John Radcliffe Hospital

About: John Radcliffe Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Antigen. The organization has 14491 authors who have published 23670 publications receiving 1459015 citations.

Cell populations in human early pregnancy decidua: characterization and isolation of large granular lymphocytes by flow cytometry.

Abstract: Cell populations of human pregnancy decidua, obtained by enzymic digestion from first trimester samples, were analysed by flow cytometry after labelling with monoclonal antibodies. The majority of these decidual cells (75%) were of bone marrow origin. The most abundant cell type expressed antigens characteristic of large granular lymphocytes (LGL), although macrophages and small numbers of classical T cells were also present. Three subsets of decidual LGL can be defined by single-and double-antibody labelling. Most decidual LGL are positive for NKH1, a marker of peripheral blood LGL, but negative for CD16, the Fc receptor of NK cells, and for the T-cell markers CD3 and CD5. About half the NKH1-positive cells also express CD2, associated with the E-rosette receptor, and are identical to the CD3-negative/CD2-positive cells reported previously in early pregnancy decidua. The NKH1-positive cells apparently correspond to a minor subset of peripheral blood LGL. The remaining decidual LGL are positive for CD16 and negative or only dimly positive for NKH1, and are similar to the major type of peripheral blood LGL. After purification by flow cytometry, the NKH1-positive cells were demonstrated to be of similar size to, but slightly higher granularity than, lymphocytes, whereas the CD16-positive cells were larger and more granular. The possible role of decidual LGL in modulating placental development is discussed.

T1 Mapping for the Diagnosis of Acute Myocarditis Using CMR: Comparison to T2-Weighted and Late Gadolinium Enhanced Imaging

Abstract: Objectives This study sought to test the diagnostic performance of native T1 mapping in acute myocarditis compared with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) techniques such as dark-blood T2-weighted (T2W)-CMR, bright-blood T2W-CMR, and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging. Background The diagnosis of acute myocarditis on CMR often requires multiple techniques, including T2W, early gadolinium enhancement, and LGE imaging. Novel techniques such as T1 mapping and bright-blood T2W-CMR are also sensitive to changes in free water content. We hypothesized that these techniques can serve as new and potentially superior diagnostic criteria for myocarditis. Methods We investigated 50 patients with suspected acute myocarditis (age 42 ± 16 years; 22% women) and 45 controls (age 42 ± 14 years; 22% women). CMR at 1.5-T (median 3 days from presentation) included: 1) dark-blood T2W-CMR (short-tau inversion recovery); 2) bright-blood T2W-CMR (acquisition for cardiac unified T2 edema); 3) native T1 mapping (shortened modified look-locker inversion recovery); and 4) LGE. Image analysis included: 1) global T2 signal intensity ratio of myocardium compared with skeletal muscle; 2) myocardial T1 relaxation times; and 3) areas of LGE. Results Compared with controls, patients had significantly higher global T2 signal intensity ratios by dark-blood T2W-CMR (1.73 ± 0.27 vs. 1.56 ± 0.15, p Conclusions Native T1 mapping as a novel criterion for the detection of acute myocarditis showed excellent and superior diagnostic performance compared with T2W-CMR. It also has a higher sensitivity compared with T2W and LGE techniques, which may be especially useful in detecting subtle focal disease and when gadolinium contrast imaging is not feasible.

Identification and characterization of three members of the human SR family of pre-mRNA splicing factors.

Abstract: SR proteins have a characteristic C-terminal Ser/Arg-rich repeat (RS domain) of variable length and constitute a family of highly conserved nuclear phosphoproteins that can function as both essential and alternative pre-mRNA splicing factors. We have cloned a cDNA encoding a novel human SR protein designated SRp30c, which has an unusually short RS domain. We also cloned cDNAs encoding the human homologues of Drosophila SRp55/B52 and rat SRp40/HRS. Recombinant proteins expressed from these cDNAs are active in constitutive splicing, as shown by their ability to complement a HeLa cell S100 extract deficient in SR proteins. Additional cDNA clones reflect extensive alternative splicing of SRp40 and SRp55 pre-mRNAs. The predicted protein isoforms lack the C-terminal RS domain and might be involved in feedback regulatory loops. The ability of human SRp30c, SRp40 and SRp55 to modulate alternative splicing in vivo was compared with that of other SR proteins using a transient contransfection assay. The overexpression of individual SR proteins in HeLa cells affected the choice of alternative 5' splice sites of adenovirus E1A and/or human beta-thalassemia reporters. The resulting splicing patterns were characteristic for each SR protein. Consistent with the postulated importance of SR proteins in alternative splicing in vivo, we demonstrate complex changes in the levels of mRNAs encoding the above SR proteins upon T cell activation, concomitant with changes in the expression of alternatively spliced isoforms of CD44 and CD45.