significant increase in vitamin B12 and folate levels stays an important discovery. Both molecules play essential roles in a pathway aimed at reducing homocysteine levels, which is associated with inflammation. This finding underscores the potential of seafood-rich diet in preventing inflammation. Additionally, the study lays groundwork for potential improvements in dietary guidelines as a preventative strategy against inflammatory diseases.

This current study aimed at investigating human affective touch and its relation to endogenous release of dopamine. The main experiment, which provided the material that was later analyzed in this project, was carried out at the University of Linköping, on 42 couples. The female participants engaged in fMRI scanning and provided blood samples, while gentle touch was administered, to the right dorsal armand palm, by the partner, or by a stranger. The plasma samples, that have been investigated in this study, were collected during seven different time points. The two functional runs of the experiment, featured the partner and stranger touch in a pseudorandomized manner. Blood samples were analyzed by ELISA, in particular by using the 3-CAT ELISA kit (ImmuSmol, BA E-6600). The collected data was analyzed performing Mann Whitney U tests and Spearman’s correlations. The maximum dopamine values, recorded during partner and stranger touch, in both functional runs, were significantly more elevated during partner touch (p=0.018). Spearman’s correlation was performed on the maximum dopamine and oxytocin values recorded, in both runs, during partner and stranger touch. These analyses detected non-significant relationships between the variables. The same kind of investigation was conducted on maximum noradrenaline and dopamine levels recorded during partner and stranger touch. These correlation studies, since they exhibited p values > 0.05, and small r coefficients,suggested that the relationships, between the variables mentioned above, were non-significant. To conclude, affective touch, from a loved one, is thought to affect dopamine endogenous release. Nevertheless, additional research is needed in order to establish more robust conclusions.

The phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K) catalytic subunit p110α is the most frequently mutated kinase in human cancer, and the hot spot mutations E542K, E545K, and H1047R are the most common mutations in p110α. Very little is known about the metabolic consequences of the hot spot mutations of p110α in vivo. In this study, we used adenoviral gene transfer in mice to investigate the effects of the E545K and H1047R mutations on hepatic and whole-body glucose metabolism. We show that hepatic expression of these hot spot mutations results in rapid hepatic steatosis, paradoxically accompanied by increased glucose tolerance, and marked glycogen accumulation. In contrast, wild-type p110α expression does not lead to hepatic accumulation of lipids or glycogen despite similar degrees of upregulated glycolysis and expression of lipogenic genes. The reprogrammed metabolism of the E545K and H1047R p110α mutants was surprisingly not dependent on altered p110α lipid kinase activity.

This project had a focus on the effect of digitoxin on inflammation in cancer Panc-1 cell line compared to BxPC-3 cell line. Pancreatic cancer, especially the form pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth cause for cancer deaths, seen in the Western world. The progression and the initiation of the disease is a consequence of an interplay between genetic and inflammation events that are linked. Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside with effect on various cancer types. Panc-1 cells and BxPC-3 cells were treated with different concentrations of digitoxin for 48 hours. Cell viability was measured, ELISA to measure expression of pro-IL-1β and IL-1β, since they are involved in the pathway and qPCR to measure gene expression. Gene expression was done to see if digitoxin affected the genes in the inflammasome pathway. The cell viability decreased with increasing concentration of digitoxin for both cell lines. TNFα was mostly downregulated in both Panc-1 and BxPC-3. NF-κB was upregulated in both cell lines. IL-1β was upregulated in BxPC-3 while gene expression was not seen in Panc-1. Lastly, IL-18 was downregulated in Panc-1, but upregulated in BxPC-3. A downregulation of IL-1β protein expression was seen in Panc-1 and in BxPC-3, a downregulation of pro IL-1β in Panc-1 and a downregulation of pro IL-1β in BxPC-3 was seen in ELISA. This study might provide an insight that is valuable for the researchers in the future to treat cancer from the perspective of an immune disorder.

Cancer relapse in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients receiving bone marrow transplantation can be predicted with measurable residual disease (MRD), by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR). ddPCR quantifies genomic DNA molecules in an absolute manner using end-point amplification. This work aims to demonstrate that ddPCR assay evaluation can be conducted with fewer healthy donor controls compared to methods for relative quantification. The hypothesis is further studied by applying the total error computed in the ddPCR system as a threshold for background noise in personalized assays. Ten assays for detecting MRD markers were evaluated in an optimized PCR-plate setup for accuracy and reproducibility of background in negative controls. Additionally, data analysis of negative controls collected from patient tests complied to the empirical limit of blank based on false - positive counts, in each assay. The findings indicate that the optimized setup accurately determines background noise, and empirical cutoffs for individualized assays are reliable for performance evaluations. This study supports ddPCR integration into clinical settings for personalized mutation analyses in MDS, providing an optimized setup and alternative metrics of evaluating assay performance in respect to the absolute quantification methodology.

