Publicaties

1 - 10 of 316 resultaten

Zoek term:

Perspective on musculoskeletal modelling and predictive simulations of human movement to assess the neuromechanics of gait. KU Leuven

Friedl De Groote, Antoine Motte dit Falisse
Locomotion results from complex interactions between the central nervous system and the musculoskeletal system with its many degrees of freedom and muscles. Gaining insight into how the properties of each subsystem shape human gait is challenging as experimental methods to manipulate and assess isolated subsystems are limited. Simulations that predict movement patterns based on a mathematical model of the neuro-musculoskeletal system without ...

Physically asymmetric division of the C. elegans zygote ensures invariably successful embryogenesis KU Leuven

Radek Jankele, Rob Jelier, Pierre Gönczy
Asymmetric divisions that yield daughter cells of different sizes are frequent during early embryogenesis, but the importance of such a physical difference for successful development remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated this question using the first division of C. elegans embryos, which yields a large AB cell and a small P1 cell. We equalized AB and P1 sizes using acute genetic inactivation or optogenetic manipulation of the spindle ...

A paucigranulocytic asthma host environment promotes the emergence of virulent influenza viral variants KU Leuven

Katina D Hulme, Anjana C Karawita, Cassandra Pegg, Myrna JM Bunte, Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann, Conor J Bloxham, Silvie Van den Hoecke, Yin Xiang Setoh, Bram Vrancken, Monique Spronken, et al.
Influenza virus has a high mutation rate, such that within one host different viral variants can emerge. Evidence suggests that influenza virus variants are more prevalent in pregnant and/or obese individuals due to their impaired interferon response. We have recently shown that the non-allergic, paucigranulocytic subtype of asthma is associated with impaired type I interferon production. Here, we seek to address if this is associated with an ...

Dual midbrain and forebrain origins of thalamic inhibitory interneurons KU Leuven

Polona Jager, Gerald Moore, Padraic Calpin, Xhuljana Durmishi, Irene Salgarella, Lucy Menage, Yoshiaki Kita, Yan Wang, Dong Won Kim, Seth Blackshaw, et al.
The ubiquitous presence of inhibitory interneurons in the thalamus of primates contrasts with the sparsity of interneurons reported in mice. Here, we identify a larger than expected complexity and distribution of interneurons across the mouse thalamus, where all thalamic interneurons can be traced back to two developmental programmes: one specified in the midbrain and the other in the forebrain. Interneurons migrate to functionally distinct ...

Lack of drug‐induced post‐retrieval amnesia for auditory fear memories in rats KU Leuven

Laura Luyten, Anna-Elisabeth Schnell, Natalie Schroyens, Tom Beckers
BACKGROUND: Long-term memory formation is generally assumed to involve the permanent storage of recently acquired memories, making them relatively insensitive to disruption, a process referred to as memory consolidation. However, when retrieved under specific circumstances, consolidated fear memories are thought to return to a labile state, thereby opening a window for modification (e.g., attenuation) of the memory. Several interventions during ...

Current cancer driver variant predictors learn to recognize driver genes instead of functional variants KU Leuven

Daniele Raimondi, Antoine Passemiers, Piero Fariselli, Yves Moreau
BACKGROUND: Identifying variants that drive tumor progression (driver variants) and distinguishing these from variants that are a byproduct of the uncontrolled cell growth in cancer (passenger variants) is a crucial step for understanding tumorigenesis and precision oncology. Various bioinformatics methods have attempted to solve this complex task. RESULTS: In this study, we investigate the assumptions on which these methods are based, showing ...

Antimicrobial resistance and COVID-19: intersections and implications Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde

Gwenan M. Knight, Rebecca E. Glover, C. Finn McQuaid, Ioana D. Olaru, Karin Gallandat, Quentin J. Leclerc, Naomi M. Fuller, Sam J. Willcocks, Rumina Hasan, Esther van Kleef, et al.

Before the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was among the top priorities for global public health. Already a complex challenge, AMR now needs to be addressed in a changing healthcare landscape. Here, we analyse how changes due to COVID-19 in terms of antimicrobial usage, infection prevention, and health systems affect the emergence, transmission, and burden of AMR. Increased hand hygiene, decreased ...

A structure of substrate-bound Synaptojanin1 provides new insights in its mechanism and the effect of disease mutations Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Jone Paesmans, Ella Martin, Babette Deckers, Marjolijn Berghmans, Ritika Sethi, Yannick Loeys, Els Pardon, Jan Steyaert, Patrik Verstreken, Christian Galicia, et al.

Synaptojanin1 (Synj1) is a phosphoinositide phosphatase, important in clathrin uncoating during endocytosis of presynaptic vesicles. It was identified as a potential drug target for Alzheimer's disease, Down syndrome, and TBC1D24-associated epilepsy, while also loss-of-function mutations in Synj1 are associated with epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. Despite its involvement in a range of disorders, structural, and detailed mechanistic ...

In vitro reconstitution of dynamically interacting integral membrane subunits of energy-coupling factor transporters Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Inda Setyawati, Weronika K Stanek, Maria Majsnerowska, Lotteke J Y M Swier, Els Pardon, Jan Steyaert, Albert Guskov, Dirk J Slotboom

Energy-coupling factor (ECF) transporters mediate import of micronutrients in prokaryotes. They consist of an integral membrane S-component (that binds substrate) and ECF module (that powers transport by ATP hydrolysis). It has been proposed that different S-components compete for docking onto the same ECF module, but a minimal liposome-reconstituted system, required to substantiate this idea, is lacking. Here, we co-reconstituted ECF ...