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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2007.02.038 Byline: Isa Niemann (1), Lone Sunde (1), Lone K. Petersen (2) Keywords: hydatidiform mole; persistent trophoblastic disease; twin pregnancy Abstract: This study was undertaken to evaluate the risk of persistent trophoblastic disease and obstetric complications related to a multiple pregnancy comprising a diploid hydatidiform mole and normal cofetus(es). Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Clinical Genetics, University Hospital of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark (2) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark. Article History: Received 24 August 2006; Revised 20 November 2006; Accepted 26 February 2007 Article Note: (footnote) This study was supported by the Research Initiative of University Hospital of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark. Reprints not available from the authors. Cite this article as: Niemann I, Sunde L, Petersen LK. Evaluation of the risk of persistent trophoblastic disease after twin pregnancy with diploid hydatidiform mole and coexisting normal fetus. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2007;197:45.e1-45.e5.

The immunogenicity profile of the 9-valent HPV (9vHPV) vaccine was evaluated across five phase III clinical studies conducted in girls and boys 9–15 years of age and young women 16–26 years of age. The effect of baseline characteristics of subjects on vaccine-induced HPV antibody responses was assessed.

The β‐amyloid peptide (βA4), derived from a larger amyloid precursor protein, is the principal component of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease. Here we report that the full‐length (1–40) synthetic βA4 peptide, containing one glutamine and two lysine residues, is able to form homopolymers in a transglutaminase‐mediated reaction. Moreover, transglutaminase catalysed the formation of heteropolymers in reactions of βA4 with α2M receptor, a constituent of amyloid plaques, and with extracellular matrix proteins. Incorporation of site‐specific probes followed by enzymatic digestion and sequencing of tracer‐containing fractions demonstrated that both Lys16, Lys28and Gin15in βA4 were susceptible to cross‐linking by transglutaminase.

Plasmin is the major endogenous protease present in milk. The level of plasmin activity is controlled by the availability of the precursor plasminogen and by the levels of plasminogen activators and inhibitors. Recently, a differential distribution of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) has been demonstrated in bovine milk. To assess whether this distribution pattern is a general feature, the occurrence of components of the plasminogen activation system in different fractions of human milk was investigated.

This study was undertaken to determine the presence of any residue-positive meat and urine samples from live sheep in the State of Kuwait market by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method and to examine the accuracy and precision of the method. A total of 350 samples, including 230 sheep urine, 30 beef meat and 90 chicken, were subjected, after extraction, to an ELISA for the determination of their contents of the androgenic hormone, trenbolone acetate. The results obtained showed that the trenbolone acetate levels in the urine ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 ng/ml and in the muscle tissue from 0.02 to 0.05 ng/g all of which are below the maximum residue levels accepted (2.0 ng/g) by FAO/WHO. The mean recovery and CV, respectively, ranged from 36.7% and 5.8 (spiking level to 0.2 ng/g) to 49.6% and 10.4 (spiking level 1.5 ng/g). These results were confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (GC-MS). Based on the data obtained, it was concluded that ELISA can be used safely for screening purposes, however, any suspect sample must also be analysed by GC-MS to exclude any false positive identifications.

The 39-kDa receptor-associated protein (RAP) is an intracellular glycoprotein that interacts with hitherto unknown sites in several members of the low-density-lipoprotein receptor gene family. Upon binding to these receptors, RAP inhibits all ligand interactions with the receptors. In the present study, the transglutaminase-catalyzed incorporation of radioactively labeled putrescine and a dansylated glutamine-containing peptide into human RAP has been studied. The results indicate the presence of both glutamine and lysine residues in RAP, accessible for transglutaminase cross-linking. Moreover, enzymatic digestion followed by sequence analysis of radiolabeled fractions demonstrated that Gln261acts as the amine acceptor site. This residue is located in the third domain of RAP and is conserved among the RAP interspecies homologues. Insertion of a reporter group into the protein could prove useful to assess ligand/receptor interactions.