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that can cause various health issues of different magnitudes. Recent findings have shown oxytocin’s involvement in regulating feeding behavior. Oxytocin communicates with the brain through circulation or nerves to signal satiety, consequently suppressing food intake. This suggests a potential treatment for obesity using oxytocin. Gastrointestinal tract was hypothesized to be a peripheral source of oxytocin system, thus expression of Oxt and Oxtr was investigated using 6GIT tissues of 12 male and 12 female rats, among which 6 were fasted for 16 hours and 6 were re-fed for 45 minutes. Then qPCR was performed to detect expressions. Oxt was not detected in any tissues while Oxtr was detected in the cecum and distal stomach in the original experiment and all tissues in the validation. In the original experiment, no significant differences in Oxtr expression between feeding conditions in male (p=1.000) and female (p=0.589) and between sexes in fasted (p=0.818) and re-fed (p=0.937) conditions were found in cecum. The validation showed no significant difference in Oxtr expression between sexes (p=0.293). Lastly, no significant differences in Oxtr expression between sexes in cecum (p=0.385; 95% CI= -5.589/2.685) and distal stomach (p=0.368; 95% CI= -3.451/1.605) were found. In conclusion, Oxt was not detected in the 6 GIT tissues while Oxtr was detected, however no significant differences were found to support food intake modulates Oxt and Oxtr expressions. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of anorexigenic effect of oxytocin to be utilized as a potential treatment for obesity.

Neuroblastoma is one of the most enigmatic solid tumors for scientists and pediatric oncologists. Neuroblastoma is primary a childhood form of cancer, consisting of neuroectodermal cells that originate from the neural crest and is destined for the  adrenal medulla and sympathetic nervous system. The Neuroblastoma group at The University of Gothenburg received formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded  tumor samples from Vietnam and this project was to examine if the quality of the DNA from, is good enough to run comparative genome hybridization array experiment  on by using a cheaper technique Multiplex  Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification   technique. Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MRC Holland) is a multiplex PCR method that can detect abnormalities such as deletions and amplifications. By using probes consisting of one short synthetic arm with a PCR primer sequence Y at the 3´end, and one long probe with a stuffer sequence, and a PCR primer sequence X at the 5´end that can hybridize and ligate. If these probes ligate it is possible to amplify them by PCR just using specific primers for the X and Y sequences. The resulting amplification products can then be analyzed bycapillary electrophoresis. These patient that the DNA was derived from had all stage 4  neuroblastoma, and that is why they all present many aberrations. Among the fascinating data from this experiment, there are many patients with both 11q  deletions and has an extreme amplification of MYCN. In Sweden only a few cases has been discovered. In this material even though all patients are stage 4 patients, 16 have this combination.   

Human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) constitute an appealing tool for drug discovery, disease modeling, and cardiotoxicity screening. However, their physiological immaturity, resembling CMs in the late fetal stage, limits their utility. Herein, we have developed a novel, scalable cell culture medium designed to enhance the maturation of hPSC-CMs. This medium facilitates a metabolic shift towards fatty acid utilization and augments mitochondrial function by targeting Acetyl-CoA carboxylase 2 (ACC2) with a specific small molecule inhibitor. Our findings demonstrate that this maturation protocol significantly advances the metabolic, structural, molecular and functional maturity of hPSC-CMs at various stages of differentiation. Furthermore, it enables the creation of cardiac microtissues with superior structural integrity and contractile properties. Notably, hPSC-CMs cultured in this optimized maturation medium display increased accuracy in modeling a hypertrophic cardiac phenotype following acute endothelin-1 induction and show a strong correlation between in vitro and in vivo target engagement in drug screening efforts. This approach holds promise for improving the utility and translatability of hPSC-CMs in cardiac disease modeling and drug discovery. 

Myosin storage myopathy is a protein aggregate myopathy associated with the characteristic subsarcolemmal accumulation of myosin heavy chain in muscle fibers. Despite similar histological findings, the clinical severity and age of onset are highly variable, ranging from no weakness to severe impairment of ambulation, and usually childhood-onset to onset later in life. Mutations located in the distal end of the tail of slow/beta-cardiac myosin heavy chain are associated with myosin storage myopathy. Four missense mutations (L1793P, R1845W, E1883K and H1901L), two of which have been reported in several unrelated families, are located within or closed to the assembly competence domain. This location is critical for the proper assembly of sarcomeric myosin rod filaments. To assess the mechanisms leading to protein aggregation in myosin storage myopathy and to evaluate the impact of these mutations on myosin assembly and muscle function, we expressed mutated myosin proteins in cultured human muscle cells and in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. While L1793P mutant myosin protein efficiently incorporated into the sarcomeric thick filaments, R1845W and H1901L mutants were prone to formation of myosin aggregates without assembly into striated sarcomeric thick filaments in cultured muscle cells. In C. elegans, mutant alleles of the myosin heavy chain gene unc-54 corresponding to R1845W, E1883K and H1901L, were as effective as the wild-type myosin gene in rescuing the null mutant worms, indicating that they retain functionality. Taken together, our results suggest that the basis for the pathogenic effect of the R1845W and H1901L mutations are primarily structural rather than functional. Further analyses are needed to identify the primary trigger for the histological changes seen in muscle biopsies of patients with L1793P and E1883K mutations.

