Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a relatively common, autosomal recessively inherited neurodegenerative disorder that maps to human chromosome 5q13. This region of the human genome has an intricate genomic structure that has complicated the evaluation of SMA candidate genes. We have chosen to study the mouse region syntenic for human SMA in the hope that the homologous mouse interval would cont...

In the absence of complete lidar coverage, digital surface models (DSMs) and point clouds produced from United States Department Agriculture National Imagery Program (NAIP) are increasingly being analyzed for quality application feasibility. This study compared canopy heights derived NAIP DSMs (10 m) to those data collected over Mountain Lake Biological Station Great Smoky Mountains Twin Creeks...

In Malaysia, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is diagnosed based on clinical observation with or without muscle biopsy. Molecular analyses of the SMA-related genes have not been available so far. In this preliminary study, we searched for homozygous deletion of Survival Motor Neuron (SMN1) and Neuronal Apoptosis Inhibitory Protein (NAIP) genes in Malay patients with SMA and found homozygous deleti...

spinal muscular atrophy (sma) is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disorder characterized by degeneration of spinal cord anterior horn cells, leading to muscular atrophy. sma is clinically classified into three sub-groups based on the age of onset and severity. the majority of patients with sma have homozygous deletions of exons 7 and 8 of the survival motor neuron (smn) gene. the purpose of ...

Macrophages are important drivers of pathogenesis and progression to AIDS in HIV infection. The virus the later phases infection is often predominantly macrophage-tropic this tropism contributes a chronic inflammatory immune activation state that observed patients. Pattern recognition receptors innate system key molecules recognise mount responses macrophages. response against HIV-1 potent elic...

Murine NLR family, apoptosis inhibitory protein (Naip)1, Naip2, and Naip5/6 are host sensors that detect the cytosolic presence of needle and rod proteins from bacterial type III secretion systems and flagellin, respectively. Previous studies using human-derived macrophage-like cell lines indicate that human macro-phages sense the cytosolic needle protein, but not bacterial flagellin. In this s...

Inflammasomes are a family of cytosolic multiprotein complexes that initiate innate immune responses to pathogenic microbes by activating the caspase 1 protease. Although genetic data support a critical role for inflammasomes in immune defence and inflammatory diseases, the molecular basis by which individual inflammasomes respond to specific stimuli remains poorly understood. The inflammasome ...

Previous reports have established that the telomeric copy of the survival motor neuron (SMNT) gene and the intact copy of the neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein (NAIP) gene are preferentially deleted in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Although deletions or mutations in the SMNT gene are most highly correlated with SMA, it is not clear to what extent NAIP or other genes influence...

Monocytes and macrophages constitute the first line of defense of the immune system against external pathogens. Macrophages have a highly plastic phenotype depending on environmental conditions; the extremes of this phenotypic spectrum are a pro-inflammatory defensive role (M1 phenotype) and an anti-inflammatory tissue-repair one (M2 phenotype). The Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) proteins have im...