University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

About: University of Erlangen-Nuremberg is a education organization based out in Erlangen, Bayern, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Immune system. The organization has 42405 authors who have published 85600 publications receiving 2663922 citations.

Cell-to-Cell and Long-Distance Trafficking of the Green Fluorescent Protein in the Phloem and Symplastic Unloading of the Protein into Sink Tissues

Abstract: Macromolecular trafficking within the sieve element-companion cell complex, phloem unloading, and post-phloem transport were studied using the jellyfish green fluorescent protein (GFP). The GFP gene was expressed in Arabidopsis and tobacco under the control of the AtSUC2 promoter. In wild-type Arabidopsis plants, this promoter regulates expression of the companion cell-specific AtSUC2 sucrose-H+ symporter gene. Analyses of the AtSUC2 promoter-GFP plants demonstrated that the 27-kD GFP protein can traffic through plasmodesmata from companion cells into sieve elements and migrate within the phloem. With the stream of assimilates, the GFP is partitioned between different sinks, such as petals, root tips, anthers, funiculi, or young rosette leaves. Eventually, the GFP can be unloaded symplastically from the phloem into sink tissues, such as the seed coat, the anther connective tissue, cells of the root tip, and sink leaf mesophyll cells. In all of these tissues, the GFP can traffic cell to cell by symplastic post-phloem transport. The presented data show that plasmodesmata of the sieve element-companion cell complex, as well as plasmodesmata into and within the analyzed sinks, allow trafficking of the 27-kD nonphloem GFP protein. The data also show that the size exclusion limit of plasmodesmata can change during organ development. The results are also discussed in terms of the phloem mobility of assimilates and of small, low molecular weight companion cell proteins.

Giant Faraday rotation in single- and multilayer graphene

Abstract: The rotation of polarized light in certain materials when subject to a magnetic field is known as the Faraday effect. Remarkably, just one atomic layer of graphene exhibits Faraday rotations that would only be measurable in other materials many hundreds of micrometres thick.

The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib depletes plasma cells and protects mice with lupus-like disease from nephritis.

Abstract: Autoantibody-mediated diseases like myasthenia gravis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus represent a therapeutic challenge. In particular, long-lived plasma cells producing autoantibodies resist current therapeutic and experimental approaches. Recently, we showed that the sensitivity of myeloma cells toward proteasome inhibitors directly correlates with their immunoglobulin synthesis rates. Therefore, we hypothesized that normal plasma cells are also hypersensitive to proteasome inhibition owing to their extremely high amount of protein biosynthesis. Here we show that the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, which is approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma, eliminates both short- and long-lived plasma cells by activation of the terminal unfolded protein response. Treatment with bortezomib depleted plasma cells producing antibodies to double-stranded DNA, eliminated autoantibody production, ameliorated glomerulonephritis and prolonged survival of two mouse strains with lupus-like disease, NZB/W F1 and MRL/lpr mice. Hence, the elimination of autoreactive plasma cells by proteasome inhibitors might represent a new treatment strategy for antibody-mediated diseases.