Organisms are constantly exposed to microorganisms, some of which can cause disease, and yet, sickness only rarely occurs. Upon infection, the immune system is mobilized to eliminate the threat and re-establish homeostasis. The innate immune system, or “first line of defense”, is responsible for detecting infection and subsequently initiating inflammation. An important mediator of this process is the NLRP3 inflammasome, a molecular hub that coordinates the propagation of the immune response. Specifically, through the secretion of interleukins 1 and 18. These structurally related proteins are known to be secreted via unconventional pathways, however, the specificity of this matter remains inconclusive. One form of secretion suggested was “pyroptosis”, a form of cell death intended to enhance inflammation. The aim of this project was to quantify the secretion of structurally related interleukins-1/18 and evaluate the possible correlation with cell death over time. Samples were collected, interleukin release was quantified using sandwich ELISA and cell viability of stimulated cells was measured using the PrestoBlue assay. During prolonged inflammasome activation, IL-1 and IL-18 showed differences in their patterns of secretion and regulation. IL-1 was eventually downregulated whilst IL-18 maintained a constant increase over time. Strikingly, cell viability remained unchanged over the course of the experiment, demonstrating that pyroptosis is dispensable to the secretion of interleukins 1 and 18. Ultimately, the study of the relationship shared between these processes not only explains how immunity is founded, but also, uncovers the truths behind pathogenesis, how to prevent it and potentially find a cure for certain diseases.

The volume of point of care (POC) testing continues to grow steadily due to the increased availability of easy-to-use devices, thus making it possible to deliver less costly care closer to the patient site in a shorter time relative to the central laboratory services. A novel class of molecules called microRNAs have recently gained attention in healthcare management for their potential as biomarkers for human diseases. The increasing interest of miRNAs in clinical practice has led to an unmet need for assays that can rapidly and accurately measure miRNAs at the POC. However, the most widely used methods for analyzing miRNAs, including Northern blot-based platforms, in situ hybridization, reverse transcription qPCR, microarray, and next-generation sequencing, are still far from being used as ideal POC diagnostic tools, due to considerable time, expertize required for sample preparation, and in terms of miniaturizations making them suitable platforms for centralized labs. In this review, we highlight various existing and upcoming technologies for miRNA amplification and detection with a particular emphasis on the POC testing industries. The review summarizes different miRNA targets and signals amplification-based assays, from conventional methods to alternative technologies, such as isothermal amplification, paper-based, oligonucleotide-templated reaction, nanobead-based, electrochemical signaling-based, and microfluidic chip-based strategies. Based on critical analysis of these technologies, the possibilities and feasibilities for further development of POC testing for miRNA diagnostics are addressed and discussed.

Cell-based models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are important for increasing the knowledge of BBB formation, degradation and brain exposure of drug substances. Human models are preferred over animal models because of inter-species differences in BBB structure and function. However, access to human primary BBB tissue is limited and has shown degeneration of BBB functions in vitro. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be used to generate relevant cell types to model the BBB with human tissue. We generated a human iPSC-derived model of the BBB that includes endothelial cells in co-culture with pericytes, astrocytes and neurons. Evaluation of barrier properties showed that the endothelial cells in our co-culture model have high transendothelial electrical resistance, functional efflux and ability to discriminate between CNS permeable and non-permeable substances. Whole genome expression profiling revealed transcriptional changes that occur in co-culture, including upregulation of tight junction proteins such as claudins and neurotransmitter transporters. Pathway analysis implicated changes in the WNT, TNF and PI3K-Akt pathways upon co-culture. Our data suggests that co-culture of iPSC-derived endothelial cells promotes barrier formation on a functional and transcriptional level. The information about gene expression changes in co-culture can be used to further improve iPSC-derived BBB models through selective pathway manipulation.

Long noncoding RNAs are a highly heterogenous class of compounds and versatile regulators of the human genome. While several are identified and annotated, only a few have been functionally characterised. The Kanduri lab has established that FGFlncRNA1 is upregulated in several cancers and is involved in tumour cell proliferation and invasion. The aim of this study was to analyse the FGFlncRNA1/chemokine functional nexus in cancer. CCL20 and CXCL1 were identified as downstream targets of the lncRNA. Knockdown of the chemokines resulted in a significant reduction of proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, western blot analysis revealed the involvement of two pathways, MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT. These were detected through phosphorylated ERK and phosphorylated AKT protein levels. Overall, the present study demonstrated that FGFlncRNA1 may function as an oncogene in cancer progression by modulating CXCL1 and CCL20 activity, which assert their downstream activity through ERK and AKT signalling. This study bridges a small gap in the scientific community’s quest to decode the role of lncRNAs in cancer.

