Mutated nup62 causes autosomal recessive infantile bilateral striatal necrosis

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify the gene causing autosomal recessive infantile bilateral striatal necrosis. METHODS: We have mapped the disease gene in the candidate region to approximately 230kb on 19q13.33 in 8 interrelated families including a total of 12 patients and 39 unaffected individuals. RESULTS: Sequencing of the nup62 gene showed a missense mutation causing a change from glutamine to proline (Q391P) in all the patients, producing a substitution from a polar, hydrophilic residue to a nonpolar, neutral residue. All the other 12 candidate genes were sequenced, and no pathogenic sequence changes were found. Comparisons of p62 protein sequences from diverse species indicate that glutamine at position 391 is highly conserved. Five prenatal diagnoses were performed in three at-risk families. INTERPRETATION: This is the second example of a nuclear pore complex protein causing mendelian disease in humans (the first one is triple A syndrome). Our findings suggest that p62 has a cell type-specific role and is important in the degeneration of the basal ganglia in humans.     

Postmastectomy electron-beam chest-wall irradiation in women with breast cancer

PURPOSE: This retrospective study evaluates the results of postmastectomy electron-beam chest-wall irradiation in patients with breast cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From 1980 to 1994, 144 women with localized breast cancer received postmastectomy radiotherapy. The chest wall was irradiated by electron beam, 6 to 12 MeV energy, depending on wall thickness, 2.0 Gy daily, 5 times/week for total dose of 50 Gy. Forty-one patients received 16-Gy boosts to the mastectomy scar. In addition, the supraclavicular and axilla areas were irradiated by anterior field with 6-MV photon beam. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 84 months. Fifteen patients (10%) had local-regional recurrence (LRR) and 57 patients (40%) had systemic relapse (SR). Median time from mastectomy to LRR was 20 months and median time to SR was 33 months. Axillary lymph nodes status influenced both LRR and SR. LRR rate was 0% in N0 and 12% in N1 disease; SR rate was 14% in N0 and 45% in N1 disease. Disease-free and overall survival was 58% and 67% in 10 years and 50% and 55% in 20 years, respectively. No cardiac toxicity was related to left chest-wall irradiation. CONCLUSION: Postmastectomy electron-beam chest-wall irradiation is as effective as photon-beam irradiation in breast cancer.     

Fractionated radiation facilitates repair and functional motor recovery after spinal cord transection in rat

Previous studies suggest that motor recovery does not occur after spinal cord injury because reactive glia abort the natural repair processes. A permanent wound gap is left in the cord and the brain-cord circuitry consequently remains broken. Single-dose x-irradiation destroys reactive glia at the damage site in transected adult rat spinal cord. The wound then heals naturally, and a partially functional brain-cord circuitry is reconstructed. Timing is crucial; cell ablation is beneficial only within the third week after injury. Data presented here point to the possibility of translating these observations into a clinical therapy for preventing the paralysis following spinal cord injury in the human. The lesion site (at low thoracic level) in severed adult rat spinal cord was treated daily, over the third week postinjury, with protocols of fractionated radiation similar to those for treating human spinal cord tumors. This resulted, as with the single-dose protocol, in wound healing and restoration of some hindquarter motor function; in addition, the beneficial outcome was augmented. Of the restored hindlimb motor functions, weight-support and posture in stance was the only obvious one. Recovery of this motor function was partial to substantial and its incidence was 100% instead of about 50% obtained with the single-dose treatment. None of the hindlimbs, however, regained frequent stepping or any weight-bearing locomotion. These data indicate that the therapeutic outcome may be further augmented by tuning the radiation parameters within the critical time-window after injury. These data also indicate that dose-fractionation is an effective strategy and better than the single-dose treatment for targeting of reactive cells that abort the natural repair, suggesting that radiation therapy could be developed into a therapeutic procedure for repairing injured spinal cord.     

Leisure activities during school break among children with learning disabilities: preference vs. performance

Participation in leisure activities may contribute to the development of social, motor, and language skills, and is therefore especially important for children with learning disabilities. Leisure activities of students in educational settings are performed mostly during breaks. While there have been some studies of the effect of breaks on classroom performance, none have been conducted among children with learning disabilities. Moreover, the role of breaks as a leisure agent was never addressed. The purpose of the study was to examine break activities of children with learning disabilities, through exploration of the correlation between their preferences for break activities and the activities in which they actually engaged. The study found no such correlation. It is therefore suggested that leisure education should provide students with the skills they need in order to choose leisure activities and evaluate the efficacy of the choice they had made.     

Selective Interaction of Syntaxin 1A with KCNQ2: Possible Implications for Specific Modulation of Presynaptic Activity

KCNQ2/KCNQ3 channels are the molecular correlates of the neuronal M-channels, which play a major role in the control of neuronal excitability. Notably, they differ from homomeric KCNQ2 channels in their distribution pattern within neurons, with unique expression of KCNQ2 in axons and nerve terminals. Here, combined reciprocal coimmunoprecipitation and two-electrode voltage clamp analyses in Xenopus oocytes revealed a strong association of syntaxin 1A, a major component of the exocytotic SNARE complex, with KCNQ2 homomeric channels resulting in a ~2-fold reduction in macroscopic conductance and ~2-fold slower activation kinetics. Remarkably, the interaction of KCNQ2/Q3 heteromeric channels with syntaxin 1A was significantly weaker and KCNQ3 homomeric channels were practically resistant to syntaxin 1A. Analysis of different KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 chimeras and deletion mutants combined with in-vitro binding analysis pinpointed a crucial C-terminal syntaxin 1A-association domain in KCNQ2. Pull-down and coimmunoprecipitation analyses in hippocampal and cortical synaptosomes demonstrated a physical interaction of brain KCNQ2 with syntaxin 1A, and confocal immunofluorescence microscopy showed high colocalization of KCNQ2 and syntaxin 1A at presynaptic varicosities. The selective interaction of syntaxin 1A with KCNQ2, combined with a numerical simulation of syntaxin 1A's impact in a firing-neuron model, suggest that syntaxin 1A's interaction is targeted at regulating KCNQ2 channels to fine-tune presynaptic transmitter release, without interfering with the function of KCNQ2/3 channels in neuronal firing frequency adaptation.     

A structured group intervention for siblings of children with cancer

The current study describes the development and evaluation of a structured group intervention for school-aged and adolescent siblings of childhood cancer patients. Twenty-three siblings participated in a six-week program in which parallel groups of younger (ages 7–11) and older (ages 12–17) siblings were conducted. Defined topics were selected from the clinical and research literature and on the basis of a pre-intervention survey, and were addressed at each session. Methods included facilitated group discussion, art therapy techniques, role playing, and informal social interaction. Pre- and postmeasures of cancer-related knowledge, feelings and attitudes towards cancer, and overall mood state were administered. Results indicated statistically and clinically significant improvements in interpersonal problems, intrapsychic preoccupation, disease-related communication, mood, and cancer-related knowledge. Consent and attendance rates, as well as post-intervention satisfaction ratings highlight the subjective need felt by siblings and parents for direct, focused work with this population. Salient issues for siblings of pediatric cancer patients, specific techniques, group dynamics and processes, and staff and parent responses to the intervention program are discussed. The need for replicable, empirically validated interventions for family members of seriously-ill children is emphasized.