University of Hamburg

About: University of Hamburg is a education organization based out in Hamburg, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Laser. The organization has 45564 authors who have published 89286 publications receiving 2850161 citations. The organization is also known as: Hamburg University.

A combined computational and microarray-based approach identifies novel microRNAs encoded by human gamma-herpesviruses.

Abstract: We have developed an approach to identify microRNAs (miRNAs) that is based on bioinformatics and array-based technologies, without the use of cDNA cloning. The approach, designed for use on genomes of small size (<2 Mb), was tested on cells infected by either of two lymphotropic herpesviruses, KSHV and EBV. The viral genomes were scanned computationally for pre-miRNAs using an algorithm (VMir) we have developed. Candidate hairpins suggested by this analysis were then synthesized as oligonucleotides on microarrays, and the arrays were hybridized with small RNAs from infected cells. Candidate miRNAs that scored positive on the arrays were then subjected to confirmatory Northern blot analysis. Using this approach, 10 of the known KSHV pre-miRNAs were identified, as well as a novel pre-miRNA that had earlier escaped detection. This method also led to the identification of seven new EBV-encoded pre-miRNAs; by using additional computational approaches, we identified a total of 18 new EBV pre-miRNAs that produce 22 mature miRNA molecules, thereby more than quadrupling the total number of hitherto known EBV miRNAs. The advantages and limitations of the approach are discussed.

What controls hair follicle cycling

Abstract: Despite more than a hundred years of professional hair research, and substantial recent progress in unravelling the molecular controls of hair follicle morphogenesis, the chronobiological control system that cyclically drives the hair follicle through dramatic remodelling processes between phases of growth (anagen), regression (catagen), and relative resting (telogen) have remained disappointingly obscure. In view of the vast literature that has become available over the past decades on numerous genetic, biochemical, cellular and pharmacological aspects of hair growth follicle control under physiological and pathological conditions, it is astounding how comparatively few researchers in the field have published theoretical concepts that explore how hair follicle cycling might be controlled. Since this question is at the very heart of basic and clinically applied hair biology, it deserves a much more systematic and serious public exploration, which the following contributions are designed to stimulate.

Intravascular ultrasound-guided optimized stent deployment Immediate and 6 months clinical and angiographic results from the Multicenter Ultrasound Stenting in Coronaries Study (MUSIC Study)

Abstract: Objectives A study was set up to validate the safety and feasibility of intravascular ultrasound-guided stenting without subsequent anticoagulation, and its impact on the 6 months restenosis rate. Methods The study was designed to be multicentred, prospective, and observational. Results One hundred and sixty-one patients with stable angina and a de novo coronary artery lesion were enrolled. In four patients, the implantation of a Palmaz–Schatz (with spiral bridge) stent had failed. One of these four patients died 3 days following bypass surgery. In two other patients, intravascular ultrasound assessment was not performed. One hundred and twenty-five of the remaining 155 patients (81%) were treated with aspirin (100mg.day−1), because all three criteria for optimized stent expansion were met. Twenty-two of the remaining 38 patients (25%), in whom at least one criterion was not met were treated with aspirin and acenocoumarol (3 months, INR 2·5–3·5), while 16 patients only received aspirin. Stent thrombosis was documented in two patients (1·3%) for which repeat angioplasty was performed. During the hospital stay, there were no deaths or Q-wave myocardial infarctions. Five patients (3·2%) sustained a non-Q-wave myocardial infarction. During the follow-up period (198±38 days, complete for all patients, except one), one patient (0·6%) sustained a Q-wave myocardial infarction, one (0·6%) underwent bypass surgery, and repeat angioplasty was performed in nine patients (5·7%). In two of the nine patients, repeat angioplasty involved another lesion. Therefore, the target lesion revascularization rate during follow-up was 4·5% (seven patients).At quantitative coronary angiography, the minimal lumen diameter (mean±SD) increased from 1·12± 0·34mm before to 2·89±0·35mm after stenting. Repeat angiography at 6 months was performed in 144 patients (92%). The minimal lumen diameter at follow-up was 2·12±0·67mm. Restenosis (diameter stenosis of 50% or more) was documented in 12 patients or 8·3%. When the two patients with documented stent thrombosis are included, the restenosis rate amounts to 9·7%. Conclusions These data confirm that, in selected patients, stents can safely be implanted without the use of systemic anticoagulation, provided optimal stent expansion is achieved. The exact role of intravascular ultrasound in the achievement of these results needs to be established by appropriately designed studies. In the meantime, intra-vascular ultrasound coupled with the Palmaz–Schatz stent incorporating a spiral bridge, may have contributed considerably to the immediate angiographic outcome, which in turn may explain the favourable clinical and angiographic outcome at 6 months.