As the conventional approach to assess the potential of a chemical to cause cancer in humans still includes the 2-year rodent carcinogenicity bioassay, development of alternative methodologies is needed. In the present study, the transcriptomics responses following exposure to genotoxic (GTX) and non-genotoxic (NGTX) hepatocarcinogens and non-carcinogens (NC) in five liver-based in vitro models, namely conventional and epigenetically stabilized cultures of primary rat hepatocytes, the human hepatoma-derived cell lines HepaRG and HepG2 and human embryonic stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells, are examined. For full characterization of the systems, several bioinformatics approaches are employed including gene-based, ConsensusPathDB-based and classification analysis. They provide convincingly similar outcomes, namely that upon exposure to carcinogens, the HepaRG generates a gene classifier (a gene classifier is defined as a selected set of characteristic gene signatures capable of distinguishing GTX, NGTX carcinogens and NC) able to discriminate the GTX carcinogens from the NGTX carcinogens and NC. The other in vitro models also yield cancer-relevant characteristic gene groups for the GTX exposure, but some genes are also deregulated by the NGTX carcinogens and NC. Irrespective of the tested in vitro model, the most uniformly expressed pathways following GTX exposure are the p53 and those that are subsequently induced. The NGTX carcinogens triggered no characteristic cancer-relevant gene profiles in all liver-based in vitro systems. In conclusion, liver-based in vitro models coupled with transcriptomics techniques, especially in the case when the HepaRG cell line is used, represent valuable tools for obtaining insight into the mechanism of action and identification of GTX carcinogens.

Introduction

A medical application running outside the workstation environment has to deal with several constraints, such as reduced available memory and low network bandwidth. The aim of this paper is to present an approach to optimize the data flow for fast image transfer and visualization on mobile devices and remote stationary devices.

Methods

We use a combination of client- and server-side procedures to reduce the amount of information transferred by the application. Our approach was implemented on top of a commercial PACS and evaluated through user experiments with specialists in typical diagnosis tasks. The quality of the system outcome was measured in relation to the accumulated amount of network data transference and the amount of memory used in the host device. Besides, the system's quality of use (usability) was measured through participants’ feedback.

Results

Contrarily to previous approaches, ours keeps the application within the memory constraints, minimizing data transferring whenever possible, allowing the application to run on a variety of devices. Moreover, it does that without sacrificing the user experience. Experimental data point that over 90% of the users did not notice any delays or degraded image quality, and when they did, they did not impact on the clinical decisions.

Conclusion

The combined activities and orchestration of our methods allow the image viewer to run on resource-constrained environments, such as those with low network bandwidth or little available memory. These results demonstrate the ability to explore the use of mobile devices as a support tool in the medical workflow.

Background: Early detection of bacteria and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns are critical to guide therapeutic decision-making for optimal care of septic patients. The current gold standard, blood culturing followed by subculture on agar plates for subsequent identification, is too slow leading to excessive use of broad-spectrum antibiotic with harmful consequences for the patient and, in the long run, the public health. The aim of the present study was to assess the performance of two commercial assays, QuickFISH® (OpGen) and Maldi Sepsityper™ (Bruker Daltonics) for early and accurate identification of microorganisms directly from positive blood cultures.

Materials and methods: During two substudies of positive blood cultures, the two commercial assays were assessed against the routine method used at the clinical microbiology laboratory, Unilabs AB, at Skaraborg Hospital, Sweden.

Results: The Maldi Sepsityper™ assay enabled earlier microorganism identification. Using the cut-off for definite species identification according to the reference method (>2.0), sufficiently accurate species identification was achieved, but only among Gram-negative bacteria. The QuickFISH®assay was time-saving and showed high concordance with the reference method, 94.8% (95% CI 88.4–98.3), when the causative agent was covered by the QuickFISH® assay.

Conclusions: The use of the commercial assays may shorten the time to identification of causative agents in bloodstream infections and can be a good complement to the current clinical routine diagnostics. Nevertheless, the performance of the commercial assays is considerably affected by the characteristics of the causative agents.

