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1579 Publications visible to you, out of a total of 1579
Dominantly inherited micro-satellite instable cancer – the four Lynch syndromes - an EHTG, PLSD position statement

Abstract (Expand)

Abstract The recognition of dominantly inherited micro-satellite instable (MSI) cancers caused by pathogenic variants in one of the four mismatch repair ( MMR ) genes MSH2, MLH1, MSH6 and PMS2 has … MMR ) genes MSH2, MLH1, MSH6 and PMS2 has modified our understanding of carcinogenesis. Inherited loss of function variants in each of these MMR genes cause four dominantly inherited cancer syndromes with different penetrance and expressivities: the four Lynch syndromes. No person has an “average sex “or a pathogenic variant in an “average Lynch syndrome gene” and results that are not stratified by gene and sex will be valid for no one. Carcinogenesis may be a linear process from increased cellular division to localized cancer to metastasis. In addition, in the Lynch syndromes (LS) we now recognize a dynamic balance between two stochastic processes: MSI producing abnormal cells, and the host’s adaptive immune system’s ability to remove them. The latter may explain why colonoscopy surveillance does not reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer in LS, while it may improve the prognosis. Most early onset colon, endometrial and ovarian cancers in LS are now cured and most cancer related deaths are after subsequent cancers in other organs. Aspirin reduces the incidence of colorectal and other cancers in LS. Immunotherapy increases the host immune system’s capability to destroy MSI cancers. Colonoscopy surveillance, aspirin prevention and immunotherapy represent major steps forward in personalized precision medicine to prevent and cure inherited MSI cancer.

Authors: Pal Møller, Toni T. Seppälä, Aysel Ahadova, Emma J. Crosbie, Elke Holinski-Feder, Rodney Scott, Saskia Haupt, Gabriela Möslein, Ingrid Winship, Sanne W. Bajwa-ten Broeke, Kelly E. Kohut, Neil Ryan, Peter Bauerfeind, Laura E. Thomas, D. Gareth Evans, Stefan Aretz, Rolf H. Sijmons, Elizabeth Half, Karl Heinimann, Karoline Horisberger, Kevin Monahan, Christoph Engel, Giulia Martina Cavestro, Robert Fruscio, Naim Abu-Freha, Levi Zohar, Luigi Laghi, Lucio Bertario, Bernardo Bonanni, Maria Grazia Tibiletti, Leonardo S. Lino-Silva, Carlos Vaccaro, Adriana Della Valle, Benedito Mauro Rossi, Leandro Apolinário da Silva, Ivana Lucia de Oliveira Nascimento, Norma Teresa Rossi, Tadeusz Dębniak, Jukka-Pekka Mecklin, Inge Bernstein, Annika Lindblom, Lone Sunde, Sigve Nakken, Vincent Heuveline, John Burn, Eivind Hovig, Matthias Kloor, Julian R. Sampson, Mev Dominguez-Valentin

Date Published: 1st Dec 2023

Publication Type: Journal

In situ or accreted? Using deep learning to infer the origin of extragalactic globular clusters from observables

Abstract (Expand)

ABSTRACT Globular clusters (GCs) are powerful tracers of the galaxy assembly process, and have already been used to obtain a detailed picture of the progenitors of the Milky Way (MW). Using the E-MOSAICS … (MW). Using the E-MOSAICS cosmological simulation of a (34.4 Mpc)3 volume that follows the formation and co-evolution of galaxies and their star cluster populations, we develop a method to link the origin of GCs to their observable properties. We capture this complex link using a supervised deep learning algorithm trained on the simulations, and predict the origin of individual GCs (whether they formed in the main progenitor or were accreted from satellites) based solely on extragalactic observables. An artificial neural network classifier trained on ∼50 000 GCs hosted by ∼700 simulated galaxies successfully predicts the origin of GCs in the test set with a mean accuracy of 89 per cent for the objects with $\rm [Fe/H]\lt -0.5$ that have unambiguous classifications. The network relies mostly on the alpha-element abundances, metallicities, projected positions, and projected angular momenta of the clusters to predict their origin. A real-world test using the known progenitor associations of the MW GCs achieves up to 90 per cent accuracy, and successfully identifies as accreted most of the GCs in the inner Galaxy associated to the Kraken progenitor, as well as all the Gaia-Enceladus GCs. We demonstrate that the model is robust to observational uncertainties, and develop a method to predict the classification accuracy across observed galaxies. The classifier can be optimized for available observables (e.g. to improve the accuracy by including GC ages), making it a valuable tool to reconstruct the assembly histories of galaxies in upcoming wide-field surveys.

