Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Nov 2011
Comparative StudyReciprocal seasonal variation in vitamin D status and tuberculosis notifications in Cape Town, South Africa.
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-uninfected people in Europe, but it is not known whether such an association exists among HIV-infected people in subtropical Africa. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine whether vitamin D deficiency was associated with susceptibility to active TB in HIV-uninfected (n = 196) and HIV-infected (n = 174) black Africans in Cape Town, South Africa. We also investigated whether there was evidence of seasonal variation in vitamin D status and TB notifications in this setting over an 8-y period. ⋯ Reciprocal seasonal variation in TB notifications was observed: The mean number of TB notifications per quarter for Cape Town in 2003 to 2010 was lowest in April through June and highest in October through December (4,222 vs. 5,080; P < 0.001). Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among black Africans in Cape Town and is associated with susceptibility to active TB both in the presence and absence of HIV infection. Reciprocal seasonal variation in serum 25(OH)D concentration and TB notifications suggests that seasonal variations in vitamin D status and TB incidence in this setting are causally related.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Nov 2011
Biography Historical ArticleLennart Philipson: A fighter is gone.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Nov 2011
Correction of the F508del-CFTR protein processing defect in vitro by the investigational drug VX-809.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene that impair the function of CFTR, an epithelial chloride channel required for proper function of the lung, pancreas, and other organs. Most patients with CF carry the F508del CFTR mutation, which causes defective CFTR protein folding and processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, resulting in minimal amounts of CFTR at the cell surface. One strategy to treat these patients is to correct the processing of F508del-CFTR with small molecules. ⋯ F508del-CFTR corrected by VX-809 exhibited biochemical and functional characteristics similar to normal CFTR, including biochemical susceptibility to proteolysis, residence time in the plasma membrane, and single-channel open probability. VX-809 was more efficacious and selective for CFTR than previously reported CFTR correctors. VX-809 represents a class of CFTR corrector that specifically addresses the underlying processing defect in F508del-CFTR.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Nov 2011
Mania-like behavior induced by genetic dysfunction of the neuron-specific Na+,K+-ATPase α3 sodium pump.
Bipolar disorder is a debilitating psychopathology with unknown etiology. Accumulating evidence suggests the possible involvement of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase dysfunction in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. ⋯ The mood-stabilizing drugs lithium and valproic acid, specific ERK inhibitor SL327, rostafuroxin, and transgenic expression of a functional Na(+),K(+)-ATPase α3 protein rescue the mania-like phenotype of Myshkin mice. These findings establish Myshkin mice as a unique model of mania, reveal an important role for Na(+),K(+)-ATPase α3 in the control of mania-like behavior, and identify Na(+),K(+)-ATPase α3, its physiological regulators and downstream signal transduction pathways as putative targets for the design of new antimanic therapies.