An in vitro model (Nygren et al., J Lab Clin Med 129 (1997) 35-46) was used to investigate interactions between leukocytes and four modified TiO2-surfaces. Surface topography was measured using scanning electron microscopy and optical profilometry while Auger electron spectroscopy was used to determine surface composition and oxide thickness. The surfaces were either smooth or rough with either thin or thick oxides. All surfaces consisted of TiO2 covered by a carbonaceous layer. The surfaces were incubated with capillary blood for time periods of between 8 min and 32h. Immunofluorescence techniques together with computer aided image analysis and chemiluminescence technique were used to detect cell adhesion, expression of adhesion receptors and the zymosan-stimulated respiratory burst response. Leukocyte adhesion to the surfaces increased during the first hours of blood-material contact and then decreased. Polymorphonuclear granulocytes were the dominating leukocytes on all surfaces followed by monocytes. Cells adhering to rough surfaces had higher normalized expression of adhesive receptors than cells on smooth surfaces. Maximum respiratory burst response occurred earlier on the smooth than on the rough surfaces. In conclusion, topography had a greater impact than oxide thickness on most cellular reactions investigated, but the latter often had a dampening effect on the responses. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transcriptional profile of spermatozoa can be used to assess male fertility; differences in spermatozoa attributes require adjustment of protocols for RNA isolation. Ten RNA precipitation modifications of heated TRIzol protocol were applied to total RNA extraction form bull spermatozoa. Motile spermatozoa were isolated from cryopreserved semen straws prepared from an ejaculate of a fertile bull. To evaluate total RNA purity and quantity, Ribogreen RNA detection system and Nanodrop 2000 were used. In RiboGreen assay, a consistent standard curve was not obtained, thus the measurements were ignored. Total RNA purity and concentrations also were assessed using Nanodrop. The A260/280 ratio obtained from Nanodrop showed a good range in the isolated total RNA samples (1.9±0.4). However, all RNA samples presented very low A260/230 ratios (≥1.26). It might be the effect of low concentration of the isolated total RNA. Statistical analysis of total RNA concentrations showed using manufacturer standard protocol had the highest concentration yield. Using either ethanol or Isopropanol as RNA precipitant and changing the incubation temperature had not significant effect on RNA concentration yields. However incubating samples in freezer overnight lowered the total RNA concentration. Using glycogen as a RNA carrier increased the total RNA precipitation yield. In other similar studies the highest total RNA concentration was obtained by using RNA carrier. Validating these findings by qRT-PCR and Bioanalyser might be helpful to enhance the total RNA extraction yield from bull sperm as well as for subsequent genomic studies of bull fertility.

Microphysiological systems (MPS) may be able to provide the pharmaceutical industry models that can reflect human physiological responses to improve drug discovery and translational outcomes. With lack of efficacy being the primary cause for drug attrition, developing MPS disease models would help researchers identify novel targets, study mechanisms in more physiologically-relevant depth, screen for novel biomarkers and test/optimize various therapeutics (small molecules, nanoparticles and biologics). Furthermore, with advances in inducible pluripotent stem cell technology (iPSC), pharmaceutical companies can access cells from patients to help recreate specific disease phenotypes in MPS platforms. Combining iPSC and MPS technologies will contribute to our understanding of the complexities of neurodegenerative diseases and of the blood brain barrier (BBB) leading to development of enhanced therapeutics. © 2018

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting women of reproductive age. The major features of PCOS include polycystic cysts, excess androgens, and polycystic ovaries. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is an androgen, and when in excess causes associated with PCOS used to induce PCOS in animal models. In excess, DHT is associated with PCOS features. This study aimed to induce PCOS-like symptoms in Drosophila Melanogaster by supplementing DHT in the diet. The reproductive and metabolic features of PCOS were investigated. Fecundity rates, triglyceride levels, and gene expression levels of Toll and Med genes were assessed. The mean levels of triglycerides (P=0.023) had significantly increased in the high-dose DHT group (F2 generation). The mean expression levels (P=0.02) of the Toll gene were significantly increased in the low-dose DHT group. The treatment of DHT, however, did not affect the fecundity rates of the Drosophila. These findings suggest that DHT induces PCOS-associated metabolic features of lipid alterations and chronic low-grade inflammation. Assessment of the impact on fertility did not give conclusive results thus additional methodologies could be considered in studying the reproductive function. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study highlight the potential of using Drosophila as a model in PCOS research.

