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With this analysis we would like to raise some issues that emerge as a result of recent evolutions in the burgeoning field of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based product (HCT/P) transplantation, and this in the light of the current EU regulatory framework. This paper is intended as an open letter addressed to the EU policy makers, who will be charged with the review and revision of the current legislation. We propose some urgent corrections or additions to cope with the rapid advances in biomedical science, an extensive commercialization of HCT/Ps, and the growing expectation of the general public regarding the ethical use of altruistically donated cells and tissues. Without a sound wake-up call, the diverging interests of this newly established 'healthcare' industry and the wellbeing of humanity will likely lead to totally unacceptable situations, like some of which we are reporting here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although rats (Rattus rattusorRattus norvegicus) worldwide have been found to carry Seoul hantavirus, there are at present only a very few reports of confirmed human Seoul hantavirus infections outside Asia, where the virus, in certain areas, is responsible for approximately 25% of the human hantavirus infections. In Europe, no confirmed human infections outside laboratories have been described, and although rats occasionally have been found to be antibody positive, the viral genome has not been demonstrated in these animals. The present report describes the first confirmed finding of Seoul hantavirus inR. norvegicuscaptured in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yeast VDAC channels (isolated from the mitochondrial outer membrane) form large aqueous pores whose walls are believed to consist of 1 a helix and 12 β strands. Each channel has two voltage-gating processes: one closes the channels at positive potentials, the other at negative. When VDAC is reconstituted into phospholipid (soybean) membranes, the two gating processes have virtually the same steepness of voltage dependence and the same midpoint voltage. Substituting lysine for glutamate at either end of one putative β strand (E145K or E152K) made the channels behave asymmetrically, increasing the voltage dependence of one gating process but not the other. The asymmetry was the same whether 1 or 100 channels were in the membrane, indicating oriented channel insertion. However, the direction of insertion varied from membrane to membrane, indicating that the insertion of the first channel was random and subsequent insertions were directed by the previously inserted channel (s). This raises the prospect of an auto-directed insertion with possible implications to protein targeting in cells. Each of the mutations affected a different gating process because the double mutant increased voltage dependence of both processes. Thus this strand may slide through the membrane in one direction or the other depending on the gating process. We propose that the model of folding for VDAC be altered to move this strand into the sensor region of the protein where it may act as a tether and guide/restrict the motion of the sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]