We here report that the Mr40,000 receptor associated protein (RAP), previously found to bind to α2‐macroglobulin receptor/low density lipoprotein receptor related protein (α2MR/LRP) and glycoprotein 330 (gp330), binds to an Mr, 105,000 membrane protein from bovine mammary gland, human mamma tumors and mammary epithelial cell lines. We have purified this protein from bovine and human sources. N‐terminal amino acid sequencing and immunoblotting analyses showed that the protein was identical or closely related to very low density lipoprotein receptor (VLDL‐R). Experiments with the human mamma carcinoma cell line MCF‐7 showed that this receptor was able to mediate an efficient endocytosis of RAP. These novel findings strongly suggest that RAP functions as a modulator of ligand binding to VLDL‐R, similarly to α2MR/LRP and gp330.

As the demands for food products of high quality increase, it will become more important to be able to modify the properties of food proteins. One possibility is to use enzymic modifications to improve functional properties and nutritional values. A highly efficient class of enzymic crosslinkers are transglutaminases (TG, EC 2.3.2.13), calcium-dependent enzymes that catalyse an acyl transfer reaction between protein-bound glutaminyl residues and primary amines (for review, see Aeschlimann & Paulsson, 1994). When protein-bound lysyl residues act as acyl acceptors, the reaction leads to the formation of intramolecular and/or intermolecular isopeptide bonds. Although a wide variety of amines such as putrescine, cadaverine or lysyl residues may act as amine donors in this reaction, only a limited number of glutamine residues in certain proteins will act as amine acceptors (Gorman & Folk, 1980). Ikura et al. (1981, 1985) reported that TG can be used to introduce methionine into casein and soyabean proteins and lysine into wheat gluten, thereby showing that TG can also be utilized to improve the nutritional value of food proteins. There have been a number of reports concerning the TG-mediated polymerization of food proteins such as α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin (Aboumahmoud & Savello, 1990; Færgemand et al. 1997), soyabean proteins and casein components (Ikura et al. 1980a, b) and pea legumin (Larré et al. 1993). Recently, improved protein foaming capacity and stability have been demonstrated in TG-catalysed polymers of soyabean protein and whey protein isolate (Yildirim et al. 1996). Bovine PP3 (for review, see Girardet & Linden, 1996) is a phosphorylated glycoprotein isolated from the proteose peptone fraction of milk (Sørensen & Petersen, 1993a). The primary structure of PP3 has been determined (Sørensen & Petersen, 1993b) and comprises a polypeptide backbone of 135 amino acid residues containing five phosphorylated serines, two threonine-linked O-glycosylations, and one N-glycosylation. Immunological studies have shown that PP3 is present in the milk fat globule membrane, and that PP3 forms multimeric aggregates in bovine milk (Sørensen et al. 1997). Several functions have been suggested and investigated for bovine PP3 and fractions enriched with PP3, including emulsification (Shimizu et al. 1989), inhibition of lipolysis (Girardet et al. 1993) and mitogenesis (Mati et al. 1993). Previously, we have localized the potential TG-reactive glutamines in the four bovine caseins (Christensen et al. 1996) and in milk osteopontin (Sørensen et al. 1994). In the present study we have shown that component PP3 is a substrate for guinea-pig liver TG containing both reactive glutamine and lysine residues. In addition, we have localized the glutamine residues that act as amine acceptors.

To describe a case of lightning injury restricted to the eyes and facial skin.Case history describing the clinical examination of a 54-year-old woman.Following a lightning stroke the patient suffered from a sharply demarcated facial skin burn and bilateral iridocyclitis with raised intraocular pressure. Initially she had amnesia regarding the incident. She recovered on symptomatic treatment, with dry eyes as the only sequela.We suggest that a lightning current travelled over the outside of the patient's body facilitated by her wet raincoat, a so-called flash-over. Thereby, she was spared from more severe injury, and only the exposed areas of the face and eyes were affected.