Today, biomaterials such as polytetrafluorethylene (ePTFE) are used clinically as prosthetic grafts for vascular surgery of large vessels (>5 mm). In small diameter vessels, however, their performance is poor due to early thrombosis. Bacterial-derived cellulose (BC) is a new promising material as a replacement for blood vessels. This material is highly biocompatible in vivo but shows poor cell adhesion. In the native blood vessel, the endothelium creates a smooth non-thrombogenic surface. In order to sustain cell adhesion, BC has to be modified. With a novel xyloglucan (XG) glycoconjugate method, it is possible to introduce the cell adhesion peptide RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) onto bacterial cellulose. The advantage of the XG-technique is that it is an easy one-step procedure carried out in water and it does not weaken or alter the fiber structure of the hydrogel. In this study, BC was modified with XG and XGRGD to asses primary human vascular endothelial cell adhesion, proliferation, and metabolism as compared with unmodified BC. This XG-RGD-modification significantly increased cell adhesion and the metabolism of seeded primary endothelial cells as compared with unmodified BC whereas the proliferation rate was affected only to some extent. The introduction of an RGD-peptide to the BC surface further resulted in enhanced cell spreading with more pronounced stress fiber formation and mature phenotype. This makes BC together with the XG-method a promising material for synthetic grafts in vascular surgery and cardiovascular research.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe CNS injury with irreversible recovery of functions in mammalian species and consequent detrimental of social and psychological condition. It accounts for major economic resources in healthcare and current therapies of engrafting transplantation of in vitro neural cultures do not lead to functional recovery. Senescence has been shown as a dormant state where cells secrete several factors into the environment before they become phagocytized and cleared. These senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors have been shown as crucial in the development and regeneration processes, and therefore new studies are taking place to understand if inducing the cellular senescence program is therapeutically beneficial at lesion sites. Here, we analysed the regeneration of the caudal fin of the zebrafish, which is a vertebrate model capable of regenerating tissue leading to full recovery. By quantifying proportion of senescent cells through several time points of caudal fin regeneration, through SA-β-gal staining, we assessed if there are differences between normal non-injured tissue and the regenerating and full regenerated tissue. It was revealed that the number of senescent cells increase during the regeneration process, but they become effectively cleared upon the fin is almost full regenerated. Although this confirms that there is in fact a development-programmed senescence (DPS) during regeneration, the proportion of cells after regeneration was lower than the non-injured tissue, which may be interest for the study of age-related senescence.

Antiretroviral drugs have revolutionized HIV care and enabled better management of the infection thus allowing patients survive for many years. One proposed approach to increase access to such drugs in sub-Saharan Africa is to use of a reduced-dose alternative of the drug efavirenz, with 400 mg rather than regular 600 mg dose. This effectively would provide medication for 50 percent more persons with the same amount of active ingredient. However, antiretroviral drugs require high patient adherence to achieve intended therapeutic effect, and it is unclear if a reduced-dose therapy would have sufficient efficacy, and if it would lead to an increased risk of viral resistance.

The time profile of drug plasma concentration and corresponding long-term viral load was estimated using integrated population PK/PD simulations, with model parameters based on selected research studies. The results suggest a reduced dose 400 mg, rather than 600 mg regular dose, efavirenz in HIV therapy would place strict demands on patients to maintain very high adherence levels, at least 80-90 percent, to maintain sufficient drug concentration in blood plasma, and to minimize risk of viral failure. However, it is relatively rare for HIV therapy programs in sub-Saharan Africa to consistently achieve such high adherence levels. In addition, if patients are co-administered rifampin, a drug widely used in TB care, this increases hepatic metabolism and plasma clearance rate, resulting in further reduced average drug plasma concentration. These findings suggest a reduced dose efavirenz treatment alternative may be most (only) relevant for patient categories expected to maintain high adherence; and in particular among persons who have been confirmed to have CYP2B6 genotype consistent with inherently lower drug metabolism. At usual adherence levels it is estimated a reduced dose alternative may increase the share of patients at risk of viral failure by 5 to 15 percent vs. regular dose of 600 mg.

A process called class switching recombination (CSR) regulates the production of isotypes by enabling the switch of producing unspecific IgM or IgD to producing IgG, IgE, or IgA by causing an irreversible genomic rearrangement. Recent studies indicate a gap in the identification of the molecular mechanisms underlying CSR. This interdisciplinary project between bioinformatics and immunology aims to shed light onto these mechanisms and highlight differences in physicochemical properties in the B-cell repertoire to identify factors contributing to the decline in immune response with age and its relationships to CSR. The project is developed in line with the hypothesis that effective immune responses, and their resolution, require coordinated action from multiple different subclasses of antibodies. This is enabled by improvements in the high throughput sequencing techniques, which allows the B-cell repertoire to be revealed. The most variable portion of antibody molecules is the third complementarity determining region (CDR3) of the heavy chain. Hence, differences in hydrophobicity, pK value of the C-terminus peptide fragment, and the length of CDR3 were identified and accounted as factors that contribute to the decline in the immune response with age. Our understanding of how the immune response alters with age, is important for research applications in designing tailored vaccine strategies to ensure safety and efficacy. Development of in silico tools for the analysis of the B-cell repertoire is useful in extracting principles and functioning mechanisms that can be tested experimentally, helping in further characterizing CSR.

