Samples from patients receiving heparin were excluded from analyses of APTT and TT. All assays were performed using reagents and an analyzer from Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Products GmbH. The mean percentage change after 8 and 24-h storage was below 10% for all parameters. Considering the changes in individual samples, all parameters can be reliably tested after 8-h storage, since less than 15% of the samples demonstrated individual changes of above 10%. The acceptable storage Selleck ABT-263 time can be extended to 24 h for PT, TT and D-dimer. Clinically relevant changes were detected after 24-h storage for APTT: 41% of the investigated samples demonstrated changes of above

10%. After 24-h storage, changes for Fbg and AT values were more than 15% in five out of 49 and in three out of 45 samples, respectively. This sporadic increase of values is clinically acceptable except for borderline samples. Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis 22: 215220 (c) 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.”
“Lafora disease (LD) is an autosomal recessive progressive myoclonic epilepsy characterized by

the presence of intracellular polyglucosan inclusions commonly known as Lafora bodies in many tissues, including the brain, liver and skin. The disease is caused by mutations in either EPM2A gene, encoding the protein Napabucasin chemical structure phosphatase, laforin, or EPM2B gene, encoding the ubiquitin ligase, malin. But how mutations in these two genes cause disease pathogenesis is poorly understood. In this study, we show that the Lafora bodies in the axillary skin and brain stain positively for the ubiquitin, the 20S proteasome and the molecular chaperones Hsp70/Hsc70. Interestingly, mutant malins that are misfolded also frequently colocalizes with Lafora bodies in the skin biopsy sample of the respective LD patient. The expression of disease-causing mutations of malin in Cos-7 cells results in the formation of the profuse cytoplasmic aggregates that colocalize with the Hsp70/Hsc70 chaperones and the 20S proteasome. The mutant malin expressing cells also exhibit proteasomal dysfunction and cell death. Overexpression of Hsp70 decreases the frequency of the mutant

malin aggregation and protects from mutant malin-induced cell death. These findings suggest RSL3 that Lafora bodies consist of abnormal proteins, including mutant malin, targeted by the chaperones or the proteasome for their refolding or clearance, and failure of these quality control systems could lead to LD pathogenesis. Our data also indicate that the Hsp70 chaperone could be a potential therapeutic target of LD.”
“We have constructed computational models of canine ventricular cells and tissues, ultimately combining detailed tissue architecture and heterogeneous transmural electrophysiology. The heterogeneity is introduced by modifying the Hund-Rudy canine cell model in order to reproduce experimentally reported electrophysiological properties of endocardial, midmyocardial (M) and epicardial cells.