Nottingham Trent University

About: Nottingham Trent University is a education organization based out in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 4702 authors who have published 12862 publications receiving 307430 citations. The organization is also known as: NTU & Trent Polytechnic.

Reduced expression of tissue transglutaminase in a human endothelial cell line leads to changes in cell spreading, cell adhesion and reduced polymerisation of fibronectin

Abstract: Tissue transglutaminase (tTgase, type II) is a Ca2+-dependent GTP binding protein which crosslinks proteins via (epsilon)((gamma)-glutamyl)lysine bridges. Although essentially a cytosolic enzyme there is increasing evidence to suggest the enzyme is externalised where it may play a role in extracellular matrix organisation. To investigate the function of this enzyme in a human umbilical endothelial cell line ECV304 tTgase expression was reduced in these cells by up to 90% by stable transfection with a 1.1. kb antisense construct in the plasmid vector pSG5. Two clones showing a reduction in expression of tTgase activity of 70 and 90% have been isolated and characterised. These clones show a number of phenotypic differences when compared to the parent cell line and the transfected controls which include reduced cell spreading and a decreased adhesion of cells on different substrata as measured by their susceptibility to removal by trypsin. Reduced cell spreading in the antisense transfected clones was accompanied by a decrease in the crosslinking of fibronectin into polymeric multimers which could be correlated to the amount of tTgase externalised by cells. A novel assay was developed to measure externalised tTgase activity which is cell mediated, inhibited by preincubation of cells with anti-tTgase antibody and relies on the incorporation of biotinylated cadaverine into fibronectin. The results of these experiments suggest that externalised tTgase may play a key role in a number of cell behavioural patterns which might be related to the enzymes ability to bind and crosslink fibronectin.

NKG2D Ligand Expression in Human Colorectal Cancer Reveals Associations with Prognosis and Evidence for Immunoediting

Abstract: Purpose: NKG2D (natural killer group 2, member D) binds to cellular ligands of the MIC and ULBP/RAET family. These ligands have restricted expression in normal tissue, but are frequently expressed on primary tumors. The role of NKG2D ligands is thought to be important in carcinogenesis but its prognostic effect has not been investigated in such a large cohort. Experimental Design: In our study, 462 primary colorectal tumors were screened for the expression of all MIC/ULBP/RAET proteins and NK cell infiltration. Tumor microarray technology was used for the purpose of this investigation. Results: NKG2D ligands were expressed by the majority of colorectal tumors; however, the level of expression varied considerably. High expression of MIC (68 versus 56 months) or RAET1G (74 versus 62 months) showed improved patient survival. Tumors expressing high levels of MIC and RAET1G showed improved survival of 77 months over tumors that expressed high levels of one ligand or low levels of both. High-level expression of all ligands was frequent in tumor-node-metastasis stage I tumors, but became progressively less frequent in stages II, III, and IV tumors. Expression of MIC was correlated with NK cellular infiltration. Conclusion: The observations presented are consistent with an immunoediting mechanism that selects tumor cells that have lost or reduced their expression of NKG2D ligands. The combination of MIC and tumor-node-metastasis stage was found to be the strongest predictor of survival, splitting patients into eight groups and suggesting prognostic value in clinical assessment. Of particular interest were stage I patients with low expression of MIC who had a similar survival to stage III patients, and may be candidates for adjuvant therapy. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(22):6993–7002)

Effect of preparation conditions on the catalytic performance of copper manganese oxide catalysts for CO oxidation

Abstract: Copper manganese oxides are prepared using a coprecipitation procedure and studied for the oxidation of CO at ambient temperature. In particular, the effect of a range of preparation variables are investigated in detail. The variables investigated include the precipitate ageing time, pH and temperature of precipitation, the Cu/Mn ratio of the precipitation solution and the catalyst calcination temperature. The optimum preparation conditions are identified with respect to the catalyst activity for the oxidation of CO at ambient temperature. The results are interpreted in terms of the structure of the active catalyst. Generally it has been concluded that catalysts containing copper/manganese mixed phases are found to be the most active.

Excessive use of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games: A Pilot Study

Abstract: Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are one of the most interesting innovations in the area of online computer gaming. This pilot study set out to examine the psychological and social effects of online gaming using an online questionnaire with particular reference to excessive and ‘dependent’ online gaming. A self-selecting sample of 119 online gamers ranging from 18 to 69 years (mean = 28.5 years) completed the questionnaire. The results showed that 41% of gamers played online to escape and 7% of gamers were classified as ‘dependent’ individuals who were at risk of developing a psychological and behavioural dependence for online gaming using an adapted ‘addiction’ scale. Further analysis showed that excessive online gaming was significantly correlated with psychological and behavioural ‘dependence’. It was also found that ‘dependent’ gamers appear to possess some core components of addiction to MMORPGs (e.g., mood modification, tolerance and relapse).