Authors: Sebastian Trujillo-Gomez, J M Diederik Kruijssen, Joel Pfeffer, Marta Reina-Campos, Robert A Crain, Nate Bastian, Ivan Cabrera-Ziri

Date Published: 1st Dec 2023

Publication Type: Journal

Why are different estimates of the effective reproductive number so different? A case study on COVID-19 in Germany

Abstract (Expand)

tive reproductive number Rt has taken a central role in the scientific, political, and public discussion during the COVID-19 pandemic, with numerous real-time estimates of this quantity routinely … published. Disagreement between estimates can be substantial and may lead to confusion among decision-makers and the general public. In this work, we compare different estimates of the national-level effective reproductive number of COVID-19 in Germany in 2020 and 2021. We consider the agreement between estimates from the same method but published at different time points (within-method agreement) as well as retrospective agreement across eight different approaches (between-method agreement). Concerning the former, estimates from some methods are very stable over time and hardly subject to revisions, while others display considerable fluctuations. To evaluate between-method agreement, we reproduce the estimates generated by different groups using a variety of statistical approaches, standardizing analytical choices to assess how they contribute to the observed disagreement. These analytical choices include the data source, data pre-processing, assumed generation time distribution, statistical tuning parameters, and various delay distributions. We find that in practice, these auxiliary choices in the estimation of Rt may affect results at least as strongly as the selection of the statistical approach. They should thus be communicated transparently along with the estimates.

Authors: Elisabeth K. Brockhaus, Daniel Wolffram, Tanja Stadler, Michael Osthege, Tanmay Mitra, Jonas M. Littek, Ekaterina Krymova, Anna J. Klesen, Jana S. Huisman, Stefan Heyder, Laura M. Helleckes, Matthias an der Heiden, Sebastian Funk, Sam Abbott, Johannes Bracher

Date Published: 27th Nov 2023

Publication Type: Journal

Wird KI neue Medikamente gegen Herzkrankheiten hervorbringen?

Abstract (Expand)

Zusammenfassung Angesichts der umwälzenden Auswirkungen, die künstliche Intelligenz (KI) auf Wissenschaft, Medizin und darüber hinaus hat, betrachten wir hier das Potenzial von KI für die Entdeckung …enzial von KI für die Entdeckung neuer Medikamente gegen Herzkrankheiten. Wir definieren KI im weitesten Sinne als den Einsatz von maschinellem Lernen, einschließlich Statistik und Deep Learning, um Muster in Datensätzen zu erkennen, die für Vorhersagen genutzt werden können. Jüngste Durchbrüche in der Fähigkeit, sehr große Datenmengen zu berücksichtigen, haben einen Boom in der KI-gestützten Arzneimittelentdeckung sowohl in der Wissenschaft als auch in der Industrie ausgelöst. Viele neue Unternehmen verfügen bereits über Arzneimittel-Pipelines, die bis in die klinische Erprobung reichen, aber noch keine Medikamente gegen Herzkrankheiten enthalten. Wir beschreiben hier den Einsatz von KI für die Entdeckung von niedermolekularen Medikamenten und Biologika, einschließlich therapeutischer Peptide, sowie für die Vorhersage von Wirkungen wie Kardiotoxizität. Der konzertierte Einsatz von KI zusammen mit physikbasierten Simulationen und experimentellen Rückkopplungsschleifen wird notwendig sein, um das Potenzial der KI für die Arzneimittelentdeckung und die Entwicklung von Präzisionsarzneimitteln für Herzkrankheiten voll auszuschöpfen.

Authors: Manuel Glaser, Julia Ritterhof, Patrick Most, Rebecca C. Wade

Date Published: 20th Nov 2023

Publication Type: Journal

Computational Models of Hen Egg White Lysozyme Physisorption to Silica- and Mica-like Surfaces

Abstract (Expand)

