Leading progress: the role of the chief diversity officer in anesthesiology departments

Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie -     

Neutrophil proteases degrade autoepitopes of NET-associated proteins

Neutrophils can form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to capture microbes and facilitate their clearance. NETs consist of decondensed chromatin decorated with anti-microbial proteins. Here, we describe the effect of neutrophil proteases on the protein content of NETs. We show that the neutrophil serine proteases degrade several neutrophil proteins associated with NETs. Interestingly, the anti-bacterial proteins associated with NETs, such as myeloperoxidase, calgranulin B and neutrophil elastase (NE), seem to be less susceptible to proteolytic degradation than other NET proteins, such as actin and MNDA. NETs have been proposed to play a role in autoimmune reactions. Our data demonstrate that a large number of the autoepitopes of NET proteins that are recognized by autoantibodies produced by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are also removed by the proteases. In conclusion, neutrophil serine proteases have a major impact on the NET proteome and the proteolytic changes of NET-associated proteins may counteract autoimmune reactions to NET components.     

Epithelial ovarian cancer risk: A review of the current genetic landscape

Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death in women in the developed world, and one of the most heritable cancers. One of the most significant risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer. Combined risk factors can be used in models to stratify risk of EOC, and aid in decisions regarding risk-reduction strategies. Germline pathogenic variants in EOC susceptibility genes including those involved in homologous recombination and mismatch repair pathways are present in approximately 22% to 25% of EOC. These genes are associated with an estimated lifetime risk of EOC of 13% to 60% for BRCA1 variants and 10% to 25% for BRCA2 variants, with lower risks associated with remaining genes. Genome-wide association studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) thought to explain an additional 6.4% of the familial risk of ovarian cancer, with 34 susceptibility loci identified to date. However, an unknown proportion of the genetic component of EOC risk remains unexplained. This review comprises an overview of individual genes and SNPs suspected to contribute to risk of EOC, and discusses use of a polygenic risk score to predict individual cancer risk more accurately.     

Embryonic skull development in the gecko,Tarentola annularis (Squamata: Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae)

Tarentola annularis is a climbing gecko with a wide distribution in Africa north of the equator. In the present paper, we describe the development of the osteocranium of this lizard, from the first appearance of the cranial elements up to the point of hatching. This is based on a combination of histology and cleared and stained specimens. This is the first comprehensive account of gekkotan pre-hatching skull development based on a comprehensive series of embryos, rather than a few selected stages. Given that Gekkota is now widely regarded as representing the sister group to other squamates, this account helps to fill a significant gap in the literature. Moreover, as many authors have considered features of the gekkotan skull and skeleton to be indicative of paedomorphosis, it is important to know whether this hypothesis is supported by delays in the onset of cranial ossification. In fact, we found the sequence of cranial bone ossification to be broadly comparable to that of other squamates studied to date, with no significant lags in development.