Sequencing patients’ genomes is necessary for understanding the genetic basis of diseases and facilitating their diagnosis. New-generation sequencing tools revolutionized human genome sequencing by reducing expenses and duration for correct diagnosis. By increasing the number of human genomes sequenced, new-generation sequencing allowed the creation of genome databases that are extremely useful for the diagnosis of rare genetic diseases. The study aimed to identify the gene/s responsible for a rare genetic disease in a six-year-old child born from a consanguineous marriage. The analysis of variants within the proband’s genome via whole exome sequencing revealed multiple potentially deleterious variants across various genes linked to the patient’s symptoms and implicated as possible cause of the disease. The QCI translational analysis revealed that these gene variants were both rare and homozygous, with detrimental impact on the protein production. The review of published articles on these genes as a complementary strategy to the QCI analysis indicated these genes as plausible disease-causing candidates associated with the rare genetic condition in the patient. The future direction of the study points towards further examinations, including segregation and gene expression analyses, for validating the candidate genes.

Human pleasant touches promote feelings of security, supportiveness, and wellbeing. Conversely, human unpleasant touches promote the body for either “fight or flight” or “short term acute stress” during emergencies, feeling of stress or danger. The promoted stress response is released from the hypothalamus by the sympathetic nerve system further to the spinal cord to reach the signals to the adrenal medulla, where stress hormones adrenaline is released. Adrenaline, which is characterized by a mimic sympathetic nerve system, interacts with α and β receptors on different organs. The aim for this study was to investigate whether the stroker (partner/stranger) touch effects on adrenaline hormone releases. The null hypothesis for this study entails a significant adrenaline reduction in partners’ touches compared with strangers’ touches. Indirect competitive ELISA method was used, and concentration data of a total of sixteen participants was obtained. Whitney-U test was carried out to compare group differences within stroker (stranger/partner) touches and adrenaline releasing level. In addition, correlation in adrenaline with noradrenaline and oxytocin hormones was obtained using Spearman’s correlation test. The significant p-value 0.05 was conducted. The result of this study showed no differences between stroker (partner/stranger) associated with adrenaline hormone release. Correlation between partner maximum (max) concentration data for both oxytocin and adrenaline had significant differences. However, max variables for adrenaline and noradrenaline within stroker did not show significant differences. The conclusion of this study is that the gentle touch stimulus used in this study was not enough to detect stress hormone in adrenaline.

In this project cancer was viewed as a metabolic disorder. The study focused on the effect of synthetic muscone on PANC-1 cells. Synthetic muscone is a ketone. Some cancers lack the potential to metabolise ketone bodies, mainly due to mitochondrial dysfunction. The Warburg effect is a biochemical phenomenon in which cancer cells favour metabolism through glycolysis instead of oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP. The cells were treated with various concentrations of muscone for 24 and 48 hours. Three different assays were chosen to assess the effects of the treatment. These included an MTS-Assay to estimate the cell-viability, a Lactate-Glo kit to assess the lactate production after the treatment and Caspase 3/7 assay for the apoptotic effects of the treatment. Lactate is the end product of glycolysis, thus its decrease could be an indication of an effective treatment. Instead, the lactate produced exhibited an increasing tendency. Caspase activity was increased for concentration 500μΜ, whilst no effect was noted for the remaining concentrations tested. Expression of genes involved in glycolysis (HK2, GAPDH & PKM2), apoptotic pathways (CYCS), mitochondrial function (TFAM) and ketolytic activities (BDH1 & OXCT1) were chosen to be tested for a better understanding of the results derived from the assays. The expression of CYCS was in accordance with the findings of the MTS and Caspase assays for concentration 500μΜ, making its investigation promising for future research. Due to time restrictions most experiments were conducted once, thus no safe conclusions could be reached. However, we expect this pilot study to provide valuable insight for future researchers who aim to approach cancer treatment from a metabolic perspective.

Hepatocytes derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC-HEP) have the potential to replace presently used hepatocyte sources applied in liver disease treatment and models of drug discovery and development. Established hepatocyte differentiation protocols are effective and generate hepatocytes, which recapitulate some key features of their in vivo counterparts. However, generating mature hPSC-HEP remains a challenge. In this study, we applied transcriptomics to investigate the progress of in vitro hepatic differentiation of hPSCs at the developmental stages, definitive endoderm, hepatoblasts, early hPSC-HEP, and mature hPSC-HEP, to identify functional targets that enhance efficient hepatocyte differentiation. Using functional annotation, pathway and protein interaction network analyses, we observed the grouping of differentially expressed genes in specific clusters representing typical developmental stages of hepatic differentiation. In addition, we identified hub proteins and modules that were involved in the cell cycle process at early differentiation stages. We also identified hub proteins that differed in expression levels between hPSC-HEP and the liver tissue controls. Moreover, we identified a module of genes that were expressed at higher levels in the liver tissue samples than in the hPSC-HEP. Considering that hub proteins and modules generally are essential and have important roles in the protein-protein interactions, further investigation of these genes and their regulators may contribute to a better understanding of the differentiation process. This may suggest novel target pathways and molecules for improvement of hPSC-HEP functionality, having the potential to finally bring this technology to a wider use.