Protein-surface adsorption phenomena play a crucial role in a variety of fields, including medicine, molecular and cell biology, biotechnology, phar- maceutical sciences, and biophysics. It is therefore … desirable to develop accu- rate models to describe them. Hen-Egg-White-Lysozyme (HEWL) adsorption to silica- and mica-like surfaces entails minimal conformational changes, rendering it an ideal system for rigid-body Brownian dynamics simulations. Experimen- tal studies revealed that the fluorescence attached to HEWL exhibits a sharp overshoot followed by a trough as a function of time. This work identifies two inconsistencies in the explanation previously used by the authors to interpret the experiment. A reorientation does not seem to be the main driving factor for the overshoot. Furthermore, I examine previously used electrostatic potential models based on the Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE) used by Romanowska et al. and Reinhardt et al.. It is found that even though different orientations of HEWL- FITC on the surface are possible, the required amount of adsorbed proteins and corresponding reorientation is attained only with the linearized PBE-potential. The study provides a possible explanation why reaching the critical overshoot value with non-linearized PBE-based models poses difficulties. Overcoming this problem is an indispensable step in developing Brownian-dynamics-based atomic- detail multi-molecule models for protein-surface adsorption.

Author: Jakob Nießner

Date Published: 14th Nov 2023

Publication Type: Master's Thesis

High-Throughput Phenotypic Screening and Machine Learning Methods Enabled the Selection of Broad-Spectrum Low-Toxicity Antitrypanosomatidic Agents.

Abstract (Expand)

Broad-spectrum anti-infective chemotherapy agents with activity against Trypanosomes, Leishmania, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis species were identified from a high-throughput phenotypic screening … program of the 456 compounds belonging to the Ty-Box, an in-house industry database. Compound characterization using machine learning approaches enabled the identification and synthesis of 44 compounds with broad-spectrum antiparasitic activity and minimal toxicity against Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania Infantum, and Trypanosoma cruzi. In vitro studies confirmed the predictive models identified in compound 40 which emerged as a new lead, featured by an innovative N-(5-pyrimidinyl)benzenesulfonamide scaffold and promising low micromolar activity against two parasites and low toxicity. Given the volume and complexity of data generated by the diverse high-throughput screening assays performed on the compounds of the Ty-Box library, the chemoinformatic and machine learning tools enabled the selection of compounds eligible for further evaluation of their biological and toxicological activities and aided in the decision-making process toward the design and optimization of the identified lead.

Authors: P. Linciano, A. Quotadamo, R. Luciani, M. Santucci, K. M. Zorn, D. H. Foil, T. R. Lane, A. Cordeiro da Silva, N. Santarem, C. B Moraes, L. Freitas-Junior, U. Wittig, W. Mueller, M. Tonelli, S. Ferrari, A. Venturelli, S. Gul, M. Kuzikov, B. Ellinger, J. Reinshagen, S. Ekins, M. P. Costi

Date Published: 3rd Nov 2023

Publication Type: Journal

Turbulent dynamo action and its effects on the mixing at the convective boundary of an idealized oxygen-burning shell

Abstract (Expand)

Convection is one of the most important mixing processes in stellar interiors. Hydrodynamic mass entrainment can bring fresh fuel from neighboring stable layers into a convection zone, modifying the …convection zone, modifying the structure and evolution of the star. Because flows in stellar convection zones are highly turbulent, multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations are fundamental to accurately capture the physics of mixing processes. Under some conditions, strong magnetic fields can be sustained by the action of a turbulent dynamo, adding another layer of complexity and possibly altering the dynamics in the convection zone and at its boundaries. In this study, we used our fully compressible S EVEN -L EAGUE H YDRO code to run detailed and highly resolved three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of turbulent convection, dynamo amplification, and convective boundary mixing in a simplified setup whose stratification is similar to that of an oxygen-burning shell in a star with an initial mass of 25 M ⊙ . We find that the random stretching of magnetic field lines by fluid motions in the inertial range of the turbulent spectrum (i.e., a small-scale dynamo) naturally amplifies the seed field by several orders of magnitude in a few convective turnover timescales. During the subsequent saturated regime, the magnetic-to-kinetic energy ratio inside the convective shell reaches values as high as 0.33, and the average magnetic field strength is ∼10 10 G. Such strong fields efficiently suppress shear instabilities, which feed the turbulent cascade of kinetic energy, on a wide range of spatial scales. The resulting convective flows are characterized by thread-like structures that extend over a large fraction of the convective shell. The reduced flow speeds and the presence of magnetic fields with strengths up to 60% of the equipartition value at the upper convective boundary diminish the rate of mass entrainment from the stable layer by ≈20% as compared to the purely hydrodynamic case.

Authors: G. Leidi, R. Andrassy, J. Higl, P. V. F. Edelmann, F. K. Röpke

Date Published: 1st Nov 2023

Publication Type: Journal

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