Primary exophytic laryngeal amyloidosis presenting as sudden airway obstruction

Primary amyloidosis of larynx is an uncommon phenomenon, the precise etiopathogenesis of which is not yet clear. It can present with slowly increasing hoarseness or difficulty in breathing. It presents more commonly as infiltrative lesion, exophytic presentation is a rare occurrence.     

Intracerebral haemorrhage after thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction.

Seven cases of intracerebral haemorrhage were identified following the use of thrombolytic therapy in a total of 710 patients with acute myocardial infarction. Each case was reviewed in detail with particular attention to the presenting symptoms. A confusional state was the commonest initial feature. Increased age and male sex were associated with increased risk of cerebral bleed. The possible role of intravenous heparin in increasing risk and the management of affected cases is discussed. Early recognition and action is emphasized.     

Regulation of the stability of human β interferon mRNA in poly(I)·poly(C)-induced diploid fibroblasts: Anchorage independence of the shutoff mechanism

Exposure of diploid human fibroblast (FS-4) monolayer cultures to poly(I)·poly(C) leads to production of β interferons within the first hour, the rate of production peaks approximately 3 hr after induction and is rapidly shut off by 6–8 hr. The rapid shutoff of interferon production is blocked if the induction is carried out in the presence of 5,6-dichloro-1-β-d-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB, 40 μM). The rapid and selective inactivation of interferon mRNA that occurs during the shutoff phase in monolayer cultures is anchorage independent and can be preserved in short-term (3–4 hr) suspension cultures prepared from cell monolayers in the shutoff phase. Such inactivation of interferon mRNA is not observed in DRB-containing suspension cultures derived from induced, DRB-treated cell monolayers. Washing of detached, shutoff phase FS-4 cells with buffers lacking Ca²⁺ blocks interferon mRNA inactivation while washing these cells with buffers containing 1 mM Ca²⁺ preserves the shutoff mechanism. Optimal interferon mRNA turn-over requires both active cellular RNA and protein synthesis and incubation at 37°. These data suggest that the selective inactivation of human fibroblast interferon mRNA during the shutoff phase is an active cellular function which does not require the attachment of cells to a solid substrate.     

Gene delivery from supercharged coiled-coil protein and cationic lipid hybrid complex

A lipoproteoplex comprised of an engineered supercharged coiled-coil protein (CSP) bearing multiple arginines and the cationic lipid formulation FuGENE HD (FG) was developed for effective condensation and delivery of nucleic acids. The CSP was able to maintain helical structure and self-assembly properties while exhibiting binding to plasmid DNA. The ternary CSP·DNA(8:1)·FG lipoproteoplex complex demonstrated enhanced transfection of β-galactosidase DNA into MC3T3-E1 mouse preosteoblasts. The lipoproteoplexes showed significant increases in transfection efficiency when compared to conventional FG and an mTat·FG lipopolyplex with a 6- and 2.5-fold increase in transfection, respectively. The CSP·DNA(8:1)·FG lipoproteoplex assembled into spherical particles with a net positive surface charge, enabling efficient gene delivery. These results support the application of lipoproteoplexes with protein engineered CSP for non-viral gene delivery.