Limb girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMD) are a group of muscular dystrophies characterised by wastage of distal skeletal muscles, with patients’ walking ability often progressively weakening over time. The majority of LGMDs follow an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. This thesis project analysed the exome data of three unrelated individuals from the Middle East who were born of consanguineous unions. The individuals presented with recessively inherited muscular dystrophies. The aim of this project was to identify the underlying cause of the muscular dystrophy using next generation sequencing. Exome analysis, filtering for rare variants predicted as damaging using in silico predictive tools SIFT, Polyphen-2, MutationTaster, CADD, and homozygosity mapping followed by literature research identified potential homozygous causal variants in dysferlin, DYSF (NM_003494.3) c.4820T>C [p.Ile1607Thr], Activating Transcription Factor 6 Beta, ATF6B (NM_001136153.1) c.1793A>C [p.His598Leu], and Fibulin 2, FBLN2 (NM_001004019.1) c.3539G>A [p.Arg1180His]. In order to substantiate the supporting evidence of pathogenicity for the novel variants identified in this project, co-segregation analysis must be performed. Further exome studies investigating the presence of damaging variants of these genes in LGMD families is required in order to establish a stronger association between the novel genes identified in this thesis and LGMD. Finally, future studies involving knockdown experiments of the novel genes in Danio rerio (Zebrafish) so as to observe its effect on muscle tissue is recommended.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) functions as an energy expenditure organ through facilitating adaptive thermogenesis in the body. The process occurs in mitochondria where UCP-1 uncouples oxidative phosphorylation in aerobic respiration which causes loss of protons and leads to the generation of heat instead of ATP. Activation of BAT allows increasing energy expenditure and improving weight control. Therefore, since the rediscovery of metabolically active BAT in adults, it’s targeting/activation has been suggested to combat metabolic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. One approach has been adiponectin replacement therapy which has given contradictory findings regarding adiponectin’s effects in BAT. Therefore, the current project studied BAT structure and function in APNtg mice with elevated levels of adiponectin. Results showed larger tissue in APNtg mice compared to control mice which should indicate improvement in energy homeostasis. This was studied through morphology findings via different stainings and RT-PCR, and mitochondrial activity via UCP-1 protein expression. All results in the current study indicated disruption of enlarged BAT structure in APNtg mice, which could hinder healthy tissue growth and lead to metabolic challenges inside the tissue. Problems with BAT functionality was shown to be compensated through browning and increased mitochondrial activity in white adipose tissue in response to cold-exposure. In conclusion, the current study proposes that enlarged BAT in APNtg mice is not fully functional and the need for thermoregulation might enhance browning and beige cell activation in white adipose tissue in these mice.

Affective touch represents a key type of social interaction within human relationships and is thus involved in emotional well-being and social attachment. It provokes the synthesis and release of oxytocin (OXT), a neuropeptide associated with the creation and maintenance of social bonds. This study aims to investigate the possible relationships between several genetic polymorphisms -two OXTR SNPs (rs53576 and rs2254298) and four HPA-axis related SNPs (NR3C1 rs41423247, SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR, HTR1A rs6295, and FKBP5 rs1360780)- and the release of plasma oxytocin in response to affective touch. Blood samples were collected from 42 healthy female volunteers while two social interactions were taking place; they received affective touches from both their romantic partner and a stranger, in a randomized order to also check on the impact of social context (data already collected in a previous related research). PCR-RFLPanalysis was performed to genotype the SNP specifically selected in this study (rs2254298), and statistical analyses were conducted to explore these associations taking into consideration if the person touching is the romantic partner or a stranger. Our results show that these SNPs do not appear to be related to the plasma oxytocin response to affective touch, regardless of the toucher and the social context. These findings suggest that the SNPs studied do not have any influence in the oxytocin response in the context analysed and, therefore, could be discarded from further studies or, in contrast, investigated in other oxytocin-related scenarios. Nevertheless, duplication of results in a similar study with bigger data size is recommended.

The NLRP3 inflammasome is an intracellular multiprotein complex described to be involved in both an effective host response to infectious agents and various diseases. Investigation into the NLRP3 inflammasome has been extensive in the past two decades, and often revolves around the analysis of a few specific readouts, including ASC-speck formation, caspase-1 cleavage or activation, and cleavage and release of IL-1β and/or IL-18. Quantification of these readouts is commonly undertaken as an endpoint analysis, where the presence of each positive outcome is assessed independently of the others. In this study, we apply time-resolved analysis of a human macrophage model (differentiated THP-1-ASC-GFP cells) to commonly accessible methods. This approach yields the additional quantifiable metrics time-resolved absolute change and acceleration, allowing comparisons between readouts. Using this methodological approach, we reveal (potential) discrepancies between inflammasome-related readouts that otherwise might go undiscovered. The study highlights the importance of time-resolved data in general and may be further extended as well as incorporated into other areas of research.